Mafia War by L. Steele

9

Karma

The sound of footsteps reaches me and I glance up from the outfit I’ve been working on.

After breakfast, I had taken a nap, then woken up refreshed. I had met Theresa, Xander’s friend, and it had been clear that she had been in love with him. He’d never mentioned anything to her, and she hadn’t exactly confessed her feelings to him either. She had broken down during the course of the meeting and had been so regretful about the fact that she’d never gotten to tell him how she felt.

It certainly put things in perspective. It was a poignant reminder that you have only one life and you’d better go after what you want in the time you have... Like him.

I had been emotionally drained after the meeting and had ended up eating lunch and taking another nap, from which I had woken up disoriented a few hours ago. I’d grabbed some tea, then decided to start working on this outfit—the idea had been bubbling in my mind since I had woken this morning.

It’s a good thing I slept a lot today, because I feel stronger and more alert. I am determined to stay awake until Michael gets home, and God knows, I’ll need all of my faculties for what I have in mind. I mean, I am going to confront him again. No way, am I giving up and allowing him to send me away. He needs to understand that it really is safest for me with him and there is no way I am leaving him… Not now, when he needs me most. So, I’ve been focused on my creation while keeping my ears peeled for him. Until, I hear the sound of footsteps in the corridor.

I rise to my feet, and walking over to the door, I peer outside into the corridor. Another sound reaches me from the direction of Michael’s room. I step out into the corridor, reach his door, and push it. It swings open to reveal Michael sprawled out at the foot of his bed. His tie is off, his shirt sleeves rolled up. His legs, still clad in his pants, are spread out…and between them is a woman.

She’s kneeling, her back to me, her hair flowing around her shoulders as she leans forward. Her shoulders move and her head bobs… What the hell? I glance up to find Michael staring at me. His features are unperturbed, almost as if he expected me to walk in on him.

Hell, he expected me to walk in on him, all right. It’s why he brought her here. My heart begins to thud and my pulse rate ratchets up. I take a step forward and my knees seem to buckle. I grab the door frame and steady myself. Watch as he buries his fingers in her hair and begins to move her head forward and back, and forward. She moans and the sound snaps me out of the weird haze I’d fallen into.

"What are you doing, Michael?" I snarl. "How dare you…you…?"

"Shove my cock down another woman’s throat?" He smirks, and his blue eyes seem to gleam with suppressed mirth.

"What the fuck, Mika?" I take another step forward and he chuckles.

"Do you want to join us, wife? I wouldn’t say no to a threesome."

I pause, "Why the hell are you trying to put distance between us Michael? After everything we’ve been through, I thought you’d realize that my place is with you."

"Your place is…" he glances down at the woman between his legs, "where I tell you to be."

"Fuck this," I growl. "This is not you, Michael. You are not the macho, overbearing, chauvinistic man you try to portray yourself as."

"No?" He tilts his head, "Pray, enlighten me then about my qualities."

"You care about people, your family, your brothers. Hell, you even care about your lousy father."

He stiffens.

"You care about me, Michael. You love me."

"So?" He raises a shoulder. The woman begins to lean back and his muscles bunch as he grips her hair tighter. He pushes his hips forward and my stomach knots. A cold sensation pools in my chest.

"Stop it," I say in a low voice. "Stop it, right now."

"You don’t give me orders, Beauty."

"Don’t call me that."

"How about I call you the love of my life, hmm?"

"Am I, though?" I swallow, "I am beginning to think you don’t really understand the meaning of the word love."

"And you do?"

I nod. "It’s what I felt for the child I carried," I press my fingers against my stomach. "It’s what I feel for you, Michael."

"Love," he smirks, "is overrated. It’s sex that matters, and the ability to fuck who you want, when you want. Speaking of…do you want me to fuck you, Beauty?"

"I lost our child not four days ago. Do you think I want to be fucked, asshole?"

"I think," he looks me up and down, "I could take your ass. That wouldn’t hurt any of the other parts now, would it?"

I snap my head back, "Fuck you, Michael. Don’t do this to us, please. Just tell me all of this is an act, that you are simply doing this to piss me off so you can get me to leave."

"This," he yawns, "is me, Beauty. The real me. The man you married."

"The man I married was not only in touch with his emotions, but he also had the courage to express them. He wouldn't have put me through this…" I wave a hand at the space between us, "whatever this is."

"This is called scratching an itch. Speaking of," he cracks his neck, "you joining us or what?"

"No."

"Then you may as well leave, babe."

"You sure, Michael?" I wipe the tear that has somehow squeezed out of the corner of my eye. "Once I am gone, I won’t return."

"Don’t take this too badly," he gestures to the woman between his legs. "It’s normal for us Mafia guys to have women on the side, you know. It had to happen sooner or later. Best you see it now, so there are no more illusions."

"You told me that you wouldn't fuck anyone else. You swore that you took your vows to me seriously."

He shrugs. "Guess I lied."

Anger thrums at my temples. I draw in a breath and my lungs burn. I take a step forward and that’s when she grips his thighs, tips her head, and I can all but sense her taking him down her throat. My heart squeezes in on itself. My stomach seems to bottom out and specks of darkness blink at the corners of my vision. Damn, if I am going to faint here, in front of him and that…that…whoever that is. I spin on my feet, stagger to the door, then step out.

"Shut the door behind you, would you?"

His voice follows me out as I slam the door shut behind me. I lean against it, drawing in a breath, then another. Force myself to put one foot in front of the other. I reach my room, manage to shut the door behind me. Andy walks over and purrs as he weaves between my legs. I sink down, gather him close, and burst into tears. Fuck him, fuck the Mafia, fuck this bloody town. I am getting out of here, before he does something else that’s going to humiliate me further.

His fingers had tightened on the back of her head, his biceps bulging with the effort. He dared allow her to feel the thickness of his cock? He dared let her kneel in front of him, allowed her to take the position that belongs only to me? He dared...let another woman close enough to smell him, to put her lips on him, to wind her fingers about his massive thighs? To touch what is mine?

Fuck. This. Shit.

I rise to my feet and begin to pack. Ten minutes later, I am done. I’ve only packed a couple of dresses, underwear, the essentials, and that’s it. I am not going to take anything else that…that bastard bought for me. Andy rolls around on the carpet, then springs up to chase a ball of yarn that I had tossed his way earlier. How the hell am I going to carry him, though? Of course, he was given to me by Michael too, but no way, am I going to leave him behind.

There’s a knock on the door and before I can call out, it opens. Cassandra walks in carrying a pet carrier with her. She holds it out to me without saying anything.

"He told you, eh?" I swallow back the anger that clogs my throat. Asshole couldn’t wait to get me out of his home, apparently. I walk over, grab the pet carrier and place it near Andy who, of course, decides that’s the moment he wants to run away. He darts into the bathroom and I blow out a breath.

"I’ll get him, while you get dressed," she murmurs.

She walks toward the bathroom and I change into a pair of jeans and a shirt, both of which had appeared in the closet, along with a pair of sneakers. All of these things which Michael had gotten for me, in my size, and without my having to ask for anything. He’d known how much I needed to feel comfortable in those early days of my pregnancy. It was as if he’d read my mind and gleaned exactly how I wanted to be taken care of…without smothering me. And now…

He was getting a blow job from another woman? Fuck. Why the hell did he have to do that? Even if it was all an act… But it wasn’t. It had seemed all too fucking real from where I was.

There’s another knock on the door. I snarl at the back of my throat. What the hell is this? Paddington station, where everyone comes and goes as they want? The knock comes again and I call out, "Come in."

Adrian opens the door. He glances past me to where Cassandra has stepped back into the room. She falters and the air seems to buzz with some unsaid emotion. I glance between them, am about to speak, then change my mind. Whatever. I have enough of my own shit to deal with.

"Believe you need a ride?" Adrian murmurs.

"Took him no time to alert his cronies to the fact that I am leaving, huh?"

"The chopper is waiting."

I blink. "The chopper? That’s how fast he wants me out of here?"

Adrian merely stands there without speaking.

"Not that it matters. And yeah, I’ll take the chopper ride. Why not?"

Cassandra walks over to the pet carrier with Andy. She sinks to her knees, coaxes him inside. I get a glimpse of the compartments inside which carry collapsible bowls and food, water, there's even a compartment with kitty litter. Wow, that's one top-of-the-line carrier that Mika has sprung for. How can a man who takes such good care of my pet, also turn out to be so unfaithful? It doesn’t make sense.

Cassandra locks the door and rises to her feet, "I’ll come with you, until the chopper."

"No, thanks." I reach out and she hands the pet carrier over to me. I grab my bag in my free hand, then pause. I nod to her. "Thanks Cassandra," I murmur, "you’ve been a good friend."

"I am so sorry, Karma," she whispers, then steps forward and hugs me. Andy mewls and I step away from her.

"Maybe I’ll see you at some point, huh?" I turn away, then pause, "Tell Aurora I’ll try to reach her once I’ve figured out what I am going to do next."

She nods and I turn away. I follow Adrian down the corridor, past his closed bedroom door, down the steps, out of the house and to the chopper. The helicopter’s rotors begin to whir as we approach it. Adrian opens the door, helps me up, then deposits my bag and Andy’s pet carrier next to me.

Massimo looks up from the controls, "Where would you like to go?"