Baptiste, the patriarch of the Prince family had taken a liking to me, training me, mentoring me. Treating me like his son when he already had four that he adored. There’d been no jealousy, no sibling rivalry.
So my awkward, rebellious skills had been honed through years of training. I’d even convinced my brother to become a part of the regime, only his personality wasn’t as regimented as mine.
Everything had changed the day he’d overdosed.
Now I took every order seriously, my loyalty to the family without question. If anyone fucked with a single member of the Prince family, I would act without hesitation or remorse.
That had added to my dark and predatory reputation. Some people in New Orleans thought of me as a playboy with a dark demonic center. Others just saw the devil himself.
Either way, I wasn’t the kind of man to be fucked with.
I also had no illusions of grandeur that I’d settle down with the right woman and make babies. That wasn’t in the cards for me and that was fine. I preferred living alone, doing what I wanted in the timeframe of my choosing.
That didn’t mean I didn’t have needs, which I found ways of fulfilling when I had the time. I still preferred violence to romance. Unfortunately, with the shift in the Prince organization after the murder of my mentor, violence hadbecome much more controlled. Granted, what was the American expression? Ah, yes. It wasn’t good to shit where you ate.
Meaning that creating bloodbaths in a city I’d come to adore wasn’t in anyone’s best interests. Yet of course, there’d been issues since Alexander Prince had taken the helm as Don.
The family had enemies stretching back several generations. Alexander and the other brothers were also highly respected and very intelligent businessmen, including forming an alliance with the Five Families of Italy.
With the downfall of the Barishnikoff Bratva in the New Orleans area, and a hard push made on getting the Russians out of Italy because of work we’d accomplished, life had fallen into the most peaceful period since I’d worked for the family.
That didn’t soothe the beast, but I had to go with the flow.
Besides, given I’d been allowed to invest in the family’s stocks and to hold an active partial ownership as well, I was a very rich man. Who wanted for nothing.
Except excitement.
And a taste of something else.
The forbidden.
How many fantasies had I experienced with the stunning Emmeline Prince as the starring ingénue? How many mornings had I awakened with a full hard-on, forced to masturbate before my morning coffee? How many times at parties where she’d attended had I curtailed my alcohol consumption so I wouldn’t lose control around or with her?
More than I could count.
I pulled down the driveway then through the gates, waving at one of two guards. There’d been enough attempts on Alexander’s life that he took the safety of his growing family seriously. Not that I could blame him.
When I was close to the house, I noticed Emmeline’s vehicle parked alongside those of her other brothers and a few additional vehicles of various Capos. The passion purple Corvette was a car that suited her personality perfectly. Since I was Jaxon’s right-hand man, I’d been called to the unexpected meeting.
I was more than curious what the lovely lady with the legs of a dancer, a body meant for sin, and a smile that could light up every bar in New Orleans was doing storming into Alexander’s house.
If I had to guess, I’d say she was making good on her promise of telling her brothers off, something she’d had no qualms about doing under any circumstances.
Why was it that my cock was twitching? Why was it that I couldn’t keep my thoughts out of the dirty end of a cesspool? She was my nemesis, what Americans called my Kryptonite. I could only imagine what Superman had gone through. There was no way the dude had remained a good boy the entire time.
I had to be a damn saint given the way she’d tormented me for years.
The funny thing about Emmeline was that she wasn’t frilly nor was she the kind of woman anyone should ever consider a damsel in distress. I’d seen her shoot a tin can from four hundred yards away.
The woman was dangerous in her own right, including with men who dared annoy her.
Like the dude from the night before. Granted, I hadn’t appreciated the way he’d acted or the way he’d paid close attention to everything Emmeline had been doing. I had every intention of finding his full identity. When I had the time. Would she have handled the asshole if I hadn’t intervened?
You bet. However, my job was to protect her and that’s what I’d done.
Whether she’d wanted me to or not.
Groaning, I parked my car, checking my watch as soon as I threw the gear into park. Today could prove interesting.
