Vassago's Reckoning Read online

  “Yes. Told me he didn’t trust me.”

  “She was being followed throughout her entire engagement,” said Digger. “I got confirmation of that through a mutual friend.”

  Donny nodded and the corners of his mouth lifted. “The same friend you had kill Vince, no?”

  And there it was. The real reason Donny was here, trying to tie up loose ends. Marie let out a sound halfway between a gasp and a sigh. “Are we sure it’s done? Is he dead?”

  “Positive.”

  “Yes,” said Digger. “The same friend. But I didn’t know about Vince’s past association with LoPresti, or that he had betrayed him.”

  “He betrayed a lot of people. He’s lucky he lived this long.”

  “Not asking this to be morbid, but why did Vince tip his hand with Marie?” asked Vassago.

  “I don’t believe he meant to,” said Donny. “He was likely angry that she’d done something he hadn’t figured would happen. Also, no one put a hit out on her that I heard about.”

  “I’m glad to finally know the truth,” she said. “And I’m glad to know I wasn’t being paranoid.”

  “You weren’t. Although I wish you hadn’t lied to Digger to do it, I’m glad you were able to get away.”

  “So does that mean di Stefano doesn’t know that Marie helped Sofia get away?” asked Vassago.

  “Now that I don’t yet know,” said Donny. He glanced toward Digger. “If he finds out, and if word gets around that you’re here, he might make the connection on his own.”

  “That’s what we all thought, too,” said Digger.

  Vassago couldn’t take anymore. He scooted his chair close to Marie’s and pulled her into his arms, not giving a shit who thought what about the gesture.

  “Donny, will this affect my family’s association with you?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Thank you. I’m so sorry.”

  “I know you are. You looked me right in the eyes and told me the truth. Digger has accepted your apology, and you’ve made things right with the MC. That’s all that matters to me now. Digger and Jimmy know the stakes here. I’d trust them both with my life.”

  Which made Vassago’s guilt over what he and Digger had planned even worse. Maybe they should just tell him?

  “Is my family safe?” asked Marie.

  “They are. I haven’t heard about anyone wanting to get rid of them.”

  “Which means di Stefano might not yet know what Marie did,” said Digger.

  “Maybe. But right now, I want to know why you didn’t come to me about Vince.”

  “You have enough trouble with di Stefano,” said Digger. “I wanted to make sure no one could trace this back to her, or to you.”

  “And so you did. It was clean. Any one of his past associates could have done it. He had a lot of enemies.”

  “That’s what I do best, Donny. You know that.”

  Donny narrowed his eyes, and Vassago resisted the urge to reach across the table and smack Digger in the face. Fucking asshole. He just tipped their hand.

  “Yeah. I know. So what else you two got cooking? You didn’t come here for a fucking vacation, Digger. What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Donny, you’re family,” said Vassago. “We take care of our own.”

  “You aren’t in the game anymore. You think I want you to end up dead?” He glanced toward Marie. “You think she wants you dead? She’s worshipped you from afar since she was a kid. Whatever you got planned, don’t do it. Let me take care of it. I got contacts all over the fucking country.”

  “So do I,” said Digger, his voice and expression angry. “And you already had an attempt on your life. You think me and Jimmy are gonna let that happen again? You’ve taken care of us all your adult life. It’s time we paid you back a bit for that.”

  “Donny,” said Vassago, “you’ve taken care of this club for years. Me and Digger are going to do this, if we have to drive to Brooklyn and do it ourselves.”

  “What?” Marie looked at him like he’d just said he and Digger were going to fly to the moon. “Are you insane? I didn’t know you meant to take care of it on your own. I thought you were gonna go there and arrange for someone to do it.”

  “You knew about this?” asked Donny.

  “Yeah, but not that they were planning on doing it themselves!”

  “This is what we do,” said Vassago.

  “You haven’t done it for almost twenty years,” said Donny.

  Vassago grinned. “You think I forgot how? We’re doing this. Especially now, in light of the new information. The longer di Stefano is out there and has time to connect the dots, the more danger you’re in, Marie is in, and this entire club is in.”

  “How do you know I haven’t been planning it myself?” asked Donny.

  “Have you?” asked Digger.

  “There’s a lot more to consider with di Stefano than with some others. I have an entire organization to protect, not to mention this club.”

  “A hit is a hit.”

  “That’s why we were gonna make sure it couldn’t be traced to you,” said Vassago. “We considered this from all angles, il mio cugino preferito.”

  “I still can’t sanction it, Jimmy. Give me time to look for someone who’ll do as good a job as Digger had done with Vince.”

  “We don’t have time.”

  “Give me one week.”

  “A lot can happen in one week,” said Digger.

  “And I’m asking you, out of respect for me as both your uncle and the head of my organization, to give me one fucking week.”

  Digger and Donny locked gazes for long moments. Finally, Digger dragged his gaze toward Vassago. “You okay with that?”

  “I think we owe Donny that courtesy, yes. One week. And then if he can’t find someone who can do this as well as you can, we’ll take care of it as planned.”

  “Grazie, il mio cugino preferito.”

  “Prego.”

  It wasn’t what he’d hoped, but Vassago was glad it had come to this. If they’d gone ahead with their plan and then had to tell Donny what they’d done, the outcome would have been far less comfortable. In retrospect, it had been a rash decision, but one he was still ready to go forward with. Donny was family, and family took care of their own.

  Chapter Twelve

  For the next two days, Marie busied herself with doing everyone’s nails. Since the dancers wore open-toed shoes when they were on stage, she even did toenails for some of them. At first, Chloe and Rai asked her what she would charge, but Marie wanted to do them for free. She wouldn’t be here that long, though she didn’t say that to Rai or Chloe.

  Both women, however, insisted she charge for her services. They didn’t want anyone taking advantage of her, and they said this could be her job here at the club. Instead of being paid a salary like the others were who did double duty, she’d be her own boss right here in the building. Not that she would mind being part of the cleaning, laundry, or cooking crew during her short stay, but doing nails was something she really loved.

  So she called around to the area salons and found out what they charged for various services. After she had that information, she made up a price list to show Chloe and Rai. Once they agreed the prices were more than reasonable, Rai let Marie use the computer and printer in the office she occupied when she did her work for Donny, so Marie could print a price list that they hung up in the kitchen, next to the weekly schedule.

  Marie realized on the first day she’d also need to book actual appointments if she expected to have any free time. In addition to her, there were twenty-four women in the building, and all of them were delighted at the prospect of having a nail technician living with them.

  By the time Tuesday afternoon came, she’d done nails for half the women there, and had heard more gossip than she could keep track of. She even learned that both Rai and Kayla had recently found out they were pregnant.

  Doing the women’s nails gave Marie a sense of purpose that had
been lacking since she first came here. She no longer felt adrift, as though her life had been put on permanent hold. It also was a way she could give back to this community that had sheltered and protected her, even after the lies she’d told.

  Marie hoped this would at least partially atone for that, and would set her on the right course. She couldn’t live her life telling lies whenever she was in trouble. That was no way to be.

  The women were very nice to her, even though most of them had already made the assumption she and Jimmy were a couple. Marie stayed neutral on the point, changing the conversation at every opportunity.

  While doing nails again grounded her in some respects, her relationship with Jimmy wasn’t a relationship at all. Once she left, it would be over. She didn’t want to think about it. That would only depress her. It was better to let them talk about anything else, and about each other, than to dwell on her feelings for a man who would never be hers.

  Tuesday evening, Marie wandered into the club to watch the first set of dancers. Jimmy was at her side almost instantly. He leaned close and whispered, “When are we going to the private room?”

  She’d forgotten about that. The excitement of the past two days, coupled with that intense conversation with Donny on Sunday afternoon, had pushed her little shopping trip with Jimmy right out of her head.

  “You tell me. When’s a good time?”

  “After the first set.”

  “Okay.” Her pulse raced. “What do we do? Just walk in there?”

  “Yeah.” He grinned. “We don’t need an appointment, Marie.”

  “Oh ha-ha. You’re so funny.”

  He swept his hand into her top, cupping her left boob. “Marie, you’re not wearing a bra.”

  She laughed. “Neither are the dancers, so I figured why not?”

  “You incredibly sexy woman.” Right there, oblivious to the looks some of the customers gave them, Jimmy massaged her nipple until Marie’s pussy was soaking wet. “I don’t think I can wait for the set to be over.”

  “Me either.” She was off the stool before he had his hand out of her top. He grabbed her hand and led her to the back of the club, past the curtained entrance where two patched members stood guard. They eyed her like she was fresh meat as she and Jimmy walked past, but Marie didn’t mind. If this was what he wanted, she’d gladly give it a shot.

  At first, it was kind of a shock to see members back there with dancers and a few customers, having sex, right in the open. There were silk screens that partially obscured some of them, but nothing blocked out the sounds or the smells.

  Jimmy was unfazed. How many times had he brought a woman back here? There was an empty spot next to the right, behind a screen. They even had benches built into the walls. Jimmy grabbed a sanitized wipe from a container of them hanging on the wall and wiped the bench.

  “We’re supposed to do that when we’re done, but I never second-guess it. Lean over and put your hands on it.”

  Oh my goodness, this was interesting already. She did as he asked, and then gasped as he shoved his hands under her top and grasped her boobs.

  “Goddamn, Marie. I’m so fucking glad you didn’t wear a bra. You have the best tits ever.”

  “Thank you.” She was lost in the sensations of him rolling her nipples in his thumbs and forefingers. He alternated that with kneading the flesh in his strong hands, while he pushed the bulge in his jeans up against her ass.

  “I’m going to fuck you rough and fast. And then I might get hard again and fuck you in the mouth.”

  That was fine with her. She was already out of her mind with desire, and she still had her clothes on. He pulled off the top, forcing her to stand for a second. When she did, he grasped her boobs from behind again and kissed her neck. “You ready, Marie? This is gonna be really raw.”

  “Oh, God. Yes.” She’d never been so ready for anything in her life. Her entire body trembled with excitement. Jimmy bent her over again, and Marie moaned loudly when he pulled her jeans and panties down, all the way to her ankles.

  He rubbed her clit from behind and shoved two fingers into her wetness. “Oh yeah. You’re fucking ready all right.” She heard a zipper, and then without any further warning, he pushed his dick into her hole.

  She cried out in pleasure, and a fair amount of pain, which subsided within seconds. He grabbed her hair and tugged her head back slightly. “This is so fucking sexy.”

  “Yes. It is.” She could barely speak. He rammed in and out of her harder than he ever had before, but she loved it. Her climax began to build, and when she glanced toward the entrance because of a noise that caught her attention, a small crowd had gathered around them.

  Marie had never had sex in front of anyone before, and wasn’t sure she’d like it, but as soon as she realized they were being watched, a surge of energy coursed through her. The orgasm followed, and it was so intense, her cries of ecstasy were genuine.

  They spurred the crowd on, who cheered and made really lewd remarks. But that only fueled her excitement. Jimmy was like a runaway train, holding onto her hips now, thrusting in and out so deeply his balls slapped her pussy and droplets of sweat landed on her bare skin. Her pussy was sore and she had trouble hanging onto the bench he was so rough, but she loved it.

  It was raw, like he said, and so fucking animalistic. The crowd was a major turn-on in a way she’d never imagined possible. When he came, it was almost a disappointment. But he wasn’t done. He pulled out, roughly turned her around and kissed her, tongue and all, to more loud cheers and raunchy comments.

  “Sit down.” She didn’t hesitate. Jimmy grabbed her boobs and squeezed them together, rubbing his dick in between. “Look at me. You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  “So are you,” she whispered. Nothing in her wildest fantasies had prepared her for this reality. His hair was loose and he needed a shave, which only made him even more fucking gorgeous. Those dark eyes bored into hers, ablaze with lust. What she wouldn’t give to live here with this man for the rest of her life.

  Holy shit. As soon as the thought took shape, Marie looked away so he wouldn’t see the truth in her eyes. That was the last thing he wanted. She was certain of it. This was nothing more than sex to him. Mind-numbing, over-the-top-hot sex, for sure, but they lived completely different lives. She’d lied to him and to Digger, and caused this club more trouble than they deserved. Why the hell would he want her to stay?

  No. The man of her fantasies would stay just that once she was gone. But while she was here, she’d enjoy this like she’d never enjoyed anything in her life. His cock was hard again, much to the delight of the crowd. There were more people around them now, but Marie’s attention was focused only on Jimmy.

  “Open your mouth.” She did, and he rammed the entire length of his shaft inside. The crowd went nuts. Marie forced her throat muscles to relax and closed her eyes so she could concentrate on keeping her throat soft. But her hands kept drifting up because he fucked her so deeply.

  “Hey, Vassago, want one of us to hold her hands down?” The voice belonged to a patched member named Apollyon. Marie opened her eyes and gazed up into Jimmy’s face. He raised his brows, asking her permission silently. Because she was so touched that he would, she nodded.

  The crowd cheered, but over their noise she heard Jimmy tell Apollyon that if he touched any part of her except her hands and arms, he’d beat the shit out of him. If she could have smiled, she would have.

  Apollyon wedged his body behind her, forcing her to move forward on the bench, and wrapped his arms around hers, holding them back. Jimmy’s gaze on her face was intense, questioning. She nodded again to let him know she was all right, and then he resumed fucking her mouth.

  Her pussy was so wet the juices were running down her thighs. Being held like this while the man she’d dreamed about for years fucked her in front of his friends was the ultimate aphrodisiac. She came by squeezing her legs together and flexing her Kegel muscles. If any of them knew it, she didn’t even give a shi
t.

  When Jimmy finally came, he filled her mouth first with jizz and then pulled out to splash her face and boobs with it.

  Behind her, Apollyon released her arms and moved away quickly. “Fuck, Vassago. Warn a guy first, would ya? I don’t want that fucking shit on me!”

  Everyone laughed, including Marie. And still he wasn’t done. Jimmy knelt on the floor and pulled off the rest of her clothes. He spread her legs and ate her out until she came again, with everyone watching them, still cheering. When he reached up and played with her boobs at the same time, she closed her eyes and let the sensations wash over her.

  If he asked her to fuck every guy standing there, watching them right now, she would do it. But he didn’t. He stood and helped her put her clothes back on, adjusted his jeans, and took her hand. They didn’t speak on the way up to his room, and when they were inside, he pulled her close and held her, stroking her hair and back until tears ran down her face.

  “I will never forget this night,” he said.

  Neither will I.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Vassago was on pins and needles, waiting for the week to pass. That, coupled with the confusing emotions from Tuesday night, made him snap at everyone. Except Marie. He couldn’t even stand to leave her side.

  He even tried to stay while she did nails Saturday morning, until she took him aside and asked him not to. It was making the women uncomfortable. When he asked why, she explained it was girl talk time, and they weren’t going to be as open as they wanted to be if he or one of the other men were there.

  Finally, he sought out Digger who asked him when they were leaving for Brooklyn.

  “I guess tomorrow.”

  “You guess? What the fuck is wrong? Getting cold feet?”

  “Fuck you. Of course not. We said we’d give him a week, and tomorrow is a week.” Donny had called every day to let Vassago know he was still trying to find the perfect person for the job, but Vassago began to wonder whether Donny had decided to let him and Digger take care of it, and the calls were nothing more than a formality.