Page 56 of Sinful Bargains

I lunged forward, bolting into the house after her, slamming the door behind me. We stood in the cramped living room, noteven a foot apart now, just breathing each other in. Her eyes were dark—sinful.

“Are you going to kiss me? Or do I have to kiss you?” she asked with another smirk, her confidence quickening my pulse.

My instincts kicked in before my mind could. “Who are you tonight?” But she didn’t shy away. She just stood there, staring at me like I was already hers. And funny enough, I was. All hers.

I took a step closer, my hands cupping her face, tilting it toward me. And then I leaned in, slow at first, trying to savor it. My lips brushed against hers, intending to keep it soft, tender, controlled. But the second I felt her tongue dance against mine, all my self-control unraveled like a loose thread.

It wasn’t a kiss; it was a collision. Needy, hungry, desperate. Her hands gripped the sides of my coat, tugging me closer, urging me on. Every sharp tug, every soft sound she made against my mouth—it pushed me further, set every nerve on fire. I wanted her. I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.

Every second that urged on began to blur the lines between restraint and pure desire. Her fingers slipped beneath my coat, pulling it off my shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. My heart was pounding in my chest. Her body pressed against mine, as if closing the distance would burn away whatever hesitation we had left.

I backed her up until the back of her legs hit the edge of the couch. She pulled away just enough to let us breathe, her lips swollen from the kiss. A satisfied smirk danced at the corners of her mouth. My body was thrumming. I moved in closer, not willing to let go of her lips, tilting my head to kiss her again—but then she stopped me.

Her hand pressed against my chest, and my mind short-circuited. I had one thought, and one thought only: to strip us both of every layer until we were bare and tangled up togetheron the couch. I wanted to lose myself in her, to forget everything else. Because nothing mattered other than her.

“Wait,” she said.

“What is it?”

“I can’t go any further than this, Joey,” she said. “We’ve gone too far already.”

I stood there for a moment, stunned, the heat between us still burning as my body begged for more. But her words hit me like a splash of cold water, and the haze of desire started to clear, leaving me with nothing but the reality of the situation. The silence between us stretched long, every beat of my heart echoing in my chest as I forced myself to step back.

“Okay,” I muttered, running a hand through my slicked-back hair, trying to regain some semblance of control. My desire was raw, every nerve frayed, but I respected her words—she wasn’t ready. We’d gone too far. I grabbed my coat off the floor and slid it back on.

I could have argued and tried to convince her to cross that line with me, but I knew she was a puzzle, and if I tried to force the pieces together too fast, I’d miss the beauty of figuring us out. She could do almost anything to me, push every limit we set, and I’d let her. Because even if it drove me wild, I didn’t mind being in her control.

ANTONIO

Enzo, Michael, and I sat in Enzo’s bedroom, the tension in the air so thick it could be cut with a knife. I hadn’t been talking to them much. In fact, I’d been avoiding them like the plague. I’d been trapped in a nightmare—just a few hours of sleep, delivering papers at dawn, school, baseball practice, and then back to being a puppet for the cruelest gangster to ever walk the streets of Staten Island. He owned me. Fear kept me silent. I didn’t care what happened to me, but I cared about what happened to Ma—and that’s exactly what he used against me.

Ma had dropped me off with Enzo and Michael so she could go out with Angela. At least, that’s what she told me. I could only hope it was the truth. She’d become quite the liar. Then again, I suppose killing a man will do that to you.

Michael kept nervously fidgeting with a bottle cap from his empty Coke while Enzo’s eyes drilled into me. My body stiffened as I sat on the floor, my back rigid. Enzo broke the silence first. “What’s going on with you, Antonio? You’ve been acting strange fordaysnow.”

I glanced at both of them—myso-calledbest friends. “Yeah,maybe that’s because I don’t want to be here. But hey, my mom thinks I need to be babysat by Val, so here I am,” I hissed.

Enzo raised an eyebrow. “Did we do something wrong?”

Michael glanced at me. “Yeah, what’s going on?”

I couldn’t hold it back anymore; the truth spilled like bitter poison. “Oh, I don’t know, Michael. Maybe it’s because I learned my two best friends are lying bastards.”

Enzo snapped. “What the hell are you talking about?” He sprang to his feet, his temper flaring like always.

I shifted my gaze to Michael. “Michael, when were you planning to tell me that your dad and grandfather are mobsters?”

The question hung in the air, and Michael’s face twisted in confusion. “What?” he choked out.

“When I asked if the mafia was real, you both acted like you didn’t know a damn thing about it! Lied straight to my face.” My voice grew louder, sharper. I stood up and faced him, my fists clenched at my sides. “You thought you could lie to my face like that and then think we could remain best friends? I had to dig myself because neither of you could be honest with me! So thanks a lot for that!”

The words echoed in my head even as I shouted them out loud. They never meant for it to go this far, but it was too late now. The damage had been done. My fate had been sealed.

“We don’t know anything, you asshole! No one in my family sits me down and says, ‘Yes, we’re in the mafia.’ Do I have suspicions? Sure. But I’ve got no proof, and I don’t want any part of it. Why do you think I work my ass off in school? Because I want as far away from this fucked up place as I can be!” Michael’s voice rang out. He never got angry. For the first time, I saw his nostrils flare, his face flush red with rage. And I felt bad for him. It made sense. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to be born into a family like this. He had two choices—become just like them or carve out a different path for himself. He was choosing the latter.

“You should have just told me the truth when I asked,” I shot back. “Because if you’d been honest, I wouldn’t have gone digging, looking for answers. Asking people around town if the mafia is real. And maybe Vincent wouldn’t have caught me on my paper route and pulled me into this shit.”

Michael’s face fell, the red now white, like all the blood had drained from him. “Wait, what? Are you saying you’re roped into some mafia shit now? Is that what you’re telling us?”

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