FAMILY TIES: A Mafia Love Story (Erotic Mafia Romance) Read online

  “You report community interest stories,” he said, as if that explained why no one would be suspicious of him being seen with me. Bastard, he may as well have just slugged me.

  With gritted teeth I said, “Okay…so I’m not famous for my investigative journalism skills, but that still doesn’t explain how when the story breaks with my byline underneath it smart people won’t put two and two together.”

  “Yes, it doesn’t explain that… and that might be the part you disagree with.”

  I could feel it coming before it hit, the big whammy. I quietly waited for him to hit me with it. When he did, it was a doozie.

  “You would have to agree to act as my girlfriend…or fiancé. Whichever you prefer…” I opened my mouth to object right then. He held up his palm and said, “Please, let me finish first.”

  I figured he was right, I may as well say no to it all at once. I nodded and he went on.

  “We would act as a couple so that no one wondered about my meetings with a reporter, and we could avoid the fear of getting caught if we tried to sneak around and communicate secretly. You could also be a part of “family” events and get to see and know the people that we’ll be “talking” about first hand. This won’t be a week-long process, Bella. This organization was hundreds of years in the making. It’ll take years to break it open.”

  I was glad I had finished my meal already…I would have choked on it. Years? This guy was nuts if he thought I would agree to be his fake fiancé for years.

  I stood up and picked up my purse. Sammie stood up as well. For a second, remembering where I was and who I was with, a dagger of fear stabbed me in my chest. He must have seen it on my face because he stepped to the side, clearing my path to the door. He wasn’t going to force me to do this. I was ashamed of myself for putting myself in a position where that was even a consideration.

  “I think you’ll need to find someone else,” I told him.

  “I’ve looked at all of the journalists in the city, Bella. You were the only one I wanted.”

  “I know that this is probably not something Sammie Romo is used to hearing, but you can’t have everything you want. Thanks for breakfast; I need to get going now.” He took another step back as I made my way to the door. When I reached for the knob he said,

  “You have my email; let me know if you change your mind.”

  “I won’t,” I said confidently as I walked out the door. He let me go and when I was in the elevator with the doors closed adding another barrier between us, I finally stopped shaking.

  As I walked through the hotel lobby, I kept my head down. I was doing the walk of shame…as quickly as I could of course. I didn’t know what I had looked like last night as I’d shuffled through here drunk and on my way to have wild sex with a stranger, and I didn’t know if any of these finely groomed people had been on duty when I’d done it. Luckily, no one seemed to notice me….at least until I got outside. The doorman was exceedingly friendly, just my luck.

  “Good morning miss!”

  “Good morning,” I muttered as I scanned the street for a cab.

  “Are you enjoying your stay here?”

  “Oh, um, I was just visiting a friend.”

  “Well then, I hope you enjoyed your visit,” he said. Unfortunately, I had enjoyed it way too much.

  “I did, thank you,” I said, holding my hand up and waving it at a passing cab that didn’t stop.

  “Would you like me to hail a cab for you miss?”

  “Yes, please….” The doorman’s phone began ringing just then.

  “I’m sorry, miss. Excuse me for one second,” he put the phone to his ear and I continued to attempt to stop one of the cabs that were whizzing by. It was as if I’d suddenly gone invisible. To make matters worse a dark gray stretch limo pulled up to the curb in front of me obscuring my view of the street and thus, the cabs. The finely dressed driver got out and opened the door to the backseat. No one got out so I assumed he was there to pick up some important and obviously loaded guest of the hotel.

  “Miss,” the doorman who was suddenly behind me said, “Mr. Romolatti has arranged to have his car take you home.”

  I looked from the doorman to the chauffeur and back again. Finally, cursing under my breath I just got into the limo. This guy was too much. If he thought he could coerce me into this ridiculous scheme of his just by showing off the big bucks, he had another thing coming. Sammie Fucking Romo didn’t have one cent to his name that wasn’t dirty, and I wanted no part of that. I had the limousine driver drop me off at the garage where I’d left my car the night before and drove home with my head pounding.

  When I got home, the first thing I did was shower. It suddenly dawned on me that I had no idea whether or not he’d used a condom last night. I was grateful that I was on birth control, but who knew what kind of diseases a Mafioso might have? I would have to make an appointment with my doctor and get checked for STD’s. Bits and pieces of last night had come back to me since I’d woken up this morning. As I stood in the shower now, I closed my eyes and tried to remember the rest.

  I had a vague memory of walking through the lobby of the hotel. Once we were in the elevator Sammie moved towards me silently but too fast for me to protest. But then again, maybe I wouldn’t have protested anyway… He pushed me back against the wall with his large hand against my stomach. I remember gasping, not because it hurt but because he’d taken my breath away. He hadn’t stopped there….

  Fuck, it was all coming back. As the warm water cascaded down across my back now I thought about what had happened once we were inside of his suite. He’d led me into the bedroom and as if I’d left my brain at the door, I had followed. Once we were in the bedroom he stepped close again, standing inches from my face. I had on four inch heels and I still had to tip my head up to look into his eyes. He looked at me hungrily and that look had fueled my own desires. He leaned down and covered my mouth with his. It wasn’t our first kiss of the evening, but it was by far the best. It was like we melted into each other as our lips parted and our tongues danced against each other…probing, tasting, flicking and darting, pushing more deeply into each other’s wet caverns.

  I poured shampoo into my hand and as I rubbed and kneaded it through my hair I remembered that I had reached my hands up and put it in his thick, dark hair as we kissed. Then I’d slid them down around his neck just to hang on as our kissing became more intense. He pushed his tongue further into my mouth and then suddenly, without warning, he sucked my bottom lip in between his teeth and nipped at it. I pulled away; startled, but surprisingly even thinking about it now caused a rush of hot liquid between my legs.

  Sammie had stood there looking at me after I’d pulled back. I remember that he had this really sexy grin on his face and instead of being angry, I was turned on. I had smiled back….I think and then I’d put my hands around his neck again and pulled myself back up to continue the kiss. I slid my tongue back into his mouth and that time he sucked on it. It was erotic. His hands were all over me and as I washed my body and slid my palms along my sides and across my breasts I shuddered at the memory.

  We started stripping each other at that point, a little at a time while we kissed. I could feel his erection pressed up against my hip and I remember that when I moaned he had whispered in my ear so close that I felt his hot breath:

  “Just you wait, Bella. I’m going to make sure that it’s the best you ever had.”

  The sound of his voice and the feel of his breath against my ear sent me into another frenzy. In the shower, my hand drifted over my abdomen and down to the top of my pelvis as I thought about it. I had kissed him again, frantically and passionately. Then as I held onto his neck I had pulled my legs up around his waist and he’d slipped his arms underneath my ass to hold me in place as I rocked my pelvis against his. We did that for several minutes before he turned and practically tossed me onto the bed. I was surprised then at how sexy I found his assertiveness, and even more so now as I found myself in the showe
r with my fingers buried inside of my pussy and my breaths coming in short, ragged gasps as I thought back on it.

  He finished taking my clothes off then and once I was nude, he used his big, sexy hands to explore me. He ran his hands over my breasts, cupping each one of them and then finding a swollen nipple and sliding his thumb over it, making me moan.

  Feeling bold, I had reached down and touched his still jean-clad rock hard cock. I started rubbing it as I pulled at his belt with my other hand. He moved his hand down then and began to glide his fingers over the outer lips of my pussy. As I remembered now how it had felt, I rubbed hard at my own clit, trying to re-create that feeling….

  I had laid back and closed my eyes, letting his fingers freely explore my pussy. He slipped one of his fingers inside of me and as he slid it in and out, he had pressed his thumb against my clit, running it in circular motions. I bit my own lip at that point to keep from crying out. It felt so fucking good and as I thought about it now, I probed my own pussy with my fingers, slipping them out to rub them across my sensitive clit. I remember the look in his eye, it was like he wanted to ravage me….and at that moment, I had wanted him to.

  He’d stood up and finished taking off his clothes. It was dark in the room but I could see his sexy silhouette clearly in the bright city lights that shown through the window. He leaned down over me again and began kissing my neck, down across my chest and then sucking first my right breast into his mouth and licking around the outside of the nipple and then the left. He kissed and sucked and nibbled on them until I thought I’d go mad. My pussy was on fire by that time. I didn’t just want him inside of me; at that point, I needed it. As I remembered, I took one of my own breasts in my hand and squeezed it, tugging on the nipples between my finger and thumb, and finding myself yearning to feel his mouth on me again.

  From there, he had kissed down my belly. Then he slid his tongue all the way down towards the center of my body. I felt him flatten it and then he moved it from the bottom up through the center of my pussy finally reaching my clit and pressing against it, hard. He began to lick and suck like he was starving and I had to put a hand against the shower wall now as I remembered it because my legs were shaking so hard I was afraid they’d give out.

  As if the torture of his tongue against my clit weren’t enough, he slid a finger inside and began to move it in and out as he continued to lick and suck and even nibble a little. I moaned loudly now in the shower, just as I had done last night. He was pushing his fingers in deep, twisting and pulling and doing things to me that no one had ever done before. I was moving my hips up and down and now as I remembered, I moved them back and forth against my hand. He would stop the frantic motions every now and again to once again press his tongue hard against my clit. It was as if he knew it sent electric sensations coursing through my body. I had my hands wrapped up in that thick hair, guiding his hot mouth to where I wanted it as he drove me to the edge of the cliff. Then he did something that sent me reeling head first over the edge…he reached down and took his hard cock in his own hand and as he continued his assault of my pussy with his lips and tongue, he stroked that beautiful hard cock and I couldn’t hold back any longer. The orgasmic waves crashed over me like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Even now as I felt the orgasm building from my memories of it, I knew it was unlike anything I was likely to feel again. I had arched my back as my whole body tensed and held in a moment of the purest pleasure I think there ever was.

  I cried out loudly in the privacy of my own home, my own shower as I felt the waves once again crash over me. When I finished cumming and I was able to stop shaking, I finished my shower. I had to force myself to stop thinking about it. Had I gone on remembering what happened after that, I may have never gotten out.

  Once I was dried off and dressed, I got out my laptop and pulled up “Romo,” Romolatti,” “Sammy and Guido.” I got back thousands of hits. I started with the first one, saving anything that looked mildly interesting. After about an hour of that, I made myself a pot of coffee…it was going to be a long day.

  CHAPTER FOUR: SAMMIE

  It had been three days since Alana had walked out. I had made a grave mistake by allowing myself the pleasure of making love to her when she was too drunk to have the capacity to consent. I truly hadn’t meant for that to happen. I tried to tell myself that I was beyond the point of rational thought as well, but truthfully I wasn’t drunk, at least not from the alcohol. I was intoxicated by her. I’d been researching her and watching her for so long…every fantasy I’d had for the past year had been wrapped up in Alana. I had just completely lost my mind the moment I was actually allowed to touch her. The fact that she was allowing me to, and even encouraging it had really sent me over the edge.

  It was wrong though…I was wrong. I knew from the time I’d spent watching her that she wasn’t a big drinker, and she definitely didn’t sleep around. I should have had more respect…my mother would flog me if she’d known how I’d taken advantage of that beautiful young woman. I’d spent two days trying to decide how I should apologize. It wasn’t a matter of if….I owed her that much, but I didn’t think she’d consent to seeing me and allow me to apologize to her face to face so I was trying to think of another way.

  Finally, I had sat down and written a note. It said,

  Dearest Alana,

  I am truly regretful about what I did to you the other night. I allowed you to drink too much and then while you were drunk and vulnerable…I took advantage of you. I’m assuming since I haven’t heard from you that you’ve adamantly decided against accepting my proposition, and I respect that. I do hope that you will forgive me for how I wronged you.

  Sincerely,

  Sammie

  I had sealed it up and sent it along with five dozen red roses to be delivered to her work today. It was Monday so I knew that was where she would be. From my research, I knew she took her job very seriously and although now she would never believe it I had picked her for that reason before I’d ever begun to fall for her.

  “Sammie!” I heard the knock on my door and the sound of Marco Ricci’s voice as I sat looking out the window, thinking about Alana. I wanted to ignore him, pretend that I wasn’t here. It was no use though. I was like a bird in a gilded cage in this Penthouse. Marco and his wife knew my every move and without a doubt, reported them to the administration. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust me; it was that they didn’t trust anyone. “Sammie!” he said again, louder this time. I reluctantly got out of my chair and went over to unlock the door. “Jeez! Were you on the toilet? What took you so long?”

  “What is it, Marco?”

  “The administration wants to see you, now.”

  “Why? What’s happened?”

  “Lucio was found in a dumpster behind Sal’s this morning.”

  “Lucio? He was just a collector. How was he killed?”

  “It was a message body. He left his Goomah’s place and he was dead before he made it to the end of the street. When Sal took out the trash this morning, he found him.”

  “Lucio was my soldier and Sal’s is my place…so the message was for me….from whom?”

  “I don’t know Sammie, but I figure the administration must have a few ideas.”

  “Shit, okay. I’ll go now.”

  “Sammie, take Louie and Vinnie with you. I know you have an issue with protection but this message says that you need it. Please don’t play with your life.”

  “Fine, I’m leaving in five minutes I’ll meet them downstairs.”

  I sat in the chair and watched as Marco left. I was so tired of all of this. I was thirty years old and I had seen more death already than most people had seen in a lifetime. I had caused it even. If I didn’t break free of this life, my own death would be sure to come soon.

  Marco was right; I hated having body guards follow me around. But I suppose until I found out who killed Lucio it was a good idea. I felt sick that Lucio was dead. He hadn’t only been my soldier; he was my friend
since we were kids. The woman that Marco had referred to as his “Goomah or his mistress was actually a friend of ours, Camilla, from the old neighborhood. Lucio wasn’t sleeping with her. He just had a wife who was unreasonably jealous. Camilla had been married and living in Newark up until six months ago. She had called Lucio one night and he had called me. She had an abusive husband. He had ignored every restraining order she’d ever gotten against him and this time, he’d beaten her to a bloody pulp. Lucio and I had gone out to New Jersey that night. We’d brought Camilla with us…her husband wouldn’t bother her again.

  I put her up in an apartment on the same block as Sal’s, a restaurant that my family owned. Lucio went by once a week to take her what she needed until her wounds healed. It was a pleasant escape for him from his hateful wife. Camilla would cook for him and they’d spend the evening just talking and laughing. As I slipped my Glock 9mm into my waistband and put on my jacket, I shuddered at the thought of having to tell her what happened. It would cause her a major setback and I couldn’t help but think it was my fault Lucio was dead. The women in the family would take care of his hateful wife. It was what they did, and they did it well.

  CHAPTER FIVE: ALANA

  I came in to work this morning determined to forget, once and for all, that I’d ever met Sammie Romo. It didn’t matter that he seemed to be all I could think about. I was a professional and that was how I intended to handle this: professionally. I’d spent hours yesterday researching him and his “family,” both biological and Mafioso. I found article after article on his father Guido. I also found much on his brothers and uncles all who had a long list of arrests just as Sammie said they did. But Sammie’s record was squeaky clean, even if his reputation was not. He was reputed to have killed more men as a “soldier” than any other Bosses son to date. That was when I really got scared. If this had been just a story, I would have been fascinated by that fact. Sammie Romo was only thirty years old. One had to wonder if there was any truth to that rumor, how old was he when he killed his first?