But watching? Hell, I could watch. Her father sent her to be watched.
I was her guardian. She was my test. If I could keep her safe—and not spreading her legs and sliding my thick cock deep inside of her tight, dripping wet pussy was definitely part of ‘safe’ in this situation—then her father would trust me with more responsibility. That meant more drugs, more guns. More strength. And right now, I was desperate for his help.
Mauro Balestra killed my mother and father. We were the Falsone family, the most powerful mafioso in all of Texas. We owned San Antonio, and my father had plans to expand, up until the night Balestra ambushed us, killed my parents, and nearly killed me. I escaped with my life, and since then I’d been biding my time, gathering my strength, and preparing to take him out.
I’d almost done it months back. Mal and Cap and I burned down his house and nearly got him, but he’d slipped out of my grasp. Ever since then, we’d been locked in a war over San Antonio, and each day he was alive was another day he grew stronger.
Which was why I needed Jules and her father. They could give me an edge against Balestra, or at the very least they could help counteract his own cartel connections.
Jules poured ice and liquor and some other shit into a shaker. I stared at her smooth arms as she made the drink. I watched her breasts move as she worked the drink up and down. I felt myself stiffen and my heart judder as her lips parted slightly in concentration. I couldn’t tear my gaze away as she finished mixing and poured it into a martini glass before handing it off to a couple of young, drunk professionals at the far end of the bar, two women in business clothes that laughed too loud and looked like they were having too much fun.
When Jules turned back, she caught me staring, and her eyes narrowed.
I only smiled at her. So the fuck what if I was looking?
I didn’t touch, and that was what mattered.
A big presence slipped into the stool to my right. “How’s it going, Carmine?” Mal’s voice was like a cannon shot. It was the rumble of a falling mountain.
Mal was big. He was a muscular beast of a man squeezed into a small black shirt and tight black jeans. Tattoos covered his arms and chest, and his face was a mask of dour animosity. I joked that he had resting bitch face, but really, he had resting I-will-murder-you face. He was my best worker, my top captain, my enforcer, and my best friend. I’d known him since we were kids and I pulled him off the streets, and we’d been close as hell ever since.
“Watching my ward work. How’s she been?”
Mal shrugged, glancing at Jules. “Not bad. Doesn’t know how to bartend, but she never complains, even with the bad leg.”
“I worry about her. Think being on her feet for a full shift is healthy?”
“Cap asked and she insists it’s okay. But she does limp more by the end of the night.”
I let out a slow breath. “She looks good though, doesn’t she? Like she’s fitting in.”
Mal’s eyebrows raised. “That sounds borderline inappropriate. You got a thing for her?”
I glared at him. Fucker could see right through me, but then again, I wasn’t being subtle.
“Absolutely not. I’m not about to get myself killed just because she’s attractive.”
“And now you’re admitting you find her attractive. Are you losing your mind, Carmine?”
“Fuck off, Mal.”
Another person appeared on my left. “Boys, boys, boys. Do I hear you two arguing?”
I turned to look at Cap. She grinned at me and tugged at her auburn hair. Cap was my other best friend, formerly my fiancée, and currently engaged to Mal. She and I were never in love, and our relationship was purely for political reasons. She was the daughter of Mauro Balestra, and before Mauro had stabbed my parents in the back, we’d all planned on making our families thick as thieves.
Now though, Cap hated her father as much as I did. He was an abusive pig, and she would do anything to make sure he paid for what he’d done to her in blood.
Mal was more than happy to oblige his future wife.
“Not arguing,” I grunted, frowning. “Only discussing your newest employee.”
“Jules? She’s a cute one, right?” Cap grinned at me.
“He’s into her,” Mal said.
“You bastard. You traitor.”
Mal laughed. “She’s going to be my wife. There are no secrets.”
“Oh, please, as if he’s doing a good job hiding it,” Cap said, bumping me with her shoulder. “Come on, you stare at her like you want to carry her out back and ravage her. You’re like a horny caveman.”
“Okay, fucking hell,” I said, throwing back my whiskey. “That’s enough of that conversation.”