Hard Up: A Military Mafia Romance (11 page)

“
L
et’s go somewhere
. An adventure, you know?”

Vi turned her head to look back at Callum, surprised. “Yeah?”

She was lying on the bed, completely nude, carefully perusing the room service menu. They’d eaten off it four times now in the five days they’d been here, and it was getting old.

“Not anywhere fancy, but… there’s a place I like a few blocks from here. It serves food, if you don’t mind basic stuff.”

Vi sat up. “I don’t mind. I’d eat just about anything at this point.”

“Well, get dressed. I don’t think this place would allow you to go as is, much as I would enjoy it.”

His lip curled with his amusement, an expression Viola considered a crime. He was handsome enough with his usual blank expression, but with something close to a smile? Simply unfair.

“With what clothes?” she asked.

“Oh, didn’t I mention? I brought your bags,” he teased, pulling her bags out of the bathroom.

“You had them brought here?” she exclaimed. She rushed to hug him, the touch lingering. “You’re a monster, you know that?”

When she pulled back and moved to her bags, she couldn’t help but notice the way her gaze followed her. She liked it.

“You’re just mad that I can bring things in without you noticing,” he said mildly. “Now get dressed!”

She did, quickly changing into a crisp white cotton dress. She left her long blonde hair loose, hanging at her sides. She cast an eye over his jeans and tight red t-shirt, and figured they must not be going anywhere too fancy.

Good
, she thought.
I don’t want to go anywhere that we’ll be recognized.

“You know, you look amazing in that,” he said, eyeing her longingly.

She grinned. “Food. Remember that we’re going to get food, and we might get out of here.”

He groaned as she led them out of the room. Rather than take the car, he opted for walking, saying again that the place was right around the corner. She put on sunglasses without him asking, keeping the mood light.

They walked the three blocks slowly, enjoying the salty air. The downtown area was busy with tourists when they stepped onto the boardwalk. They were innocuous, no different than any of the tourists bustling around.

When they reached their destination, stepping inside, Vi’s jaw dropped.

“An arcade?” she asked, reaching out to touch one of the nearest machines, crammed in every which way. “I didn’t think these existed anymore.”

“You got it. I used to have one just like this down the street from my house as a kid,” he said. “Declan and Cormac and I spent all our time and spare change there.”

“Cool,” she said, walking around the old machines.

“You’ll like the very fancy food,” he said, drawing her around some arcade machines to a concessions area. “Nothing healthy here.”

“Oooh. I’ll definitely have to go for cheese pizza.”

“Yeah… I was thinking the same, actually.”

He ordered for them both at the dinky concessions window, then filled both their soft drinks and nodded to the tables.

“You choose,” he said, his hands full of soda.

“This one,” she said, choosing the first one. “Looks the cleanest.”

He gave her that look again, curling his lip as he sat down across from her.

“What, you’re too good for the arcade?” he asked as he slid her drink over to her.

She had a moment’s intuition, realizing that he’d brought her here for a reason. He was testing her, somehow. Seeing if she was too good to hang out in this spot that reminded him of his childhood, though she had no idea why.

She wondered if this was how you got to a deeper level with Callum.

“Are you kidding? I’m going to own that Ms. Pac-Man game over there,” she said. “Wait till I get my hands on that baby.”

She had no real idea if she was any good, but she saw a gleam of approval in Callum’s eyes.

“I’ll have to remember that,” he said.

She sipped her drink. He seemed laidback now, in his way. What would happen if she asked about his past?

“So what made you decide to join the Navy?” she asked.

He cut her a surprised look, but not an unwelcoming one. He shrugged.

“I went and signed up the second I turned seventeen. My father was a right bastard, number three in the Cúram. I went and signed up with Declan and Cormac, blackmailed my dad for his signature.” He sighed. “I thought I’d be in the SEALs until I aged out, you know?”

Viola took a breath; that was a lot of information.
Which part should she ask about first?

“Your dad isn’t living anymore?” she asked.

“No, he is.” Their number was called, and Callum jumped up to retrieve their pizza. “Here ya go, fresh pizza. And my dad is definitely still alive and well. He’s the head of the Cúram.”

Vi’s sudden coughing fit was certainly not about her first bite of pizza, though she pretended it was.

“Sorry, did you say that your
father
is the head of the Irish mafia?” she wheezed.

He handed her some napkins as she waved away his concern.

“Yeah. Me and the boys got into what I’ll call
a bit of trouble
in the SEALs. I swore I’d never be a scumbag like my father, but he got us out of an impossible situation we were in. In exchange, we swore to work for him for seven years. So now all three of us are scumbags, because we owe him.”

“I don’t…
what
?” she said.

Vi’s expression of disbelief must have been comical, because he chuckled as he ate.

“I’ve never told anybody that,” he said. “It sounds pretty ridiculous, huh?”

His father was head of the Cúram? Jesus, she could’ve picked Romeo Montague instead of Callum and it would’ve gone over better with her family.

“No,” she said slowly. “It’s just… a lot to take in.”

He finished his piece of crust, and shook his head. “It’s something, all right.”

She ate her piece of pizza diligently. She knew she needed to say something, share something, but she had no idea what. It wasn’t like she could suddenly be like
me too!
without a shitstorm following.

She was in a totally different situation with her father than he was. She pretended not to be related to the guy because he killed people in her life. Her father was going to sell her off to the highest bidder, the second he found her.

Yep, she needed to keep her trap shut. That didn’t mean she had to be silent though.

“I thought I would be a doctor,” she said, surprising him out of his stupor.

“Yeah, you mentioned. You wanted to help people?” he asked, glancing at her cautiously.

She nodded, pushing away her crust. “Mmmhmm. I had big dreams of med school. Serious stars in my eyes. Turns out, I’m just a bartender. Not a particularly good one either.”

He looked at her, a half-smile sneaking onto his face. “Got a way with the customers, though. Or at least me.”

She turned a ripe shade of red. “I assure you, that was just you. I never went home with any of my other regulars.”

“Oh good, I was worried about the competition I might face from some of those old bastards.”

Vi swatted at him. “Whatever. Those geezers would have killed for some of what I got.”

Callum smiled and held up his hands, like he couldn’t possibly be held accountable if it came down to him versus them.

“I’ll do you a favor. I’ll let you pay for us to play on those skeeball machines over there, see how you fare. What d’you say?” she teased, ready to talk about anything but their families.

“Oh, is that right?” he said, standing up with a cocky grin. “You’re on.”

Viola threw their leftovers away and then followed him, happy to play. Hell, she might even win.

Anything that didn’t reveal who her father was worked for her…

“
T
ybee Island
, here we are!” said Viola.

She’d managed to convince Callum to call off of work and go to the remote barrier island-turned-tourist trap. Strangely, it hadn’t been hard. Then again, she’d had her top off, and he’d been playing with her breasts when she asked.

He was pretty okay with whatever she did, as long as she was far from downtown Savannah. She liked the security of being his… but what that really meant, she didn’t know.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she climbed out of the SUV.

“I love the beach. Wish I’d grown up closer,” she said as she grabbed lightweight chairs and her beach bag.

Callum gave the beach a glance, but didn’t say anything. He just hefted the cooler from the backseat, and followed her quietly. He was being weird today, she could tell, but she had no idea why.

They walked away from the only other tourists within eyesight, ending up on a sandy dune not far from the tree line.

“This is good,” she said, setting down the chairs.

He put the cooler down, glancing around. “Okay.”

She eyed him as she set up the chairs and went to work slathering on level fifty sunblock. He looked out to sea for a minute, then turned his chair somewhat so he could see the parking lot.

They sat down, and she eyed him as they sat. Again, he glanced out at the sea for a second, then there was the inevitable check of the parking lot.

She pursed her lips.

“Who are you looking for?” she asked.

He looked guilty for a second, then it was gone. “No one.”

“Really? So you’d be okay turning your chair away from the parking lot?”

She saw the look of indecision on his face, before he decided to tell her.

“I’m just being watchful. The Valetti family has had some news, some really bad news. The body of Peter Capistrano has been found.”

“Who’s Peter Capistrano?” she asked.

“The guy we were hunting for, the one who saw the hit.”

“Oh.” She looked out at the ocean, as if it had a solution. “You guys killed him?”

“Jesus!” he glanced around, though there was no one to hear them but the fish. “No, we didn’t. And you don’t wanna use that word around me, alright?”

She waved her hand at the dearth of people around who could overhear. “No one is here, you lunatic.”

A sour expression crossed his face.

“That word is the only way that people in my line of work get busted, okay? And Capistrano got taken care of by someone else before I could get to him. I was gonna pin the Valetti hit on him.”

She bit her lip. That made more sense, why Callum was still interested in him.

“Shit. You were trying to save me?”

“Yeah. Word’s out there, for those listening. People know that some blonde chick that I run with did it.”

“And yet, you wouldn’t let me dye my hair. Or more sensibly,
run away
.”

He looked away at that, but she could tell that he was irritated by that. What should she say, that she would stay here with him forever? That she loved him?

Her mouth twisted bitterly. Even if she knew what she felt to be true, what did it matter? He wasn’t the type to ask for a quarter, much less some girl to stick around for a while.

“So, what? What do you expect from me now?” she demanded.

His continued silence and lack of eye contact said everything she needed to know.

Viola stood up, stripping out of her beach cover-up, and went out to wade in the water.

The water doesn’t hold any secrets
, she thought.
At least there’s that…

A little later, when he came down to the water and pulled her close, she let him.

Knowing that no one could see her, she kissed him hard, her way of saying
I’m sorry
. She let him take her out to where the water was deep, let him pull down her bikini bottoms, let him spear her with his rock-hard cock.

He kissed her hard as he rocked within her, filled her to the brim. And when they both came together, it reminded her of nothing so much as a tidal wave.

She almost wished they would be swept out to sea, that they wouldn’t have to make decisions anymore. It seemed glorious, in a way.

They came down from their passionate high, Viola collecting her bikini bottoms and drifting back to shore. There was nothing decided, but strangely there seemed no rush…

Callum helped her to shore, where they returned to their chairs.

When she busted out one of the books he’d gotten her, he spoke.

“You studying because you want to go back to school?”

She paused. “I hadn’t thought about it. We’re in the middle of a turf war between the Irish and the Italians mobs. I think we’re lucky to make plans for next week.”

He blew out a breath. “You’re right, in a sense. But you’re also wrong. It’s important to have long-term goals.”

“What are yours?”

“Well… not work for the fucking Cúram, that’s one.”

“Yeah, but that will happen on its own. What else do you want to do?”

He sucked his teeth, considering.

“I want to be normal. Like… I want what everyone wants.”

“You want a picket fence and two point five kids?”

“I want freedom. I want the safety of knowing that if I find someone to have two point five kids with, the Cúram won’t blackmail me.” He glanced sidelong at her. “You can see why I would be a bad choice now, romantically.”

She snorted. “You and me both.”

He looked at her, sober as a judge.

“Why’s that?”

Her mouth went dry. She’d forgot for a second that he didn’t
know
.

“I just meant… you know, I’m damaged.”

“If you’re damaged, I’m
fucked
.”

He said it wryly, as a joke, but she just looked away.

“You got something to tell me?” he asked after a moment.

It took her a second to answer.

“No,” she said, shaking her head slowly.

When he didn’t say anything for a moment, she picked up her book again, pretending to read. But the words swam on the page, unreadable.

She was the one that was fucked, wasn’t she?

When it was time to go, she calmly packed the car, ready for something
else
. What, she didn’t know.

On the way home, she pretended to be asleep.