Defending My Mobster (BWWM Romance) (8 page)

Chapter 9 - Nia

The car ride was quiet, and I knew it was because Angel was lost in his own thoughts. While I was entertaining his father, who was quite a lovely person despite his confusion, he was watching, waiting, and observing. To know that he was in his position for a reason and not just because he was born into it was kind of shocking to me, but I kept my mouth shut. It was his business and he knew it far better than I ever could.

“Hey. We’re going to stop here,” he announced. Pulling into a lot that wasn’t far from my house, Angel wordlessly reached over to unfasten my seat belt but before I could protest, I was half way across the center consol.

“Angel! Wh-“ Straddling his waist, I was going to say something, I was sure of it, but he put his finger to my lips to silence me.

“We’re being followed. Just follow my lead,” he informed me. Gently moving my hips back and forth, Angel leaned his seat back before cupping the back of my head. To anyone outside the tinted windows it would look like we were having sex, and I fisted the fabric of his suit with a slight gasp.

“Nice and slow, Nia.” Biting my lip, it was hard not to get wound up, and my breathing began to shallow out. Letting Angel do most of the work, I rested my forehead on his shoulder and struggled to keep a moan from breaking through my lips. It felt good, really good actually, to be touched this way. He was so good at it.

All too soon, though, there was a knock on the window. I was startled even though I had expected it.

“We’ll finish this later, I promise,” he told me. Angel pressed the button to roll down the window, and I peeked up from under his chin to see Roman leaning down with a scowl on his face.

“We need to talk, Angel,” he announced.

“Can’t you see I’m busy, trying to fix your mess,” the sharp snap that came out of Angel’s mouth was a stark contrast to the way his fingertips trailed gently down my back. Still, it didn’t go unnoticed that Roman’s scowl turned into a sneer before he licked his lips.

“The whole point was to keep you away from her, cousin. Maybe it was a little crass but honestly, give me the god damn benefit here. I’ve never done shit. I’m just trying to protect you,” he said fiercely. If that was true he had a strange way of doing it.

The silence that emanated from Roman’s defense was unnerving, and I could feel Angel squeezing and releasing my hip as if clenching his hand. Honestly, I didn’t believe Roman for a single moment but Angel hadn’t seen what I saw. I was not sure I could convince him. I knew because of what Roman had done I would never, ever forgive him.

“Get out of here, Roman,” Angel said. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Roman’s face, but I imagined he wasn’t that happy about the stern order. He didn’t object, though, and his footsteps were heavy as they walked back to his car before Angel put the window back up.

Heaving a breath, I closed my eyes and waited for the man I was currently straddling to say something. It was not long in coming.

“…You were right, Nia. Something’s going on with him and I don’t like it one bit,” he informed me. 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I couldn’t help the stab of guilt that ran through my chest. Somehow this was my fault, even if it was just a figment of my imagination.

“No, I’m the one that should be sorry.” Lifting my head to press my mouth to his, my hands wrapped around Angel’s jaw and I scooted up in his lap a bit. Opening my lips with a soft sigh, I could feel my body heating up once again as his tongue wrapped around mine and his fingers crept from my waist to hold my butt firmly. His squeeze was like a pulse that ran up my body. It was an invitation to my body that my mind could not resist.

Sliding my hands under the collar of his shirt, I shivered a little when Angel inhaled sharply before pushing up my dress. When he realized I was wearing a thong, he pulled away with a wicked smirk and squeezed lightly, lifting his hips and causing me to groan breathlessly. I’d never taken myself for a slow kind of person, but I loved the way things were building up. It wasn’t a volcano ready to erupt, more like an earthquake that rumbled just below the surface. I was always ready for Angel at this point.

“You’re really pushing it, you know that, bella?” He said humorously.

“Angel, listen… about the past few days, I just… don’t want you to feel bad about it. I might’ve acted the same way in your position,” I said. We’d gone over this before, but I just felt the need to make my point again. I could understand, to an extent, why Angel had reacted such a way, and I knew he beat himself up over it. He did not need to do that, although I was having a hard time convincing him.

“Don’t say that. You and I both know you wouldn’t have walked out on me if it was a reverse situation. I’m going to make it up to you, Nia. I never want you to doubt me,” he told me. Rubbing my butt with his thumbs as he spoke, Angel’s eyebrow creased slightly and I sighed. This was complicated, more than it needed to be.

“I don’t doubt you. I just don’t want this to loom over you,” I explained.

Watching Angel sigh heavily and shake his head, I knew it was a hard thing to ask of him. After a moment, though, he reached up to wrap his large hand around my jaw before opening his mouth.

“Nia, I will never stop feeling like an asshole about it. I think I should bring you home, and then I have to go back to my apartment because I’ve been neglecting my business,” he said. I was disappointed that tonight would not be the night that I would be able to satisfy us, but I knew it would happen. I was just feeling like I did not have much patience left.

Angel made sure I made it into my apartment and said goodbye. I knew he had to take care of his business. It was important for both of us that he did. I turned on classical music and munched on some junk food for solace. I did not like being alone anymore but it was bound to happen now and then if I wanted to be with Angel, and I knew I needed to be with Angel.

Tonight in the car had been amazing. I had been scared, and nervous, but more than that I had been enjoying his touch. It was a strange thing that despite the possible danger, it was his touch that held my attention the most. Having relations in a car was not something that would have ever occurred to me to do. Angel though, if it was with Angel I could have done it. I went and took a shower and got into my night clothes to cool off.

Chapter 10 - Angel

Stalking into my apartment, I rubbed my hand over my face and heaved a breath before shrugging off my jacket. Tonight had been unnecessarily stressful, and there were a few different factors. Rolling my shoulders, I walked across the living room to the kitchen and pulled a water bottle from the fridge as I thought about it.

Roman following me home didn’t exactly make a good impression after I saw Travis Burton at my club. The speculations that ran around in my head all ended badly for me too. After my trial, and what happened with Nia, I knew with certainty that trusting my cousin wouldn’t happen anymore. It was kind of sad, but she was right, he was up to something, whether or not it was good or bad. I’d never liked secrets.

Then there was the whole Travis Burton problem. Just thinking about it made me run my hand over my face in annoyance. I’d have to have a very serious talk with Aleesha about her date choices at some point. She was not going to like it, she may even have a hard time surviving it. If I let her survive it, that is.

Slinking across my apartment towards my office, I couldn’t help but sigh. Things got a lot more complicated than just Roman acting weird. There were far too many variables I was aware of for my peace of mind.

“…Well I don’t particularly care why, Luther. That bastard has been stealing from me. I sent you there to get what I’m owed, and if he doesn’t have it then do something about it,” I told Luther. Hanging up the phone, I leaned back in my chair and scowled at the object intently. Things would’ve been different if the man, I didn’t even remember his name, had come to me instead of deciding to steal. He was dying, sure I understood that. The thing I hated was that he made poor decisions, and those decisions lost me money.

“Angel, you have to listen to me, man!” Bursting into my office, Roman’s words only made my scowl grow as he strode over to lean on my desk with both his palms flat on the wood.

“You’re getting too damn comfy with that girl and normally I would be fucking fine with it but you’re so preoccupied with her you don’t even know what’s going on under your own nose,” he accused me. Sneering a little as I pushed myself up to stand, I was getting tired of the riddles. If Roman had something to say, he should say it, not go around sabotaging me at every turn. That shit had to end now.

“Then fucking explain it to me. I’m only one man, I can’t know what’s going on everywhere at every time, especially when family keeps secrets. So either tell me what is going on or I will have to deal with you too, Roman. We both know what that means,” I told him.

Glaring at my cousin, I clenched my hands into fists and exhaled through my nose. Even my impressive network of spies was lacking sometimes, and he knew this. Hell, he was part of it. Letting out a growl of a sigh, Roman ran his hand through his hair before dropping himself in a chair but the animosity in his gaze didn’t falter.

“Aleesha and Travis Burton are up to something big. Ever since you got those charges slammed on you, he’s been around,” he started. I scowled, I had already figured that out. There were a few reports that told me such, and seeing Travis Burton earlier had been unsettling. That party had been only for the higher ups, a business occasion of sorts.

“Don’t fucking look at me like that. A few weeks ago while you were in jail, Candace came to me and told me Travis Burton is running out of money. I’ve been digging a little and it ain’t pretty, cousin. The guy is losing money faster than a race horse around the track. His investors are pulling out because he does some freaky shit in those labs, or that’s what I heard,” he said. This was not exactly front page news either.

“That doesn’t mean that he’s involved in whatever that scheming bitch has planned,” I pointed out. Honestly, I hated Aleesha but her slipperiness came in handy sometimes. Unfortunately for her, that quality was quickly becoming annoying. Watching Roman roll his eyes, though, made me frown.

“Oh please. Aleesha came to me last year talking about how I could make a ton of money. She knows I used to be jealous of you back when we were teens and your dad was showing you how to do all of this stuff. Said that if ‘we’ could get you behind bars I could take over. Fucking outdated. Anyway, I figured that if she had something planned, why not go with it? So I killed that senator and his wife and planted your prints. While you were on the paddy wagon, Aleesha told me to keep delaying your trial. When she found out you were dating that lawyer, Nia, she told me to break you up.”

Blinking slowly, I tried to digest all of this as calmly as I could, dropping myself into my chair with furrowed eyebrows.

“I don’t trust you.” Speaking slowly, my gaze flicked to my cousin as he grunted in response, sprawling across his chair to look at the ceiling.

“I don’t blame you, but seriously man, we’re basically brothers. I would’ve told you earlier if I could’ve, but I didn’t want Aleesha to find out. Frankly I’m glad I basically fucked us up the ass, though. Right after the party she left with Travis and she didn’t seem very happy. Why would she, though? The bitch has been trying to get in your dad’s senile good graces for years,” he said. Remembering what happened earlier made me crack a smile. Nia was probably the envy of everyone because even though my father wasn’t exactly straight behind the eyes, he still didn’t like many people. That smile though quickly turned into a frown. Groaning, I ran my hand over my face and sighed heavily. This was far more involved than I had even anticipated. Aleesha and Travis were definitely causing some shit and I had to understand it before I could shut it down.

“This is exactly what I told Nia, Angel. That getting mixed up with you was dangerous, and this is why,” he tried.

“I want Aleesha to disappear, you hear me, Roman? I don’t want her killed yet. Call Marshal, and have him pick her up. Don’t fuck this up,” I ordered. As far as I was concerned, Roman didn’t even deserve such a lowly job, considering there were many other ways to come to me about this. Of all of them, he had to choose the worst possible thing he could think of. It pissed me off, but I had bigger things now to worry about than him. Him, I would get to him later. He was forgetting who was in charge these days and he would need to be reminded. Forcibly, so it would not happen again. Not now though. My worries went to other things then as Roman left to follow orders.

Like Nia, and the fact that she was a target now.

Slumping in my chair a little, I rubbed my jaw and thought about how to proceed. Obviously Aleesha had plans, big ones, and she needed Travis Burton to help her. It would make sense aside from the fact that the guy was basically broke. Which would make him easy for her to control, she would get a kick out of that. Then again, my father had paid her a lot while she was working for him, even if it didn’t last long.