“Cute,” I mutter against his palm before nipping him, an attempt to get him to lower his hand, but instead, he pushes his fingers into the depth of my mouth and holds my jaw in a vice-like grip. My eyes widen, and his narrow as he holds my gaping lips. I pant around his fingers.
“You always did think so,” he says in a deep, gravelly voice that forces shock waves of blissful anxiousness into my veins, forcing my blood to pump fast and my pulse to quicken. “Keep the collar out. I’m putting it on you the moment we walk back into this room. Then you’re going to drop to your dainty knees and let me fuck this pretty mouth. And you’ll be swallowing what I give you, so don’t fill up on dessert.”
He releases my jaw and steps backwards, watching my reaction to his words. I glare at him, feeling a playful burst of retaliation settle into my mind.
I place the collar on top of the chest of drawers.
And he disappears through the door.
Bronson
Present day
“Yes,”she said. “I want that.”
Playing her acceptance on loop in my mind, I navigate my way towards Dad’s office, dead set on getting this meeting over with so I can enjoy the rest of my night - the culmination of which will include her on her knees with the leather collar around her throat, restricting her breaths as she swallows my cock.
I adjust myself.
I pass Carter standing at the double doors to the lounge room. The big lug is guarding that entrance. Inside, I hear Cassidy and my outlaw picking out a movie to watch tonight. I wrinkle my nose, feeling ripped off that I can’t join them and my baby. It’s a pretty picture - Shoshanna, Cassidy, and Kelly. I want more people in that picture - more children.
Suddenly, the weight of my own half-truth burdens me.We’ll sort it all out soon,I told her.
Soon.
I can’t guarantee that. I have no idea how long it will take for Jimmy to break. To do something so stupid, we can overthrow him without retaliation from the Family.
When I enter the office, I find my dad and brothers already waiting.
“Afternoon, darlings,” I sing, walking over to the drinks cabinet and helping myself to a glass of the hard stuff.
Max is in the exact same position as Dad, leaning back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest, seemingly impatient to get started. Xan is looking at the black phone on Dad’s desk as though the person on the line can see him.
“I didn’t win the last fight.” Xander speaks to the intercom as I lean against the wall, watching over them all while sipping my whiskey neat. “I should have, though. I don’t know what happened.”
“You didn’t set the pace, buddy,” Clay says through the speaker and I grin hard, having missed the big dickhead. It’s the first chance I’ve had to speak with him about Dustin and the shipping yard and whether he knows. A fist encloses my heart at the thought of one of my brothers betraying me -us. I can’t imagine a more painful experience. As my mind explores that possibility, I decide it’s not possible. He doesn’t know. He’d never keep something like that from us. I set my empty whiskey glass down on the cabinet, deciding not to refill it given the echoes of laughter in my mind - a warning for me to stay in control and present.
Xander looks at Max, rolling his eyes slightly. “Yeah, that’s exactly what Max said.”
Max clears his throat. “Let’s start.”
“I went to see Jimmy,” Dad begins, unfolding his arms and reaching for one of the neatly wrapped port cigars he leaves on display to the left of his desk. “I told him that I wasn’t happy he shot the doctor in front of the girl. . . No reason to hide such a thing. Long conversation short, he’d had a bit to drink and thought he was looking after his boy. . .”
“I’m touched,” I say with a wry smile. “And the fact he’s been following her. Knew Doctor Clean? What of that?”
“It doesn’t matter what he said, son,” Dad states. “He was lying to me. I can tell. Which, for the first time in over twenty years, means I have no idea what he’s planning.”
Xander looks at the phone. “Why don’t we frame Dustin for his murder? Kill two birds with one stone.”
“We need him to make mistakes. We need the family to deem him incapable of running things here,” Max states.
“The Family needs to approve the hit, Xan,” Clay says through the speaker, his voice level and smooth - unaffected. I narrow my eyes on the speaker, unable to shake the lingering shadow of his possible betrayal. “We can’t just kill Alceu’s grandson and not expect them to come for us.”
“We’ve sent the skin to Dustin. Let’s send Jimmy a present too.” Xander says, glancing between us, before he reaches for his whiskey and takes a sip, perhaps needing a use for his idle hands.Boxers, so fidgety.
“We need Alceu on our side. Starting a war between Dustin and Jimmy might mean we can’t handle things discreetly. They will come out and send someone who they believe is capable to take over the head. They paid for Jimmy to come out here all those years ago, remember?” Dad sucks on his cigar, the smoke hanging around him, thickening the air. The scent wafts over to me, singeing my nostrils in the best way with its port and sandalwood clouds. I want one of those bitches. Making my way to Dad’s desk, I grab one and spark it up as my old boy continues, “I left Sicily on my own, many years before. I thought I was free from that world. But it followed me. They wanted him to make something of this place, and they wanted me by his side. They still own him. They own his men. We need to be in control of this situation. Jimmy needs to look like the liability we need to clean up.”
Xander scoffs. “We are Alceu’s blood. Let’s go to him.”