Mobster's Vendetta (5 page)

Chapter 4

Don: head boss, family leader

Megan:

I sense a hand on my thigh. Sleep has
settled so deeply that I barely register being touched. Whisper
light kisses feather across my ear and temple. I feel a heaviness
in the bed in addition to my own. Familiar hands brush against my
neck. I open my eyes, but I can’t see. The room is in pure
darkness.

“Antonio?” I sigh.

“Yes,” he says softly. ”Who else would it
be?”

“Oh, you know, any number of boyfriends I’ve
accumulated over the past few weeks,” I giggle, sleepily.

“Really?” he asks with a smile in his voice
as he tickles me.

I laugh, happy to have his hands on me. I
relish in his closeness.

“Well, I’m going to make you forget all
about them...right now.” His voice is so seductive and needy that
my breath catches.

He pulls the covers off me slowly. I am in a
tank and boy shorts. Antonio runs his hands over me, and I
involuntarily buck off the bed.

“I missed you so much,” he whispers against
my lips.

“I missed you too.”

His hand slides in between my thighs and
parts my legs. He shifts his body and drapes it over mine. I wrap
my legs around his hips. He feels so good I could cry. I want to
stay like this forever. His weight is welcome. It is comforting and
protective. He caresses and holds me as I kiss him. He pulls away.
I feel his breath against my face.

“I love you,” he says, and draws lazy
circles on my shoulders with his fingers.

“I love you, too.”

I take his face in my hands and kiss him
hard. He parts my mouth with his tongue. My belly tightens
deliciously, anticipating what is to come. I run my hands down his
back and feel his muscles tense and contract with urgency. He lifts
my shirt and I am gone - lost in a haze of passion.

*****

Megan:

The next morning I wake up tangled up in
sheets and Antonio. It is a marvelous feeling. It's been so long. I
love this man so much, and he feels absolutely wonderful.

The sun is streaming in through the windows.
I feel it's warmth on my face, even though I know it's bitterly
cold outside. I snuggle closer into Antonio's chest. I see his
body, his chest is scattered with bruises. I probe farther up, and
I look at his face...cuts and scratches, a huge one across his
forehead near his hairline. His eyes are shadowed black and
blue.

“Oh my gosh!” I cry out.

Antonio’s eyes open lazily. He looks down at
me and grins. It's the most attractive thing I've ever seen. Even
with bruises, cuts, and scrapes, he's the most amazing man I've
ever seen.

His voice is rough when he says, “I missed
you so much.” He leans over and kisses me.

“What happened to you?!”

“Nothing too bad. Do we have to talk about
this now?” he sighs.

I sit up and stare at him incredulously, the
sheet barely covering me. I need to hear what happened. I give him
the tell-me-or-else look.

“Okay. I had to fight this dude last
night.”

“What do you mean you had to? Oh my gosh! I
have never seen you like this.”

“It’s for the alliance. Don’t worry about
it. It’s done.”

I exhale and rest my head on his chest again
relishing in his closeness. I feel that pain again in my heart,
it’s from knowing that he's been hurt. Last night’s party comes
back to me...I’m partying, he is being beaten to a pulp.

“Did you win?” I ask softly.

“Yes,” he says. I can hear his answer
vibrate in his chest.

“Thank you so much for the harp,” I whisper
after a few moments, wanting to change the subject to forget his
bruises. “It’s gorgeous. I have never seen anything like it in my
life. It looks like it belongs in a museum.”

“I'm glad you like it,” his voice is raspy.
“Anything to make you happy, Megan. Will you play it for me
today?”

“You're staying!” I ask excitedly. ”I'm so
happy to get you for the whole day.”

“You get me for the whole weekend.”

“Why is that? What happened?”

“We're forming a new alliance with the
Furlotti family. So we are taking a few days off, regrouping.”

Antonio rolls us so that I'm beneath him.
His breathing becomes uneven and his hands more urgently skim over
my body. My stomach involuntarily squeezes delectably as he moves.
He presses soft kisses on my neck as his hand works its way up. He
uses his knee to push my legs apart and he settles in deeper
between them.

The daylight reveals the mars on his skin
which make me starved for him. My hunger flares with how much love
him. I want to make his hurt go away.

*****

I wake up alone. Antonio isn't here. I throw
on a robe and push my feet into pink fuzzy slippers. I walk out
into the suite kitchen area.

Antonio is sitting at the table with a bowl
of cereal. Sprawled out on the table is a target. My target. The
target that I shot at the night before with Joey.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he says with
heated eyes.

I walk straight to him and give him a kiss.
He pushes back his chair as he pulls me into his lap and kisses me
deeper. Erin’s door opens across the room.

“Give it a rest already,” she mutters.

Antonio and I break from our kiss.

“Happy birthday!” I say.

“Happy birthday,” Antonio calls out too.

Without warning, Vito gets up from the
couch. He must've slept there last night. I didn't know. He
startled me.

Vito’s sweatpants lay low on his hips, and
he is bare-chested as he stretches with a mild roar and drags his
feet to the bathroom. His hair is tousled from sleeping.

“So, my girl’s a hell of a shot,” Antonio
says squeezing me.

I turn to him; our faces are close my body
thrilled to be in his lap.

“I guess so. Joey seems to think so,” I
respond modestly.

The bathroom door reopens, and Vito comes
out. Erin is by the counter listening to us. Vito walks straight
towards Erin and grabs her by the waist. He picks her up and plops
her by the table so she is no longer blocking the coffee area.

“Hey! Do you mind? Standing here!” Erin
huffs, then, as though she thinks better of further comment, she
ignores him. It is so good to see my sister slowly coming back to
her old self. ”What do you mean she's a good shot?”

Antonio holds the target up for Erin.

“Wow, Meg, you are a good shot.”

Vito scratches himself, sips his coffee, and
walks over to see what we’re all looking at. He hovers over
Antonio’s shoulder before glancing at me. “Hey, you did that?”

I nod. “Yeah, I did it last night,” I
say.

“Cool. We could really use you,” Vito says.
Antonio shoots him an ugly stare. ”Dude, I’m just sayin’. She’s
good.”

I got a really good look at Antonio's face
during this exchange, the swollen skin and bruising. He doesn’t
seem to mind though. He drinks his coffee and eats his cereal like
nothing happened last night.

There is a knock on the suite door and it
opens. Doc Howie walks in.

“Good morning,” he says with a smile. ”And
happy birthday, Erin.” Doc Howie plops down his medical bag then
rifles through it, pulling out a stethoscope.

“Thank you,” she says.

“And how is the injured party this morning,”
he asks.

Antonio says, “I'm fine.”

Doc begins taking out a stethoscope, some
ointment, and gauze from his bag. I get up from Antonio's lap and
shift to a chair.

The Doc listens to Antonio's heart and
dresses some of his face wounds. He tips Antonio’s head back and
forth examining him and tells him to take his shirt off.

Antonio swiftly removes his t-shirt and his
bruises are defined against his olive skin.

“You got some doozies,” Doc says.

“Yeah, Demetrius got in a few good
ones.”

Vito snorts.

“A few good ones,” Vito comments
sarcastically. ”He got a lot of good ones in.”

“Who's Demetrius?” I ask.

Antonio and Vito look at each other, it is
clear that they don't want to answer me.

“He's just another guy in the Furlotti
family,” says Antonio.

“He's a Furlotti?” I ask.

“Well, no, he's not a Furlotti, but he’s in
that family.”

I shake my head disgusted. I'll never
understand all the connections and mob talk.

Doc Howie interjects, “You’re staying in
today right, Antonio? You need to rest.”

“Yeah, I want to hang with my girl today.
And we’re going to celebrate Erin’s birthday,” he says.

I didn't even know Antonio had planned
anything. I thought Erin and I would have a quiet day. I was going
to give her a gift from the casino gift shop, and that would be it.
Erin hasn't been up for much lately because of her condition. But
she has gotten a lot better.

Antonio shoots me a wicked smile. “It's the
kid’s fifteenth birthday, we need to do something special,” he
says. Erin’s face lights up.

“Okay,” I say. ”So what did you have in
mind?”

“Don't worry. I've got it all taken care of.
Everybody get dressed.” When Antonio says he’s got it all taken
care of, I doubt this will be a boring day.

Vito stands at the sink drinking his coffee.
Erin and I rush to our rooms to change our clothes. I can’t help
but wonder what Antonio has in mind for today.

I slip on my jeans and a beige sweater. I
fluff my hair with my fingers, then I decide to run a brush through
it. Antonio comes in the room while I’m standing at the mirror. He
slips his arm around my waist and his other hand reaches for my
hair. With a gentle touch, he strokes my hair with his free hand.
He picks up a handful and holds it to his nose, breathes deeply and
sighs.

“I can’t get enough of you,” Antonio
whispers.

My heart rate spikes, and I feel a rush of
lust again. It doesn’t take much when he’s around. I lean back into
his chest as he caresses me, his chin on my shoulder.

“What are we doing today?” I ask, relishing
in Antonio’s touches.

“I thought we would eat at the restaurant
downstairs. I know you guys haven’t got out of the suite much. Then
I thought we would take your sister shopping at some of the stores
here, have her pick out something for her birthday.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, but the
boutiques here are so expensive. Shouldn’t we go out
somewhere?”

“Megan,” Antonio spins me around to face
him. ”You don’t have to worry about money.”

Blood money!
The thought flashes through my mind. Everything
that Antonio has ever bought me has been with blood money. Money he
has worked hard for, that’s for sure, but blood money all the same.
It is hard for me to get used to this lifestyle, this way of
life.

But now that I see the whole picture, I
shouldn’t let myself think that way though. Everything my parents
have ever bought for me has been with blood money, too...I just
didn’t know it. My ignorance makes me feel guilty. Just because I
didn’t know doesn’t make it right. But I have to accept that these
are the way things are and have always been, whether I knew it or
not.

My thoughts shift to my parents. I wonder if
they'll call Erin today.

“Have you seen my dad?” I ask Antonio.

“I’ve talked to him a few times on the
phone. I’m not sure when he’s coming back to Chicago. But I saw my
dad last night. He looks really good. So does Donny.”

“They were there last night? At the
fight?”

“Yeah, my dad is here. He has some business
with the Furlottis.”

“What kind of business?”

“I really don’t want to talk about business
today. This is the first time I’ve seen you in three weeks. One of
two things is going to happen right now...I’m either going to take
you and your sister shopping downstairs, or I’m going to throw you
on the bed and have my way with you. Business is not a part of
either of those two things.” Antonio reaches for my hips and pulls
me towards him. His hands trail down my thighs and up to the back
pockets of my jeans. I shiver in his arms. “I really hope you pick
being thrown on the bed. I can send Vito with Erin shopping.”
Antonio’s face is mischievous as he leans down and kisses me.

Knock, knock.

“You guys ready?” Vito is at my bedroom
door.

“We’re coming!” Antonio calls out.

Erin is leaning against the door frame that
leads out into the hall. She is dressed very casually like me in
jeans and a sweater. This is the first time that Erin has left the
family floor since our arrival. She is eager and her foot is
tapping.

I turn to Vito and his attention is
completely on Erin. He has a certain gaze in his eye that worries
me, one I have felt uncomfortable with since day one. One that
resembles a wolf stalking its prey.

But I can’t complain, because Vito has been
nothing but protective and helpful to my sister. If it wasn’t for
him, my sister’s face would be covered in burns...or worse.

I grab my pocketbook off the back of the
kitchen chair, and we all head out towards the elevators. Antonio
punches in the code and the doors open up. Inside stand Joey and
Clarissa.

“Hey guys!” Joey says.

Clarissa hugs Erin. “Happy birthday!”

Erin beams at her friend and hugs her
back.

Joey claps Erin gently on the back. “Hey
Erin...I guess it’s fifteen birthday spankings today,” Joey jokes.
Erin smiles at him.

Clarissa laughs along with Joey, but I don’t
think Vito found it too funny. He steps in between Joey and Erin
and hovers, ominously challenging Joey.

“Hey dude, I was just kidding. Take it
easy!” Joey reassures Vito. Antonio taps Vito’s arm in a
give-it-a-rest motion.

Erin moves to the back of the elevator
saying nothing. The ride to the casino level is a quiet one.
Antonio is holding my hand, and that small gesture feels
wonderful.