Mafia Obsession

Rick

I’m on edge. We’ve made it to our safe house in California. Step one of this mission complete. Everything about this plan makes me uneasy, but getting to this house was the easy part.

What comes tomorrow is when everything could implode. That is when it gets dangerous.

Other than my two most trusted men, we’re alone. Backup is on the way by road, as we couldn’t all fly here. The Romano brothers are on a mission alone for a night. It rarely happens anymore.

Since our father died, the three of us rarely find ourselves together at all. One of us is always called away on business. It’s been a hectic eight years since we buried our father.

The sun is setting behind the house, painting the open plan living area in a warm, pink light through the floor to ceiling windows. Alicia is sitting on the terrace by the pool, staring out over the sea in the distance. Our Californian house is one of my favorites. One I rarely get to visit, and when I do, it is always for business.

When I told her I loved her, I regretted it instantly. A bathroom on a jet isn’t exactly the time or place to blurt that out, but I couldn’t help it. The emotions overwhelmed me. In an ideal world, I would have told her in a more romantic setting. When she said it back, my world became a little brighter.

She takes my breath away. Her dark hair blows in the sea breeze around her sun-kissed skin, which is accentuated by the setting sun.

I step out of the open bi-fold doors and approach her. She doesn’t hear me as I approach, as she is mesmerized by the stunning view of the ocean.

I sit down behind her on the sun lounger with my legs either side of her.

Alicia shivers as I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her against me.

She doesn’t turn around, just settles against my chest as if she was made to fit. “Hi,” she says.

“Hi,” I say, pressing my lips against the nape of her neck.

She shivers slightly at my touch. “It’s so beautiful here.” She returns her gaze to the sea.

I can’t bring myself to tear my eyes from the woman in front of me. “So beautiful,” I mutter.

She leans back into me and shuts her eyes. “I wish we could stay here forever, just you and me.”

I smile at that, tightening my grip on her waist. It would be much better than the reality. We have to live on the outskirts of Philly and danger follows us wherever we go. There’s no way out of this life, and it’s something she will have to get used to if she wants to be with me.

“That would be a dream, but it would never happen.”

She nods. “I know, but we can come here on vacation once everything is sorted, right?”

“Are you planning vacations together already?” I tickle her, making her wriggle in my grip.

Her movements make me even harder in my pants. “Who says I want to keep you around?” I tease.

She tenses. “Well, since you said you love me, I assumed-”

“Right, break it up, you two, I’ve made lasagna, and it’s on the table,” Kane says.

I glance at my oldest brother who is wearing an apron. He is our family’s only decent cook. Jasmine looks a little puzzled as she stares at my brutal-looking brother in an apron. “What’s so confusing?” I ask

She shakes her head. “I never thought I’d see Kane Romano in an apron, cooking.”

I chuckle. “Kane’s the only one out of the three of us who can cook anything decent. You’re in for a treat, as lasagna is one of his specialties.”

She licks her lips and tries to stand.

I hold her close, stopping her from getting away. “Did I say you could leave yet?” I ask.

She glances back at me. “The food will get cold,” she whines.

I smirk, kissing her lips softly and then releasing her. “Go on.” I nod my head toward the kitchen. As she gets up, I spank her ass softly, making her yelp in surprise.

She narrows her eyes at me. “That was uncalled for.”

I can’t help but smirk at her. “Was it? What are you going to do about

it?”

She stares at me for a moment more, before blowing out a breath and

walking away. I watch the way her hips sway, feeling my pants become tighter. She has a way of getting me going by doing nothing. I jump to my feet and follow her. She’s already sat at the table, and Kane is passing out the dishes.

The smell is divine. It always shocks me that Kane wanted to be an accountant. He would have made a great chef if we hadn’t been forced into this life by our father.

Kane struggled the most with adapting to our crime-ridden way of life. Even though, anyone from outside our family looking in would believe he was born for it.

We always have to be hardened on the outside, but Kane resisted it the most. It changed him more when he finally submitted to our father’s beatings. He used to be put through hell by the man who brought us up-or more like the monster.

None of us really grieved his death, which may sound terrible. He’s the reason the Romano family is what it is today. The reason we have to be so brutal all the damn time. Keep up appearances or die, it is that simple.

“Damn smells good big bro,” Leo says, jogging toward the table as if he’s starving.

Kane narrows his eyes at him. “Make sure you let everyone else have some before you load the entire lasagna onto your plate.”

Leo chuckles as he grabs a plate and then dives for the server before anyone else. “I wouldn’t do that. Got to make sure Alicia gets some.” He winks at her, making my blood boil. Leo has always been the joker, and it can get tiresome.

God knows how Ellie puts up with him all the time, but she is in love with him. I’ve seen them together, and she makes him a better person. When she’s around, Leo calms down slightly.

He had it the hardest out of the three of us. Our dad didn’t let Leo grow up before he thrust him into this life. His first kill was way too young at

fourteen years old, and he was scarred by it. After the trouble Dad had with Kane, he decided it was best to take an earlier approach with Leo.

“What are you waiting for?” Kane asks, breaking me from the daze I’d fallen into.

He already has a plate full, as does Leo and Alicia. I take a seat next to Alicia and squeeze her thigh gently. I glance at Kane. “Have you asked Dan and John to join us?”

Kane nods. “Yeah, but they preferred to eat out tonight and get some beers. I said it was cool.” He shrugs. “I think they would prefer to let us eat as a family.”Belongs © to NôvelDrama.Org.

I shovel some lasagna onto my plate. “It doesn’t happen often, that’s for sure.”

“Why not?” Alicia asks, bright blue eyes wide as she glances at me.

“Ever since we took over the family business, life is too damn busy.” I shovel a piece of the delicious pasta into my mouth.

Leo chimes in, “Yeah, one of us is always dealing with something and not around.”

Alicia takes a mouse-sized bite of the lasagna and makes a humming noise, one that reminds me of how she sounded in the bathroom of that airplane. It stirs something primal within me. I grit my teeth, trying to resist this ridiculous pull I have to everything she does.

She glances at Kane and then back at Leo, before returning her gaze to me. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but you are half-brothers, aren’t you?” Her eyes meet Kane’s.

His jaw clenches before he nods his head. “Yeah, my mom died when I was one year old.”

Her eyes widen. “I’m so sorry-”

He holds a hand up. “Don’t be.” He shakes his head. “We only share our father.”

Leo chimes in. “But, we are as close as any full blood siblings you’ll ever meet.”

“Yeah, when you behave yourself.” Kane’s phone beeps, and he grabs it out of his pocket.

“Man, you are totally whipped,” Leo says.

Kane flips him the bird. It’s at that moment, Leo’s phone goes off. He answers the call, “Hey baby, sorry I’m having dinner, can I call you back?”

he asks, silence follows, and Kane is smirking. “Okay, speak soon.” He cancels the call and puts his phone back in his pocket.

“Who is whipped now?” Kane asks.

Leo throws him an irritated glance. “Whatever.”

I can’t help but smile at the jests between my two brothers. It would be nice to do this more often, even if they are always taking the piss out of each other.

Alicia is picking at her food. She’s been quiet ever since she asked Kane about being our half-brother. We never see him as anything but a full brother, even if we don’t share the same mother. Our mom wasn’t exactly kind to Kane when she was around, but we always were.

I set my hand on the back of her neck and squeeze gently, drawing her attention to me. “Aren’t you hungry?”

She bites her bottom lip, shaking her head. “I’m so nervous about tomorrow.”

Leo quips in, “What have you got to be nervous about?”

She glances at him and then back at me. “My father will not be happy when he finds out I want to be with Rick.” Her cheeks flush, and she looks down at her plate.

“I still can’t believe a woman tamed the beast that is our brother,” Leo says, shaking his head.

Alicia goes an even darker pink at that.

Kane snorts. “I think it’s more unbelievable that any woman puts up with you.”

I laugh in response. “That’s something I truly agree with, Kane.”

Leo shrugs his shoulders. “Whatever, you two are just jealous that I have more humor in my little finger than both of you have combined.”

Both Kane and I look at each other and then burst out laughing, which lightens Alicia’s mood. She giggles along with us, taking a sip of her wine. My heart swells in my chest. This is what life could be like every day.

It’s nice to have all of us together as a family. Dare I dream that we could all have found this kind of happiness?

I had resigned myself to the fact I’d be alone for the rest of my life. Women were something I enjoyed now and then, but emotions never got involved. It was too dangerous to even consider an emotional entanglement.

Until now, I’ve never wanted to get involved with a woman emotionally, not until I set eyes on her. Alicia is already part of this world.

She has grown up with it like me.

It still doesn’t help the guilt that danger will follow her now because of me. All I can do is protect her with everything I’ve got. I’ll protect her no matter the costs.