“Call it whatever you want. I made a deal with you. You give me the information I want; we help you take down the Bianchis,” I remind him. “Maybe part of that deal is to protect you.”
“Your family will protect me?” he asks. “I don’t think they’re very interested in that. I think if I get caught, they’ll let me go down without a word.”
“No,” I say sternly, my eyes flaring with heat. “Absolutely not. No one is going to touch you.”
Alek’s eyes flicker with confusion that melts into understanding.
“Why?” he asks.
I lean in even closer, smelling alcohol on his breath and the warm musky scent of his skin. “Does it matter?” I ask him in return.
Truth is, I don’t really know why. All I know is I can’t resist removing all space between us by pressing my lips to his.
The side of Alek’s gun presses to my hip, and his mouth freezes against mine. Just for a second. Then our eyes seem to close at the same moment, and he’s kissing me back.
My light stubble brushes against his clean-shaven face and Alek groans into the kiss. For a brief second, I think that I’m going to be taking control of the kiss, but then he overpowers me in an instant. He forces my mouth open with his tongue and slides it around mine.
My hands reach for his sides and I feel his free hand grip at the front of my shirt, pulling me up slightly to match his height. His hands, despite being smaller and slenderer than my own, are strong and agile.
The taste of Alek on my tongue tends shockwaves of arousal down to my already semi-hard cock and I can’t help but push myself against him and his gun, and his own dick in his trousers.
Suddenly the kiss parts and he takes several steps back from me.
“Do you see what you do to me?” he asks. “You make me…completely irrational.”
I suck in a breath, my eyes hooded as I look at him standing there several feet away.
“Are you sure it’s me making you that way?” I ask, licking my lips. “Our first meeting…you weren’t exactly rational.”
He huffs and shoves his gun into his holster before walking over and sitting down on the end of the bed.
“This can’t happen,” he says simply. “Not again.”
I swallow hard. “You’re right.”
He glances up at me as though he was hoping I’d say the opposite. But then nods slowly.
“It’s wrong, but not for the reasons you might think,” he says quickly. “For reasons that I carry on my shoulders. I can’t have…I can’t let you…” Alek shakes his head.
I walk over to stand in front of him and look down. He’s looking at the floor now, a vacant expression in his eyes.
“Look, you ain’t gotta tell me why…but at least tell me what the Carvels want,” I say. “I know it’s nothing good.”
Alek sighs and shakes his head. “They want to make a deal with the Bianchis,” he explains. “They want to help take you, the Dresvanni family, down. They don’t have many men on their side, but they apparently got a new deal of arms recently and can do a decent amount of damage if they side up with a bigger organization.”
“Of course,” I spit out the words. “They’re always trying to nose their way into shit.”
“If I don’t bring this to Stephan, he might find out from someone else and question why I didn’t talk to him about it,” Alek tells me. “It’s a risky move either way, but it is more likely that I’ll get caught earlier than we want if I don’t tell them.”
“You’re right, you need to tell him,” I agree. “You can find out more about what both sides want that way. You just need tomake sure you take out the Calvers before they can get too far in the way.”
Alek nods and looks up at me finally. It’s quiet for a moment, and I see the look of desire in his eyes still.
I feel it in my bones. Need. Arousal. It’s so much more than even a physical need, I find myself aching for him in more ways than I understand.
I step between his knees as he sits on the bed.
“Tommy,” he mumbles.
