CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Santana

After the third day, Sammie finally got the hang of shooting without falling victim to the kickback. She learned to loosen her grip and become more comfortable holding her pistol. I was proud.

Marco and I stood back and watched her try to hit a few targets while we tried not to laugh every time she missed and cursed out the target instead of her aim. Dust clouds swallowed her feet as she stomped the ground, frustrated. “Can I ask you something, Santana?” Marco said, pulling his stare away from Sammie.

“What’s up? I know you’re not about to ask me if you can date Sammie again. We discussed that shit already, Marco. I was just starting to think you were cool. Don’t fuck it up.” Since we’d been practicing on the private range and I had to spend time with Marco, he got on my nerves less and less and I started to be okay with hanging out with him.

“Nah, it’s not that…exactly.”

“What is it then?” I caught the way Sammie’s perfect ass jiggled when she hopped up and down when she hit her target and my dick begged for her. I had to focus on something else so I looked at Marco.

“You said she’s with someone right?”

“Yeah.” I ran a hand over the bottom half of my face and waited for him to get to the point.

“You don’t seem like the type to just let her have a man.”

“Let her? Marco, she’s grown. She can be with who she wants to be with.” I let out a laugh and tried my best not to stare when I noticed Sammie bending over to put more bullets in her gun from the box at her feet. Marco laughed too and shook his head.

“Yeah, I know. I guess what I’m saying is you seem more overprotective than any brother I’ve ever seen. You and Sam have different parents, right?” His line of questioning was making my muscles draw tighter and my brows furl together.

“What the fuck are you getting at, Marco?” My narrowed sights were right on him. To his credit, he didn’t flinch or back down but I could still sense the apprehension wafting off him.

“I’m wondering if you and Sam are more than brother and sister. I see the way you look at her and the way she looks at you. Hey, I’m not judging. I don’t want to step on your toes at all. It makes sense though, why you jumped all over me that day.” He blinked rapidly and it looked like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to take a few steps back from me or stay where he was.

I would have respected him more if he stood his ground. I didn’t like people I could intimidate and I was really fucking good at intimidating people. I stared Marco down and thought about how I wanted to play my hand.

I could deny everything and let him think he was crazy for concocting such a story or I could do what my gut was telling me to do: claim my woman.

“We’re not brother and sister,” I said proudly, pulling my shoulders back a bit. My chest puffed out with pride involuntarily. “We’re engaged.” I gave Sammie a thumbs up for hitting her target even though she was far away from the bull’s eye, she hit the target and that was good for just starting out.

“Oh shit, like…really engaged?” Marco asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah, like really engaged.” It felt good to admit I was with Sammie instead of hiding it away like a fucked up family secret.

“Wow congrats, man. How’s Pop dealing with it?”

“He’s fine,” I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest. Marco backed off a bit and nodded. I swore if he said something stupid like he didn’t blame me for snatching Sammie up, I would shoot him in the foot or somewhere else non-fatal.

“I’m sorry for being disrespectful a while back when it came to Sam. I shouldn’t have said what I said. Even though I didn’t know you two were together. It was crazy disrespectful to Pop.”

“You’re right about that shit. We weren’t together back when you did that stupid shit though so, I’ll let it slide. Oddly enough, Marco as annoying as you can be, I’m not worried about you in the least. It’s this new motherfucker who keeps texting Sammie from an unknown number that I don’t like. That’s why she’s learning to shoot. Me and Pop want her to protect herself.”

“Someone’s texting her? Like…stalking her and shit?” He asked. Concern colored his frown as he fixed his gaze on Sammie. Wind whipped by us carrying with it the smell of horses and hay.

“Yeah. Every fucking day. I’m going to find out who’s doing it and put a bullet in their fucking brain.” The most recent batch of texts Sammie had gotten detailed how the mystery caller wanted to fuck her and make her scream. A little from fear and a little from pleasure. I was blind with rage.

“That shit isn’t gonna fly. We have to find out who’s doing it. I’m helping. Fuck that.” Sammie ran over to me after her last round of shots and I hooked my arm around her waist.

“Good job, Sammie. Let’s take a break for a little while.” My hand slid down the steep arch of her back and landed on her ass. She looked up at me with sparkling green eyes and a smirk.

“Did you forget we weren’t alone?” Her voice was quiet so that only I could hear her.

“I told Marco about us,” I explained as we headed to the house.

“More like I figured it out but let’s give Santana his credit,” Marco joked.

“Yeah, whatever. He knows,” I muttered.

Once we were all in the house, Marco grabbed us bottles of water and I showed him the texts on Sammie’s phone. “You think one of your friends could be doing this shit?” He quizzed.

“Ex-friend,” Sammie snapped. “I don’t know that’s the thing. I can’t exactly walk up to her and ask because I punched her in the fucking face and walked out of her house.”

“Get one of your other friends to ask her. You have to know someone you trust enough to do that at least.” Marco pointed out. Sammie snapped her fingers and looked at me.

“Kasey. She’s the only one who’s been even remotely loyal lately.”

“Well, call her and see if she’ll get Erin’s phone. She can’t know that Kasey is trying to look through her phone though. What we need is the element of surprise. You think Kasey can do that?” I asked Sammie. She looked at me and offered a shrug.

“We have to try though. I’ll text her now.” Sammie hopped up and paced the kitchen floor while she shot Kasey a text. She looked gorgeous when she concentrated. I stared at the delicate structure of her jawline and the full pout of her deep pink lips. There wasn’t a flower on earth or an angel in heaven more beautiful than Samira Alvarez.

“She said she’d help,” Sammie said, her head popping up.

“Perfect. Let’s get this shit on the road. Marco, you rolling with us?” I asked him. I wasn’t big on having a bunch of friends because Sammie was the only friend I ever needed but Marco was proving that he wasn’t too bad.

“Yeah, of course. I got your back, Santana.” We both tucked our guns away and headed to the driveway. We were finally going to deal with this shit once and for all.

***

I don’t think Kasey was expecting to see Sammie, Marco and I roll up to her front door like a mini-gang. Her brown eyes grew wide and she took a step back once she unlocked the door like she didn’t know if we’d barge in or not.

Even though Marco was shorter than me he was still stocky and carried his own level of intimidation when he was around. I’m sure seeing Sammie flanked by two big motherfuckers threw Kasey off tremendously.

“Hey guys,” she said, forcing a bright smile.

“What’s up? I’m Marco, nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Sam and Santana’s.” He shook her hand and she stared at him for a few beats.

“Nice to meet you, Marco. I’m Kasey, Sam’s friend.” Kasey’s eyes traveled over to me next and she gave me an uncertain smile since I didn’t look too welcoming. I wasn’t there for pleasantries though. I wanted to figure out if Erin was the one sending the texts even though I had a strong-as-fuck hunch about who it really was. I had to go down the list crossing off names first.

It was a roundabout way to go just to shoot Dom in the skull but I’d take it.

Somewhere along the line, I seemed to fall headfirst into the darkness that I always tried to keep at bay but I wasn’t complaining. In fact, I was growing. I was turning into the man I always felt I was on the inside. Now, there was no putting him back.

We all sat down to work out a scenario where Kasey could get Erin’s phone and look through it without drawing any attention to herself. Well, the girls talked it out while Marco and I sat nodding in agreement like we were paying attention. All I cared about was Kasey getting a hold of Erin’s phone and snooping through her texts.

Once the plan was set, Kasey worked her way over to Erin’s and we waited. I couldn’t handle sitting idly while one of our plans was in motion though. I looked at Sammie and asked her how long she thought it would take Kasey to be done with Erin. I figured it couldn’t have been long since Kasey told us to hang out at her place while she did it.

“I don’t know…why?” Apprehension rose high in Sammie’s voice.

“I want to go talk to your friend Brady,” I smiled.

“Santana, not right now.”

“Yes, right now. Why not get this shit out the way so I can go after who I really want?”

“Who do you really want?” Marco asked with a raised brow. While he was cool, I didn’t know about sharing that level of information with him or anyone else. So instead of divulging everything, I gave him the surface details.

I said, “I’m looking at someone within the business but I can’t tell you who it is.” Marco eyed me for a few seconds then nodded. There really was nothing more for him to do other than accept what I’d given him. Knowing Marco, he’d try to figure it out on his own.

“That’s serious,” he replied.

“It is,” I agreed with a nod.

“If it’s someone within the business then you know what that means,” he said. I watched his expression to see if I could read any hesitance but I saw the opposite. Marco looked like he’d do whatever needed to be done. That was the kind of soldier Pop needed on his team.

“Yeah, I know. So let’s figure out who the fuck is behind this so we can handle business. Sammie, I’m going to pay Brady a visit. What’s his address?”

“Santana, can we finish one thing first before we jump into another?” Sammie pouted. As cute as she was, I wasn’t giving into her.

“Nah. I want to finish two things at once so there’s only one thing left. Now, give me his address or I’ll find out for myself, Princess.” Five whiny minutes later, she gave up his address and number.

“I’m going too,” Marco announced.

“You can stay here with Sammie and wait for Kasey to get back.”

“You’re going to see a guy, right? Don’t you think both of us walking up on him would be much scarier than you by yourself?” He reasoned.

“Brady is a bitch and he’s scared of me anyway.”

“So let’s make it doubly fun then,” Marco had a glint in his eye that told me he was all for terrorizing Brady and I couldn’t really argue with that so I told him he could come along. Of course, that meant Sammie’s nosey ass was going to tag along too so all three of us went to Brady’s house for a chat.

“That’s his car,” Sammie pointed out once we blocked the driveway. “Santana, please behave. You don’t have to do much to scare Brady.”

“I know. It’s fun though.” I winked at her and she glared in return. Sammie opted to sit in the car while Marco and I knocked on the door. When Brady saw us standing there, all the color left his face. He looked like a fucking sheet.

“What’s up, Brady?” I smiled, gripping his shoulder entirely too hard. I shoved him backward into the foyer and stepped in, pressing him against the wall.

“Santana, what’s up? Wha—what did I do?” His blue eyes went wide when he saw Marco shut the front door behind himself.

“I don’t know. You’re going to tell me. Have you been messing around on Sammie’s phone?” I tipped my head to the side and stared him down. I was seconds away from stooping just to be eye level with him.

Brady shook his head repeatedly and swallowed a ball of nerves. “I haven’t even spoken to Sam since that party after graduation. I swear.” I stared at him for a while to determine if he was telling the truth. I didn’t put anything past anyone. Just because Brady seemed harmless didn’t mean he was. I knew how to figure it out once and for all though. I reached behind myself and drew my gun.  I wasn’t going to shoot Brady, hell I wasn’t even going to pistol whip him. I just wanted to see the fear blossom in his eyes and I wasn’t disappointed.

Crimson crept up his cheeks as he stared down the barrel of my gun. “Santana, what the fuck man?”

“Give me your phone,” I said quietly.

“I’d listen to him, he’s fucking bonkers,” Marco laughed. “Bad temper too.” Brady was stuck staring at the gun for a few minutes. “Come on, bro. Move it!” Marco boomed. That snapped Brady out of it and he handed Marco his phone since my hands were occupied.

“Unlock it,” Marco instructed. Brady pressed his trembling thumb to the home button and the screen lit up.

“Someone has been sending Sammie really fucked up texts from an unknown number and I want to make sure you have nothing to do with it.”

“No, I swear to God. I had nothing to do with it. I would never do that to Sam.” His voice trembled just as badly as his knees.

“Good. Let’s hope you’re telling the truth.” I looked at Marco and he shook his head.

“Nothing in there, Santana.”

“Cool. You wouldn’t mind if we looked around your room for a burner phone would you?”

“No. I don’t mind. P—please look.” I finally let go of Brady’s shirt and he stumbled forward on clumsy feet as he showed us to his bedroom. Posters of oiled up half-naked models took up space on his walls and I couldn’t walk two feet without stumbling over the carpet of clothes on the floor. Brady voluntarily dumped his drawers out on to his too slender bed and pulled everything out of the closet to show he had no extra phone.

I believed him.

It was just fun fucking with him.

“Thanks for your cooperation, kid.” Marco slapped Brady on the back nearly sending him flying into the wall on the way out.

“Yeah, no problem.” Brady straightened his clothes and smoothed wrinkles from his crumpled gray shirt. “I’m sorry someone is fucking with Sam. She’s a good girl and doesn’t deserve stupid shit like that happening to her. If I can help you catch the guy…”

“You can’t,” I said effectively cutting him off. “Thanks for the offer.” Just like that, I eliminated another name off the short list.

“Did you hurt him?” Sammie quizzed once Marco and I were back in the car.

“No…but I think he almost pissed himself,” Marco laughed.

“Almost,” I cracked a grin and Sammie shook her head at me. “He’s not the one sending you those messages, Sammie. I think Kasey is going to report the same thing about Erin.” She knew I was right, that’s why she became silent in the passenger seat and stayed that way until we got back to Kasey’s.

***

“Okay, so what news do you have for us, Buttercup?” Marco asked Kasey when she got back. Her back went stiff and she spun around to face him.

“Did you just call me Buttercup?”

“You heard me,” he yawned, stretching his arm across the back of her sofa with an ease that said he’d lived there his entire life.

“I don’t know who you think you are but…”

“Hey, can we not argue?” Sammie frowned, folding her arms. Marco, on the other hand, was thoroughly amused.

“Anyway,” Kasey said, rolling her eyes. “It’s not Erin. Her phone was clean…well she was sending some pretty disgusting texts to Brady but that’s about it. I even snooped around her room for a burner cell and found nothing. Then I spent a half hour trying to get the hell out of there because I can’t stand to be around her. She’s annoying as fuck. So what does that mean if it’s not Erin and it’s not Brady?”

“It means I have some business to handle,” I told her, standing to my feet. “Thanks for your help, Kasey.” She beamed at me with a bright smile and full cheeks.

“You’re welcome, Santana.”

“Yeah, thanks for your help, Buttercup.” As annoyed as Kasey looked with Marco, I saw her eyes smolder when she locked her stare on him.

“Don’t call me that,” she protested, her arched brows drawing together. Marco didn’t respond, he only laughed and shook his head.

***

Two hours later, after dropping Marco off at home, Sammie and I were back at Pop’s house, waiting for him to get back from the restaurant. I fixed myself a much-needed drink and poured one for Sammie too. When she settled her dangerous curves in my lap, my pulse quickened.

She sipped her drink and mindlessly toyed with my fingers while I pictured ways to make her cum on my tongue. “Santana, you’re so quiet,” she smiled knowingly.

“Am I?” I asked, my voice heavy from running around all day.

“You are. I’m not complaining though because you’re insanely sexy when you’re all quiet and brooding.” She giggled and a small hiccup escaped her. The liquor had grabbed hold of her.

“Did you catch the way your friend looked at Marco today? I think they might have a little chemistry.” I pointed out while my fingertips danced up Sammie’s bare thigh. Her legs were so toned and smooth. I wanted to run my tongue along her lines and commit her shape to my taste buds.

“Marco and Kasey? Oh god, no. She looked so annoyed with him.”

“I know what I saw, Sammie.”

“Marco is cute. It wouldn’t be the worst move she’s ever made.” In one second flat, her silky butterscotch strands were wrapped around my fist.

“Marco is…what?” I asked her a smirk burning the corners of my mouth.

“He’s cute. Am I not allowed to say other guys are cute?”

“Nah. None of that shit. Now I have to punish you. Didn’t I just tell you the other day that you were born to take my dick?” I pulled her closer to me until I could smell the liquor on her breath. I kissed her throat and pulled harder on her hair. “You were born to suck my dick…” I kissed her neck more while she moaned on top of me. “You were born to be mine.” My teeth scraped her flawless skin leaving passionate scarlet streaks behind.

“Now,” I said, slipping my hand beneath her shirt then lifting it until her perfect tits were exposed. “I want you to get on your knees and take your punishment.”

“What’s my punishment, Daddy?” Jesus, I loved it when she played along. I stroked the top of her head and ran my thumb along her bottom lip.

“I want you to suck my dick with no hands until I cum and you better not touch yourself. Keep your pretty green eyes on me. Understand?”

“No hands? Daddy, your dick is too big for that.” I didn’t respond to her with words, I just looked at her and waited for the excuses to stop tumbling from her perfect mouth.

“Use your throat. Make me cum, Princess.” A flame jumped to life in her eyes right before she pulled my stiff cock out and slid her lips around the head. A low groan built in my throat as she worked her way down my shaft, tracing every vein.

My hips lifted, thrusting into her hot mouth. I wanted to fuck her pretty little face and leave it wet with saliva. The hungry look in her eyes told me she wanted it too. I fisted her hair with both hands and drove my dick deep into her throat until she gagged.

“Fuck, Samira.” I groaned when she slurped me up like her favorite meal. Every time the tip of my cock slid against the back of her throat, an electric shudder ripped through me. How the hell was I supposed to hold on and not shoot my load?

Her nasty noises turned my toes to nubs in my socks. My calve muscles tightened as I thrust faster in and out of her mouth while she stared me down and sucked my dick like her life depended on it. Spit dripped from her chin while she tried in vain to take all my inches in her mouth. I loved her determination.

I caught sight of her hand slipping between her thighs and I let out a growl. “No touching, Sammie. Make me cum like a good girl.” She blinked a few times with big, doe eyes that looked far too innocent. She didn’t look like she should have had her mouth stuffed full of my cock but the image was one I wanted burned into my mind forever.

When she pulled my dick from between her glistening lips, a trail of saliva connected us. “Cum in my mouth, Santana.” My cock bobbed in the air with a mind of its own, determined to make her wish come true.

With my teeth clenched together, I guided her head back down on my rigid dick and she swallowed me as much as she could while I fucked her face. I was relentless and unforgiving but I knew my girl could take it. I knew she didn’t mind because her level of freak ran just as deep as mine. It was one of the thousands of levels we connected on.

When the pressure became too much to hold on to, I let loose and shot into her mouth. She was already deep throating me so everything slid down nice and easy. Samira let out a low and happy hum once she was done swallowing every drop of my seed.

I tapped her wet lips with my still hard dick and sighed heavily. “Such a good fucking girl.” I was ready to reward her with an orgasm of her own but I heard Pop’s keys in the door. Sammie looked at me with big mischievous eyes that made my heart speed up.

It was risky but I grabbed her jaw and kissed her slow and deep. Sometimes her beauty was too much for me to resist. “Go clean up and I’ll talk to Pop.” I slapped her ass before letting her go. I stood there and watched her bounce into the bathroom for a few seconds.

I had no idea what the hell I did to get so lucky but I’d spend the rest of my life counting my blessings.

“Did Sam practice shooting today?” Pop asked when he walked in.

“Yeah, she’s getting better.” He stopped moving around the kitchen long enough to look at me.

“What’s up, Santana? There’s something on your mind.” He still knew me like the back of his hand and it sent me through a range of emotions. I landed on being grateful that he was dealing with Sammie and me instead of disowning us. It couldn’t have been easy.

“I spent the day with Sammie and Marco finding out who sent Sammie those messages. It wasn’t her friends, Pop. Both of them checked out.” He pushed out a heavy sigh and held his head down for a moment.

“I’ve made peace with it, Santana. I’ve done a hell of a lot of shit for Dom over the course of our friendship and if he thinks it’s okay to blatantly ogle my daughter and act like it’s nothing when I ask him to stop…I don’t know what the fuck else he’s capable of anymore.” I hated how upset the entire situation made him. “The reality is, I can’t keep someone like that around me no matter how much that shit hurts. Blatant disrespect on any level is the first red flag. I like to cut behavior like that off at the knees.”

“Pop, I know this is tough for you but you know I wouldn’t be pushing for it if I didn’t think that later on down the line he’d cause major problems.” Sammie came out of the bathroom with her hair brushed into a high ponytail and her lips glossy like they weren’t just all over my dick a few minutes ago.

“I know, Santana.” Pop paused to look at Sammie like he knew she was sinning in the living room before he came in. I acted like I had no knowledge of the situation and kept talking.

“I’ll move when you tell me to,” I told him out of respect. His eyes softened when he looked at me and I knew I made the right choice. Killing Dom was something that had to happen eventually and Pop knew it. Didn’t mean he had to like it though.

“Samira, you need to pay attention to what just happened. Santana did the honorable thing instead of the selfish thing. In both family and business, that’s a stand-up thing to do. He has character and I know I don’t have to worry about him fucking me over. You wanna keep men like that on your team.” Something about the pride in Pop’s voice made me smile. It made Sammie smile too.

She hooked her arm with mine and grinned up at me. “So I guess I made the right choice getting engaged to him then, huh?”

“I won’t say all that, mija. He’s a good guy to have around though, I guess.” Pop nudged me a little and I sighed.

“One day you’re going to admit that your life is boring without me, Pop.”

“Yeah. No time soon, mijo. Listen, you and Sam go check on the guys on the east side and deliver this package for me. They’ve been selling this shit left and right and raking in the profit, I want to give them a little incentive.”

“What’s in the box, Papa?” Samira asked, taking the package from my hands.

“Very nice watches. My way of saying I appreciate all their hard work and hustle,” he told her. “I’m gonna go to the restaurant and clear my head for a few hours. I’ll be back before the sun comes up.”

“Papa, you can’t throw yourself into work all the time like that. It’ll kill you.” Sammie wrapped Pop up in a hug and kissed his cheek. “If you need to talk, you know we’re here for you. We love you. We’re family.” She locked green eyes with him and I saw him soften like he always did for her. He leaned over and kissed her forehead then grabbed his keys.

Just as quickly as he came home, he was gone again. “He’ll be okay, Sammie,” I told her, tugging on her fingers to pull her closer.

“I worry about him sometimes. He’s really struggling with killing Dom.” She rested her head on my chest and I stroked her ponytail. For some reason, the silence between us felt gritty and not smooth like it usually did. Nothing was wrong between us but there was something in the air.

I started to mention it but Sammie’s phone chimed with a text and we both knew what the fuck that meant.

***