Ruthless Ink: A Mob Romance (Hanley Family Mafia) (Devil’s Desires Book 4) Read online

  “I have to be honest, Miss Erickson—can I call you Lily?”

  She nods once, sharply. This time her chin does look like it smacks the top of her chest. Continuing, I tell her, “I can’t remember one conversation of ours, and I pride myself on my memory and my people skills. So I apologize if I’ve been remiss as your employer. And I promise that changes tonight. I think fate brought us together for a reason.”

  Fate...and my fucking stupid goons who can’t get simple orders through their thick skulls, but I can’t say that to her. I feel my teeth clenching tighter and my grin starting to crack with its fakeness.

  It’s hard to think happy thoughts, to pretend everything’s dandy, when all I see when I look at Lily is the incompetence of Russ and his man. I swear to God if this blows up and heads south, I’m collecting the hides of those two asshats.

  “Though you won’t admit it, I know you’re scared.”

  That rewards me with a timid glance, her lashes immediately lowering and her chin warbling. I hope she doesn’t cry. I hate women crying, especially if it’s a direct result of an action I’ve taken. I have nothing pleasant to say to Lily, but I pray she doesn’t weep when she hears it.

  “So I know you’re scared,” I repeat, smoothing my tone. She’s a startled deer caught in the headlights of my big, bad hired hands, and I’ve been forced to be the hunter, calming the deer, killing the deer—

  No. No, she’s not going to die. At least not at my hands and without giving her a chance to choose her future. I’ll let her decide how this is going to go down.

  “That man who brought you here, he’s telling me an interesting story.”

  She sits up, her bottom scooting to the end of the seat. She’s riveted, finally, responding with some life. I notice how her fuller bottom lip drops a little lower with her interest.

  “But instead of me re-hashing it,” I drawl, “I’d like for you to tell me what happened.”

  Lily snaps her mouth close, lips tightening, her eyes darting from me to her hands in her lap. She’s closing off.

  I don’t have time for that. I get the sense once she’s lost my confidence, I’m done. There’s no helping her. Standing, I stride to take the seat beside her. For one reason or another, money or power, usually women are throwing themselves at me. But this chick is something else.

  Lily scoots from me, her gaze resolutely fixing ahead on the table.

  I’m reminded of how a leper might have been treated. I can’t even get a visual cue of some sort.

  Fine. I don’t need her looking at me to get her talking. So long as she’s talking.

  “Lily, what happened tonight?”

  She nudges her chin away, her head slightly turning from me. Her loose, wavy curls tumble to cover more of her face. She’s blocking me out. Seriously, this is a first.

  “I want to hear your side of things, Lily. Get your version of the story. Will you let me do that?” I touch her shoulder, resorting to inundating her with charm. Anything to get her more compliant than this…

  “Mr. Hanley,” she starts, her voice faltering, a soft sigh carrying to my ears and gaining the attention of my cock. She shifts, turning back to face me, and I resist the urge to tuck her hair behind her ear. She does it herself after holding my stare for a moment. “Mr. Hanley, it’s complicated…And you’re right, I am afraid.”

  “Don’t be.” I try to sound genuine.

  “I was heading home after, uh, a late night,” she stammers and pointedly avoids my eyes at the end of that sentence. Is she hiding something?

  One problem at a time, I remind myself.

  Nodding encouragingly, I get her through the introduction; take her back to the back lot of our dealership. And this is where I want her, but it’s the last place she wants to be.

  Physically she wraps her hands over her elbows, her arms pressing against her belly. Fear has a powerful grip on her, but my voice gently leads her through the rest of the story to the point where Russ and his doofus, Keith, show up.

  “They had their backs to me, standing in front of the trunk of one of the cars. Then there was gunfire—two shots and I screamed.” She hesitates, brow scrunching. “Or I think I screamed. I can’t remember, honestly. But they looked over at me. And the taller one, not the one who brought me here, held up his gun and he wanted to shoot me.

  “The other one, the shorter one, he stopped him. He forced me to come to him. He had a gun too. He shoved me into the other car and told his friend to finish the job.” She sucks in a breath, dropping her voice, “‘Dump the body’ were his actual words.”

  She’s shockingly calm through this all. Once she’s done, it’s another story. She turns her head from me, her hair doing nothing to hide her not-so-discreet tears. Her hands reach up and wipe at her cheeks, jerky movements that require a couple visits to get all the tears.

  My jaw tightens, my teeth grinding together. She doesn’t notice my mood changing, so she answers my hand on her wrist with a gasp. My other hand smothers any more noises of surprise. I’m gentle on both points of contact, keeping my touch light but commanding.

  “All of what you told me is a lie, isn’t it?” I tell her, tersely. “One thing about me, Lily, I don’t tolerate liars. Now when I move my hand, you’ll tell me the truth.”

  Chapter 4

  Luke

  She nods slowly, shaking my hand. I drop my palm from her mouth, ignoring the loss of warmth and the soft pressure of her lips.

  Licking those lips, Lily pointedly looks at my hand on her wrist. I squeeze once, warningly, before dropping my hand from there too. “You were saying,” I press. “Something about leaving the office after a late night working…”

  Giving her a jumping-off point, she picks up the ball, her gaze wary, lips testing every word carefully before uttering them. Lily Erickson is a quick study, and that’s an immediate brownie point for her.

  “I left and I saw—”

  “Russ,” I say. Hooking one of my arms over the back cushion, my body turns to face her and my knee rises to rest in the space between us, brushing her warm thigh. “You saw Russ. Good thing he showed to pick you up. That’s what I pay him for.”

  Lily nods her head, readily agreeing with me even though her face is furrowed with confusion. At my gesturing hand to continue, she says, “I met up with Russ and he was there to pick me up to…”

  “See me, of course. Silly.” I raise my hand and cup her cheek, a little taken by how soft she is. My mind briefly takes a dip in the gutter as I wonder whether the rest of her is as plush.

  “See you,” she echoes, her eyes blinking rapidly, long lashes wild in response to my caressing.

  “Because you couldn’t wait to see me tomorrow at work, just as much as I couldn’t wait to see you, right?” I ask.

  She nods, but I need a verbal confirmation.

  “You are excited to see me, aren’t you?”

  “I...am,” she says, her voice rising at the end. She can’t be questioning herself. Great alibis are forged on confidence. She needs to convince herself of the lie before she can persuade me to believe her.

  “How excited?”

  “A lot.” She tries at a smile, her eyes holding mine. “I’m excited to see you. A lot.”

  “Good girl.” I lower my hand, finger hooking under her chin, my eyes drifting to her mouth. “I’m pretty fucking stoked to see you too.”

  She inhales sharply, her gaze drifting, leaping from my eyes to my lips. Her breathing has picked up and she leans into my hand against her cheek, her body tilting to face me more with every swift whoosh of air.

  “And you’re here for what, Lily? What did you travel all this way for? What is it you want from me?”

  “I’m here for you…” She studies my face, answering steadily, more sure of herself than ever before. “I want you…I want you to kiss me. That’s what I want.”

  “I know you do, babe.” I close in and give us both a taste of the night unfolding in front of us. Our mouths fit together
, lips sliding against each other, our kiss opening up.

  My tongue has to slip inside to find hers, but once I get her to play, it’s hard to think of a time I thought Lily Erickson was shy.

  She kisses like a siren, and her body is walking sex. She presses into me, deepening our kiss, giving me a run for my seduction. When she’s practically crawling in my lap, I reach to collect her and dump her right where she wants to be.

  Our mouths still connected, she reaches for my collar and draws me closer. One arm wrapping around and offering her back support, my free hand strokes and squeezes her fleshy thighs. She jerks from my lips, her eyes squeezing shut, mouth clamping on a muffled moan.

  I stroke her between her legs, getting the same response. I imagine the state of her panties. I can certainly feel their outline, tracing up from her inner thigh to her outer hip. I clasp her side, my mouth swooping down to her throat, nibbling a trail to her partly exposed clavicle.

  Her blouse covers her up beyond that point, leaving my mouth wanting, and with nowhere else to go, I head up to find her lips again.

  This time she breaks away from the kiss more readily, without my wandering, grabby hands being the culprits. She stares at me, blinking those large, doll-like eyes, swallowing loudly.

  “I’m sorry,” she blurts out of the blue, her disbelief marring her pretty face.

  Seeing as she’s ready to scamper out of my lap, I hold her fast, watching the breathy protest push out of her mouth at my slow head shake. I give her a peck on the lips, then lean back for her to see my smile. My cheeks are smarting with the grin.

  “For...arriving late?” I tilt my head, laughing softly. “Don’t worry. I’d stay up all night knowing you were on your way. And I’ll have a chat with Russ. He won’t be late picking you up next time.”

  When I kiss her this time, she responds, awakening to my touch. Against her mouth, I murmur, “Come to my bed, sweet Lily. Let me make you mine.”

  Helping her off my lap, I keep her hand in mine as we climb the floating wood stairs leading to the second floor.

  We skip the guest room loft overlooking the den below and I take her to my bedroom. Leading her in by the hand, I see her to my bed, stepping back and letting her loose from my hold.

  “Strip, Lily. Let me see you naked.”

  She hesitates.

  “You came here to have sex with me, remember?”

  “I…I thought it was just a story we made up?” Lily stammers. “You know, to tell people if they ask what happened tonight?”

  “That is what happened tonight,” I tell her, my tone commanding and my eyes pinning hers until she looks away.

  She takes a deep breath, then starts to take off her clothes slowly, tackling my order bit by bit. The old, worn coat drops first, then the slow-going buttoned blouse, her pants are next, and once she wriggles free, she stands around her pile of clothes in only her plain underwear.

  “Off,” I tell her. “I need to see you bare, babe.”

  “Mr. Hanley,” she breathes.

  I raise a hand, liking how quickly she silences at the action. Submissive, shy, but naturally attuned to her sensuality; she’s a complex woman, Lily is.

  “Luke,” I tell her. “Always Luke to you.”

  She bobs her head, her soft hair bouncing. She grows more edgy at my crooking finger.

  “Come here, and strip as you come. I want you naked in my arms in…” I regard my Rolex's Everose gold face and hour markers. “Five seconds ago.”

  My request gets my desired response. Lily sheds her bra and wiggles free of her panties. She has walked forward and is now nearly pressed to me. I walk her backward and push her gently onto the bed.

  I’m straddling her, stripping myself of my shirt. As I take in her flushed cheeks, her gorgeous, abundant breasts, and shapely hips, I realize I can’t wait. No foreplay tonight, I decide. Just a fast, hard fuck.

  My cock springs free once I loosen my belt and zipper and draw down my briefs. As much as I’d like to take her bare, I pause to collect a condom from my nightstand drawer, returning to sheath myself with the protection, and then guide myself to her wet folds.

  Lily parts to suck me in, inch by hard, pulsating inch. She feels warm and tight around my cock. It takes a few thrusts and my adroit thumb flicking her stiff clit to undo her.

  She’s a shuddering mess long before her muscles tense and she jerks with her release. Her back arches up off the pillows, her mouth opening on a long keening moan, and then she sinks back down to Earth.

  I let her breathe. Let her take a moment before I pump inside her and ride off the cliff into orgasmic oblivion myself. My body tightens and I groan, relishing the weakness in my limbs at the end of it.

  It’s a satisfying fuck. The best I’ve had since whoever that girl was two weeks ago.

  My eyelids are heavy, and I mean to close them for a just a moment.

  Suddenly I snap them wide and face a lapse of an hour. Lily is watching me in the dark, not reaching for me, yet close enough for me to grasp for her if I want. I don’t want at the moment.

  Puzzled by how I managed to fall asleep so easily, I push out of bed and away from Lily, rounding to our pile of clothes and drawing my trousers up to fetch my cell.

  Russ is there within only a few minutes of my call.

  By then I’ve gotten myself and Lily dressed and downstairs, handing her the closed bottle of sparkling water she left on the coffee table.

  “Thanks,” she murmurs.

  “Good night.” I smile, the mirth slipping when her back turns to me.

  Russ holds out an arm for Lily, gesturing for her to pass before him. They leave more quietly than when they entered my home, this time through the front door.

  Despite what he’s done tonight, Russ is a man I can trust. Lily is in good hands; he’ll see her safely home and he will keep an eye on her for me for tonight and as long as I deem necessary.

  Lily and I are hardly through here, not by a long shot.

  She’s stuck with me if she wants Potentia to remain her home. But as I head back to bed, sit and trace my hand over the sheets rumpled from our lovemaking, I get to planning how pleasurable I can make this situation for the both of us.

  Chapter 5

  Lily

  What does one wear for work the next day after screwing their boss?

  At first I suppose it depends on whether I’m going to see him. But that’s silly. I know I’ll see Luke. He’s always there unlike his absentee father, Floyd Hanley, who only recently handed complete control of day-to-day operations to Luke.

  Luke passes my desk on his way in at the start of the day and as he heads out at the end. I’ll see Luke, all right. I wonder if he’ll acknowledge me and our night together.

  I try to be prepared either way. On my way out to my car, I get a glimpse of myself in the mirrored wall in my apartment building’s foyer.

  My coat is parted, so I can double check the color coordination of my blush pink sleeveless blouse and burgundy cardigan with its pearly white buttons. I paired it with a simple black pencil skirt, the hem brushing my knees.

  Makeup is a bit of foundation, a brush of blush, black mascara, and plenty of concealer to cover the dark circles thanks to Luke. After Russ had taken me home, I stayed awake for hours thinking about what had happened.

  I know Luke provided me with an alibi in case I’m ever questioned about last night, but what kind of woman sleeps with her boss?

  One who was shock from having a gun pulled on her.

  And a horny one, I guess. I’m no virgin, but I’d spent four years without a man.

  The sight of Luke, his confident stare daring me to contradict him, awakened feelings long dormant. His kiss, his touch were mesmerizing, like I was under his spell.

  And now I’m expected to go to work, knowing Luke’s only a few feet away.

  Before I contemplate heading back up to my apartment and calling in sick, I’m swiveling from the mirror in my black peep-toe pumps and hurrying to
my car. I need the hours and money.

  For a small enough town, Potentia doles out some expensive rental rates. With her private school teacher’s salary, Kerry has a place of her own. She complains about barely making a dent into her mortgage, but she says it beats the years of rent she’d accrue if she hadn’t been a homeowner.

  I make about a third of what she makes, and with my school loan still a cloud over me, I’m lucky to have a roof over my head. One day, I tell Kerry and myself whenever we get to talking about it. One day I’ll own a home, too. And whenever I think about the future, I can’t see past Potentia.