Breaking Bones (Mariani Crime Family Series Book 2) (22 page)

Before I could finish, Bones lunged at me. His lips greedily sought mine as his hands slid behind my head, keeping me captive. He smelled of metal and musk, and I breathed him in and let his scent make me crazy. His tongue explored my mouth, claiming me. I grabbed his suit jacket, holding him against me as his hands roamed down my back, around my waist, and under my shirt. I knew I should pull away, but his passion stole the oxygen from my brain. I lost the will to think, to move, to breathe. All I wanted was him.

By the time we finally came up for air, the windows were foggy. Bones kissed my cheek and drifted down to my neck. “I’m not handling you, Ari. My feelings are very real. You’re right, though,” he whispered against my neck, sounding as breathless as I felt. “I am a control freak. But you drive me crazy. I’d lose my mind if anything happened to you. That is what would send me over the edge. That is what I need you to protect me from.”

My eyes burned at his words. I closed them and let the vibration of his deep voice against my skin soothe me. This felt so good—so right. Like nothing in my life ever had.

He moved from my neck to trail kisses across my jawline, ending back at my lips. “You have no idea what you do to me. What I want to do to you. We just gotta get out of this town first.”

Out of this town and away from my dream. A dream I was no closer to than when I’d arrived in Vegas over a year ago. Could I give it all up for a chance to be with Bones? Probably. Would he break my heart and make me regret it? Probably. Was I stupid enough to do it anyway? Yes.

“Okay,” I whispered.

He kissed me one last time—a soft and gentle promise—before putting on his seat belt. I picked up the flowers, slightly embarrassed at the way I’d tossed them down to grab onto him, and he defogged the windows. Then, he held my hand and drove me home.

The next morning, Bones was gone before I got up. Markie was in the kitchen teaching Angel how to make crepes filled with fruit and whipped cream for my birthday breakfast, just like the ones Mom used to make. It was a sweet gesture, but it made me sad. Made me miss all the things we’d lost. She and Angel cleaned up the dishes while I went to the gym alone, wondering where Bones was.

About two hours later I got back and he still wasn’t home, so I showered then lounged on the sofa watching television and waiting until it was time to get ready.

Markie and I had shared a bathroom growing up, but it had been years since we’d been crammed into a space getting ready for a big event around each other. Not like Bones’s bathroom was small, but unlike Angel’s bathroom, it only had one sink, which meant the mirror was made for one person. The third time Markie elbowed me—and apologized—I dropped my curling iron into the sink, gave up, and sat on the toilet seat.

“There’s room. Get back over here,” she insisted, scooting until she was pressed against the wall, eyeliner still in hand. She glanced down at my curling iron in the sink, and a flash of sadness rolled over her expression before she smiled it away. She never complained about her hair, but every once in a while I could tell she missed her long golden locks.

“Nah, I can wait. It’s not like we’re in a huge hurry.”

I watched her finished lining her eyes. She looked tired.

“You sure you’re up for this?” I asked. “You’ve been doing a lot, you know?”

“Ohmigosh, you sound like Angel. We’re taking a cab to a restaurant and eating dinner. We’re not going out dancing or painting the town red.”

I smiled. “I never understood that expression.”

Markie paused, mid eyeliner stroke and looked at me. “Yeah, I have no clue what it means.”

I left her to her makeup while I snooped around Bones’s bathroom. Opening a cabinet, I found an unopened bottle of body wash, popped the top, and gave it a good sniff. It smelled like heaven.

“What are you doing?” Markie sounded scandalized, like I’d stolen the crown jewels or something.

“Barely resisting the urge to rub this all over my body.” I closed my eyes and breathed it in again. Suddenly we were back in his Jeep with his lips on my neck.

“Get out of his personal stuff, you freak,” Markie scolded.

I laughed.

“You seem better today,” she said. “Did you and Bones make up last night?”

“You’d know all the details by now if you hadn’t been bumpin’ uglies with your boyfriend last night.”

Markie’s brows shot up her forehead and her face turned red. “We were not bumping anything. We fell asleep watching a movie in his room.”

I eyed my blushing sister, trying not to laugh at how scandalized she sounded. “Poor Angel. Are you ever gonna give it up for that guy?”

“We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you and Bones.”

I grinned. “Oh, well I would give it up for Bones in a second. Shoot, all he had to do was kiss my neck and my panties melted off. I didn’t even care that we were in the parking lot.”

“You did it in his car?” Markie asked, her eyes widening.

“No. Unfortunately we didn’t get past second base. The boy can suck face like nobody’s business, though. I can’t wait until—”

“Ari!”

My big sister was still so freaking innocent. It made me want to mess with her even more. “What? Did you see the flowers he got me? Tell me you wouldn’t have your hands down Angel’s pants if he brought you that bouquet.”

Her eyes bulged out of her head.

“And have you seen Bones’s body? All those muscles to nibble.” I took another whiff of his soap. “And smell this. Tell me you wouldn’t want to jump the sexy guy wearing this.”

“Ohmigosh you’re ridiculous. Stop it.”

“Fine.” I popped the cap back on the body wash and searched through the rest of his cabinets, finding a giant medical kit stocked with more supplies than the average pharmacy store. “Holy crap, check this out,” I said, riffling through the contents.

Markie glanced down. “What? It’s just a medical kit.”

Reading package labels, I asked, “With chest seals? Tactical tourniquets? And what’s a LOKSAC? This looks like it belongs in a trench, not in a bathroom.” I thought about the scars on Bones’s chest and back, wondering how many of these kits he’d been through.

“Angel’s family isn’t exactly safe to be around,” Markie reminded me.

That was the understatement of the century. Angel had a legitimate job now, but what about Bones? He worked an awful lot for someone who didn’t actually go to a job. And what was this “one more thing” he had to take care of? How dangerous would it be? Would he need this kit before he was through?

No time for worries like that now. It was my twenty-first birthday, I had a hot date, and nothing was going to bring me down. Determined to lighten the mood, I opened a package of gauze and wrapped it around my chest.

“Hey Markie, look. I think I figured out what I’m wearing tonight.”

She giggled. “What are you doing?”

I stood, twirling so she could get the full effect. “What? You don’t think this looks hot? Oh, just wait till you see it with my shirt off.”

“Oh no, please.”

“It’s my party. I can dress like a hoochie if I want. Hey, think I can get Bones to go all the way if I show up like this?”

Markie laughed, throwing her hands in the air. “What am I going to do with you?”

Her question plunged me into a memory.

I was drunk, sitting in the middle of the floor at the Drinkwaters’ party because I could no longer stand. Markie’s boyfriend, Trent, stood over me laughing, drink in hand. “What am I going to do with you?” he asked.

“Uh… help me up?” I slurred.

Still laughing, he hefted me to my feet and into him. I wrapped my arms around his chest, willing the room to stop spinning. Trent felt warm and hard. I snuggled in, enjoying the feeling. The next thing I knew, we were dancing slowly. He put a finger under my chin and angled my face up until my lips met his. Something in the back of my mind screamed that what we were doing was wrong, but it all felt so good to my body. I wanted this. I wanted this hot, older guy to want me. I didn’t care who we’d hurt, I wanted to feel loved and valued and beautiful. Trent made me feel all that and more.

Without breaking the kiss, he led me out of the living room until we were alone in a bedroom. He locked the door behind us and kept kissing me, leading me to the bed.

“I know just what to do with you,” he said.

“Ari?” Markie asked, the concern in her voice breaking through my memory. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied, pulling the stupid gauze off my chest, disgusted with myself. “We should hurry and get ready. The guys are probably waiting at the door and we’re not even dressed.”

I replaced the first aid kit and closed the cabinet. I could feel Markie’s gaze boring into me, but I didn’t say more. I couldn’t. I needed a drink. I needed the whole damn bar to be numb enough to forget.

On my way out of the bathroom, I remembered why I hadn’t yet dressed. “How nice is this place we’re going?” I asked.

“Swanky,” she replied, seemingly happy I’d recovered enough to talk to her. “And you need to dress especially nice.”

“Uh…” I glanced in Bones’s closet that we’d, for the most part, taken over. “I don’t know that I have anything that would qualify as especially nice.”

“Sure you do.” She set down her mascara, returning with a garment bag. She held it out to me and waited.

“What’s this?”

She smiled. “Your outfit. Check it out.” When she realized I wasn’t going to take it, she laid it across the bed and walked back into the bathroom.

Curious, I unzipped the garment bag and peeked inside to find a long black dress.

“Try it on,” Markie called.

She didn’t have to ask me twice. I pulled it from the garment bag, unzipped the back, and stepped in. It was sleeveless, floor-length, fitted through the waist and hips, down to the calves, where it flared just enough to walk comfortably. I stared at myself in the mirror, shocked.

“How does it look?” Markie asked.

“Like
Jessica Rabbit
meets
Audrey Hepburn
. Check out my curves. Ohmigod, I look like a lounge singer. It’s so perfect. Where did you find this thing?”

Markie whistled her appreciation at me. “Angel knows a guy. You look gorgeous, Sis.”

Angel knew all sorts of guys, but they seemed more likely to design guns than dresses. The thing fit like it was made for me. I’d never felt so beautiful. “This is too much.”

“It’s exactly enough.”

“Markie, this must have cost a fortune.”

She waved me off. “You only turn twenty-one once. Angel and I wanted to make sure you had something you could leave an impression in.”

“It will definitely make an impression,” I said, imagining Bones’s eyeballs rolling out of his head in his best
Roger Rabbit
impression. “Thank you.”

“Don’t forget the gloves,” she said.

The gloves came above my elbows, adding mad levels of glamor. I didn’t deserve something so nice, not after the things I’d done and the people I’d hurt.

No. Happy thoughts only. Tonight’s gonna be amazing.

Determined to make it so, I finished adding waves to my hair, stuffing back the guilt, worry, and fear, and becoming the confident performer I saw in the mirror.