Page 10 of Blossom in Shadows

CHAPTER 5

ELIO

The moment I sit down behind Constantino’s desk, my phone is ringing with a call from Declan McCarthy, head of the Irish mob in Boston. He brokered a very lucrative arms deal for me, one of the first I took on after ascending to the head of the Agosti family. Not only did it cement our working relationship, but a friendship, of sorts. As much as men like us can be friends.

“Declan,” I answer and get right to the point, “what can I do for you?”

“Elio,” there’s amusement in his voice. The man is dangerous as fuck, but he tends to put on a front of jovial approachability. It keeps his enemies off their game. “I need you to keep your ear to the ground about someone.”

“Someone? Should I be concerned?”

Declan laughs, the sound might sound carefree, but I can hear the edge of steel to it, the edge of danger. “No, but there may be a thief in your midst, and I wanted to give you a heads up. One of my loyal men has a brother, Patrick O’Brien. He was put in charge of a few books, but we found out he was skimming. I’m looking for him and it’s possible he might have headed down there.”

“You just want me to keep a lookout?”

“Nothing more.” His voice turns cold, “We want him.”

“I understand. If I hear anything, I’ll call you.”

He chuckles, a dark sound that has me smiling. O’Brien has crossed the wrong fucking family and if he thinks he can come into my city and hide out, he’s sorely mistaken. I’ll hand him over, but if I find out that he’s fucked around in my town, he’ll be delivered slightly bruised.

I have a feeling a man like him, one stupid enough to skim off the top of the McCarthy family, will need more than one lesson before meeting his death. There is no other outcome for him. He stole. He ran.

Death will be a gift for a man like him.

“Talk soon, Elio.” Declan hangs up and I sit back in Constantino’s chair for a moment.

I try and think about what I should be doing, but all I can think about is the way my woman’s body moved. Her graceful movements are burned into my mind, the sexy way she gyrated and captivated.

The thought that other men are looking at her right now has my hands gripping my chair. There is nothing to do other than push it away and get some work done. Even as I do, the vision of her dancing plays out like a zoetrope spinning in front of me.

It feels like forever, but I notice the moment the bass in the club fades away and is no longer thudding in time with the vision of my woman moving. I have no idea how I’ve stayed away from her for hours, but now I know I won’t be able to do it for another second. I know she’s taken breaks while I’ve been up in the office, but I also know if I saw her during one of them, I would have hauled her over my shoulder and carried her out.

I won’t crush her dreams. I saw how she moves, how she gets lost to the music and the movement. As much as I wanted to stop it, I also wanted to revel in it.

I’m standing outside of the backroom within seconds, not giving a single fuck as to what it looks like. Sergio gives me a nod and fades into the shadows of the club. When Zinnia walks out, whisps of her hair clinging to her sweaty face while she glows with a happiness that radiates from the inside out, I grip her around the waist and haul her against my chest.

“Elio,” she breathlessly whispers, “what are you doing here?”

“I’m overseeing Sala at the moment,” there’s a challenge in my voice for her to question me. Does that mean I need to be here? No, not really. He has other people in place, but there was no way I wasn’t going to be as close to my woman as possible. “Now I’m here to take you home.”

She makes a humming sound and bites down on her lip. My cock throbs at the action. She has no idea how fucking sexy she is and how I’m powerless against her.

Her voice is small and vulnerable, “Were you watching me?”

“Of course,Reginetta.” I growl, “You were sexy as fuck, and I wanted to rip out the eyeballs of every other man who had the pleasure of watching you.”

She gasps, her lips parted and looking tempting as fuck. I’ve held myself back for far too long and my control snaps at the heat in her dark brown eyes. It’s a miracle I didn’t lose myself over to the need to have her sooner.

I slam my lips against hers and pry them open immediately. She melts against me and gives herself over to me, submitting to me. It only makes my need for her pump harder in my veins. I taste her and growl against her lips, wanting more. The primal part of me I had to suppress to allow her to dance in that fucking cage won’t be ignored any longer.

When I pull away from her, we’re both panting and staring into each other’s eyes. As much as I want to sink into her depths right here and now, I can’t do that to her. I won’t.

“Come on, Zinnia, let me take you home,” there’s a plea in my voice I’m not used to hearing.

It seems to surprise her just as much as it does me because she just nods and lets me lead her out of Sala. I nod at a few employees and then Sergio who gives me one back. He knows I’ll be calling him tomorrow when it’s time for him to take over watching her. Until then, I’ve got her.

If she thinks I’m taking her back to her place, she’s wrong. Half of my closet is now filled with clothes for her, every style and level of comfort she could ever want. It helps to have money and people at your disposal.

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