Max leaned forward. “It’s a fucking promise. And I’ll give you an hour to cancel the hit on my sister.”
“Or…?”
“I heard your brother’s appeal was denied,” Max relayed, obviously changing the subject.
Moroso’s eyes widened slightly, but he tried to hide his surprise.
“I’ve got more power than you’ll ever dream of having, Moroso. If you think puttin’ a hit out on my sister is gonna get you where you wanna go, you’re delusional.”
“All a matter of time,” Moroso replied.
Leyton’s finger itched to pull the trigger, to put Moroso out of his fucking misery. But he managed to refrain, watching the interaction between the two men.
Max considered Moroso for a moment. “You’ve got a sister, right?”
Moroso didn’t respond.
“How would you feel if there was a contract out on Sabrina?” Max asked, referring to Moroso’s sister by name. “It would suck for little Joseph to grow up without a mommy, wouldn’t it?”
Moroso hissed, but Max didn’t react whatsoever. For as long as Leyton had known Max, he’d never hurt a woman or a child, but he knew that Max wasn’t above making threats to get people to do what he expected them to do.
“One fucking hour,” Max snarled. “That’s all the time you’ve got. If the hit’s not cancelled and I don’t have my guns, your sister and your nephew will find themselves relocated until it’s done.”
With that, Max stood. Leyton waited until Rock and Sal flanked Max before backing out of the restaurant, holding his assault rifle in front of him as he did. He didn’t trust these bastards and for good reason.
They were bottom-feeders. Bottom-feeders who were clearly looking to make a name for themselves.
Leyton only hoped like hell they didn’t succeed. Because in order to do that…
No, he wasn’t going to think about it. If he did, Moroso wouldn’t be walking out of that building ever again.
Not that killing him wasn’t a good idea, because it was. It definitely was.
Chapter Thirty-Six
About damn time.
Ashlynn was pacing the kitchen when Leyton finally strolled into her house. It was after midnight. Everyone else had gone to bed, including Jase, who had told her he’d be waiting for her when she was ready. But Ashlynn couldn’t sleep, so she’d settled on walking circles around the kitchen island, waiting to hear something from someone. Anyone.
She’d been worried. Not only because she wasn’t sure Max wouldn’t kill Leyton for wanting to be with her but also because Sal had informed her that Max and Leyton had decided to pay Marco a visit. It’d been a last-minute meeting at Max’s insistence, and she knew how those could go.
“Where have you been?” she asked him when he appeared in the doorway, not expecting an answer.
When he stepped into the room, she raked her gaze over him slowly. He looked fine. Better than fine, actually. He looked good. Still wearing the same suit he’d had on earlier, he looked like the enforcer she’d always known him to be. With his height, wide shoulders, tousled dirty-blond hair, and ruggedly handsome features, he was sexy as hell. Always had been.
“Where’s everyone?” he asked, glancing around the room.
“Bed.”
She’d left most of the lights off, with the exception of the single pendulum light that hung above the center island. While she knew Teddy and Derrick were somewhere lurking outside the house, keeping an eye on things, she had been hoping not to draw their attention while she’d waited for Leyton. Although her mind had been going a million miles a minute, she hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone. No one except for Leyton, anyway.
As she watched him, Leyton kept his gaze pinned on her as he removed his jacket and tossed it over a chair.
“So how’d it go?” she asked, turning to face him.
“Which part?”
Ashlynn cocked her head.
Leyton smirked.
“Your brother didn’t kill me,” he said, his eyes glittering with heat. “And we didn’t kill Marco. So I’d say it was a good night.”
Leyton moved closer, and Ashlynn suddenly had nothing to say to him. A million questions had been running through her head for the past couple of hours, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a single one. She was too caught up in the heat she sensed radiating from him. She felt like prey all of a sudden.
“What do you have on beneath this?” he asked, one finger sliding beneath the deep V of her red silk robe.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she rasped in response, her eyes locked on his face.
Leyton stole the air from her lungs when he reached for her, hefting her up onto the countertop and stepping between her legs. His hands slid down to the tie on her robe, and without a word, he freed the sash, allowing it to fall open.
“Beautiful,” he whispered.
For the first time in her life, Ashlynn was at a loss for words. She knew what was coming, knew exactly where this was headed, and she didn’t want to say anything that might change that, so it was a good thing she couldn’t come up with anything to say.
When Leyton hefted her breasts in his big, warm hands, she sucked in a breath, the sensation overwhelming her. Grabbing on to his shoulders for support, she felt the muscles flex beneath her hands.
“Do you know how fucking long I’ve waited for this?” he asked.
Rather than say anything, she shook her head.
“So damn long,” he muttered, leaning down and kissing the tip of her pebbled nipple.
She watched him as his tongue curled around the tip. His eyes closed, and he sucked her into his mouth, drawing a moan from her, the pull of his lips sending a lightning bolt of sensation straight to her clit. His hand worked its way up her thigh, coming to rest above her aching sex. As he sucked on her breast, his fingers parted her folds, teasing her briefly.
He wasn’t hesitating, and she was glad, because if she had to wait another second for him, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t spontaneously combust.
“You’re already wet for me,” he said, his mouth coming to rest above hers, hovering just out of reach. “Warm and wet. I want to feel your pussy slide over my dick.”
His words sent more liquid warmth between her legs.
“Is that what you want, Ash? You want to feel me filling you?”
“Yes,” she whispered, trying to get closer to his mouth, only he moved back a fraction of an inch.
His eyes were locked with hers. The intensity she saw there sucked the oxygen out of the room.
“Leyton,” she said on a breath. “Please.”
“Please what?” he asked, his fingers doing delicious things as he tormented her, dipping one inside her, then two.
“I need to feel you inside me.”
He nodded, and she got the impression he was giving himself permission. Once again worried he’d change his mind, she kept her thoughts to herself.
Finally, his mouth met hers. The kiss started gentle, but that lasted only a millisecond before she was wrapped around him, her arms winding around his neck, their tongues gliding against one another in a battle so furious Ashlynn wasn’t sure she’d survive it. Never had a man kissed her like that, with a desperate, aching need that echoed deep in her core.
To her relief, Leyton worked his slacks open, freeing his cock as their mouths remained fused together, tongues battling, seeking, searching, taking. The only sound was their labored breaths and her involuntary moans of pleasure.
The counter she was sitting on put her at the perfect height for him. The head of his cock brushed her entrance, and she yearned to feel him inside her. There was no hesitation, as though this moment had been a long time coming and neither of them could bear to spend another second apart.
He guided himself to her, pushing in slowly as his hands slid behind her, up her back, then curling over her shoulders as he leaned her back onto the counter, hovering above her as he filled her in one swift move.
“Oh, God,” she groaned as his cock stretched her. “So good.”
“Fuck.” His half groan, half growl echoed as his hips rolled forward. “Ash. Baby. Goddamn.”
Her body acclimated to the intrusion as he impaled her, going deeper than she’d ever thought possible.