Vexing Victor (The Adamos Book 4) Read online

  I’ve been hugged, kissed, exclaimed over, patted on the cheek, and generally treated like either an honored guest, or a beloved lifelong member of the clan. I’m dazed, baffled, delighted, and torn between giggles and tears.

  Gina comes in with Carlo, and right behind her are two more girls around my age, each of them accompanied by another uber-sexy Adamo man. The three of them promptly drag me away from Vic and down the hall to his bedroom. Someone’s using the bathroom; we wait in silence for them to finish.

  A minute later a beaming white-haired nonna toddles out of the bedroom, and Gina shuts the door and locks it. “This is Cait,” she says, “and this is Erin.”

  “Hi,” they chorus, smiling at me. Cait is a cute little brunette, and Erin is taller and blonde. I’m thankful for a brief reprieve from the crush of people, but I’m not certain why Gina felt the need for us to have a secret summit.

  Being Gina, she explains. “We’ve all been where you are,” she says.

  I raise my eyebrows. “And where is that?”

  Erin grins. “In the process of being claimed by an Adamo alpha.”

  18

  The Turned-On Answer

  “So if you ever have any questions or need to vent,” Cait says, “we’re here.”

  “I would have warned you about the impending invasion,” Gina adds, “ but I didn’t know your phone number.”

  They seem like such nice girls; I hate to remind them of why I’m here. Hitching a shoulder up awkwardly, I admit, “I left my phone at home. I figured it would make it harder for them to track me — not that that did any good.”

  “Bikers,” Cait says with a nod. “We’ve pretty much run the gamut now, haven’t we? I feel kind of deprived.”

  “No you don’t,” Erin and Gina say in unison, and Cait rolls her eyes.

  “I think I’m missing something,” I say tentatively. Normally I wouldn’t say anything — it’s none of my business — but they seem to be talking about something having to do with their men, which they’ve just invited me to ask about.

  “Sorry,” Erin says. “So, with Cait and Tonio …” and then the three of them tell me everything that happened while they and their men were getting together, and my eyes keep getting bigger until I’m surprised they haven’t popped right out of my head.

  “So we understand that part of things too,” Gina finishes. “But, sticking with the fun part … have you jumped him yet?”

  “Um,” I say, biting my lip and not meeting their eyes.

  “Thought so,” she says in a satisfied tone. “The Invasion always knows.”

  “What?” I say, baffled again. So then they explain the Adamo ritual of welcoming (not to say investigating) new arrivals. When they finish, I say, “You mean if we hadn’t … they wouldn’t …”

  “Can’t say for sure,” Cait says, her eyes twinkling. “But they do seem to have some sort of cosmic awareness when sexytimes are underway.”

  I stare at her. “You mean every time we … they’ll …”

  The girls dissolve into giggles. “No, thank god,” Erin says. “Only one invasion per couple.”

  “I had two,” Gina says.

  “Well, true. But that’s because the first one was a women-only invasion, and it wasn’t dinner. They haven’t done their Adamo duty if they don’t bring enough food for eight hundred people.”

  “Oh my god, yes,” I say. “The lasagnas alone tonight could feed a small city.”

  The bedroom doorknob turns, and then there’s a knock and Vic says, “Frankie?”

  “Time to go,” Gina says. “Our guys are probably looking for us.” I unlock the door and open it, and all of them wave goodbye and go back to the throng, leaving me with Victor.

  “What was that about?” he says.

  “Um … sisterhood.”

  I expect him to roll his eyes or make a sarcastic remark, but instead he says, “Good. I’m glad you’re making friends. All those girls work at the café, so you’ll see them around.”

  He takes my hand and leads me back down the hall, and I let myself be absorbed into the warmth and the conversation and the delicious food. And whenever I can, I watch my new friends with their men.

  Later, snuggled up in bed against Vic’s big, warm body, I stare into the darkness. After a day like today, it’ll probably take me hours to drift off.

  But it doesn’t. Minutes later, my mind relaxes, and I slip into a deep, untroubled sleep for the first time since my dad died.

  I wake to morning sunlight filtering through the trees in the back yard. It’s a mild autumn so far, leaves starting to turn but still on their branches.

  Vic and I moved in the night. I’m curled on my side, with him behind me. One of his arms is around my waist, his hand cupping my breast. His leg is between mine, his cock nestled in the cleft of my ass.

  Not surprisingly, he’s hard as a rock. Just feeling him pressed against me, I start to get wet. My breathing changes, and he says into my hair, “Morning, sunshine.”

  “Morning.” It should feel strange and awkward, waking up like this after losing my virginity and spending the night with a man I barely know. But it doesn’t, at all.

  He props himself up on an elbow. The hand that’s around my breast skims down my belly and across my thigh. Lifting my leg to hook it over his, he reaches under it to touch me. “How sore are you?”

  Sore, but that doesn’t matter. “I’m okay.”

  His mouth touches my ear. “I want the honest answer, Francesca, not the turned-on answer.”

  19

  Burlap

  “Then stop turning me on,” I retort.

  He nips my earlobe. “Good thing you like it when I spank you.”

  I get a full-body quiver at that, and then I’m on my back and Vic is on top of me. “If it’s too much, tell me,” he says, parting my thighs to settle more fully against me. “Otherwise, we’ll go slow.”

  In answer, I lock my legs around him. “That’s my girl,” he says softly, and pushes inside me, rocking slowly against me. “I really hate pulling out with you.”

  I’m rocking my hips to meet him, pleasure flowing through my veins like molten honey, my body already gliding toward its peak. “Why don’t you have condoms?” I ask as my fingers thread through his hair.

  “I do have condoms.” He kisses me, still moving at that same easy pace. “Just feels like a mortal sin, using them with you.”

  I can’t help smiling. “Crazy,” I tell him softly, and he smiles back, eyes warm, completely at peace with our insanity. Hunger rears its head then, and I tighten around him. “More,” I beg.

  “Not this morning, sunshine.” He reaches between us to find my clit. “Maybe later, after you’ve rested up some more.”

  My climax grips me in gilded claws. “Vic,” I half-gasp, half moan, my hands framing his face. “Victor.”

  His face goes hard, not with anger but with effort, and I know he’s fighting himself again. “Do it,” I whisper.

  He closes his eyes and buries his face against my neck, holding himself still, deep inside me. “Don’t, Frankie. I swear to fuck, you give me the slightest encouragement and I will plant a baby in your belly.”

  “Maybe I don’t care.”

  “Frankie …” He lifts his head again and meets my eyes, the struggle still there. “We gotta at least talk about it. Do you like kids?”

  “Yeah. Always have.” His muscles are locked. I want to touch him, but I’m afraid to trigger him into moving if he’s not ready. “Do you?”

  “Always have,” he says, and we stare at each other. Then he shakes his head, pulls free, and rolls off the bed, headed for the bathroom.

  “Victor!” He turns and I’m there, going to my knees in front of him. “Not like that. Please.”

  I could drown in his eyes. “Are you sure?” he says.

  “Please,” I say again, and reach for him.

  I don’t really know what I’m doing, but once I have him in my mouth he takes over, and that�
�s fine. My nails dig into his thighs while he thrusts, and when he spills out into my throat I swallow him down, my gaze fixed on his.

  He pulls me to my feet and into his arms, holding me close. “Thank you, babe,” he says softly. We stay that way for a long moment, until his phone beeps, and he kisses my hair and lets me go.

  I go into the bathroom, leaving the door open, and he joins me a few seconds later. “Wolf says that Firestorm has got the Serpents locked down for now. You shouldn’t go anywhere on your own, but you don’t have to stay here, so I’ll take you to the café with me.”

  “Good!” I grin at him before I remember. “Now I need clothes.”

  “We’ll get you sorted out, sunshine. First, shower.”

  The shower takes longer than I expect because Vic hooks my leg over his shoulder and goes down on me until I’ve had not one, but two more orgasms, leaving me so languid I can barely walk.

  Fortunately, my bra is still intact, and after we’re dried off I squeeze into a pair of his boxer briefs, sweats and a t-shirt while he watches approvingly. “You should wear my underwear all the time, babe. Your ass looks amazing.”

  He punctuates the comment with a pat, and I roll my eyes at him. “I could put burlap on my ass and you’d like it.”

  20

  Anything Crazy

  He grins. “So long as I got to take it off again, you bet.”

  The Corvette that I saw at the café yesterday — boy, does that feel like an eternity ago — is parked at the curb. “How’d you get back to the café after you brought me here?” I ask.

  “Carlo swung by and picked me up.” He beeps the locks open, then holds my door, and I slide down into the bucket seat. This seems like a neighborhood where nothing bad ever happens, but my eyes scan the area anyway.

  When he pulls out and we pass a side street, my heart skips a beat when I see someone on a bike. But he’s riding the other way, and he’s not wearing a patch. I take deep breaths, ordering myself to calm down. Freaking out every time I see a motorcycle isn’t going to help anything.

  Still, I keep up my vigilance all the way to Revved. We pass more guys on bikes, and several of them look like MC types, but none of them are wearing Serpent patches. They must be Firestorm members, though I don’t see their insignia either.

  There are a bunch of black SUVs in the Revved parking lot. Vic parks behind the café in the same spot he was in yesterday. When I get out, Vic’s brother Rico is waiting by the car.

  I met him last night. He’s big, almost as tall as Carlo and maybe even broader in the shoulders and chest. His arms are like tree trunks. He jerks his head toward the café and says to Vic, “You got a full house again today with all Carlo’s guys in there. Kosta and Tonio are in there too. If you wanted, you could charge admission.”

  Vic grins. “Business never did go back to normal levels after Gina’s thing. They came for the beefcake, they stayed for the food.” We go in the back door and come out into the area between the counter and the kitchen, and I stare.

  Things looked busy yesterday morning from the brief glimpse I got. But today, there’s not a single empty seat and the waiting area is overflowing. And a really high percentage of the customers are women.

  That makes the men easy to pick out. Guys I recognize as Carlo’s are at the counter and a couple of the tables. Carlo himself is in a large, circular corner booth with two other men. From last night, I know that they’re Tonio and Kosta.

  The three of them are being waited on by Gina, Cait, and Erin, all of whom are on shift today, helping deal with the crush of customers. They’re taking turns bringing their men food, and refreshing their drinks, and from what I can see, flirting shamelessly with them.

  I watch for a few moments, then say to Vic, “There are so many pheromones in that corner, if you could bottle the air you’d make a fortune.”

  He and Rico snort. “You got that right, sunshine,” Vic says. Kosta’s watching Erin, who’s across the room at another table. She turns, as if sensing his scrutiny, and winks at him. He gives her a slow smile that makes her blush. The look in his eyes almost makes me blush.

  Vic interrupts my happy couple surveillance. “You can hang in the office,” he says.

  My hands go to my hips. “You’re kidding, right?”

  He frowns at me. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Unless you’re going to let me completely reorganize it or something, I’ll go nuts, Vic. You gotta give me something to do.”

  “Plenty of work for another waitress,” Rico says, but Vic shakes his head.

  “I don’t want her out among the customers. Too easy for someone to come in here in disguise and grab her.”

  “I’ll help cook,” I say. “I’ll wash dishes.”

  “Already got dishwashers and cooks, babe,” Vic says. “But we’ll figure something out.”

  Rico and I exchange glances, and it hits me. “Can I help in the garage?” I say. “I’ve worked on cars and bikes all my life.”

  Vic scowls. “I want you where I can see you.”

  “She’s safer in the garage than she’d be out there,” Rico says, gesturing toward the crowded dining area. “The guys and I won’t let anything happen to her. And it’s better to stay busy, you know that.”

  “I won’t do anything crazy,” I say. “I promise. I’ll stay right by the guys and if I need to come back over here, they can bring me.”

  21

  Do You Know

  “All right,” Vic says, but his reluctance is clear.

  “Thank you.” I stand on tiptoe and kiss his cheek. “I’ll be good, I promise.” He gives me a look that really does make me blush, and then I follow Rico over to the garage, where he finds me a pair of coveralls that almost fits.

  At first, he puts me to work as a general assistant, fetching tools and other equipment for the mechanics. I’ll have to prove myself, just like Vic, so I curb my impatience and do whatever’s needed.

  My probation is a lot shorter than Vic’s was, though. Half an hour later, when it’s clear I know my way around, Rico assigns me to help out on a car that’s been brought in for a tuneup. I put in new spark plugs and a new air filter, check all the belts and hoses, and replace the fan belt.

  Jake, a big bear of a man, checks my work. “Good,” he says, and gives Rico a nod. That’s all, but it’s enough. From then on, I rove from job to job, pitching in whenever there’s enough work for two people.

  It’s a measure of the kind of place this is that not a single one of the men leers at me, comes on to me, or questions my ability to do the same work as them. There’s one other woman here, a girl named Mickey with golden-brown curls, a pixie nose, and an infectious smile. She’s treated with respect, too.

  A few times, as I’m going from one job to another, I notice her watching Rico. She only does it when he’s busy with something else, but the look in her eyes is all too familiar. I’m pretty sure I saw it staring back at me from the mirror this morning.

  When she checks in a car for a new customer — a young, good-looking man — I can’t help noticing the guy is into her. He says something to make her laugh, and when she does he moves in close. Mickey takes a step back; she’s still smiling, but now it’s politeness. I glance around to see if Rico’s paying attention.

  He is, and I’m arrested by the look on his face. Partly, he looks like he’d like to separate the customer’s head from the rest of his body. But behind the anger, I see something I don’t expect.

  Torment.

  Rico doesn’t like this guy coming on to Mickey … but he’s not doing anything about it. As if he wants to, but for some reason he can’t. And Mickey, who if I’m reading the signs right is totally gone for him, is being careful not to show it.

  Hmm.

  Those moments are about the only time I slow down. I’m in my element, loving every second, and I’m astonished when Rico appears at my side to say, “Lunchtime.”

  “Already? What time is it?”

  “N
oon. And you didn’t take a break this morning, so you’re taking one now.” He stands there, massive arms folded over his broad chest, waiting.

  “I just need to—”

  “Now, Frankie.”

  “Okay, fine.” Hardass. I lay down my socket wrench, peel out of my coveralls, and wash my hands before I follow him over to the café.

  Things haven’t slowed down at all. “Looks like you need a bigger dining room,” I say to Vic when he emerges from the kitchen.

  “Yeah.” His hands go to my waist. “How was your morning?”

  “Great,” I answer with unfeigned enthusiasm.

  “She’s a natural,” Rico agrees. “Hard worker, too. I see you’re full in here, so I’ll order sandwiches to go for the guys in the garage. You.” He points a finger at me. “I don’t want to see you back there for at least half an hour.”

  “Bossy,” I mutter as he goes into the kitchen.

  Vic’s mouth quirks. “Have a seat at the counter, babe.”

  “I can eat in the office,” I say. “I don’t want to take a spot from someone who’s waiting.”

  “Everyone who’s waiting wants a booth or a table. Go on.” He nudges me toward the counter, and I slide onto the only empty seat. Gina’s there a moment later, handing me a menu.

  “Something to drink?” she says briskly, but with a smile.

  “Iced tea, please. You all are getting run off your feet in here.” I glance around. The corner booth has different occupants now. Carlo’s guys are still in evidence, but not the same ones; they must be taking it in shifts.

  When Gina comes back with my iced tea, I lean toward her and lower my voice. “Do you know what’s up with Mickey and Rico?”