Page 25 of Only For Your Touch
More quiet, and then he nodded. “Of course. I’ll call them tonight and have them spread the word that this friend of yours and his club are off-limits.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Good. She’d ensured that Sasha, his friends, and their club were protected. Even if just talking about her father’s “business” left an oily stain behind that soap couldn’t wash away. And wasn’t that the problem the entire family faced? None of them would be completely clean again—not their reputation, not their name. And that…saddened her. The integrity, the pride she’d always possessed in the name Salvaggi had been tarnished, and she didn’t know how long it would be before it would be clean again—if it would be.
“Dad,” she whispered. “I know you believed you were doing the best for your family, and like I said, I forgive you. But…I don’t want this touching me. This is your world, not mine. And it shouldn’t be Gianni and Marco’s either. It’s not too late to make your mistakes right, starting with us.” The chances of her brothers leaving the mob were probably slim to not-a-chance-in-hell, but at least her father would know where she stood. And as long as he understood one last thing… “And, Dad?”
His hold on her hand tightened. And needing the connection as desperately as he seemed to, she extended her other hand across the table and clasped his in both of hers.
“I love you. And I’m going to miss you. So much.”
…
Another Cinderella Run For Big Papi And The Sox? by Corrine Dunn Salvaggi.
Sasha stared at his office laptop screen with the banner forTheBeantown Globestretched across the top. Curiosity or an unknown masochistic predilection had him clicking on the sports page, and there, under the bold article heading, was a small, color picture of Corrine, right over her name. Not C. Dunn. No more hiding behind a pseudonym. No longer giving a damn if people knew she was Carmine Salvaggi’s daughter.
A ghost of a smile touched his mouth. He’d known she was brave. She’d called him Ragnar. That would make her a shield maiden: fierce, battle-ready, loyal. And so fucking beautiful.
With a curse, he swiveled away from the computer and launched out of his office chair. He strode to the window that offered him a view of the busy Leather District on an early Thursday afternoon. Turning from it, he strode to the bar on the other side of the room. Even what had formerly been his sanctuary didn’t offer peace anymore. Not when every time he looked across the room, all he could see was Corrine huddled on his couch, wrapped in a blanket, flushed and trembling from the orgasm he’d just wrung from her. He didn’t even need to close his eyes to feel the phantom weight of her on his thighs, or her heat cuddled against him.
Rubbing a hand over his chest, as if he could erase—or capture—the memory of that heat, he shook his head. It’d been three days since she’d walked away. No. Correction: since he’d sent her away. Three days of seeing her, inhaling her scent, hearing her voice in every part of the club, especially The Loft. Three days of constantly watching the front entrance of the club to see if she’d decided to return.
Three days of this goddamn hole in his chest that wouldn’t close.
A perfunctory knock echoed on his office door, then Rion appeared in the doorway.
“Starting early, are we?” he drawled with a pointed look at the tumbler in Sasha’s hand.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere, right?” He splashed bourbon into the glass and recorked the decanter. “I’m guessing something besides my drinking habits has brought you here, though.”
“You guessed right,” Rion said, leaning a hip against the bar’s edge and crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m paying it forward and giving you the same kick in the ass Killian gave me not so long ago. Get your head out, and go after her.”
Sasha stared at him, stunned. Then just plain disbelieving. Loosing a bark of humorless laughter, he took a deep sip of the bourbon. “Weren’t you the one who told me the last thing we needed was the Salvaggi family sniffing around here? Or having the press associate us with them?” He shook his head. “I did what you asked me to. What needed to be done.”
“Yeah, I did say that. But that was before you went and fell in love with the woman,” Rion snapped.
Sasha slowly lowered his glass to the bar top. Denial, panic, and fear rushed through him, paralyzed him. He stared at his friend, meeting Rion’s narrowed gaze.
“I don’t—” Sasha choked.
Rion cut him off with a slice of his hand. “Save it. Been there, done that, have the Denial Anonymous T-shirt to prove it. Listen,” he said, tunneling his fingers through his hair. “We’ve been friends for a long time. Killian and me…we get it, okay? We don’t ever talk about it, because no matter how you would deny it, we know your family is a sore subject.”
“Then don’t go there,” Sasha rasped, walking away from his friend…from the topic he didn’t want to dig up again. Hell, he’d gone there with Corrine. He couldn’t…not again.
“But I’m going to,” Rion insisted, following Sasha to his desk. “We know how your father kicking you out, and both your parents pretending you didn’t exist for years, hurt you. As fucked up a father as mine was, even he hasn’t disowned me since we left the gang. Killian and I…we’ve watched you try to fill that hole they left with everything from fighting, to gang life, to women. Except for us, everything in your life has been temporary; you won’t let it be more. Sometimes I think eventually you’ll walk away from this—the club, the legitimate life—because you can’t trust it. Won’t believe in it. Won’t let it be there for you.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Sasha snarled, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. “I promised—”
“Your mother, us. Yeah, I know. But you’re afraid to want it. Afraid to trust it. And if you don’t, then sooner or later, it won’t be enough.”
“That’s bullshit,” Sasha snapped, even as the hated truth seeped into him, into his heart.No. He would never abandon Rion and Killian.Never.
“I’m not saying you would voluntarily walk out on us, Sasha, leave us hanging. You’re too loyal for that,” Rion said, as if prying inside his head and reading his thoughts. “But…” He sighed. “I get that you sent Corrine away to protect Lick and us. But I can’t help thinking it was a convenient excuse. I would hope you’d know that if you had feelings for her, neither of us would stand in the way of that. The chance that you could have what I do with Harper? You’ve got to know I would go through hell so you could have that happiness. So it makes me wonder if it was for us…or you? Did you send her away before she could leave you?”
Sasha didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Not when he couldn’t breathe. All this time, he’d never rid himself of the itch to return to his old life, to the excitement and adrenaline rush of it.
But…
