Lawless: Mob Boss Book Three (12 page)

N
ico sat
in one of the chairs in the cavernous knave of Christ Church. It was one of his favorites, built around 1030 and steeped in the kind of history that just wasn’t present in the US. It was a low key tourist attraction, and a couple of people moved through the church, stopping to take pictures. He ran his eyes over them, checking for signs that they might mean him harm. But they were just people, sightseeing or doing research or simply taking a walk.

He let his gaze roam the soaring barrel ceiling as he moved the rosary between his fingers. The meeting that was about to take place would change everything.

Then again, things had already changed. It was time to accept that nothing would ever be the same, that if he and Angel wanted a chance at a normal life, they would have to build it from the ground up. There was no going back.

Angel…

He hated seeing her in pain, and she would hate it if she knew he could see it. She took pride in her strength. He didn’t want to take that from her. But he saw the trauma that lurked in her eyes when they talked about David, about the four months she’d thought Nico was dead. Worst of all was watching her try to cover it up, so afraid to show she was hurting that she piled hatred and anger on top of her pain in an attempt to stuff it down. He knew all about that, knew that hardening your heart only made it crack wider and more permanently when it finally did.

He didn't want that for her. He wanted her to be happy and free. To live with all the spirit and optimism she had when they’d first met. That he’d been party to taking that from her was something he would never forgive himself for. But he could try to make it right. Could try to give her another chance. He could only hope she was willing to choose peace over vengeance.

He glanced over as a man in jeans and a sweater sat next to him, then returned his eyes to the front of the church. Nico was still moving through the beads in his hand when the man spoke.

“I hope you called for more than a prayer partner,” Agent Braden Kane said.

“It can’t hurt,” Nico said.

“I agree. But Ireland’s a long way from New York just for prayer.”

“The distance couldn’t be helped.”

“I thought you were dead,” Kane said.

“You and everyone else.”

Kane leaned back in the chair. “Faking your death is a felony.”

“I think you have bigger fish to fry.”

“What kind of fish are we talking about?” he asked.

Nico looked down at the rosary in his hands. “Full cooperation.”

Kane sat forward, clasped his hands in front of his body. “Are you kidding?”

Nico shook his head. “This is no joking matter.”

“What are we talking about?” Kane asked.

“Information on the Syndicate’s high-level activities, specifically those run by Raneiro Donati, plus proof that he and Sean Murdock are involved in illegal weapons sales.”

Kane let out a low whistle. “We’ve been tracking Murdock for awhile. And you know how long we’ve wanted Donati.”

Nico nodded. “There are conditions.”

“What kind of conditions?”

“Amnesty for myself, Angelica Rossi, David Rossi, Luca Cassano, and everyone in the Vitale family.”

“I can’t promise that,” Kane said.

Nico stood. “Then we don’t have a deal.”

Kane put a hand on Nico’s arm. “Wait. Sit. Let’s finish this.”

Nico sat. “It’s non-negotiable. You know we’re not into the hard stuff. The people who work for me are no more dangerous than the traders on Wall Street.”

“I’m going to need something pretty compelling to sell that upline,” Kane said.

“How about a list of illegal weapons suppliers? Or maybe the names of clients cultivated by one of the world’s richest and most upstanding entrepreneurs?”

“You have something like that?” Kane asked.

“I will. And proof that Donati plans to take over the supply chain.”

“You and the Rossis and Cassano looking for protection afterwards?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Nico said. “We can take care of ourselves. We just want to walk when it’s all said and done, and I need assurances that my people will walk, too.”

“This is big,” he said.

“It is.”

“What kind of timeline are we talking about here?” Kane asked.

“I need to know within a week,” Nico said. “I’ll have the proof to you within two.”

Kane drew a deep breath. “I’ll see what I can do. Where can I reach you?”

“You can’t.” Nico stood. “I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

He stepped around Kane and made his way out of the church without looking back.

A
ngel used
her foot to turn on the hot water, then sunk lower in the bath while it got warmer. After two glasses of wine and almost an hour in the tub, she was slightly drowsy, her body loose and relaxed. Luca and Nico had gone out for a beer, but she’d been unusually tired and had opted instead for a couple of hours alone with some candles and the giant, old tub in the cottage’s master bathroom.

She wondered again what Nico had been up to earlier in the day. It wasn’t unusual for him not to tell her where he was going or what he was doing, but she’d gotten good at sensing when it because he was hiding something.

And he was definitely hiding something.

She reached for the tap with her foot and turned off the hot water. Nico would tell her when he was ready, like he always did. Trusting someone so much was a revelation. And she did trust him.

With her safety. Her body. Her life.

She closed her eyes, imagined his hands on her, the feel of his lips, soft as velvet on her sex. One hand snaked almost unbidden down her stomach, and she let her legs fall open, her breath catching in her throat at the thought of him nestled between her thighs, pushing into her.

“Starting without me?”

The words caught her by surprise, and her eyes flew open as she sat up, instinctively covering her breasts. Then she saw Nico standing in the doorway, eyes like liquid gold in the candle light, his mouth turned up into a sly smile.

She sank back into the water. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry.” He didn’t move, just raised his eyebrows. “So? Were you?”

She grinned. “Just thinking about you actually.”

“Oh, really?”

“Hm-mmm.”

“I think I like the sound of that.” He crossed the room, sat on the edge of the tub, dipped his hand in the water.

“You want to come in?” she asked.

“Is that metaphorical?”

She smiled. “Maybe.”

He rested his hand on her knee, ran it up her thigh under the water, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his rolled shirt sleeves were getting wet.

“Then yes,” he said. “I’d like to come in.”

Her nipples rose to points over the lapping water, and she opened her thighs for him as his hand snaked higher. “Then come in.”

He growled, reaching for her hand, and pulled her up out of the water. She thought he would give her a towel. Instead he scooped her up into his arms, and grabbed the bottle of wine on the counter. Then he made for the bedroom.

She laughed. “I’m getting you all wet!”

“I know,” he said. “Now it’s your turn.”

He dropped her onto the bed and set the wine on the nightstand, his eyes predatory as he unbuttoned his shirt, took off his pants. Then he was naked in front of her, his body as sculpted as a gladiator, the perfectly formed chest giving way to the corded muscle of his abs, the taut skin of his stomach leading to the cock that hung, heavy and engorged, just for her.

His eyes hungrily roamed her dripping body. “You’re so beautiful.”

“I was going to say the same thing to you,” she said, her voice throaty.

He grinned, then prowled to the bed like an animal cornering its prey. He climbed up over her body. His shaft rested against the inside of her thigh, and the feel of his naked skin, hot and smooth against the cool slickness of her own, sent a rush of wetness to her center.

He lowered his lips to one of her breasts and covered the nipple with his mouth. The heat of it against the sensitive bud made her gasp, and she arched her back, wanting him to take it all. The tip of his cock nudged against her core, and she opened her legs, reaching for him, wanting him inside her.

He chuckled, low and sexy, and moved her hand away. “Not yet, baby. I’m nowhere near done with you.”

He pinned her hands over her head and moved above her, letting his cock tease her clit until she moved under him, working the angle for her own pleasure. He licked her lower lip, pulling away when she tried to capture his tongue in her mouth, teasing until she moaned with frustration.

He let go of one of her hands to cup her other breast, running the thick pad of his thumb over the tight peak while he covered her mouth with his own, his tongue stroking her mouth like a finely tuned instrument, making her wetter and hotter for him as she imagined his mouth on her, his cock inside her.

She ran her free hand down his stomach, reaching for him. She sighed when she finally had him in her palm, and she felt him grow bigger as she stroked, moving her hand in time to the rhythm of their mouths, exploring each other like it was the first time.

He captured her wrist, pulled it away from him. “You’re being very impatient tonight.”

“I want you,” she gasped.

And she did. She was slick with desire, her pussy desperate for the completion that only he could give her.

“And you’ll have me,” he said hoarsely. “But I’m going to have to keep your hands out of the way for a bit longer.”

He held her wrists with one hand while he reached for the nightstand with another. When he came back, he was holding one of his ties, and he used it to secure her wrists to the iron headboard.

“You’re tying me up now?” she asked, laughing a little.

“I told you to be a good girl and wait,” he said. “But since you’re so demanding tonight, I think I’ll have to cover your eyes in order to really have my way with you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said.

But he got up from the bed, his cock swinging in all its magnificent glory from the perfection of his body, and retrieved another tie from the dresser. “I assure you that I’m very, very serious.”

He came back to the bed, straddling her. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

She smiled. There were a lot of things she wasn’t sure about, especially now. She didn’t know what the future held, didn’t know if they would even make it out of Dublin alive, let alone get away from Raneiro Donati when it was all over.

But Nico would never hurt her. She knew that as sure as she knew the sun would rise in the east.

“Go ahead,” she said softly. “I trust you.”

He bent his head to hers, kissed her gently before slipping his tongue inside her mouth, bringing her body to the height of passion all over again. Then he wrapped the tie around her eyes and knotted it behind her head.

She was instantly plunged into darkness, the sensation at once terrifying and exciting. She could feel Nico’s body over hers, feel the weight of his cock on her belly as he slid down between her legs, but she had no visual cues to guess what would come next. Her senses were heightened, every brush of his skin on hers electric.

She felt his body angle away from hers for a minute, and then a cool trickle of liquid on her breast. Wine, she realized. He was pouring wine on her body, and she gasped as his tongue lapped at the liquid, closing around the nipple, sucking while he squeezed the other one. She moaned, her pussy throbbing as he moved down her stomach.

For a few seconds, there was nothing, then something cold as more wine filled her belly button. She groaned as he clutched her hips, opening his mouth to her stomach, sucking the wine from her, his mouth close enough to her pussy that it wasn’t hard to imagine the feel of his tongue sliding into her, closing over her clit, sucking until she came.

She tugged at the tie binding her hands. “I want to touch you.”

“Not yet,” he said, moving lower.

He spread her thighs with his big hands, and she felt the cool rush of liquid over her sex. Her back came up off the bed as his mouth covered her pussy, heating the cool wine while he lapped it from her slippery folds.

“Nico…”

She opened her legs wider, wanting him to taste all of her. As if answering the call of her body, he slid his tongue through the engorged petals, thrusting it up into her until she groaned, her climax a storm on the horizon.

He pulled his mouth away and slid his fingers inside her. “You’re sweeter than wine, baby. I could drink you all day.”

The words were spoken into her darkness. There was nothing but his voice, smokey and loaded with sex, and his fingers inside her, his thumb making circles over her clit.

“I can feel you getting ready to come,” he said. “And I’m going to make you come harder than you’ve ever come before.”

He pulled his fingers out, and a moment later, he was pressing against the bud of her asshole.

She startled, and he spoke softly. “Is it okay?”

She leaned back, gave herself over to the sensation, let go of her inhibitions, let her body answer the question for her. “Yes.”

He eased his pinky, slick with her juices, inside her. She relaxed, letting her body open to him. He didn’t move at all at first, and she few seconds later, his mouth was on her pussy again. The sensation was exquisite — his mouth slipping through her while his fingers slowly penetrated her ass. Lost in the darkness, her body had a mind of it’s own now, and she moved against his mouth, pushing her pussy against his tongue while he worked her ass with his finger. She felt the rumbling of a powerful orgasm at her center, an earthquake threatening to tear her apart, and she cried out as he slipped a bigger finger inside her, working with the rhythm of his mouth to create a sensation so powerfully erotic, the force of it almost frightened her.

But she didn’t have time to be scared. Her body took over under the gentle coaxing of Nico’s hands and mouth, opening to him like a flower in the sun until she couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried. She pushed down on his hand, giving herself over to the ecstasy of his penetrating finger against the the silken feel of his mouth lapping at her pussy and clit.

The storm broke inside her body all at once, sending a bolt of lightening cracking through her center. She cried out, tugging against the restraints on her wrists, the headboard clattering against the wall as she came against his mouth, the orgasm rushing like wave after wave inside her body.

When she finally stopped shuddering, Nico’s body moved over hers. Then the candlelit room came into view, and he untied her wrists. She took advantage of his momentary distraction to slide out from under him, pushing him back onto the bed and straddling his body.

She lowered her face over his, her hair a curtain that blocked out the rest of the world. “What did you do to me?”

She didn’t give him time to answer before she lowered her mouth to his. Tasting her sex on his lips sent an sensual lick of heat through her body, and she slid over his insistent cock, letting it slip through the crevices of her soaking wet pussy.

He groaned in her mouth, and she moved her lips down the stubble on his chin. She continued to his neck and chest, feathering kisses over the god-like ridges of his chest on her way down his stomach.

He took hold of her shoulders. “I need to fuck you.”

She laughed. “You think I’m going to let you off that easy after what you just did to me?”

She settled between his legs, took his magnificent cock in her hands, relishing the powerful weight of it. She stroked him soft and slow with one hand while she took his balls in the other, then flicked her tongue against his tip. He shuddered, and she closed her mouth around the thick crown and sucked before sliding her mouth down his shaft all at once.

He gasped, and he stroked her hair, pulled it away from her face. When she looked up at him, he was watching her, a complicated brew of lust and love etched on his face. She took him to the back of her throat while she looked at him, and his head fell back against the pillow.

“Fuck, Angel. You feel so good.”

She worked the base of him with one hand while she slid back up, sucking on the tip before sinking back onto him. He pumped his hips against her mouth, thighs flexing, his arousal tugging at her insides until she was on fire for him all over again.

“Come here, baby,” he gasped. “Ride me.”

She wanted to follow his instructions, but she wanted to taste him more, and she worked his cock faster with her mouth and her hand, making sure he knew that she had no intention of leaving until he came.

“Fuck… I’m going to come if you don’t get up here right now, Angel.”

His cock was huge, swollen and rigid in her mouth, getting bigger and harder by the second as he came closer to climax. She reveled in the power to bring him the kind of bliss he brought her, and she tightened her grip, sucked harder.

He growled, and a second later he was spilling into her mouth, the hot liquid sliding down her throat, making them one in yet another way. She didn’t stop until she’d licked him clean. Then she collapsed against his body, her head on his chest.

He leaned down, captured her mouth in his, kissed her long and deep. “You’re amazing.”

She sighed. “Back at you.”