Destructive Read online

  “Hello, bella.”

  Just the sound of his voice does unimaginable things to me. My breathing speeds up, and a flush spreads from my chest all the way up my neck. Electricity crackles between us every time our eyes meet.

  “Bella?” Carmen asks, jerking me out of my lust-filled haze.

  I turn to see her glancing back and forth between me and Gray Eyes, like she’s watching a tennis match.

  “Who’s the hottie? And what’s a bella, Marley?”

  “Carmen!” I shriek, knowing she’s just provided this man with information that I’ve been busting my ass to keep from him.

  Her eyes grow wide as she looks around at everyone. “What? What just happened? I’m sensing I fucked up here. What did I do?”

  She’s completely clueless. I know I shouldn’t be mad at her for letting my name slip because it’s not like I told her I was keeping it from him, but I can’t help it.

  Amusement fills his eyes as they rake over my body. “Marley.”

  My name rolling on his tongue as he says it for the first time does indescribable things to my insides.

  “I was right—a beautiful name for an equally beautiful woman.”

  “Who is this dude?” Carmen whispers in my ear, loud enough for the two men in front of us to hear.

  I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

  “I’m so sorry. I haven’t properly introduced myself.” Gray Eyes reaches his hand across the bar and clasps hands with Carmen. “I’m Gabriel Bertozzi, but please, call me Gabe. And this is Aldo,” he replies, pointing over at his silent companion.

  Carmen shakes his hand, her face full of curiosity. “Well, I’m Carmen, and this here is Marley. I already let that little tidbit slip, didn’t I?”

  “Carmen, it’s a pleasure.” Gabriel removes his hand from Carmen’s and reaches out to shake mine.

  I hesitate for several seconds before slowly raising my arm and placing my hand in his. The instant our skin touches, electricity shoots up my arm. I let out an involuntary gasp and snatch my hand back as if he burned me. It almost feels like he did.

  His eyes widen slightly, telling me he felt it, too. His hand hangs in the air for a few seconds before he finally places it back down on the bar and interlocks his fingers. I’m still unable to form words, so Carmen—being the amazing, filterless friend that she is—decides to throw me a bone.

  “Can I get you two anything to drink?” she asks.

  I continue with my human-statue routine.

  “Macallan neat, please,” Gabriel responds.

  “Crown on the rocks for me,” Aldo replies.

  “So, Aldo, huh?” Carmen asks the stoic man sitting on the stool in front of her. She pours the drinks and slides them across the bar. “Is that, like, Italian or something?”

  I can see the bear of a man’s lips quirk just slightly at my ball-of-fire friend.

  “Something like that,” he mumbles, the deep timbre of his voice almost rumbling from his chest.

  I glance at Carmen and see a thoughtful expression flit across her face. I know nothing good can come from that look.

  “So, is the Italian stereotype true? Are you hung like a horse?”

  I hear Gabriel choke on his drink, and at the same time, I break out of my trance and holler, “Carmen!”

  To Aldo’s credit, he just sits there, chuckling.

  “What?” she asks innocently. “I mean, seriously! The dude’s a beast. God would be playing a cruel joke on the world if he were carrying around a cocktail weenie in his pants. Ha! Cock-tail…get it?”

  She’s still laughing at her own idiotic joke thirty seconds later.

  “Jesus Christ. You really don’t think before you speak, do you?”

  Carmen just looks at me and rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on! Like you weren’t thinking it. I bet I could blow this guy without even getting on my knees.”

  At that comment, Aldo bursts out laughing. The loud, resounding laugh echoes through the entire pub.

  I put my elbows on the bar and plant my face in my hands. “I’m so sorry about her,” I mumble from behind my hands.

  “Oh, whatever,” Carmen mutters. She turns and heads toward the stockroom.

  When I look up, Aldo has also miraculously disappeared, leaving Gabriel and I alone at the bar.

  I clear my throat uncomfortably, and I start wiping the counter down with a slightly dirty rag, causing streaks to form along the once clean top. I try my hardest to ignore the magnetism between the two of us.

  “Bella, look at me,” he commands in that low, gravelly voice.

  I find myself lifting my head without question.

  “I apologize for scaring you the other night.”

  I can feel my eyes growing wide. “Y-you didn’t scare me,” I lie.

  That smug smile creeps back across his lips. “You sure about that?”

  When I don’t answer, he continues, “It wasn’t my intention to frighten you. You just caught me by surprise.”

  My arm is moving of its own accord, wiping down the counter again in quick, nervous circles. “Like I said, you didn’t scare me. I-I’m sorry for, uh…interrupting you.”

  A blush burns at my cheeks, and I know he can see just how much he’s getting to me.

  Quick as lightning, his hand shoots out and grabs a hold of my wrist, stopping the rag mid-stroke. My breath catches, and I look up into those amazing eyes.

  “Don’t apologize, Marley. I’m not sorry in the least.”

  I can barely think clearly when this man speaks, so having him touch me makes talking in clear and concise sentences impossible. “Y-you aren’t?” I stutter like an idiot schoolgirl.

  “I’m not,” he responds, still holding on to my wrist.

  His thumb begins rubbing a gentle rhythm against my pulse, causing fireworks to shoot from my arm through my entire body.

  “Go on a date with me.” It’s not a question.

  Good lord, his confidence is unnerving.

  “Why?”

  His fingers release their hold and begin softly trailing up my arm, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

  “Because you fascinate me, Marley. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since I first saw you standing in this very spot. I want to know you. I need to know you.”

  That one statement is both pleasing and unsettling all at the same time. My body wants to lean into his touch while my mind is warring with it to turn and run in the opposite direction.

  “I-I’m sorry. I just…can’t.” I pull my arm away from his touch and clench my fists at my side.

  Something flashes across his face, causing his eyes to seem almost stormy, before it quickly disappears, and he schools his features. But it’s too late. I already saw everything I needed to see. That brief flicker said it all. Gabriel does not do well with rejection.

  An impassive mask slips over his features, and I try my best to copy it.

  “May I ask why not?”

  Letting out an exasperated sigh, I look directly at him as I force myself to stand my ground. “Look, Gabriel—”

  “Gabe,” he cuts in, causing my hackles to rise.

  I really do hate being interrupted. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine. And I refuse to allow myself to address him with the familiarity he’s insisting on. I have to let this man know his place—or lack thereof.

  “Gabriel,” I enunciate so that he gets the point I’m trying to get across, “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in dating right now. I just don’t have time in my life for any type of relationship, casual or otherwise. I’m flattered, really, but I’m going to have to decline.”

  My chest swells with pride that I was able to say all of that without my voice cracking once—that is, until I see the tense line of his shoulders and the tic in his jaw.

  “Well, that truly is disappointing.”

  The tone of his voice causes my back to shoot straight and the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.

  “You see, when I c
ome across something that holds my interest, I kind of become…well, let’s just say I’m like a dog with a bone. No isn’t a word I hear often in my world, and when I want something, I get it. And, bella, please believe that you are most definitely something I want.”

  A fire is lit inside me as soon as he finishes speaking. It’s a fire I never even knew I was capable of having. My blood is boiling, and it’s taking every ounce of strength I have to prevent myself from reaching across this bar and slapping that condescending smirk right off his beautiful face.

  I lean in so that I can speak low enough not to garner unwanted attention from the other patrons in the pub. But make sure my demeanor gets my point across loud and clear, I begin to lay into him in a way I never thought I was capable of. “Well, since we’re sharing right now, why don’t I fill you in on something, Gabriel? I am not now, nor will I ever again be someone else’s property. I am not a toy for you to play with whenever you’re in the mood. I apologize that the women you’ve encountered in your life so far are too weak and spineless to deny you anything, but rest assured, I am not like that. I have no desire to go on a date with you now or any time in the foreseeable future. My answer is no. Deal with it.”

  Carmen returns just in time to take over manning the bar, so I can storm back into the break room and wait for that smug asshole to leave my pub. His laughter that follows me all the way down the hall just infuriates me even more. It only takes about two minutes to have my holy-shit-what-the-fuck-have-I-just-done moment. In a momentary fit of rage, I completely forgot that I am most definitely afraid of something about Gabriel. I can’t shake the sudden fear that I just poked the bear, and I should watch my back because I get the distinct impression that he isn’t finished with me.

  ***

  I can’t remember the last time my cock has been this hard. That little ball of fire gave me a tongue-lashing like I’ve never received, and all I can think about is bending that perfect little ass over my knee and spanking it until it’s bright red. Then, I imagine burying my dick so deep inside her warm pussy that I can’t tell where I end and she begins.

  Beautiful Marley doesn’t know how big of a mistake she just made. That impassioned speech of hers changes things. I no longer want to just fuck her. She’s presented a challenge—thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak—and in my mind, that just makes me want to claim my prize all the more.

  “Boss, you hear a word I just said?”

  I turn from the floor-to-ceiling windows in my office overlooking the city, and I stare into the cold, calculating eyes of my best friend. I know what he’s going to say, but I ask the question anyway, “What’s up, Aldo?”

  “It’s time, boss.”

  I follow him out of the office and down the hall to the elevators, removing my platinum cuff links and folding my sleeves up to my elbows. I’ve always hated this part of my job, but it’s an inconvenient requirement. I just hope I can avoid from getting my Armani dress shirt dirty this time.

  We take the service elevator down to the loading dock, and then we head into a secluded storage room with concrete floors and walls. Keeping these kinds of situations contained to areas like this prevents unnecessary cleanup.

  “Well, look what we have here.” I take a quick glance at the man cuffed to the chair in the center of the room before turning to the counter on the back wall. I take my time perusing the selection before picking up a wrench and testing its weight in my hands. Deciding on something a little more creative, I put it back, exchanging it for the rusty, dull wire cutters further down the table. This is going to be a long night. “I bet you weren’t expecting to see my face again so soon, were you, Dominic?” I ask the man who’s currently crying like a pussy in the chair.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Bertozzi. I’m so fucking sorry,” he sobs.

  I circle him, like a lion waiting to pounce. “If you’re sorry, then why did you do it? Was it the money? Was I not paying you enough, Dom?”

  He doesn’t even bother answering. He just cries even harder. The incessant sniveling is seriously beginning to piss me the fuck off. If a guy is going to choose to be a traitor, he might as well fucking own it like a man.

  “Did Gianni Montello offer you more money to get you to snitch on your family?” I take a quick look around the room, letting it all soak in.

  Two more of my men, aside from Aldo, are standing to the side, watching, as they wait to see what kind of punishment I’m about to inflict on the traitor before us.

  “Y-yes, sir,” Dominic whimpers.

  “So, that’s it?” I ask sarcastically. “All it took was a few more dollars to turn you against me?”

  “I’m so sorry,” he cries out again.

  I begin to walk closer toward him. I’m about three feet away when Dominic uses that moment to piss himself like a little bitch. My lips curl in a sneer as the strong scent of ammonia hits my nostrils.

  How did I even employ a man who is such a fucking pussy that he can’t even control his bladder when he gets scared?

  I roll my eyes and take another step closer. Time to get to work.

  ***

  Son of a bitch. Another fucking shirt ruined.

  I wipe at my sleeve as Aldo and I take the elevator back up to my office.

  “Ruined another shirt, pretty boy?” he asks, his voice full of humor.

  “Real fucking funny, asshole. Do you know how much this shirt cost? It’s Armani. Blood doesn’t come out for shit.”

  “Well, maybe you’ll take that into consideration the next time you decide to get creative, Gabe.”

  I roll my shoulders to try to release some of the tension building in them.

  Christ, what I wouldn’t give to release the tension between Marley’s luscious thighs. That would be a guaranteed cure-all.

  “That was nothing compared to some of the shit you’ve pulled, Al. Besides, I needed to make a statement. You don’t fuck with me and mine and not suffer the consequences.”

  Aldo lets out a rumbling chuckle as the elevator dings, and the doors open. My office has been closed for hours, so there’s no risk of anyone seeing me in this state.

  “Think you made that loud and clear tonight, boss,” he says as we walk into my office.

  He plops his big ass down on the sofa just inside the door as I make my way to the bathroom attached to my office. I rip off my soiled shirt and then yank a freshly laundered one out of the walk-in closet in the en suite.

  I toss the bloody shirt to Aldo, so he can destroy it later. I head over to the wet bar in the corner and pour myself a glass of scotch before taking a seat at my desk with an exhausted sigh.

  “Make sure Carlo doesn’t leave anything behind. Nothing that can tie any of it back on us.”

  “You got it, boss,” Aldo says, taking that as his cue to exit.

  He leaves me to my thoughts, and I think of a certain green-eyed girl screaming out my name as I fuck her nearly to death.

  A week has passed since I turned Gabriel down, and every damn day, he and that Jolly Green Giant of his have been coming into Fletchers to sit in the back booth and shoot the shit like it was something they’ve been doing for years. I always make sure to keep my eyes averted as much as possible. Seeing as Gabriel refuses to allow a waitress to serve them their drinks, it hasn’t been all that easy. Fortunately, aside from ordering drinks and leaving me ridiculously obscene tips, he hasn’t said much else, keeping the communication between the two of us brief.

  Until now, that is.

  “Can we get another round?” Gabriel asks, pulling my attention from the textbook in front of me.

  I go about pouring Crown on the rocks and a Macallan neat without so much as looking in his direction. I’m so out of place around this man. Up feels like down. In feels like out. Wrong feels like right. I finish pouring and slide the drinks across the bar without looking up.

  “Are you studying for something?” he asks, throwing me off.

  I’ve almost gotten used to our stunted interactions, so I
wasn’t prepared for him to start an actual conversation.

  “Uh…yes…yeah. I’m, um…actually in school right now—well, not actually right now, right now. But at night. I take college classes at night.” And now I’m rambling like a goddamn moron. Why can’t I just be normal around this guy?

  I look up to see that amused smirk on his delicious lips, and I find myself wanting to kiss him and punch him all at the same time.

  He takes a seat on the stool next to him, reaches over the bar, and tilts my textbook up to view the cover. “Wow, bella.”

  Every time he calls me that, it feels like a million butterflies are taking flight in my stomach.

  “Child, Family, and Community Relations. What are you in school for?”

  I grab hold of a rag and begin to wring it in my hands. “Uh…ch-child development. I want to become a social worker.”

  His smile transforms from smug to sincere in the blink of an eye. Gabriel has the most blindingly gorgeous smile I’ve ever seen.

  “That’s very selfless of you, bella. I’m sure you’d be amazing at it.”

  My brows furrow as I look at him. I really study his face, taking in everything about this man, for the first time. “You don’t know anything about me, Gabriel.”

  I hear a low rumble coming from his throat. It sounds almost like a growl.

  “What do I have to do to get you to call me Gabe, Marley?”

  I throw the rag down in frustration and let out my own irritated noise. “What do I have to do to get you to back the hell off, Gabriel?”

  He leans in closer to me, getting as close as he can, considering he’s sitting with a bar between us.

  “I’ve already told you, when I want something I’ll stop at nothing to get it. It’s just a matter of time until you give in to this thing between us.”

  I slap my palms down and lean closer until we’re a mere two inches apart. “There isn’t a thing between us. I need you to leave me alone, Gabriel. I’m being serious.”

  Standing and closing the remaining distance between us, he places his lips so close to my ear that I can feel his breath on my neck. I hear him inhale deeply as if he’s taking in my scent.