Power (Mafia Ties: Brandon & Carly Book 2) (3 page)

“But will you be happy? It means you’ll follow my lead, at least when it comes to business, and you’ll do it surrounded by men who won’t trust you because of you are.”

“I know I have what it takes to be the boss.” My heart fell at his answer, only to quickly leap again when he continued. “But it’s not what I want for myself. I’ll be your first line of defense, but the final word will be yours or ours. You’re the brains, kitten. I’m the brawn.” He winked and warmth infused me. “I was raised to be an enforcer, and I’m damn good at my job. I never once resented Nic for the role he was born to play in the DeLuca organization. He’s my family, and I love him. Supporting him, protecting him, and doing the things he couldn’t do himself made me happy. But you, Carly O’Reilly soon-to-be DeLuca, mean more to me than my cousin ever could. You’re my heart. My future. My everything. I’ll be damn proud to offer you my support and protection. To make sure you never come to harm. And to fucking do whatever needs to be done to make sure you and the family we build together thrives.”

“What in the hell did I ever do to deserve you?” I cried.

“You survived so I could find you.”

I knew he meant more than just surviving the last month or so while I was on the run and he searched for me, but my childhood was a place I never wanted to visit again. “It’s a damn shame the men underneath me won’t trust you.”

“No other man will ever be underneath you,” he growled.

“You know what I meant,” I huffed.

“It’s only fair they don’t trust me because I don’t trust them, especially not when it comes to your safety. There’s only one man I trust with you, and that’s me. So the decision’s a simple one. I need you safe, and you need to lead the O’Reillys. The only way we’ll accomplish both is as a team, with me by your side.”

When he put it that way, it was impossible to argue, even if this decision might get us both killed.

He lifted the ring from the box, and the diamonds lining the band glinted in the light. “I’ve never seen a Claddagh that was quite so fancy before.”

“You know us Italian mafia types. We like our flashy things,” he joked as he slid the ring onto my finger. “Plus, I want you to have the absolute best of everything.”

“I already have the best,” I whispered, leaning down to rest my lips against his. “I have you.”

“Then you’ll marry me this week?”

It was crazy, but I wanted be his wife. To live out my years by his side, raising a family together, even if we were stuck doing it in a world I’d desperately wanted to escape for so long. And I didn’t want to wait. Didn’t want to waste a single minute of the time we had together. “I don’t know, maybe you should try convincing me again,” I teased, pulling on his tie so he tumbled onto the couch with me, where he proved to be thoroughly persuasive. Twice.

“R
elax, kitten,” I soothed as I put my hand on the back of her neck and gently kissed her temple. “They’re going to love you.”

I steered Carly towards the door of an apartment building in the heart of Little Italy. She walked stiffly beside me, her body strung tighter than a drum.

“This is crazy, Bran. I shot you, how can you think they’ll love me?”

I stopped when I reached the door and faced her, placing both hands on her neck and using my thumbs to lift her head so our eyes met. “First of all, my mother doesn’t know and it’s probably best if we keep it that way until she’s had a chance to get to know my gorgeous fiancée.” She looked skeptical, but I pushed on. “Second, my brothers will probably hand you a gun and ask if they can watch this time,” I finished dryly.

Carly giggled and the sound filled me with contentment. I loved the sound of her joy. Her face took on a thoughtful expression, “Bran, how come your name isn’t Italian?”

I laughed and grinned. “Actually, it is. My mother is half English and wanted to name us more traditional names”—I winked at her—“Like you, she can be very persuasive. In the end, they compromised. My father chose Italian names, but they are all spelled the English way.”

She giggled again and I couldn’t help pulling her in close. I kissed her deeply, hoping to melt away some of her nervousness. When I pulled back, she looked dazed and I grinned.

Her hand came up to touch her lips and as her eyes cleared of passion, she began to frown. “Brandon!” she hissed. “I can’t meet your mother looking like I’ve just had my tongue in her son’s mouth!”

I laughed and winked as I slung my arm around her shoulders. “She had six boys, kitten. She knows how babies are made.”

Carly’s jaw dropped and she sputtered, “We weren’t—she wouldn’t think we just—” I kissed her again, effectively shutting her up and led her into my mother’s home.

“Ma!” I called out as we walked into the first apartment door on the right. All five of my brothers were lounging in the front room, watching a Sunday football game. Every head turned in our direction and a wicked gleam slowly entered all of their eyes. If it were anyone but Carly under my arm, I might not have allowed my brothers to meet my woman all at once. They could be overwhelming and they were always a group of annoying bastards, but I knew she was strong enough to handle them.

“Fratelli,” I said in a low voice, my eyes narrowed in a warning for them to behave. “This is my fiancée, Carly. Try not to be your normal jackass selves and scare her off.”

Five rascally grins were their response and I groaned inside, knowing the stupidity they were capable of. Carly smiled and waved, chuckling at their terrible attempts to appear innocent.

I sighed and pointed as I introduced the group. “My oldest brother, Christian, I’m next in the lineup, then Luca, the twins Tristan and Gavin, and the baby, Adam.”

Each one stood and scooped her up into a big bear hug, forcing me to growl, “Get away from my woman, dipshits.”

“Brandon!” A gravelly, yet feminine voice brought my head around and my mouth turned up as I spied my mother walking into the room from the kitchen. Maria DeLuca was a petite woman, with dark hair and whiskey-colored eyes, which were currently dancing with joy.

I grabbed Carly’s hand and dragged her over to meet the second most important woman in my life. “Mamma,” I greeted warmly, letting go of Carly’s hand to kiss my mamma’s cheek and gently hug her. “Where is Dad?”

Mamma rolled her eyes and patted my cheeks, as though I were still her baby. “Working, but he’ll be here for dinner. He’s as anxious to meet your lady as the rest of us.”

Twisting, I took hold of Carly’s hand and tugged her over to stand in front of me, wrapping my arms around her waist. “This is Carly, my fiancée.”

Carly stuck her hand out but my mother was having none of that. She pinched my arm, forcing me to open my arms, and embraced my beautiful girl. My ma was quite a bit shorter than Carly and she had to bend over slightly to return the hug, her sexy ass pushing back into my groin.
Shit.
It was one thing to show off my woman’s thoroughly kissed lips, but I wasn’t very keen of spending an afternoon with my mother and brothers, sporting a hard on.

“Welcome to the family, my dear.” Standing back, my mother scowled at me and I squirmed uncomfortably under her stare, my erection quickly deflating. “While I’m beyond excited to be getting a daughter, I don’t understand the rush.”

“It’s
family
business, Ma.” The stress on my word making it clear which business I was referring to. Then, Carly took the love I felt for her and made it grow so big, I felt as though I would either burst or simply float away.

She took my mamma’s hands and said quietly, “I promise the haste is necessary, Mrs. DeLuca. But, I was hoping you would be willing to do me a favor. My mother passed away when I was very young. And honestly, this girly stuff is kind of lost on me. Would you help me? I don’t think I could get a wedding together in a year on my own, much less a few days. I would be so grateful.”

Mamma clasped a hand over her mouth and a few tears escaped her eyes. I understood they were tears of happiness, but fuck, I hated it when she or Carly cried.

“Please, none of this ‘Mrs. DeLuca’ stuff, call me Mamma”—she pulled Carly in for another hug—“I’d be honored to be a part of planning your wedding, dear girl.”

They beamed at each other, and then my mother threw me a look of dismissal and took Carly into the kitchen with her. I was tempted to follow, reluctant to let Carly out of my sight, but I loved the idea of the two of them getting close. So, I tamped down my desire and strolled over to the couches, plopping down next to my seventeen-year-old brother, Adam.

“She’s hot, bro,” he smirked. I slapped him on the back of the head. “Ouch! Harsh, dude.”

I ignored him and focused on my older brother, Christian, happy to see him. “It’s great to see you. How long are you in town?” Christian was twenty-five and a professor at Oxford, where he’d done his doctoral work English Literature. He was definitely the most . . . refined of our Italian riff raff. He’d lived there since he’d graduated from Harvard at twenty-one and we only got to see him a couple of times a year.

“I decided not to teach summer sessions this year, so I’m home for about a month”—he raised a speculative eyebrow at me—“It seems it was a lucky decision or I would have missed your wedding.”

Shrugging, I looked him straight in the eye when I answered, “Why delay the inevitable and give her the opportunity to second guess her decisions?”

Luca laughed and shook his head. “You’re such a fucking DeLuca. No patience.”

I smirked at him. “Talk to me when you’ve met the woman of your dreams, brother.”

He scoffed. “I’m twenty-fucking-years old, Bran. I’m not going to tie myself down for a long fucking time.”

“Amen!” Tristan and Gavin, nineteen-year-old twins, high-fived Luca.
Stupid motherfuckers.

Just as I’d thought, my family adored Carly and when I took her home that night, she was practically floating on a happy cloud. I knew it was because she’d finally found a family, the one she’d longed for as a child, the one she should have had all along.

I took her to bed and did my best to further the goal of creating our own little family.

***

“K
itten, where do you want—” My voice broke off, ending in a ragged groan. Carly was bent over her desk, reaching for something, her pert little ass spectacularly displayed in a pair of worn jeans. My woman was hot as fuck and my cock heartily agreed. She stood and looked at me over her shoulder. “Bend over the desk again, kitten,” I commanded. “I want that tight little ass up high.”

Her eyes widened and sparked with heat, but glanced nervously at the door. “Now!” I growled. Once she’d obeyed, I slammed the door shut and flipped the lock. I stalked over to her and palmed her ass, squeezing the globes, then spanked one, then the other, and basked in the sound of her moans.

I was too far gone for anything but a hard fuck. Carly and my mother had jumped into wedding plans, and I’d had very little time with my girl since Sunday dinner with my family. They’d even recruited Anna, which had put me in the cross hairs of Nic’s own sexual frustration. I was doing my best to steer clear of him.

But, I was done with this bullshit. I needed to feel my kitten wrapped around my cock. It was a damn fucking good thing our wedding was on Sunday, only a few days away, or I would have been hauling her off to the courthouse and whisking her away for an epic fuckathon.

I slid my hands up her spine, one going to the back of her neck and pushing her down until her chest was almost flush with the desktop. Then I moved them around to cup her tits, treating them to a few plucks and twists of her nipples. Her ass wiggled against my erection and in the span of a few breaths, I had her pants unbuttoned, and along with her underwear, pulled down to her knees, one hand cupping her pussy.

“You’re soaked, baby. So ready for me. Do you want my cock?”

She whimpered and I took it as a “fuck yes.” Swiftly dropping my jeans to my ankles, I grabbed my dick and squeezed the base a couple of times, trying to push back the frenzy. But, the minute I pushed into her heat, my cock snug between the walls of her pussy, the need to fuck overtook me.

Seizing her hips, I drove into her over and over. The only sounds in the room were that of our skin slapping together and the suction of my cock as her pussy welcomed each thrust.

“Your pussy feels so good gripping my cock, kitten. Milk it, work my dick with your sweet little pussy.”

She was crying out every time I bottomed out, and I was growing closer and closer to coming. One of my hands went to her pussy, locating her clit and pressing down. She screamed and shattered in seconds. The feeling of her walls clamping down on me pushed me over with her. “Fuck, yes!” I roared. After emptying inside her, my dick was still rock hard.

I thrust in over and over, not slowing my pace until I’d driven us both over the edge again, spiraling into another screaming orgasm. 

Finally softening, I rested my palms on her shoulders and lifted her so her back was against my chest. “I love you, Carly. I can’t fucking wait to marry you,” I whispered.

“I
love you, too, my hubby-to-be,” I sighed, enjoying the feel of his arms wrapped around me. Things had been too hectic this week for me to get much time with my man. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d felt quite so relaxed—until it hit me.

“Ohmigod! I cannot believe you just fucked me on my desk. In my office. Right before we’re meeting with the guys. In here!”

His dick slid out of me as I squirmed out of his arms to turn and glare up at him. I got distracted watching him pull his jeans up his legs and tuck himself back into them, before buttoning up. Then the infuriating man had the gall to wink at me with a smug grin on his face. “There’s the kitten I know and love. Hissing and showing her claws. If you aren’t careful, then I’m just gonna have to bend you back over your desk and eat your pussy until you scream. I’ll make sure it’s loud enough that every man walking into this building will hear you and know damn well who you belong to.”

My eyes just about crossed in anger. Or lust. It was one or the other.