Convicted: A Mafia Romance (10 page)

I gasped when Sebastian eased the door to the master bedroom open. It was as big as my entire apartment. As he pulled me inside, I couldn’t stop my eyes from lighting on the insanely large king-size bed that seemed to be calling my name, the silky black comforter shimmering as the light swept across it. I stepped forward, running my hand over the soft material, loving the way the cool material kissed my fingertips. Without meeting Sebastian’s gaze, I sat on the edge of the bed, reaching down to slide my shoes from my aching feet.

“Relax. I promise I won’t bite,” he said in that gravelly tone I loved so much. My eyes darted to his. Maybe I wanted him to bite me… but I shouldn’t allow myself to want such a thing. Not with him. It was then that I realized that twice now I had slept with a man I didn’t really know. Twice I had let my body take control. I had let him take control, too. That wasn’t like me at all. No. He had a control over me I couldn’t quite understand.

I had hated and embraced the power he held over me, loving and hating how much I enjoyed it. I had never submitted to anyone before, had never wanted to, but now I was curious. As much as relinquishing control scared me, I wanted to see where this would go. The only thing holding me back was the voice deep inside me, telling me how wrong it was to get involved with him. But I found myself chaining up the voice of reason in my head, locking it snugly away in the depths of my being. I wanted this man to ravish me as no one had ever before.

But I had to keep my heart out of it.  That would be the only way I’d survive a man like Sebastian, the only way I could walk away when all of this was over with my head held high. After our first encounter, I knew I didn’t have a chance in hell of resisting this man, and honestly, I didn’t want to. That realization went against my better judgment. I might regret being with him later, but for now, I would embrace the sensual needs nobody had been able to satiate until him.

The bed dipped down beside me as he took a seat, his thigh brushing against mine for a brief second before it slipped inches away as he lifted my legs onto his lap. His strong thick fingers wrapped around my sore foot, engulfing it in warmth, massaging away the ache as my eyes drifted closed. I knew that if I looked at him, I’d fall to pieces and he already had so much power over me.

“Thank you for helping me, Agapi mou. I will spend my life repaying the debt I owe you.”

My eyes snapped open, meeting his dark hungry eyes. “You have called me that several times today. What does it mean?”

“It means ‘my love’ in Greek.”

I grew pale from the shock of his words, not believing my ears. Words escaped me. I opened my mouth to speak and quickly snapped it closed again for fear of saying the wrong thing, deciding it was best to simply nod. That would have to do as a response unless he pushed for more. He didn’t, thank goodness. I wouldn’t have known what to say if he had pushed for my thoughts on his pet name for me.

When the shock wore off, I felt a warmth spread over me, reaching deep down to my core. Could a tough and dangerous man like Sebastian love me? Was he even capable of loving anyone? I didn’t know the answers to those questions and it was probably best to let them remain unanswered. For now.

“As your attorney I...”

His finger pressed across my lips, quieting my words instantly. “You may be my attorney, but I am the one in control here.” My eyes widened in shock, his tone weakening my resolve. I had half the mind to part my lips and take his thick finger into my mouth. I wondered how he might respond. Would he toss me back on the bed, rip my clothes from my trembling body, and ravish me? “Don’t be afraid, Agapi mou. You have nothing to fear. You are safe here. I only mean that I plan to keep you here, warming my bed.”

Oh God!  “I... may I speak now?” I could have just nodded and let it go, but that wasn’t like me.

“You may. But only if you agree to my desire to have you in my bed.”

“I can agree to that, but as your attorney, I have to tell you it’s a bad idea.” I swiped my tongue over my lips. Sebastian’s eyes darted from my eyes to my mouth. He raised his eyes to mine again before speaking.

“Maybe it is. But I always get what I want. And I want you.” His deep rich accent whirled around me, the warmth of his breath wisping across my lips as he leaned in for a kiss I’ll never forget.

It was a bruising punishing kiss if ever there was one. My body shattered, engulfing my core in a heat so strong I shivered as he tilted my head and deepened the kiss. I moaned, allowing his tongue to dart forward, dancing with mine torturously, beautifully. His fingers cupped my face, running into my hair, gripping and tugging. I whimpered at the slight sting, wanting and needing him to take me as he had the first time we were alone. My heart raced, thudding against my ribs as he pulled away, meeting my hooded gaze. The dark seductive and powerful look he gave sent a shiver down my spine. We kissed like that for what felt like an eternity, but I’m sure was only seconds or minutes before he groaned deep in his throat, pulling away.

Sebastian cupped my face in his hands and placed a chaste kiss to my forehead. “I suggest you get some rest while you’re able,” he said pointedly, before heading for the door. Suddenly, he looked over his shoulder, a wicked grin on his handsome face. “When I return, I plan to get to know your entire body very well.”

Chapter Fourteen - Sebastian

“One’s greatest challenge is to control oneself.”

- Kazi Shams

The most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do, besides sit in prison for a crime I didn’t commit, was walk out of my bedroom, leaving the most gorgeous women I’d ever met laying on my bed. For weeks, I’d dreamed of having Haven in that very spot. And when I finally had that very thing, I had to force myself to take care of business instead.

Stepping into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind me with a resounding snap, I rearranged the growing erection pressing insistently against my zipper. Never in my life had I wanted so badly to drive my rock-hard cock deep between a woman’s folds. As commanding a man as I was, there was no hiding the power she had over me. It was an unsettling and alien feeling for a man like me, who hungered for power and control every fucking day of his life. I’d been raised to tighten my fist around power, stealing it from others every chance I got. And I always did that, very well, delighting in it, feasting on the destruction of others that were left in my wake.

As I straightened my thick shoulders, running my fingers through my hair, I strode down the stairs taking the steps two at a time. The sooner I talked with the men downstairs, the sooner I would find myself in bed with Haven.

I found the men sitting in the living room, their hands cradling glasses of bourbon; my fucking bourbon. Dooley looked smug as all hell as his eye landed on me, grinning at the animalistic snarl I struggled to keep off my lips. The bastard had always been too cocky for my taste. Men like him always got what was coming to them. He had managed to skate by, hiding his dirty ways for years, but that wouldn’t last forever. When the time came, I might take him down myself. After this fucking mess was over, he’d know too damn much about my household, my men, and me. There was no comfort in that, only danger, and lots of it.

“I see you’ve all made yourself at home,” I grumbled, pouring myself a tall glass of bourbon.

“Nice place you have here, Christakos,” Dooley said with a smirk and a raised brow.

“I’ve earned it, Dooley, so watch your tongue. I am owed respect.”

Hackett shook his head, chuckling lightly in that way he did when he was nervous about something. Clearing his throat, he wasted no time in attempting to clear the air of hostility. “We don’t have time for this shit. Fight after we catch this fucking lunatic. Let’s get down to business.” He drained his glass dry of bourbon and leaned back on the couch.

Only a handful of men could talk to me in such a manner and live. Hackett was one of them. “You’re right. There’s something more important than a pissing contest with this idiot. What do we know about Theron?” Any information would be more than what I currently knew about my long-lost brother.

Dooley wasted no time, jumping into the conversation. No surprise. “Nothing. He’s a fucking ghost. Outside of what Davis and Haven learned at the orphanage, and that information was lost with Davis, we have nothing more than an image of him.”

“And that leaves us where exactly in finding him?”

Dooley flipped open a laptop, pressed a few keys and turned it to face me. A video sprung to life showing a man who looked so much like me I could barely breathe. I watched as the man – my brother – placed a bomb in a black SUV outside of an old house, the orphanage he had spent much of his life in, from what Haven had said. The cold smile on his face was a carbon copy of mine.

I stiffened at the sight of him. A murderous rage flamed to life inside me, scorching my lungs and throat as I watched Davis climb inside the SUV and slam the door closed. A heartbeat later, a man I had trusted with my life was engulfed in flames, the metal bursting open like a mangled wreck. He didn’t stand a chance.

In the corner of the frame, I could make out Haven and an elderly woman being thrown against the wall of the old house like rag dolls. My heart wept at the sight of Haven’s tortured expression as she slowly faced the burning car and the realization that Davis was burning alive inside it. Downing the remaining bourbon in my glass in one swallow, reveling in the burn, I snapped the laptop closed.

“I see now why it was so easy for him to set me up for murder. What makes you think he’ll come for me?”

My gaze traveled between my men and Dooley, staring them down intently. No one seemed to want to speak up. After a few minutes of silence, Eamon stood up and began pacing around the room. “Sebastian. He’s fucking jealous as hell of you. You have everything that was taken from him. He’s your brother. When you were born, your father chose one child over the other. He chose you. Don’t you see? Having two sons so close in age at that time was viewed as more of a problem than it is today. You were firstborn, making him less than you in your father’s eyes. They sent him away, giving him only the family name.”

“And how do you know this?”

“I was there the night you were born. I heard your brother’s cry as your father showed us his firstborn son. Everything that happened after that with Theron was kept secret… but rumors and stories circulated amongst the men.”

“So he will come for me because he is jealous.” I nodded. “Let him come. We will be ready.”

“Two months is all we have to make this happen, Sebastian,” Dooley said, his voice calm and cool as he reached for the laptop. “If Theron manages to slip from our grasp, you return to prison. We can try like hell to guess his next move or force him to step from the shadows during the time we have.”

“And what do you have in mind to draw him out, Dooley?” I asked, not sure I would like any idea he threw out at us.

“Since he seems to be green with envy over something you had no control over, I’d suspect that seeing you free and with a beautiful woman will no doubt have him smarting in no fucking time.”

I wanted to pummel Dooley where he sat. The bastard wanted to put my woman in the line of fire. Hours ago, he had said that I was the bait for this freak... not her. She was never part of the deal. Inhaling sharply, I pressed my lips snuggly together, forming a thin line pressed so firmly my jaw ached from the pressure. I wanted to beat the son of a bitch to death for just thinking about my Haven.

“I’d prefer to leave Haven out of this, Dooley,” I said through gritted teeth. “You know as well as I do that she could be hurt like... like Astra was.”

My own words cut me deep inside, the images of Astra’s lifeless body in our bedroom flashing chaotically in my head… but her face had changed. Haven now lay covered in blood. Her perfectly delicious body so violently attacked, over and over again. I felt a thousand emotions at once, everything from anger to confusion to utter helplessness as I realized there was nothing I could do to bring her back. So many questions I could not answer.

No matter which woman’s face was present in the images, everything was almost identical.

Almost.

After the overwhelming feeling of sadness encompassed me, I felt something new. Something quite different and foreign. A feeling that had always been void from my life. Looking down at Haven’s face, her body covered in crimson, I felt afraid. Not of going to jail, even though that smarted like hell. No. I feared having to live without her. To live with the knowledge that I would never see her again.

It was this moment I knew, without a doubt, that she would always be my woman. Agapi mou. My love. I’d keep her safe from harm and close to my heart always. Now I just needed her to see things my way. I needed her to understand that she would forever be mine.

Mine now.

Mine always.

After several hours downstairs dealing with Agent Dooley, I couldn’t take the sight or sound of the man any longer. He made my damn skin crawl. He didn’t give a shit about anyone except himself. Even I cared about my men to some degree. No matter how many men I killed over the years, I put a hell of a lot of thought into each choice I made. If the choice was death, I didn’t take it lightly.

That’s not the case for all men that live in a dark world, covered in the crimson showers of blood, but I believed taking a life should never be easy. It should haunt you, and if taking another’s final breath, watching the light of life drain from their eyes, didn’t touch you in some way, then you had become something much worse than a simple made man. Dooley wasn’t far from slipping into that arena. My brother was already there.

I, on the other hand, had remained balanced between the two, straddling the line like a warrior shrouded in darkness and light. I was what I was, but with Haven by my side, the darkness seemed to slip further and further away. Something about her had begun to change me. I won’t lie and say that I understood it, but I felt that I would eventually. She was a remarkable woman. My Haven.