Dipping Into Sin 2: Digging Deeper Into Sin (10 page)

Swallowing the hard lump in my throat, I
couldn’t believe that I was a father to three girls. The different emotions
that inundated me were unmanning. I could deal with anger, love, hurt, but I
couldn’t deal with fear.

 “You didn’t deserve to be with the man that
I was back then. I didn’t expect to fall in love with you. I just knew that I
wanted you. There were countless nights that I would watch you sleep
peacefully. All the while, it fucked me up inside because I knew that one day I
had to walk away from you. When you told me that you were pregnant…” pausing, I
had to compose my own transgressions that threatened to dominate this
conversation. Blinking away the darkness that haunted me since that day, I
continued, “An abortion was the only option in order to keep you safe from—”
Stopping myself, I refused to go any further. The less that Simone knew about
my life, the better.  

“Bella mia, I’m sorry for the man that I was
back then,” I said after a moment of silence.

“I don’t want your apology. I need for you
to just stay away from us. My daughters don’t need to be confused,” she said,
as her expressive eyes begged for me to abide by her wish.

“And whose fault is that?” I nearly screamed
as a seismic wave of rage tampered the air between us. “Our daughters deserve
to know the truth about who I am.”

“I know what’s best for my daughters,” she
screamed while shoving her index finger into my chest. “I will do whatever I
have to do to protect my daughters from you, even if that means moving away.”

Blinking again, flashes of red hindered me
from seeing clearly as I envisioned Simone and my daughters going into hiding. “Try
and run and I’ll hunt you down,” I warned. “Try and keep my daughters away from
me again and you’ll see another side of me that you never knew existed,” I finished.

“Oh, you mean your murderous side?” she
paused as if allowing the statement to have a profound moment of silence.

Shrugging off the anger that rested on my
back, I looked at Simone for the longest time before finally asking, “Do you
really think that I would kill you?”

After a moment of silence, Simone finally
looked up at me and said, “There are so many things that I thought that you
would never do. But when it is all said and done, nothing surprises me anymore.”

Sighing, I backed away from Simone and
allowed the expulsion of air to heave from my chest. I refused to insult
Simone’s intelligence by lying to her. Yes, I killed the rat and yes I’m in the
mob for life. But, what bothered me in this conversation was not even that she
look at me like a murderous gangster. Rather, I was bothered that she thought
that I could bring myself to harm
her
. Between my daughters and her, I
would kill whoever, just to make sure that they could sleep at night
peacefully. She was the one person in this world that had control over me. And
for the first time in my life, I was fine with being controlled.

            “Simone,” I said after a moment of gathering my
thoughts, “I’m capable of doing many things but bringing harm to you or my
daughters is not one of them.”

~****~

Simone

“You should really come out with us
tonight,” Shannon said as she stood in front of her locker door.

Placing my lunch container into my duffle
bag, I looked up and repeated my usual answer whenever I was invited to go out
with some of my co-workers, “No, not tonight.”

Sighing, Shannon replied drily, “Do you ever
go out and just let loose? You’re always either working or taking care of your
daughters. Self-care is important.”

Out all of the nurses in my unit, I was
closer to Shannon. Like me, Shannon was also a single mother. Although Shannon
was more social and extroverted, she gravitated to me. Often, she tried to
include me in social events that took place among the other two young nurses in
our unit.

Taking a seat on the bench, Shannon said, “I
know how it feels to be wrapped up in your children to the point where you
forget about yourself. But, you have to find time for yourself. At least once a
month do something for
you
.” Pointing her index finger at me, Shannon
stood up and lifted her bag off of the floor. 

“Mommies need to have fun too,” she said as
she walked towards the front door. Opening the door, Shannon turned and looked
back at me and said, “Text me if you decide that you want to come out with us.”

Throwing the strap of my duffle bag over my
shoulder, I couldn’t help but find truth in her statement. The only time that I
went out was when Victoria came out here. But, even then, we try to incorporate
the girls into most of the activities.

Walking out of the hospital, I noticed Dr.
Jackson hopping out of his car. Pretending to shuffle through my bag, I
continued to walk to my car while I silently prayed to be invisible. Last week,
he cornered me again on the elevator and continued to be flirtatious, even
going as far as rubbing his hand down my arm. At this point, I’m contemplating
on filing a report against him because this is getting to be out of control. At
first, I thought that I would be able to manage his flirting by reinforcing the
idea that I don’t want to date him. The last thing that I wanted to do was draw
any unnecessary backlash to me because of my complaint. This is my first job as
a nurse, after all. But, I shouldn’t have to compromise my integrity because of
a check. Nor should I have to remain uncomfortable while at work.

“Damn, if I had known that you were going to
be working the earlier shift, I would’ve opted to come in earlier. Next time,
I’ll just have to check your schedule before I schedule my rotation.” 

Choosing to ignore his comment, I continued
to walk to my car with disgust written all over my face. Unlocking the car
door, I felt his presence coming closer. Feeling his finger wrap around my
elbow, I turned around and shoved Dr. Jackson away from me.

“Don’t touch me,” I said through clenched
teeth.

“Whoa. Relax beautiful,” he began as held
both of his hands up mid-

air.

Swinging the car door open, I tossed my bag
into the car and turned to face Dr. Jackson again and said, “This is considered
sexual harassment. I’ve asked you more than once to be appropriate and remain
professional when you are addressing me. But, you insist on harassing me into
going on a date with you. Enough is enough.”

Walking closer to me, Dr. Jackson stood a
few uncomfortable inches away from me. His eyes remained fixed on me as if he
was trying to intimidate me with his stance. “Trust me,” he began.  “You don’t
want to head down that road with me. By the time I’m done with you, there would
be no place in this state for you to work. You’ll crawl on your knees and beg
for me to look twice at you. I might just let you suck on my—”

Clap!

That was the thunderous sound that I heard
the moment a tan colored fist landed right on the side of Dr. Jackson’s cheek.
Tumbling to the side, Dr. Jackson’s body slammed across my car door before
hitting the pavement with a loud thud. Turning to look over at the attacker, I
saw Andriano’s eyes look briefly at me before transforming into a monster that
I no longer recognized.            

“Andriano, please stop,” I shouted as fear
overtook me.

Standing over Dr. Jackson, Andriano
continued to strike him in the face. The more Andriano’s fist became painted
with Dr. Jackson’s blood, the more Dr. Jackson’s body became limp. The muffled
pleas died against his lips as his once shaking legs became undeniably still.

“Andriano, please! You’re going to kill
him!” I pleaded. This only seemed to entice Andriano even further as his
punches became more thorough. Afraid to touch him, I continued to repeat my
pleas. His shoulders looked like mountains, and his fist looked like bulldozers
as he tore through Dr. Jackson’s face.

“Andriano, our daughter’s need you.”

Dropping his balled up fist to his side,
Andriano unraveled his fingers from the lethal weapon that it formed. Looking
down at Dr. Jackson’s lifeless body, Andriano slammed his fist one last time
into his distorted face before standing up. Turning around to face me, I backed
up in fear.

Grabbing my hand, Andriano practically
dragged me to his car that was parked in a remote spot. Nearly ripping the
passenger side door off of the car, Andriano gave me the look that warranted my
compliance.

~****~

Andriano

            This was the side of me that I did not want
Simone to see. The fear in her eyes only angered me even more.
I should’ve
killed that motherfucker.
Her facial expression the moment he started
talking was an automatic switch as I welcomed my dark side. Catching only the
last part of his statement, I knew that he was a dead man.

            “Give me your keys,” I said through gritted
teeth. Trembling, Simone dropped the key in my blood soaked hand.

            As I walked closer to her car, the eagerness to
finish what I started with this asshole was more important than my next breath.
But, then images of my daughters stopped me from killing him. Instead, I walked
over him and reached for Simone’s duffle bag. Locking the car door, I swung the
strap over my shoulder and grabbed a hold of his legs. Sliding his body towards
the entrance of the hospital, I abandoned him in an area where he would surely
be seen. 

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Simone
cried out the moment, I opened the back door and tossed her duffel bag in the
back seat.

Ignoring Simone, I slammed the back door
shut and walked around my car. Hopping inside, I shifted gears and exited the
parking lot.  During the drive home, Simone remained silent, but I could feel
her fury bouncing off of her. Between my anger and her anger, we both were
liable to make the wrong move.

“This is my fucking job—my livelihood!”
Simone shouted the moment we pulled up in front of the house. Shifting the gear
in park, I unbuckled my seat belt and continued to remain silent. Trying to
explain to Simone that I would go through great lengths to protect her—even
give my life for her was useless. Leaning my head back into the headrest, I
took in Simone’s angry hollers. That was until she said…

“I’m not your concern Andriano.”

Cutting my eyes in her direction, I said
forwardly in a malignant tone, “You’ll always be my concern.” Leaving her
speechless, I latched onto the door handle and pulled it. Coming around, I
opened the door for Simone. Avoiding eye contact, she brushed past me and
walked towards the house. Unlocking the front door, Simone walked into the
darkness of her home. Closing the door behind me, I searched for the nearest
switch and stopped at the far right corner of the foyer.

“I need you to take me to get my car in the
morning,” Simone said as she faced me with crossed arms.

Nodding my head, I lifted my t-shirt over my
head and walked past her into the kitchen. Running my finger under the water, I
washed away all of the blood before lathering my hands with soap.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Simone
going into the freezer and pulling out an ice tray. “Here,” she said awkwardly
before walking away from me.  Placing the ice pack over my swollen knuckles, I
listened to sounds of Simone shuffling around her bedroom. Tossing the icepack
into the sink, I made my way up the stairs with all intentions on showering the
events of tonight off.

Wrapping the towel around my waist, I walked
out of the bathroom and looked at Simone’s closed door. The wooden door blocked
me from having access to my
bella mia
. Refusing to walk away, I moved
closer to the door and decided against knocking on the door. Turning the knob,
my cock immediately swelled as I painfully traced her curves with my eyes. Her
back was facing me as she slid her nightgown over her head.

“Get out,” she said before turning around to
face me.

Chapter Twenty-Two

 Simone

            Sitting across from
Shannon in the staff lounge, I asked, “Hypothetically speaking, if I wanted to
file a petition to have a restraining order placed against a person, how would
I go about doing so?”

            Choking on her water,
Shannon grabbed a tissue from her lunch bag and dabbed the sides of her mouth
and chin dry. “Girl, what’s going on? Spill the tea.”

            Trying to hide all
signs of emotions, I threw a skeptical glance at Shannon before saying, “There
is nothing to spill Shannon. I just wanted to know because I have a friend who
is going through something right now.”

            Her eyes lingered over
me a few second longer than necessary before saying, “Well, your friend would
have to prove that she is being harassed or assaulted.”

            “What if children are
involved? Can it be extended to them as well since they are minors?” I asked.

            Shannon leaned forward
on her elbows and dropped her voice low before asking, “Are you sure this has
nothing to do with you?”

            “I’m sure Shannon,” I
answered quickly before repeating my earlier question.

            Leaning back in her
chair, Shannon began, “Your friend would have to go to Family Court. From
there, the court would issue a temporary order of protection for the children
while they start their investigation. But if this person is the biological
parent, the court could grant supervised visits while they proceed with the
investigation. This includes the Child Welfare System being involved in the
children’s lives and your friend’s life.”

            Feeling the color drain
from my skin, I started to feel nauseous. “How long does this generally take?”

Shaking her head,
Shannon huffed out her answer, “It could take six months to a year. It
definitely depends on the situation and how fast the courts move. Don’t get me
wrong; if you—I mean your friend can prove that this person is endangering the
welfare of your child, the court would have no problem making the order of
protection permanent. They would need to contact current and past employers and
would even go, as far as, searching through past records. If your friend has
any past incidents or criminal involvements, they’ll become the immediate
focus. This could prolong the process.” 

Rubbing my fingers
through my hair, I proceeded to massage my scalp to relieve the tension.
I
can’t expose my daughters to this madness,
I thought as I struggled to hold
back my tears.

“Simone, are you
sure that everything is okay? I have a lawyer who helped make sure that my
children’s father paid child support and lost his visitation rights. If you
want, I could give you his number.”

Nodding my head, I
broke a smile and said, “Thanks, Shannon, but that won’t be necessary. I’ll
pass the information along to my friend, and hopefully this matter will get
resolved. Standing up, I walked towards my locker and placed my lunch bag into
my small duffle bag.

Wiping away a
tear, I willed myself to remain strong like Grandma. Somehow…someway, I will
get Andriano away from my daughters.
 

“Simone did you
hear what happened to Dr. Jackson?” asked another nurse.

“No, what happened
to the pervert?” asked Shannon. My hands shook as knots formed in my stomach.
Listening closely, I continued to shuffle through my locker for nothing in particular.

 “He was attacked
last night in the parking lot.”

“Oh shit, do they
know who did it?” asked another nurse from across the room.

“No, apparently
there was a glitch with the cameras. The cops can’t seem to locate any footage
from the time frame of 6PM to 8AM,” answered the nurse.

“How is Dr.
Jackson?”

“His jaw and nose
are broken. He suffered broken ribs and has eternal bleeding.  And the most
recent update revealed that he suffered from a retinal detachment in both eyes.
He’s in really bad shape,” answered the nurse.

Drowning out the
sea of murmurs, I exhaled and realized that by 7AM, my car was back at the
house. Closing my locker door, I quickly left the lounge and prayed that the
police never found the footage.

~****~

Andriano

Five
days later

           
Walking out of
the bathroom, I placed my toothbrush and toothpaste into my duffle bag. This
was the fifth night that I slept on the floor, and my body was starting to feel
the effects of the wooden surface. Rubbing away the ache in my lower back, I
looked at Simone’s bedroom door with enmity. She was torturing me in more ways
than one. I don’t know which is worse, a back ache or a hard-on.  Since being
here, she’s done everything to keep her distance. I tried to steal moments
alone with her, but she always managed to evade my grasp.

Walking away from
her door, I looked towards our daughters’ bedroom. Yesterday, I spoke with a
contractor to design their bedrooms according to their personalities. If only I
could convince Simone to see reason, I thought as I turned the doorknob to
their bedroom. Looking at each of my daughters sleeping, I couldn’t help but
think about the harm that could come their way. Feeling my heart tighten, I
knew that there would be no peace for anyone if anything happened to them or
Simone.

Reaching for
Olivia’s blanket, which seems to be on the floor every morning, I placed the
cover on her again. Turning to Jasmine’s bed, I had to hold back the laughter
from watching her squeeze the life out of her stuff animal. Across the room was
Acelia’s bed. She slept with her legs and arms spread wide open with one leg
hanging off of the bed.

Shutting the
bedroom door, I walked towards the stairs and made the short trip to the
kitchen to get started on their breakfast. Before I could even see her, my cock
knew that she was in the kitchen. Somehow, Simone had this effect on me that my
whole body was attuned to her very existence. She heightened my senses in a way
that was out of my control.  

Leaning on the
counter, I watched as Simone leaned forward into the freezer. Her robe did
nothing to conceal her delectable curves. Hell, it did nothing to ease my
erection either.  Trailing my eyes up her thighs to her backside, I had to
fight the urge to take her on the kitchen table.

“Shit,” she swore
as she lifted her body up from the freezer. Looking down at her nails, Simone
was not prepared to see me standing directly behind her. Bumping into my
hardened stance, Simone’s eyes roamed up from my chest to my eyes. She looked
incredibly sexy with her hair tussled around her chest, and her face refreshed
and revitalized from a night's worth of rest. Breathing in her fruity scent, I
knew that the time for playing nice was a dead conversation. Pressing her body
against the freezer, I reached around her and dropped the lid while my other
hand lifted her body off of the ground.

Her eyes became
glassy as I held her close. This time, she couldn’t hide behind our daughters
or her mother. She had no opportunity to escape me and, to be frank, there was
no way that I could let her go without satisfying my craving.

“Andriano,
don’t...” she said breathily as I invaded the space between her legs.

“I’m through
letting you torture our bodies,” I whispered against her lips before sliding my
fingers up her thighs. Reaching for the straps on her robe, I untied the knot
and slipped my hand under her shirt.

“Andriano,
please…” she moaned against my lips the moment I brought my lips to her nipple.

“Please, what?
Please, fuck you until you can’t come anymore? Please, take you out of your
misery?” I asked in between sucking her nipple. Gliding my fingers up her inner
thighs, I found the spot that I desperately wanted to taste and feel.          

~****~

Simone

Outlining his
sculpted chest with the pads of my fingertips, I knew that I was in deep
trouble the moment a moan escaped me.  Sliding his fingers under my shorts,
Andriano wasted no time slipping his middle finger inside while his thumb
massaged my clit. Releasing my nipple from between his lips, Andriano watched
as I became undone before his very eyes.

“Ohh, God,” I
moaned out my pleasure as he stroked me.

“God can’t help,”
he whispered close to my ear as he slid his finger out of me. Grabbing my
shorts, Andriano pulled them down my thighs and started to pat my aching sex.

“Andriano,” I
whimpered.

“Good morning,” my
mother said, interrupting our heated exchange. Pushing his body away, I hopped
off of the freezer and pulled the flaps of my robe together as I greeted my
mother. Her eyes squinted slightly before looking between Andriano and me.  

Embarrassed, I
quickly brushed past my mother and walked out of the kitchen with all
intentions on avoiding Andriano. 

~****~

Andriano

           
Feeling my phone vibrating against my
thigh, I dug into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
Nicolai,
I read
silently, as I slid the screen up and skimmed over the text message.

Nicolai:
3 RED

Andriano:
When?

Nicolai:
NOW

Looking at Simone’s glaring eyes, I excused
myself and walked out of the room.
Oh fuck, Nicolai texted in code
. We
developed a system of private coding the moment I became the Don. Nicolai, my
right hand, was the only other person who knew the code. 

1 is for our clubs, 2 is for our
restaurants, and 3 is for La Costa Nostra business. The colors indicate the
severity of the situations. RED meant danger, YELLOW meant sit down needed,
GREEN meant situation is handled. The last time that Nicolai used code 3 RED
was when we learned about the betrayal by Donald Spillmore.
But, we solved
that problem. What the fuck could be wrong now?
Answering my call on the first
ring, Nicolai sounded like he was preoccupied, judging by the sounds of sirens
in the background.
“
Andriano, you have to get back to New York now.”

Just then, I saw
Josephine’s name appear on the other line. Clicking ignore, I brought the phone
back to my ear.

“
Can you handle it?” I asked

           
“
No.”

            “I’m on my way,” I told him and then hung up.

            Scrolling through my contacts, I stopped at
Kevin, my assistant’s number, and told him to book me a first-class ticket to
New York. A few minutes later, he forwarded a message with all of the details.
Fuck,
I only have an hour.
Brushing past me, Simone walked into our daughters’
bedroom and shut the door just as my phone began to ring.

Looking down at my
phone, I pressed ignore and sent Josephine’s call to voicemail. I couldn’t be
bothered with the bullshit that was going on in New York. But, I needed to tie
up some loose ends before I could be the man that I needed to be for Simone and
my daughters. I’m not going to lie, for the first time in a long time I feared
that Simone would live up to her word. Five years ago I would have ordered my
men to follow Simone and inform me about her every move. But, I trusted no one,
especially when it concerns my
bella mia
and my daughters.

Just then, there
was a knock at the door.

            “Come in.”

            Twisting the knob, I pushed the door open halfway
and stuck half of my body into the room. Meeting Simone’s curious eyes, I felt
like she could actually read my mind. She stopped brushing Olivia’s hair and
waited for me to speak. Looking around the room, I located my other two
daughters who were coloring.
How could I leave them?

“I have to fly back to New York today,” I
finally said as my stomach churned with underlying guilt.

“When are you coming back?” she asked.

“Tomorrow night.”