BOW DOWN: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Barone Crime Family) (49 page)

“Fuck me then,” she said. “Fuck me harder. Come on.”

I grunted, loving it as I gave her what she wanted. I fucked her deep and hard, sliding in and out of her perfect little pussy, slamming her back against the counter. She moaned in response, holding onto my hair as I took her like a fucking animal.

And as I fucked her, I watched as her face slowly changed. Her eyes went glassy and her body tensed as she came on my fat cock. I didn’t hold back as she came. I just kept fucking her deeper and harder, working her rough.

“Come for me, Cassidy,” I groaned. “Come for me. Be a fucking good girl.”

She came hard as I kept working her, and that tipped me over the edge. I could feel the orgasm tingling along my limbs, and I knew I couldn’t stop it.

I came deep inside her pussy. I filled her with my hot cum and loved every second as I kept fucking her, holding her legs and ass. She took my cock and my cum and moaned for more.

Finally, we finished. I slid back out and practically collapsed onto a chair. She climbed down off the counter and got into my lap, her head against my chest.

“I needed that,” she said.

“Me too. Fuck, girl, your pussy is addictive.”

She laughed softly. “Glad you like it.”

“I could have that every day of my fucking life.” I wrapped my arms around her, breathing deeply, floating from the orgasm.

I realized in that moment that I wasn’t lying. I could have that every day of my life. It was a terrifying thought, almost as terrifying as the baby growing inside her.

But I wasn’t going anywhere, even if that shit did freak me out.

W
e woke
up early the next morning.

After what happened that afternoon, I went for a long walk around the grounds. I had to get out of that room and away from Rafa before I did something stupid. I wanted more of him, so much more of him, but there was too much going on to indulge.

Fortunately, he was gone when I got back. He had promised not to tell Vince or anyone else about our plan, and I had to trust him. He wasn’t back by the time I went to bed around ten that night.

But when I got up at seven, he was sleeping on the couch. I ordered us coffee and breakfast, and he woke up, clearly hungover and starving.

“Do you know where you’re going?” I asked him later, after we had eaten and gotten dressed. We were sitting in his muscle car, slowly pulling out of the compound.

“I know,” he said. “Corner of South Wales and Arch.” He shook his head. “There’s nothing around there, you know.”

“I know. But that’s probably why they sent us there.”

“Maybe,” he grumbled. “I don’t like this.”

I smiled. “I know you don’t. You keep saying it.”

He glanced at me. “The Spiders are more dangerous than you think.”

“Maybe they are, but I don’t think they mean me any harm.”

“You can’t be sure what they want.” He stared straight ahead. “I’m not going to let them have you.”

“That’s not what’s happening here.”

“Damn right it isn’t.”

I sighed. “I know you don’t want to do that.”

“Can you tell?”

I gave him a look but kept going. “We’re doing the right thing, Rafa.”

“We’re going into a completely unknown situation that’s being orchestrated by a violent and dangerous enemy.”

“They’re not dangerous.”

He glanced at me. “They are. It worries me that you haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Look, we can argue about this all we want, but we’re still doing it. So can we try to get through this?”

“Fine,” he grunted. “But when this shit goes wrong, I’m going to look you in the eye and say, ‘I told you so.’”

“Fine.” I crossed my arms and looked out the window as the car sped forward.

He was so damn stubborn. He thought he was always right, but he couldn’t see this from my perspective. So far, the Spiders had done nothing but try to help me, and they had even offered to give us what we needed. Sure, they’d asked for a favor, but of course they had.

Rafa was going to have to deal with that. He could be annoyed all he wanted, but this was happening and there was no turning back.

We got into the city limits and slowly moved deeper into the heart of Chicago. We were heading toward the far side, closer to the lakes. As far as I knew, there wasn’t much around that corner, maybe an empty lot or an abandoned building or something like that.

Chicago was full of that sort of thing. Any big city was constantly changing, alive to the ebbs and flows of the world. Buildings rose and fell, people changed, lived, and died, and that was how the world went.

We pulled up at the corner. Rafa parked the car and we looked around.

Just like I thought. There was an empty field surrounded by a chain-link fence.

“You sure this is right?” he asked me.

“I’m sure.”

He sighed. “Come on then.” He climbed out of the car and I hustled to keep up with him.

We walked over to the fence. There was nothing beyond it, just an empty space with piles of dirt and trash. More trash had collected along the fence, proof of human life although nothing seemed alive anywhere nearby. Rafa began to kick through the trash, a permanent scowl on his face.

I moved around the fence, looking carefully. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I figured I’d know it when I saw it. The Spiders had said they’d leave something for us, and I had to believe that they would. I couldn’t see what they had to gain from lying about it.

I moved around to the other stretch of fence and spotted something odd. There was a gym bag on the ground with its handles looped through the chain. But instead of being all beat up and gross like everything else, it looked brand new.

“Rafa,” I said, kneeling down next to it. “Look at this.”

I reached out to open it.

“Stop,” he said. “Hold on.” He knelt down next to me and put his face next to the bag.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure there’s not a bomb in here.”

“Are you listening for ticking?”

He grinned. “I am. But I’m also trying to smell any plastic or molding putty.”

“And?”

He sniffed and waited. “Nothing.”

“Come on.” I grabbed the zipper and yanked it open.

No explosion.

I let out a breath. Inside the bag was a single piece of paper. I grabbed it and unfolded it. Written down the center was another address, not far from where we were.

“Fucking shit,” Rafa said.

“Come on.” I stood up. “We have another stop.”

“Fuck that. We’re not going.”

“Come on. We have no other choice.”

He stood up and shook his head. “Coming here, to a public place, was bad enough, but we don’t know what’s on the other end of this address. We’re not prepared for this, Cass. We need backup.”

“No,” I said. “The mob will ruin this. We need to go. This is our best chance, Rafa.”

He stared at me, and for a second I thought he was going to throw me over his shoulder and drag me back to the compound. Instead, he grinned and shook his head.

“You’re going to get me killed.” He got back into the car. “Well?”

I smiled and got in the passenger side. “Well, let’s go.”

He pulled out. We drove for a few minutes through the neighborhoods. It was a pretty bad area, and most of the houses were either empty or crumbling to the ground. Certain parts of Chicago looked like a war zone, with entire houses missing like smashed teeth. We got closer and closer to the address and finally pulled up outside a normal-looking row home.

“Doesn’t look bad,” I said.

He nodded. “That worries me.” He killed the engine and we got out.

The house was probably the nicest on the block. It had all its windows intact, its front door wasn’t covered in graffiti, and the steps weren’t littered with glass and trash. Rafa walked up to the door.

I hung back a bit, nervous.

He knocked and waited. Nothing happened. He knocked again, louder, and we waited. He glanced back at me.

“Nobody’s home,” he said.

“Try the knob.”

He frowned and turned it. The door opened with ease.

“Shit,” he muttered. He reached back and took out his gun. “Stay here,” he said to me.

“Nope,” I answered, staying close to him. “We’re in this together.”

He didn’t argue. He was too busy sweeping the room as we stepped into the building.

The living room was completely empty. It was clean, though maybe a little musty-smelling, but there wasn’t a bit of furniture anywhere. We moved through and I glanced down a hallway. There were more rooms back there, and they looked equally empty.

Rafa headed into the kitchen. I followed, staying close, my heart beating fast. I was terrified, though I wasn’t sure why. Something felt wrong.

In the kitchen, there was a single table. On the table was a black plastic rectangle.

Rafa got closer. “VHS tape,” he said. “Probably from a security camera.”

“This is what they wanted us to have.”

“Looks like it.”

I smiled at him, suddenly elated. “This is amazing.”

“Come on. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

I turned and started heading back toward the front door. I felt good, floating on air. I felt like I had finally done something right, finally made a good decision.

Then suddenly pain blossomed in my side, hot and sharp. Something shoved me up against the wall violently, and blackness descended.

I
t felt like a fucking trap
.

I’d set up a lot of traps just like it. You lure someone into a sense of security by bringing them to a location and delivering, but once they get to that second location, bam. You nail them there.

This was exactly what I would’ve done if I’d wanted to trap the Spiders. Cassidy didn’t understand that, of course. How the fuck could she? Finding the VHS tape wasn’t proof of anything, and I was still on high alert as we turned to leave.

That was probably the only thing that saved her. As she stepped back into the living room, a person wearing all black slammed into her, shoving her against the far wall, and threw a bag over her head.

I squeezed off two rounds. They hit the person right in their body armor and knocked them over, but I knew they weren’t dead.

I moved fast, but there were more people spilling into the room. I grabbed Cassidy by the arm and yanked her behind me as the shots began to ring out. She screamed, but I threw her back behind the wall and into the kitchen, getting us into cover.

I counted three more people, plus the one on the floor. There was a back door, but I couldn’t be sure that was unguarded.

We were fucking trapped.

I grabbed the hood and tore it from Cassidy’s head. She looked terrified, her eyes wide. “Stay down,” I yelled. I checked the room and bullets rained down on me, forcing me back.

Fuck. I had to think. I quickly replayed what had happened as I heard the people in the other room shifting their positions.

And then it hit me. I grabbed Cassidy by the shoulders. “Run for the back door.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

“No. You have to go.”

“They’re shooting at us.”

“They’re shooting at me. They tried to grab you, but I stopped them. They don’t want you dead.”

“Rafa, no. I can’t leave you.”

“You have to go.” I pushed her toward the door. “Go, god damn it.”

“Rafa.”

“Go,” I yelled, and then fired off a few shots.

She stared at me and then ran toward the back door.

I covered her escape, firing shots back into the room, but they weren’t aiming for her. She got to the back door, pulled it open, and escaped into the backyard.

I smiled to myself. At least she was going to get out of this. Cassidy and the baby were more important than me. If I died, so be it. At least my kid would survive in her.

I looked back into the room. The person on the ground was gone, and only two people remained. I cursed and fired off some shots, hitting one person in the shoulder. I heard a scream and she backed off.

The other two must have gone after Cassidy. I yelled a curse and fired off some wild shots as I made a run for the back door.

Bullets hissed through the air around me. As I got through, I felt a burning pain lance up my calf. I stumbled and fell, rolling forward.

I got to my feet, whirling around and squeezing off some shots. That saved my life, because the Spider had followed me. My shots caught her in the body armor, knocking her to the ground.

I was shot in the calf, but I was okay. I looked around wildly and saw that the back gate was open. I limped through it as fast as I could. I looked left and then right, and I saw Cassidy slowly backing away from two people wearing black.

I reloaded my weapon and then fired. I hit the one person, knocking her over. The other fired back. Cassidy ran as I fell back, pressing myself against the fence. The Spider grabbed the one I had shot and dragged her away, disappearing around the corner as I fired off a few more shots.

I limped after them, but by the time I got there, they were gone.

“Rafa!”

I turned, and Cassidy was waving at me. I limped toward her.

“The keys!” she yelled.

I threw her the car keys and she disappeared again, running as fast as she could. I felt exhausted and heavy, and I realized that it was probably blood loss. I headed down the alley until I came out to the sidewalk and then leaned up against the side of a house, catching my breath.

The car tore around the corner a second later. I climbed into the back and then she began to drive.

“You’re bleeding,” she yelled.

“I’m fine. Keep going.” I tore a strip off my shirt and used it as a bandage. She drove fast, getting away from there.

“What the hell was that, Rafa? Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“They give us the tape and then attack?”

“I don’t know,” I said again, but I had a pretty good idea.

They didn’t care about me. They wanted her. As far as I could guess, their plan had been simple. Give us the tape in case we got out of the trap. That way we wouldn’t get killed by the mob. But what they really wanted was to capture Cassidy, and probably kill me.

For what reason, though, I couldn’t guess. I was feeling too tired to really think properly. Everything felt fuzzy and heavy, the world a spinning haze of colors and motion.

Everything was moving slowly, like at the bottom of a swimming pool. I had thoughts, but they left just as soon as they came. I couldn’t hold on to anything, no matter how hard I tried.

“Rafa!”

What the hell are you yelling about?

“Rafa! Rafa! Wake up!”

I’m right here. I’m awake.

“Rafa!”

A sharp sting across my face.

I jolted back to consciousness. I blinked at Cassidy, worry and fear etched into her face. “I’m good,” I managed to say.

“I don’t know where I’m going.”

I sat up and looked around. “Okay,” I said. “I can get us there.”

“Where? The hospital?”

“No. Compound.”

“You’re dying, Rafa! We need a hospital!”

“There’s one at the compound. Drive.”

She stared at me, terrified, but did as I asked.

I felt like I was on the verge of passing out again, but I had to resist it. I had to stay conscious and keep talking if I wanted to stay alive. This wasn’t the first time I’d been shot, but this was the worst. I was losing blood faster than I would have guessed.

She started driving like a maniac, and I gave her directions. I just kept talking, babbling really, saying a bunch of nonsense. I managed to get us out of the city and on the right path to the compound.

We pulled down the long road to the compound, and she blew right through the front gate. I smiled to myself but stopped speaking. I knew shit was about to go down, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

She roared the car into the front lot. I felt so damn tired and so damn heavy. I looked down and the seat was soaked with my blood.

The last thing I remembered before the world stopped was Cassidy yelling and someone grabbing hold of my arms.