Novel Straight 18_I Ran From My Ex, Straight Into My Best Friend’s Father

Gianni

 I knew there was no escaping Caterina from my mind The near constant self–indulgence over the past few weeks has only intensified my desire for her. No workout can distract me, no amut of pressing tasks can clear her from my thoughts.

 I’m overwhelmed by an almost jelentless craving for her scent, the sweet taste of her skin, and the irresistible allure of her. I’d give anything to buy my face in her, my body still buzzing, from agrueling gym session.

 Seeing her in front of me now, with that vulnerable look in her eyes, only heightens my need. The impulse to take her in my arms and reacquaint myself with her is nearly uncontroble.

 Watching her on the security feed is agonizing–painful to see her without touching her. It’s a desperate fix. Often, I find myself. resorting to the sight of her getting in and out of her car, needing that visual to relieve the tension.

 It’s a miserable situation, but it’s my reality. Every instinct drives me to go to her, to touch her, to hear her reactions. The urge to hear her moan my name is overpowering

 And she would. She’d moan my name until she went hoarse. Until tears rolled down her cheeks and her cum soaked into the sheets.

 Discipline might be the most critical quality for a man in my position to possess. I couldn’t have gotten this far without it. Nothing has ever tested me the way this girl does. I don’t know where this hold she has over mees from

 I don’t even know for sure whether I want to break it. It’s torture to want her, but the thought of being without her is unbearable.

 It’s enough to make me hate her, this bold she has over me. She exposes every

 very weakness, even those I didn’t know existed. I hate ber for that, too.

 Good thing she walks away when she does, or else I might have to make her pay for what she does to me Run, little rabbit, run while you can 

 Roger turns, quirking an eyebrow. I doubt he knows anything about Caterina and me. When I asked him to check on her earlier, I phrased it casually, like it was one of his normal tasks. I’d just gotten off the phone with Tatiana, too, so I yed it off as a stream–of–consciousness sort of thing

 I was looking forward to having her home. One more reason to stay away from Caterina, one moreyer of protection. Tean’t fuck around with her while my kid is here. I should never have fucked around at all

 Now, her return date is vague at best. She’s a pro at double–talk, running around in circles. I’ll have to think about herter when I’m not so close to blowing a gasket.

 “What?” I demand of Roger when he states at me.

 Nothing. She looked scared” He nces in the direction she fled before shrugging. “Did she piss you off?”

 Lonly shake my head “Forget it.” My throat is so damn tight, but not as tight as my shorts. It was that scared look on her face. It does things to me.

 “She’s fine, if you were still wondering.” He heaves a sigh while following me to my office. “What were you going to ask when you first came up? You wanted me to check something, ”

 I hardly remember saying a word before seeing her. She has a way of wiping everything else out of my mind. “I want you to check on the shipment that was due to leave from the harbor overnight,” I tell him once I remember. “I didn’t receive continnation, and they always call.”

 He sighs again, only this time, there’s an edge to it. “I already called over since I didn’t get continuation, either.” He’s so efficient. It’s almost scary

 “And?” I demand before gulping down some water.

 “It didn’t go out. They called it a mix–up with the barge schedule

 “That shipment was going down to Mini, for fuck’s sake “My race grows with every word until I’m sure the top of my head’s going to blow off. That shipment means a quarter of our earnings his month, not to mention the goddamn rtionship with the Florida families. “Do you know how long it took to establish those rtionships?”

 “I was here when you established them,” he mutters. “Tknow. What do you want to do about it?”

 “Is the shipment still down at the warehouse?”

 “Supposedly, yes, and ready to go out tonight.”

 I didn’t n on doing damage control today, but that’s the nature of the job. You can’t assume when you wake up in the morning that your day will go as nned. “Let me call down to the Miami contacts and exin this. We head for the warehouse after that.”

 I’m on the phone before I’ve left my office and havepleted one call by the time I reach the shower. It’s not more than another twenty minutes before I’m dressed in a fresh suit and on my way out the door. Roger’s been waiting in the car for me The entire time.

 This is what I needed today. Something to distract me. It’s a momentary problem, nothing serious, and still early enough in the day to give them the impression we’re on top of things around here, that I don’t leave my partners hanging

 It’s the principle of the thing that has me boiling over, ready to shed blood.

 “Loffered to swallow a percentage of the payment, but they deniedat,” I tell him as he drives us down to

 to the harbor

 “We’ll swallow it anyway,” he concludes because he knows me. I’d rather lose a small percentage now than every shipment after this. I’m not about to kill the gooseying the golden eggs, and the deal I hammered out with the Florida familles makes them a big fucking goose.

 Even though I know we’ll work this out, I’m seething. “Thesex motherfuckers,” Imutter, cracking my knuckles as the scenery outside the Mustang changes from spacious, tree filled suburbs to the lower middle–ss area between our side of town and the harbor area. “It’s been too long since I’ve cracked beads.”

 “That’s beneath you now, isn’t it? The general doesn’t do the work of the infantry.”

 His choice of words makes meugh. “You want to take a shot at them yourself?”

 “Why the fock not?” The leather squeaks when he tightens his grip on the wheel. “It’s been too long for me, too. I wouldn’t mind a bit. Motherfuckers think they can do whatever they want, whenever they feel like it. Reminders need to be issued sometimes.”

 Of all times for Caterina’s face to sh in front of my mind’s eye. No matter how I want to punish these stupid, careless bastards for fucking with my revenue and reputation, I want to punish her more. She’s fucked with my entire life, invaded every thought, and turned me into someone I hardly recognize.

 And I still want her. With every fucking molecule in my body, I want her.

 I can’t have her

 My phone buzzes a few minutes from the warehouse. I expect to find one of the sons of bitches from the warehouse on the ID, but the numberes up as unlisted. “Yeah?” I grunt on answering. With the mood I’m in, I almost hope it’s a telemarketer to curse the fuck out

 “Mr. Rossetti. It’s Joe.”

 Of course, a professional hitman would call from a burner phone. “Joe. Good to hear from you. I had nned to reach out sometime this week.” Roger looks my way from the corner of his .

 “I didn’t want to keep you waiting.” As usual, he jumps headfirst into business, and as usual, I appreciate it “I have little to report. Our friend has been around town with a kid young enough to be her son, but that’s the only recent development.”

 “I’m gritting my teeth hard enough that my jaw aches. Amalia, with some kid, running around in public. “Who is

 “I wasn’t able to get a decent shot of him. It was too dark. But they were out in public, nothing sneaky, and it didn’t seem romantic. I thought you’d want to know, though.”

 Forck of anything better to tell me, in other words. “You haven’t found anything else in weeks?”

 She’s with a kid. A fucking kid.

 Caterina is practically a kid, too.

 “She’s a slippery one, Mr. Rossetti.” He pauses, then adds, “If you feel my services have been less than satisfactory, I respect your decisionL“!

 The warehouse is in front of us now, with Roger pulling into the lor surrounding it. Between these fuckers and the fucker on the phone, I’m a hairsbreadth away from a murder charge. My chest is so tight I have to fight to draw breath.

 “We’ll discuss thatter. I’m on my way in to a meeting. For now, stay the course.” Even if the course is looking like a pointless waste of time and money.

 My phone bounces off the dash andnds on the floor while I grow out my fury. “Either this guy’s reputation was a bunch of shit, or she’s a hell of a lot smarter than I ever gave her credit for How can hee up without a single scrap of evidence against that bitch?”

 “She’s smart, 

 Clever.”

 like you said,” Roger muses as he puts the car in park, then reaches into the glovebox for his Glock. “Slippery

 Yes, she is, like so many women are. There’s always something going on beneath the surface. Something they’re trying to hide. Some angle they’re working

 Not Caterina Danin it, what the fuck am I doing thinking about her at a time like this? And what makes her any different from the rest of them? She’s nothing unique. It’s my cock that makes me want to believe that.

 Ruined my life and turned me into a weak piece of shit addicted to the smell of her pussy in days. I knew it would end up like this, but I’m the stupid bastard who walked in with both eyes open.

 With a furious grunt, I throw the door open and burst from the car. Normally, I’d take things easier ande in with a level bead. Let them think I’m noting in to blow their heads off for fucking me over. I don’t have it in me to pretend today.

 Roger’s hot on my heels as we walk in. The sight of us causes two jean–d men to end their smoke break out by the dock and jog into the office. Their tense whispers as we cross the warehouse floor tell me there’s no guessing why we’re paying this visit They’re seated out of their minds.

 “Chuck!” My bark echoes in the cavernous space. Looking around, I spot our crates waiting to be loaded. “What, you can’t out and greet me? I thought we were better than that.”

 The pot bellied warehouse manager I made the mistake of putting on my payroll lumbers out of his office, mopping his forehead with a bandana. He shoves into his back pocket before holding both hands up in surrender.

 “I can exin.”

 “You’d better.

 When Roger takes a step forward, 1 hold out an am to bar his way. No. This one’s mine. I need this. I need to hurt someone, Chuck’s eyes widen when I remove my jacket “Well? Start exining hand the jacket to Roger, never taking my eyes off the

 man in front of me.

 “It wasn’t his fault,” one of the other men offers, though he doesn’t sound like his heart’s in it. “Our software glitched or some shit, and we lost the schedule. 

 “You don’t have a backup? Some safeguard in ce?” I shake my head in disbelief while rolling up the sleeves of my shirt.” When we first embarked on this arrangement, you gave me every assurance there’d be no fuckups.”

 “And there hasn’t been until now.” Deads of sweat roll down the men’s face. “Please, Mr. Rossetti. It’ll never happen again. I

 “What if they seized the crates during the extra day they’re sitting here?” I take one slow step after another while Chuck backs away. “What then? Whose ass would be on the line?”

 “They’re safe!” he blurts out, his back hitting the waill.

 “And how the hell do you know that?” Fisting him by the shirt, I had his pathetic face close to mine. “You working with the Feds? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? Because that’s the only way you’d know for sure.”

 The rancid stench of fear rolls off him. This pathetic, weak piece of shit I’m sick of weak links Empty promises. Sick of the future of what I’ve built being in the hands of those I can’t trust

 Pulling my fist back, I savor the hopeless certainty in his eyes before smashing it against his cheek hard enough that his head snaps to the side. His men flinch but stay in ce. They know better.

 “Please! Please, Mr. Rossetti!” Chuck’s cries fall on deaf ears. I’m oblivious, thanks to the rush of relief that first blow brought ine. This is what I should’ve done all along, Beaten the shit out of someone until the beast inside me settled.

 The beast, which now demands I hit him again Again. He drops to his knees when I release him, and I drive my knee into his nose, sending him sprawling onto his back. His men are anxious, wringing their hands, but one look of warning keeps them) ce.

 “Do you motherfuckers think this is a game?” Chuck’s ribs crack when the heel of my shoe presses down on them. I can’t express how satisfying that cracking sound is to me. He rolls ontohis side, curling into a ball, and I settle for kicking the hell out of his back until he squeals like a fucking pig

 “Please!” he screams from behind his crossed arms, which only ads fuel to the fire of disgust and outrage driving me. Another solid kick, and he’s on his back again, hands raised in surrender, his face a bleeding mess.

 I’m hardly out of breath as I pull him up by his shirt cor. He’s the symbol of everything that could’ve gone wrong, that has gone wrong. The sense of losing control over myself, my thoughts any life.

 “Now you know,” I snarl in his face. “You do not fuck with me or my shit.” When all he does is blubber and weep, Im the back of his head against the concrete floor.

 “Boss!” I harily hear Roger as I repeat the motion before releasing the unconscious man and push into a standing position. “We should go.”

 Chuck’s breathing, but barely, lying motionless on the floor. When I back away, one of his crew crouches beside him. “We need to get him to the hospital!”

 “Now,” Roger urges, pulling me by the arm.

 “Let’s see if any of you fuckers forget who you’re dealing with again.” I pull my wallet from my back pocket and withdraw a 

 stack of bills.

 “There you go.“I throw a handful of cash and watch as the bills scatter across his bloody, broken body. “That should help with the hospital bills. Next time, you’ll be leaving in a body bag.”

 Thest thing I see before I give in and let Roger pull me out of the warehouse is the blood soaking into the bills, the dark red spreading across green. I’ve heard it calledblood moneybefore buthever considered the term literally.

 *I thought you were leaving the kicking ass part up to me?” Rogerquestions, tires squealing as we peel out of the lot.

 1 flex my hand, my knuckles aching, Chuck’s blood already drying on my skin. What would little Caterina think if she saw the

 Looking at Roger, I say, “Some things the general has to do himsel

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Novel Straight 18