“You paid attention in Sunday School.”
“And Catholic elementary school. My sins started early. My first crush was on a nun.”
She stares at me, uncertain whether I’m joking.
The woman was only a postulant—a nun-in-training.
“‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.’ I paid attention too, Alejandro.”
“You assume I’m lying. That I’ll play you for a fool.”
“You most likely will.”
“Why bother? Like I said, you could already be dead if I wanted. Do you think I’m toying with you?”
“You said this was all a game.”
“The striptease, not your life.”
She shrugs a shoulder. I get nothing more. Since she’s nearly in the center of the bed, I pull back the covers. She lifts her hips, staring at me in confusion. I pull them back over her, tucking them beneath her arms. Such a shame to hide such magnificent tits that tasted like the jasmine she mentioned earlier.
“You’ll get cold. Since I won’t untie you to put a shirt on, this is the best you’re getting.”
“You could let me put on a pair of pants if you’re not going to make me come.”
“You’re just using me for my body.” I waggle my eyebrows.
“Not all of it. Just your fingers and your dick.” Her expression appears so innocent despite the dirty things she says.
“A mind is such a terrible thing to waste.”
“We can go tit-for-tat with scripture and slogans. I’m bored. Turn on the TV.”
If she genuinely meant her dismissiveness, it would hurt. I like our sparring.
“Frustrated that you’re losing,princesa? Or should I sayprincipessa?”
“Your accent’s nearly passable.”
I only have a smattering of Italian. Pablo’s the one who speaks it. He also speaks Russian.TíoEnrique and Jorge have French and German covered. Javier speaks Japanese and Korean. Joaquin speaks Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Cambodian.TíoLuis and I speak Brazilian and European Portuguese. We have all our major trade partners and rivals covered.
The only one we haven’t bothered with is Irish. Those pissant O’Rourkes aren’t worth understanding. We run our own guns, and no one in my family likes whiskey. We prefer our Colombianaguardiente—fire water. It’s a lower proof than whiskey, but at least the anise-flavor doesn’t taste like ass.
As I watch Vita, I know I wouldn’t mind licking hers. That’s usually not my thing, but if she enjoyed it, I would.
“You’re just annoyed that you aren’t winning,chiquita. Not our war of words or the race to see me dead.”
I walk around to the other side of the bed as I slip off my already unbuttoned shirt. I haven’t bothered fastening my pants. Seems rather pointless since the woman I’m with is completely naked. Vita watches my every move, and she’s not unaffectedwhen she sees all of my permanently sun-kissed torso covered in tats. My physique is the result of necessity. I work out twice a day most days because I often lift heavy crates or my relatives and run for my life. It doesn’t hurt when I want to get laid.
I’m not indiscriminate with my partners. Just the opposite. I don’t date, and I don’t do random hookups. I like my sex rough and kinky. That’s not for everyone, so I satisfy myself at my BDSM club. All the men in the Four Families have the same proclivities. I suppose it allows us to exert the control we crave—also out of necessity—while doing it constructively. Compared to our usual need for control, it’s a far healthier outlet.
There’s a finite number of clubs in the tri-state area, so our memberships overlap. So does our silent ownership. Now that most of my generation is married, we’re far more careful about not overlapping our visits. We used to maintain neutrality and pretend like we didn’t know each other when we ran into each other. For the sake of the wives, through mutual silent agreement, we do our best to uphold their privacy with preferred days of the week. Some couples have their own playrooms at their homes and don’t frequent the clubs often.
“What’re you doing?”
Vita’s brow furrows as I recline on the bed. I glance at her before shifting to reach over her for the remote on her bedside table. She knows I could’ve picked it up before moving to my side of the bed. I take the opportunity to kiss her, nipping at her bottom lip as my fingers wrap around the controller. I kiss along her jaw until I reach her ear. My voice’s a whisper after tugging her earlobe between my teeth.
“You wanted to watch TV.”
