He broke his mouth away from mine to gasp for air, nosed his way to my ear, and said, “Come on, Angelo. Come for me. Fill me up.”
With a final, desperate drive into him, I gripped his waist hard and did exactly as he asked, filled him up and marked him asmine, splashing my claim deep inside him. Dimly I heard his moan of pleasure, but I was too far into my own spiral to really take in all his little endearments and murmurs.
When I opened my eyes again, he was jacking off while he sat there, my dick still in his ass, still half-hard, and when he saw me watching, felt my hands running down his thighs, it pushed him over the edge. He arched, one arm blindly feeling behind him to take his weight, as his other hand urged out his climax and he marked me in turn, coating me in his thick cum.
He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Yes, it was becoming more and more difficult to turn my mind to the concerns of the Family.
* * *
Eventually,though, I could avoid Luca D’Amato no longer. He asked me one day to see him in his study, and I knew then that my vacation was over; the study was his place of business.
“How are you?” was the first thing he asked, and we exchanged pleasantries, but soon enough he passed into business.
“What are your thoughts on the situation we’re in now as a Family?” was how he put it. Delicately. But definitely. He added, “I want you to speak freely. I always have.”
“Alright,” I said, and wondered if he’d feel the same once he’d heard what I had to say. “I think you are poised to become even more powerful. But you need to choose a new second-in-command. My face is everywhere and, sooner or later, someone in law enforcement will get lucky, and they’ll pick me up. And you’ve been without an Enforcer since your brother left us, you have no Consigliere—”
“I’m well aware,” Luca muttered. “But let’s go back to your first point—a new Underboss?”
I spread my arms. “You asked my opinion, Don Morelli.”
He gave a pensive, single nod. “I did. And I value it, as always.”
I decided at that point to retreat, to come back to my point another time. Perhaps he was not yet ready to hear it. “Was there something in particular you wanted my opinion on?” I prompted, giving him a way out of the conversation.
Luca raised his finger to his mouth in an almost-nervous gesture. “I wanted to discuss our relationships with the Families on the West Coast. I hear Sonny Vegas is on the mend.”
I couldn’t help but grin at that news, and Luca even smiled back. “I know. I like him, too, despite everything. I’m glad he pulled through. I do hope he’s learned his lesson, of course, but that’s…what I wanted to discuss with you.”
I raised my eyebrows. As far as I’d known, Luca had intended to cut ties with him and the other West Coasters after Chicago. But it became clear as he went on that he’d had second thoughts.
“I don’t want things to disintegrate between our Families any more than they already have. These Central Park killings have reminded me how important it is for the Families to be able to trust each other, work together—as much as they’re able, anyway. It may seem foolish of me to want to try again with our cousins out West, but things are different now. I believe they’ll show me more respect this time around. Or at least,” he finished dryly, “not try to kill me.”
“I think it’s a sound idea,” I said respectfully.
“I’m happy to hear that, because I want to send an emissary of sorts. I thought…” He raised his eyebrows. But there was no way I was going to finish that sentence for him. “I wondered if perhaps the job might suit you.”
“I’m not sure if Bax has any inclination to move to the West Coast,” I hedged. “Of course, if this is your order, Don Morelli—” If it was his order, I’d have to think about it before I obeyed blindly. Bax was my priority now, and I could not go back to what I had once been: the Boss’s man, through and through.
I was Baxter’s now.
“God, no,” Luca was saying. “I don’t want to separate you from your lover, please understand me. But I’ve had some news that I thought would be of interest to you, and might make a move out West more palatable to both you and Flynn.”
He told me exactly what he had discovered. I had to sit a moment and take it in. “This isn’t from the same source as the O’Sullivan lead, is it?” I asked at last, only half-ironically.
“No,” Luca said. “And I’m sorry about that.”
I shook my head. “No need to apologize, Boss. I was fooled, too. As for this intel…I’ll speak to Bax about it. If it’s true, then I believe he would want to take the chance at clearing his name. And I—I want that as well.”
Luca relaxed back in his chair with a little puff of air. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. I’d been worried that you were thinking of retiring,” he added with a small smile.
“I’m not sure retirement is an option for any of us. But if you think it’s time for me to step back—”
“No,” Luca broke in quickly. “That’s not at all what I want.”
I thought that over for a moment before I looked up again with a smile. “It’s what needs to happen, though. You understand that now, don’t you? It’s time for you to take full control of the Family. Time to make everyone understand thatyoucontrol the Morellis, completely and utterly. That you rely on no one and nothing.”
