****
"What was her name?" Mikey glanced over at me as we jogged through the slums in New York. He was breathing like a fucking freight train out of control, but what else was new?
"No clue." I ran my fingers through my dark hair and scanned the street in front of us. Reaching out, I grabbed the front of his sweater and pulled him toward the crosswalk. "Let's go. We can make it."
"What do you mean, you don't know her name? What do you call her while you're fucking her?"
"Girl?" I glanced over at him and pulled hard on his shirt again. "Faster. Stop gimping around."
We made it to the other side of the street as a gang of motorcyclists flew by us. I flipped them off and turned to the right.
"Girl? Women actually let you get away with that shit?"
"You've seen the size of my dick, Mikey. There aren't too many holes I won't stick it in."
"They have more than one?" His eyes widened.
"You need to get out more. Fuck." I released him and picked up my slow jog to something that would eventually create a sweat. "The girl last night was good, but I kept thinking about Jenna, which made her fucking great."
"Jenna? The coffee girl?"
"Yeah." I glanced over at him, worried for a minute that maybe I should slow down. He was my only friend in the world and the only one that might actually come looking for me if Ashley finally had enough of my shit and off'd me.
"Why in the fuck haven't you asked her out?" He reached for my arm. "Slow down. Shit. I'm not in shape like you, man."
I slowed a little, but not much. The fucker was going to die of a heart attack if someone didn't push him a little more. I planned on being that someone.
"Ask her out?" I gave him an odd look. "Why the hell would I ask her out? What in the world would I have to offer a girl like that?"
"Dinner and a movie." He wiped his hand over his brow. "Why does this have to be so complicated? Just cause you're a sick bastard that kills people for money doesn't mean you can't take a girl out for a bucket of popcorn and a finger job in the theater."
"What do you know about a finger job?" I snorted and popped him in the chest.
"Not nearly enough. I'll tell you that much." He smiled and nodded down the street. "Can we walk the rest of this shit? Please?"
"We'll walk for a few minutes so you can catch your breath." I lifted my hands toward the clear blue sky as the breeze picked up. "You need to get in shape. You'd be a good-looking guy if you'd lose that fucking belly."
"Hey," he rubbed his belly, "girls like this thing. It's security."
"How so?" I popped him hard in it and enjoyed the sound of him grunting.
"It means I'm wealthy enough to have an abundance of food. I'm portly, so I'm stable."
"You're gross. Get yourself together and find a hot woman to show her all the holes she has to play with."
"You're gross." He turned his nose up at me.
"What's the deal with the 9th Ward? I heard something about some shit going on down there on the news before I left the house today." I ignored his comment. I wasn't gross and he knew it. We were cut from the same cloth where women were concerned. Give me a pretty girl with big tits that didn't mind me exploring every inch of her and pressing my fingers, tongue, and cock into the places that would give a little.
"From what I understand, three guys got their asses handed to them. Two of them lost their tongues, the other his cock."
I shivered and glanced over at Mikey. "Who the fuck cuts another man's cock off?"
"You assume it was a dude that did it."
"And you're assuming it was a woman?" I smirked. "No fucking way."
"No? I think Ashley would be capable of that shit."
"True dat." I pointed toward the street light in front of us. "Let's jog from that light to the next turn and we'll walk the rest of the way home."
"Fine. Shit." He tugged at his t-shirt. "I'm pretty sure it was the Bertinellis that did that crap to those guys. No one else would be that nasty about it."
"Wouldn't surprise me much." I picked up my walk to a jog as my thoughts moved back to high school when Erik and I were friends. He'd had a hard-ass life, and there was no out for him. No matter what he wanted to do for the rest of his days, he was stuck. Once a Bertinelli, always one. The mafia didn't play games, and his father, Lucian, didn't seem the kind of guy to give anyone a free pass in life.
Erik would forever be a hired hitman and the vilest of his kind.
"You still talk to him?" Mikey's voice softened as if he knew my thoughts.
"No. Not really. We've run into each other over the years, but not in the last five or so." I shrugged. "Race you to the house."
"Fuck you. You know that I can't-"
I didn't hear the rest of his whining. I pumped my arms and legs instead, making it to the front of the apartment and pausing to catch my breath. The world seemed brighter with adrenaline pumping through me.
Maybe I should ask Jenna out. Maybe Mikey's right. A movie wouldn't kill anyone unless Ashley caught us out together. That could be dangerous. But like everything, she was manageable.
"Why do you do that?" Mikey jogged toward me, stopping beside me and pressing his hands to his knees as he gulped at the air.
"What? Run? It's good for the heart. Gets your blood pumping! Helps with erections and shit." I gripped the back of my head and glanced up at the sky.
"Fuck you too."
"Not my type, fruit fly." I glanced over at him and winked. My phone rang and I pulled it from my pocket, checking to see who it was before answering it. "Ashley. What's up, girl?"
Mikey rolled his eyes and half-limped past me.
"Everything is set up for Friday. I'm ready for this to be over. You're still free, right?"
It took me a minute to realize what she was talking about. The hit.
"Yeah, of course, I'm free. How are we doing this?"
"We'll talk about it in person. I'll see you soon." She hung up, leaving me standing there with the phone still pressed to my ear like an idiot. She did that shit for a power trip. Seemed like fucking her violently wasn't helping with her alpha attitude much. I'd have to break her in another way if she didn't step off my dick soon.
"What's up? I hate that look." Mikey held the door to the main hallway open for me.
"What look?" I walked in and glanced back at him, narrowing my eyes and growling low in my throat.
"Oh, sure, just scare the little guy. I see how it is. I have your back for twenty-six years and this is how you repay me."
I flipped him off and jogged up the stairs. "I repay you by letting you hang out with me. It's a benefit most people don't get."
"How does hanging out with you benefit me?"
I snorted and opened the door to the apartment. "How does it not help you?"
"Whatever, man. Where are you headed after this?"
"Coffee shop. I gotta see my girl."
"She working today?"
I loved that Mikey already knew who I was talking about and wasn't willing to front me anymore on Jenna actually being mine. We both knew it was just a matter of time.
Now it was time to let the pretty girl in on the secret.
She already belonged to me. Lucky little thing.