“So Michael could also tell Ettore he has to kidnap me and help him trick my sister into marrying him and in the process make sure you’re nowhere near to keep her from doing so.” I look over at him, and he nods. “He’s been after her ever since he saw her, and I knew it soon as I saw how he looked at her. He’s all sweet and handsome and beautiful on TV, but he’s nothing but a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She doesn’t belong with him, and you know it. So why haven’t you done anything about it?”
“He’s my brother, and I owe him my life, not just once but twice now. He deserves to be happy.”
“And she doesn’t?” he says bluntly. “Listen, I need to go. I have to get some sleep tonight.” Aaron gives me a quick nod goodbye and walks out, leaving me the way he wanted—thinking about Austin.
Chapter 30
Austin
Michael sits up and motions for me to come to him as soon as I step in the room. “Hello, Baby. Thank you for coming, but you shouldn’t have worried.”
“Of course I should. When I heard that you were shot, how could I not?” I smile, kissing him with a squeeze of his hand. He instantly pulls me into bed with him and curls around me.
“Oh you two are so cute together,” Monica, his assistant, says with a gasping envy. “Well let me leave the two love birds to themselves, but one thing before I go, Michael. The party is in three days. Would you like for me to make calls and have it postponed?”
“No, it’s important for people to know I am okay and …”
“And more than strong enough to handle anything anyone throws at him,” I say, remembering something my father would always say.
“Exactly!” Michael laughs, kissing my cheek.
“Well alright then, I will make sure everything is still ready to go for Saturday night,” Monica says and waves her goodbye before leaving us alone.
The sudden quiet makes me nervous. I am not really sure how to comfort him after his father died, but I should say something. “I’m sorry about your father, Michael.”
Lying back in bed, he pulls me down with him. “Thank you, but the old man was starting to go senile anyway. It’s probably best that he go out like he did, not lying on his death bed unaware of the life going around him. Let’s talk about you.”
“Me? You’re the one with the traumatic day.”
“True, so I should get what I want, and I want to concentrate on you.” He sits up and leans over me with yearning. His approach is soft and slow as he leans down on top of me, taking in my lips, one after the other. “I love you, Austin,” he says suddenly. He looks over my face waiting for me to say something back, but I can’t say something that I don’t feel. My stunned expression doesn’t please him. “It’s alright, I guess I can’t expect you to say it so soon, but I promise, after this election, we are going to spend some quality time together, and then we can make plans to move into the governor’s mansion together.”
“Oh, Mr. Colletto, you are so sure of yourself.”
“Of course, who would vote against me?” he says with a cute, goofy expression. I laugh which makes him happy, a little too happy. He feels over my body, kissing me here and there, pulling my hips into his, and I tell myself over and over to let it happen and maybe, just maybe, it will all be okay after. He has me half undressed when the doctor comes in and interrupts.
“Oh! I’m sorry, but actually, you should probably be taking it easy, Mr. Colletto. We don’t want you ripping out your stitches. Plus, I am having the nurse give you some pain killers shortly. The local we gave you is going to wear off soon. After that, you won’t be able to do much more than sleep, I’m afraid.” He winks at me while I dress myself back into place.
“That is not what I want to hear, Doctor.”
“It’s probably best Michael. You need your sleep. I’ll go and come back first thing tomorrow.”
“You can’t stay a little while longer? Sage doesn’t need you, she is with her grandparents.” He grasps my hand with pleading eyes.
I give him a good kiss on the lips and smile. “No, Honey, I think it would be too tempting for you to get into trouble. It’s best I remove that option until you feel better.”
“Alright be safe.” Another quick kiss and a strong, cradling hug and he finally releases me.
I walk away, feeling relief. Another day, I have made it another day. The words I say to myself at the end of every day lately. I don’t think that’s a sign of a happy marriage. I swear off the guards that Michael hired for me and drive around for a couple of hours before I finally stop and find myself at his building, as I guess it is now. I try and tell myself that I’m here to see Preston. I could see if he’s up, and maybe if he isn’t, then I could check on Dace before I go? It should be … oh who the hell cares? I need to see him. Life has fucked me over more than a few times lately, so I am going to fuck it right back.
My hand shakes as I reach out to knock, but he opens the door before I can reach it. “Dace …” I manage to say before he reaches out and grasps my waist. He pulls me into his place and pushes me up against the wall. His lips are on mine instantly. I fist his shirt and hold him to me. “Don’t stop.” His hands roughly handle my body like a wild horse who has just been released from his restraints. Touching every part of me, he kisses down my neck and pulls out my breast, taking my nipple in his mouth and sucking on my breast with a deep fondling.
He stops long enough to grab my face and stare into my eyes. “I’m sorry …” he says. I look into his eyes, his tearful eyes, and know … he loves me. “I need you. Tell me you need me too. Tell me that you still want me?”
I reach out and take off his belt. “I could want nothing more than you,” I say, unzipping his pants. I reach down between us and feel his erection fully. The hard flesh in my hands grows tight with my touch, becoming more powerful with every stroke. My ass welcomes his warm hands as my pants fall to the floor. I can’t get enough of his mouth, the lips that sway and flow with mine. He does not need to do much more to make me crave him, but he takes control and slides his finger down against my clit and pushes into my pussy with an exhilarating touch that sends me gasping for air. He smiles as he licks his fingers, and I enjoy the happiness in his face as he lifts me up against the wall and slides me down onto his unbending cock with a slow groan of pleasure. I rip through his shirt, kissing him with desperation. “I love you. I love you, Dace.”
His tears stream down his face to mine, but he doesn’t stop moving. He doesn’t stop fucking me, holding me, or kissing my lips with tender bites and heavy breaths. “I shouldn’t be with you. I shouldn’t be doing this to my brother,” he says, moaning against my ear with pleasure and tears all in one. “But I love you so damn much.” He lifts me up and back down again, letting me feel every part of his dick swell inside of me. Rubbing it against my clit with every stroke, he grunts as he enters me, I hold onto him even tighter. He fights his demons in front of me, wanting to be loyal to his brother but wanting to love me too. I fear I may lose, and I can’t face the madness that would surely come if I do. He puts me down and steps away from me.
“Don’t let go of me! Don’t, Dace! It’s not your fault! I remove my clothing completely and step back to him, nude and ready to enjoy him in every way.
“You understand what you are risking if you’re with me, so I’m going to ask you. Do you want to be with me, Austin? If you do, I will make sure you never have cause to be with another man again.” No words need to be said. He knew the answer before he asked. He only wanted to make this a united decision.
I wrap my arms around his neck. “Take me to bed, Dace. I belong with you and only you.” He only needs one hand to lift me back up on him. He doesn’t need the other until he lays me down in his bed and makes love to me without shedding another tear.
I love how he reaches out above my head and grabs the bed posts to get better leverage to thrust into me fully, to give me as much of him as possible. I love watching his muscles flex around me, like a protective barrier from the w
orld. I love his heated breath on my skin and his admiring eyes, smiling at me. I love all of him, every single part. I wrap my arms around him tight as we both come. “I love you,” he says, letting his naked body cover me with warmth. I have nowhere to be tonight, so I don’t dare leave him, I have no desire to. We fall asleep together, and I finally rest, wrapped safely within his arms.
Chapter 31
Dace
My father’s funeral is the blackest of black—black cars, black suits and dresses adorned with black hats and sunglasses, along with a black canopy to shield us from the black clouds over our heads. The moment is hardly one to celebrate, but I welcome seeing my brother, my true, full-blooded brother as it is now known. Antony approaches with arms out because we don’t hide our feelings for each other. When you only have one person to confide in growing up, you never hide how you feel about them. No, you honor them with obvious respect and love.
“I don’t understand, Dace. What happened?” Antony asks.
“I was asking him about our mother, and he admitted that he wanted to hurt her, to get back at her for cheating on him.” Antony instantly focuses on me. “Yeah, we are both products of that deceit.” His shoulders drop as he gazes down to his shoes. “He ran off before he would tell me much more. And then Michael showed up out of nowhere and pulled me out of the line of fire, but Dad practically ran right into it, it was as if they waited for him.” Antony doesn’t say much more. Instead, he hides his emotions behind his sunglasses. Dominic Colletto’s known eldest sons, Michael and Ettore, walk in ahead of his casket and guide him to his final place of peace while Antony and I follow behind it to guard it against the evils of his past coming back to haunt him, or at least that it is the beliefs behind our ceremonious procedure. In other words, Antony and I will take the fall for his faults and spare the eldest sons so they can live on. It’s rather telling of our lives, and without speaking with Antony, I am sure he is beginning to feel how I do—a little fed up with the bullshit. Once the casket is in place, Michael steps up and begins to talk about his father with loving memories and great respect for the man. Towards the end, Ettore is introduced, and he says some brief words of admiration before tossing a rose onto the casket and walking away. Michael follows, then me, and then Antony. We line up side by side with Austin placed behind us. Michael takes her hand and pulls her to his side, and I instantly become jealous, as ridiculous as it may seem. It’s a brief moment, while I repeat to myself that we’ll be together soon enough. I feel better when Ettore moves out and she slides into his place, brushing against me with a tender touch of my hand. The after gathering is somber, for Antony and me anyway. Michael, as always, is the proper politician, shaking hands and thanking each person for the prayers and concerns for our family. I watch him closely, looking for a reason to hate him, something to make it easier to be able to tell him that the woman he loves is in love with me, and I her. My perfect brother never shows any sign of cracking, except he does have a tight grip on Austin. She looks more miserable than I could have ever imagined her being as the blood from her hand is nearly squeezed out of it. Damn, Michael! You have to know she is not in love with you. You clearly don’t trust her to stay at your side? Eventually, he lets her go and leaves with some men to talk with Ettore. I take the opportunity to track Austin down and find her shyly socializing with people she has never met before. I walk into the room and feel my heart race, my knees go weak, and there must be a smile a mile long on my face because she looks my way and smiles a very similar smile.
“Better be careful, Dace. People are noticing you both right now.” Antony says.
I glance around as people whisper to each other and point at us both. “I don’t give a shit about them. None of them, not a single one of them ever gave a shit about either of us, and they certainly don’t now.”
“So, you are going to steal Michael’s wife?”
“No. No I am going to take back what was stolen from me,” I say before walking away. Antony chases me down and grabs my arm to force me to look at him.
“What are you planning?”
“Just what I said, Antony. Are you going to help me or are you going to stand against me?”
“You know the answer to that. All I want to do is make sure you know what you are doing. This isn’t going to go over well.” I don’t say a word as he stares into my eyes. “Okay, brother, I’m at your side the whole way.”
Michael’s pre-election celebration party is an extravagant affair. We are all dressed to the nines, and my tux fits so tight I can barely breathe, or maybe it isn’t the tux. Austin was going to tell Michael after the funeral that she doesn’t want to be with him, and I haven’t heard from her since then. As soon as Antony and I step into the house, I breathe in and don’t exhale until I see her smile at me. I slowly make my way through the room until I can stand near her. “How did it go?”
“Surprisingly well. He understood and wants me to be happy, and he doesn’t want to be married to someone that doesn’t want to be married to him. We are going to file for separation after the election and blame it on the long hours of politics and Michael’s dogged pursuit to help the people of his great state,” Austin says with a hopeful exhale.
I can hardly contain my smile as I hug her and give her a quick kiss to the cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says, slowly leaving me to be the proper gracious host and wife of a soon to be governor.
I am shocked to know that Michael handled it so well. I guess my fears and anxieties gave way to suspicion of the brother that has never been anything but wonderfully supportive of me. When I spot Antony, he looks so stiff I’m afraid he’s going to explode any second. “Hey, are you okay?”
“No, I hate this. I hate being his token gay man, and I hate sitting here feeling I am waiting for something to go wrong.”
“I think maybe things are going to be okay,” I say to him.
“Oh yeah?” I nod, although he doesn’t look the least bit relieved. “Excuse me if I hold off my excitement until we leave here alive?”
“A couple more days. Austin and Aaron have gotten a lead on the man that killed out mothers. Once we have him, we will all get the fuck out of here.”
“It can’t be soon enough. I hate to say it, but you were right, I should have never come back here.”
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I have pounded into him time and time again not to trust anyone around him and trust his gut the most. “You would have always wondered, and so would have I. Now we know and we can move on to better things.” I remind him of our long talk about our new destination and new life waiting for us. We talked about it at length, about what we both want and how we can do it together, and now we are sure how we can. I pat him on the back and stay at his side most of the night until I see Austin take off towards a bathroom. My inability to be patient gets the best of me, and I follow her in, locking the door behind us. “You know this dress is incredibly revealing,” I say, admiring the sides of her breasts in the low cut piece. I slip my hand down and grasp her breast fully, enjoying her gasp.
“Why, Mr. Colletto, I don’t believe that is yours.”
“It’s not? I could have sworn you said it was.”
“No, I said you could earn it,” she says, welcoming my lips on her neck and my hands up her dress.
“I’ve missed you so much.”
“I can tell,” she laughs, rubbing my rapidly growing erection. A kiss and a slip of the hand, and before I know it, we are wrapped around each other and forgetting the rest of the world. Laughing, kissing, and holding each other as we talk about what we will do when we are both free from the Colletto family. I could hold her in my arms forever and never want for anything else. It’s the most amazing feeling, loving someone so much that you don’t want to let them go. I suddenly get a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach as she tries to leave me to get back to Michael and the party. I hold onto her tighter.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, caressi
ng my face. “What’s wrong, Dace?”
I look down into her eyes and hold her face. “Leave with me tonight. Don’t leave with him.”
“Why? I told you Michael is agreeable, and although sad, he doesn’t seem revengeful.”
“I don’t care what he says or what he seems. Leave with me. I’ll take you to your brother’s or father’s, if you prefer, but don’t go home with him. In fact, let’s go now,” I say with pleading eyes.
“Dace, that’s not what we agreed to. I have to get my mother’s killer. We almost have him, and you know it. As soon as we find that storage unit that the Martins were keeping, we could have so much more and even a reason to stay.”
“Stay?! Austin you said you were happy to go, happy to try something new. Have you changed your mind already?”
“No, I want to be with you, wherever that is, but I will miss being here,” she says, making me realize that as much as this city has been my enemy, it has been her home. Running away isn’t going to be good enough. We have to leave free and able to return.
“Alright, then I need to figure out which one of my brothers wants me dead and which one is willing to let me live, if there is one. We need to find that storage unit and fast.” I sigh and she wraps her arms around me excitedly. Life was so much easier when I only had to please myself. We slip back out to the ballroom where Michael takes the stage and begins making a speech to thank everyone. Austin takes his side, and the crowd applauds while I dream of better days to come.
Searching for something that may not even exist, is exhausting, but when I notice something odd about Mr. Martin’s transactions, I dig a little deeper and find my first real lead. “Antony, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To the mall.”
“What?! But I hate the mall,” Antony whines. I shake my head and point the way out for him to lead off to.