My mama used to put him in his place, her Italian side would come out, and she grounded him whole. She was beautiful, elegant, and graceful but we all went off the deep end when she was murdered by a rival gang that Dad had to go undercover in when he was a rookie. He sent the bad guys to jail but one always slips through the cracks and it was what tore our family apart. He worked endlessly to bring our family justice but was kicked off the case because he was too close to it. He started that day at the bottom but climbed himself to the top so he could have the power where no one would even think about trying to take him down. He once said if you can’t beat them, join them, and that’s exactly what he did. He used to be a hero figure to the community, a police officer who wanted to make a difference, but something changed in him when Mama was lowered into the ground. He became cold hearted and turned to the other side of the law. Most fear him and respect him at the same time.
“We gotta go. I’m pretty sure my stepmom is throwing a big fucking fit again that she didn’t get what she wanted.” My voice comes out in a growl, I’m so sick of her shit.
Ever since my father met her, distracted by her beauty the moment she fell into his arms on the street. She snatched him away and takes his fucking money which he just turns a blind eye to. That is why I’ll never fall prey to a beautiful woman who is only after one thing.
“They’ve been together for a few years, I honestly thought he’d get sick of the same pussy each night, but guess not. At least you got a mommy.” Tey grabs his stomach, chuckling madly, thinking he’s a funny comedian but we both know he’d switch places with me in a heartbeat.
He grew up in the foster system although he’s spent half his childhood in my house along with Dalton and Nicky. They are my brothers even if we don’t share the same blood.
“Let’s just get out of here. You grab all the supplies?” I ask him as I start walking out of the evidence room with him taking his sweet time following. “No testing the goods and whatever you have in your hands, put it the fuck back.”
I don’t even have to bother looking, his need to steal something can get out of control unless I put him in line or Dalton does. Usually that fucker would just sit on him until he gives up and stops trying to steal shit that can get him into trouble because it doesn’t matter when or where…he’ll get his sneaky fingers on anything to keep as his. I think it’s abandonment issues so he takes control of something that he can call his to keep.
“Always ruining my fun, I swear, Lo. You need to get laid. Let’s get this over with so I can sharpen my knives.”
And he says I need to get laid? I can’t even remember the last time he’s had pussy. We reach the first floor, passing a bored looking Gale again, who is ten times our age but that doesn’t stop her from looking at us like we’re a snack. I’m a fucking dessert, not a small mussel to gobble in one bite. I’m the whole deal that makes you moan and beg for more until you're full.
“Logan Russo! Is it true that there is corruption within the law enforcement of Los Angeles and your father is well aware of the problem?” The most annoying voice speaks from behind me, her clicking heels trying to catch up to us.
“Nope! No. Not dealing with her. Make the bad thing go away Logan before I do something drastic like slit her throat. She won’t be talking anymore after,” Tey mumbles, and speed walks ahead of me as if he’d rather be anywhere else but here.
I couldn’t agree more.
With a deep sigh, I pinch my nose and pray for patience. This fucking reporter is like a hound with a bone, somehow always sniffing me out and never goes away. She might be my number one stalker, can’t tell you how many times she’s shown up wherever I am. I can never tell if she wants the biggest story of her career or to hop on my big cock. Might be both. Spinning around, I confront Elle, journalist for the Los Angeles Times. All blonde, long legs in fuck me heels, big fake tits, and a woman who’s always staring at me like she wants me to fuck her into next week. Practically begs for it with the way she leers at me like I’m a fucking piece of meat dangling in her face, but personally it does nothing for me, not even a twitch in the south department. There isn’t a challenge, a chase, and I can only smell desperation off of her. My brow arches as she places her red nails on my bicep, squeezing my arm while licking her lips suggestively, not once noticing my hostile stare while I fantasize about snapping her neck.
“I don’t talk to reporters. If you want an interview then set one up through the Chief’s secretary. Would you look at the time, I have to go home and study for a history exam.” I hear her huff out behind me the moment I stride away, rolling my eyes at Tey as he leans against the passenger door of my car, repeatedly grabbing the handle to try and open it.
Doesn’t matter if I’m eighteen even though she’s been coming around for two years, she asks questions about my family business all the while grinding against me like a cat in heat. At school, hell, even if I’m fucking around somewhere, she sniffs me out and begs me nonstop even though my answer is always the same. Blood in or nothing at all. I really don’t talk to any reporters that come around, family means everything to me.
“Yessss!” Tey moans dramatically when I unlock my car and hop in with a relieved breath.
He immediately looks at his phone when it starts buzzing with a lot of incoming texts, the blue light highlighting his face, his icy blue eyes wide with a look I know all too well. Lorenzo. King of putting together illegal street races. It switches from place to place and invites only.
“When and where?” The yearning is clear in my voice. I try to hide it but when you grow up around someone your whole life they tend to know when you're faking it.
We haven’t heard from Lorenzo in weeks and my hands clench the wheel as a need overcomes me, like a hunger that can’t be satisfied until I’m feeling the rush. My hands were meant to steer, take control, and push past limits that break the law. Nicky and I haven’t been in a street race in months, something we both need like the air in our lungs. Tey always collects bets and gets the crowd going with Dalton standing over him like a shadow in case shit goes down. Lorenzo puts the street races together, knowing fuckers that will pay to see rubber burn. The man knows how to get just the right people that will place bets, handing over their money like it’s nothing and in these parts, it’s really not a big deal.
“Two weeks from now, starting right fucking downtown to Chinatown!” His voice shakes me out of my thoughts in the quiet exterior of the car and we’re already pulling into the community lined with mansions on both sides of the street in no time at all.
“Tell him we’ll be there and to make sure he has his money ready.” A smile spreads across my face as I scratch my five o’clock shadow to hide my smirk but Tey chuckles like he knows what I’m thinking.
Flicking off the headlights, I wave Tey ahead to go inside to raid the fridge like he always does while I switch the bags to my father’s car and mentally prepare to deal with the lashing I'll get for allowing this to happen in the first place under my watch. I didn’t know the fucking runner aka Lenny would be sampling the goods, getting high as fuck, and letting the meth house get raided.
Slamming the trunk of the Aston Martin my father drives around, as if a chief could afford this, I wonder if life would have taken a different turn if Mom was still alive. If my father wouldn’t have become the fucking mafia. It’s still in the back of my mind that one day I’ll wake up and see Mom and Dad eating breakfast in our little home just on the outskirts of L.A. Don’t get me wrong, I like who the hell I am now, it’s all I know, and the power that comes with it is like oxygen.
Addicting and yearning.
I walk through the garage door quietly, already prepared for my dad to ask for an update, instead I stop in my tracks to see Tey towering over a girl in the doorway of the kitchen. Her back is turned towards me, giving me a view of an ass that’s round and fucking biteable, encased in a tight pair of shorts that should be illegal because her legs look like they go on for miles. They’d look better around my waist.
Her hair hangs down in wet, dark ropes with a hint of purple down to the curve of her ass but what really holds my attention is the flash of metal I see in her hand. She's gripping that knife handle pretty tight as Tey bends down to retrieve his baby from his boot. It’s almost cute, is she trying to threaten him with that tiny weapon? It’s a kitchen blade for fucks sake.
Who is this delectable creature and why is she in my fucking house? Did my dad hire a stripper? She has the body for it, all the right curves, and my hands itch to touch her skin where her pulse is pounding, to feel the beat under my palm as I wrap my hand around her neck and demand control over her. It’s almost laughable and I doubt my dad would bring a stripper home, pretty sure I’d hear the stepmom screeching like a banshee if that happened.
My feet move across the kitchen on deadly quiet intent and she freezes when she feels me pressing up along her body from behind, taking her knife quickly from her grip and flinging it across the kitchen where it embeds into a cabinet. The smell of rain, sweet vanilla, and I swear sunshine reaches me when I bend down to skim my nose along the curve of her neck. The shiver that runs through her body makes me smile and I glance at Tey whose own eyes fill with lust as he runs the blade down her cheek at the same time.
We are sick, twisted bastards that find pleasure in the dark that bleeds the night against smooth honeyed skin just as soft as hers. She hasn’t looked away from Tey or screamed, it says a lot about her if she can deal with this level of psycho. I actually don’t like it because she’s distracting me when I should be pulling out my gun and finding out why she’s in my house. Maybe she’s been sent by another gang to get the drop on us and that sobers me somewhat.
“I think you're in the wrong house, baby girl. Unless you're here to give us a little show. Tey, you hired a stripper? I’m flattered. It’s not even my birthday.” She gasps in outrage as Tey chuckles darkly and quickly spins around in my arms to confront me, her hands gripping my biceps as she looks up at me with anger and shock written on her face.
