Chapter 6 6

Eros

I wake at sunrise.

An hour of sleep will have to be good enough.

I'm tired, but the memory of Cara's body against mine, her skin glistening with sweat as she rode my cock, her whimpers and moans as she sucked my tip, her drool rolling down my shaft-it was all very much worth one exhausted day.

Even if I have an important meeting soon.

Cara's breathing is slow and deep. I watch her for a few minutes, enjoying the way the sheets barely cover her body. Weak sunlight makes her seem to glow.

I haven't fucked like that in a long time.

I haven't wanted like that in forever.

That was not how I expected the night to go.

I came to the Drake to have a quiet drink and scout out where I'd be having breakfast tomorrow-or in about an hour from now.

Instead, I ran into Cara, and something about her drew me in. It was her desperation, her obvious fear, but also the way she spoke to that bartender like she was going to rip his head off.

I could tell something was wrong. I saw it written all over her: the fear, the confusion. I'm not typically in the business of picking up strays, but I figured, why not do a good deed for once?

God knows I've done plenty of bad deeds for a lifetime.

I figured I'd pay her bill. Buy her dinner. Get her a room.

I didn't think I'd end up deep between her creamy thighs.

But as we spoke, I felt something.

The girl has a fire in her.

And I got a taste of that fire last night.

She fucked like she wasn't going to wake in the morning. There's nothing sexier than a woman so deeply in tune with her body.

Than a woman that wants sex so badly it's like a drug.

Her moans, her curses. The way she so eagerly wrapped her mouth around my cock and tried to please me as I pulled her hair.

The sticky champagne mixed with the lovely taste of her dripping pussy.

I might've gone a little overboard with that one. Fuck, it was lovely though, and I cleaned her quite thoroughly with my tongue.

I'm half-hard thinking about it.

But I have work to do, and as much as I loved Cara, my little star, I can't let myself stay in this bed any longer.

I pull myself from the sheets and shower as quietly as I can. I dress in the same suit as the night before, only somewhat rumpled, and hesitate before I leave.

She's still asleep, looking so vulnerable and beautiful.

I take the roll of cash from my jacket pocket and leave it on the nightstand.

It's only a few thousand, but it should help her escape whoever he is.

I don't know where she's going or who she's running from, but I hope she finds what she's looking for.

I'm tempted to do more. I want to wake her, tell her I'm leaving, and kiss her one last time.

But last night was risky enough. I fucked her raw, without protection-though she did say she's on birth control at one point. Still, it was a stupid risk. If I keep going like this, I might make a mistake I can never return from.

I can't let myself do that.

Not now, not in my position.

"Goodbye, asteraki mu, and good luck," I whisper, letting her sleep.

Lycus meets me in the hall outside of the room. He's leaning against the wall and straightens as I approach. The tall man's eyes narrow and a knowing little grin tugs at his mouth as if the bastard can smell the sex on me.

"I thought you weren't staying the night, but then I get a text telling me to meet you here," he says, head tilted to the side. Lycus is my age, early thirties, with dark Greek hair and a bit of stubble on his neck and cheeks. I've known him since I was a child, and there's nobody in this world I trust more. "Why do you look like you slept in that suit?"

"I didn't have time to change." I accept a coffee from him and take a sip. Good, strong, and dark. "I didn't want to keep the union waiting."

Lycus laughs as he shakes his head. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you had a date last night. But since I do know better, I have to assume you got too drunk instead, and those useless soldiers you call bodyguards left you to fend for yourself."

"You caught me." I raise the coffee. "I sent my men home and overindulged again. To my ever-observant underboss."

"So long as you don't keel over, I couldn't care less." He sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. "Only I wish you didn't look so messy."

"The dockworkers will be understanding after I make our offer. Come on, Lycus, don't be too worried."

He laughs, sounding bitter, and we walk to the elevators. "I almost wish you did have a woman in that room," he says. "You know finding a wife will go a long way toward pacifying your loudest critics."

I bristle at that and glare at him. "My critics can continue to complain. I will marry when I choose to." I don't need this shit right now, not with Cara's taste still on my tongue. I'm well aware of what my family wants from me, but I do not bend for anyone, especially not for them.

Not while I'm the lord.

"That's the problem. You're the lord of a crime family, Eros, you don't have the freedom to do whatever you want anymore."

"Then what's the point of becoming the lord? I didn't get my hands dirty to let a bunch of old men push me around."

"No, you didn't, but you also didn't do all that killing just to lose control of your family because you refused to play the game." Lycus rolls his eyes at my anger. Of everyone in the Kazan organization, he fears me the least, the asshole. He knows I'll hurt him, but he's not afraid to hurt me back.

It's what I love the most about him. I need men like Lycus around-not afraid to call me on my bullshit.

Only not too many of them.

"I don't have time to worry about internal politics," I say as the elevator doors open and we step into the empty car. "Not now that the Italians are moving into our turf and making trouble."

"The Pavones are a problem," Lycus agrees. "But they aren't a threat to the family's stability. Internal civil war would be much, much worse."

"We will hold together whether I get married or not." I put a hand on his shoulder and squeeze. "I killed once to take control of the Kazan family, and I'll kill again if it comes to that."

Lycus lets out a breath and looks at the ceiling. "I know you will. That's the fucking problem."

The elevator doors open and we step out together.