Cyprus

Present Day

“Cyprus, do you have everything we need for tonight?” Nick folded his newspaper and rested it on the bar. “I need to make sure that we have everything, I can't risk that rat bastard trying to fuck me over. I don't trust him, never have. The only reason I agreed to this thing was because of his father. But if he tries something, anything at all—”

Cutting in, I did my best to ease his worry. “It's all set, Nick. I have everything we need for tonight. Don't worry about it too much, it'll be fine.” Stacking the clean shot glasses, I finished setting up the station for tomorrow.

When I turned eighteen—or what we estimated my age to be, Nick gave me a job. I helped run the family bar, but that wasn't my main job. Cooking the books, that was my trade. I fixed the sheets and made it look legal to the outside world.

And I hated to admit it, but I was fucking good at it.

Smiling, Nick tapped the bar top, knocking on it with his knuckles. “God you remind me of Valentina, a spitting image. That woman rubbed off on you, it shows.” His eyes twinkled, casting a warm glow. “And you're sure you're alright with sitting in? I can have Birch do it if you don't want to.”

“No it's fine, I've sat in before, I can handle it. Besides, Birch will be up here if things go south, we can ring him if we need to.”

Smiling, he leaned across the bar and fisted my chin with a gentle bump. “Good girl, that's why I put you in charge of that stuff and not my boy. He has a hard time remembering his head from his asshole sometimes.” Chuckling, he pressed his palms against the edge of the wood and rocked back. “It would be my luck he'd shoot the guy point blank for a sneeze. Him and that feather trigger of his.”

“You really think I have that much of a short fuse?” Birch walked in from behind his father and gripped his shoulder.

“I don't think it, I know it.” Angling his head over his shoulder to look at his son, he playfully snapped. “You act like I haven't had the pleasure of seeing it before.”

Shaking him a little, Birch grinned. “Maybe I have you wrapped around my finger, old man. I hate that shit, sitting at a table and playing stupid fucking mind games with a couple of assholes.” Winking at me, he tossed a big smirk in my direction. “You know I love you, Cyprus, but setting up a buffet for a group of dicks and playing with numbers and the fine details is not my thing.”

“Yeah, acting like a giant muscle head is far better than looking smart.” Biting my lip, I veered my stare. “What will you do when I take that job too?”

Nick let out a deep throaty laugh, pointing his finger in my direction. “She sounds like your mother used to, Birch. Watch out for this one, she'll slit your throat in your sleep.” Reaching for his shot glass, he held it to his lips. “Just like I showed her how.”

He wasn't lying when he said that. Nick had spent a lot of time making sure I knew how to protect myself. The family business wasn't exactly built off honesty and law abiding rules.

It took me some time to figure out what he was involved in. I was too young to understand when I first met him, and I hadn't put two and two together when I saw those men at that table that night back when I was a kid.

Once I got older, it became more than obvious. Nicholi Rottera, the kind man who took me in, the loving father to his wife and child, he had a dark side. Ruthless and cutthroat, his business dealings were not for the faint of heart.

When he started to teach me how to use a gun and the proper way to handle a knife, I knew there was a reason. It wasn't exactly common practice for a person to share that with a kid. But he was right, I needed to learn how.

Nick had his hands in shit that others would run from. He considered himself a man who should be feared, but that didn't mean there weren't people out there waiting to take his life. The mafia was built off power and control, and Nick liked to have both.

As time went on, the loyalty between his family and myself grew. Nick had deemed me trustworthy enough to know the truth, and he decided to let me in on the family business.

At first, when he finally confirmed my suspicions, I wasn't sure what to think. A part of me was angry, like it was wrong to even be under the same roof as that family. It was dangerous, the risks were far too high that something could happen to any one of us.

But then I thought about the side of Nick I had seen, the caring father and loving husband who was there to protect his family.

That was the man I knew. Not the gangster gunslinger, who would hold cold steel to your temple and pull the trigger before you had time to blink. He never showed me that person, not once had I ever felt threatened by him.

I decided to accept him for who he was, to accept the family that had shown me unconditional kindness and love.

I wouldn't lie and say it didn't scare me when I knew Birch was going out to collect a debt or ruff someone up to make a point. It didn't matter if he had other guys with him; the fear was there, the painful twinge of anxiety would eat me alive until he came home.

But he always came home.

People came and went, and I turned a blind eye to the reality of what was going on. I never asked about what happened to someone if I didn't see them again. That part was none of my business, and completely out of my control anyway.

There were rules, a code that we lived by. And I respected it. I had to, there wasn't a choice for me.

I never completely felt like this was who I was. I had never fully accepted that this way of life was one I was agreeing to. But I did it. I did it because these people weren't just strangers anymore.

They were family, they had given me the same opportunities and respect that they had given their own blood born son. I would never forget that, I would never take for granted what they had done, and I would stand by their side till the very end.

Because that's what you did for family.

You stood by their side, good or bad. Nothing would cut the thread that tied us together. Despite the pit in my gut at times and the tiny voice inside my head telling me it was wrong; I was here, and I wasn't going anywhere.

My appreciation for what Nick and Birch had done, how they had saved me from dying alone in the woods, that was all I needed.

They had my back and I had theirs.

Birch came around behind the bar, arms open wide. “Babe, you know I love you.” Wrapping me in a big hug, he pressed my head into his chest. “And without you, I'd be lost.”

“You bet your ass you would be.” Curling my arms around his back, I ran my fingers up and down his spine. “You couldn't function without me.”

Slamming the glass down, Nick sucked in air through thin lips. “She's right, Birch. Your mother used to tell me that all the time, and I never actually believed it until she was gone.” His eyes went cloudy, staring off behind us as he thought of his wife.

Valentina had passed last year, it was rough on all of us. It was hard on Birch to watch his mother suffer the way she had. He would help his father care for her, both of them did their best to make sure she was comfortable and happy in the end.

I watched him shed tears that I didn't think he had. I held him at his worst when her illness had finally won and there was nothing more that the doctors could do. Birch had lost something the day she died, a small piece of himself was suddenly gone.

But nothing could compare to the pain that Nicholi was going through. For all the horrible things he had done in his life, for how dark and harsh his hands could be to others. . . He loved and cherished that woman.

It was hard as hell to watch that man lose his best friend, the love of his life. Twenty-four years of marriage, and it ended before either one was ready for it. But you can't foresee the future, you never knew when God would slip his hand down from the clouds and call back one of his children.

I wasn't sure if Nick believed in heaven or hell, or if he thought that one day he would see his wife again. There was too much pain in his eyes and hurt in his voice for him to think beyond the moment, beyond the past, and beyond the future he had lost.

Frowning, I laid my hand over his. There were no words I could say that would ease his pain. This was something he was going to have to deal with on his own.

It was going to take time for that hurt to go away, for it not to be there day after day as a constant reminder of what was gone.

I hadn't lost the love of my life, but I had lost a family. I dealt with their absence as if they had died. Because to me, they were as good as dead.

They never came looking for me, they hadn't plastered my face on missing person fliers or televised it on the news. It didn't matter that Nick had searched for month after month, no one was out there on the other end ready to retrieve his gift.

Time had helped to heal the wounds, but it was still there. It would never go away completely, the pain only dulled into this paper cut that was more annoying now than anything else.

Slapping the bar, Nick sucked in a big breath of air. “Well, I'm going to go down. When they get here, just bring them in.” Forcing a smile, it faded immediately, turning his face back to stone.

Birch and I watched him drag his feet into the back and heard him start down the stairs. Thud after thud, he clopped down the steps until he hit the cement floor, and a door closed in the distance.

Turning to look at me, Birch kissed my forehead. “I hate seeing him that way.”

“I know, me too.” Resting my head on his chest, he rubbed his hands up and down my back. “I'd be devastated if I lost you.”

“Well, you don't have to worry about that, because I'm made of steel baby.” Slipping his hands down over my ass, he gave me a hard squeeze. “I'm indestructible, like this ass of yours.” Grunting, he shifted his waist so his cock rubbed against my belly.

Pushing back, I peered up at him. “Are you serious right now? You know I have a ton of shit to do before Antoine and Collin get here. The big man is already worried enough about this deal, I don't want to screw it up.”

“You won't screw it up, we both know that. We have plenty of time, Cyprus, I can do you right here. We're not open, no one is coming in, and my dad will be downstairs. Antoine and Collin won't be here for another hour.” Licking his lips, he stepped in closer, forcing my back against the bar. “You know you can't resist this cock, Baby, you never could.”

Holding a palm to his chest, I smirked. “Full of yourself much?”

Curling his fingers around my wrist, he guided it down over his abs and onto the firm muscle under his pants. “You feel that? You do that to me, you've always made me so fucking hard. Even when we were younger, I'd rub one out just thinking about you.”

“Is that suppose to turn me on?”

“Is it working?” Using my hand, he stroked his cock. “Because if it's not, I have other ways to make you wet.”

Flicking his brows high, he dug his free hand into the small of my back. Arching my spine, my lids hooded as my nipples went stiff, tingling in my bra. He had this power over me, he always did. A look, a touch, a smile, it didn't matter. Birch made me feel things I couldn't explain.

“Fuck, Birch, how do you do this? How the hell do you still make me feel this way after so many years?”

Lowering his lips to my cheek, he whispered. “I think people call that love.” Licking the shell of my ear, he nibbled the lobe.

All of the air in my lungs rolled out as my head fell towards my shoulder to make room for his mouth. Light kisses hit my throat, as he worked his way down, turning my muscles into limp spaghetti.

Grazing the sharp edges of his teeth around my neck, my skin exploded in goosebumps. “There it is, that's what I was looking for.” His words buzzed over my flesh, making my body hot. “Now I know your pussy is wet, and if I'm right—” Biting my collarbone, he blew cool air across my throat. “Your pussy is fucking dripping, wishing for me to take it.”

Moaning quietly, my eyes closed on reflex, body melting into his hands. Birch had spent years learning all the places that gave me goosebumps if he kissed them or caressed them just right.

His eyes never stopped watching me, they never left my body, not once. Taking notes on how I moved or whimpered, he payed careful attention to how my body reacted to his lips and hands.

I felt like an instrument he had been playing for years. He knew my chords, he knew which string to pluck and strum so I sang for him. It was perfect, always perfect.

Releasing his hand from my wrist, I kept stroking the hard member as Birch slipped his fingers under my shirt.

Hard pads caressed my breasts, plucking at the pebbled beads. “You want this, don't you?” Another moan spilled from my mouth, louder and less controlled. “Sing for me my sweet little siren.” Sharp teeth clamped down on my shoulder, biting into the flesh.

There was no escaping him now. My mind had turned off, refusing to let thoughts that weren't about his cock come through.

Moaning, my eyes closed tight as I pushed my chest up and forced my tits into his hands.

Growling, he twirled my perked flesh hard, grinding his cock into my hand. Birch knew exactly what he was doing, and he was loving every second of it.

His eyes flirted with a primal smile, teeth nibbling his bottom lip as he grunted. In one quick spin, strong hands flipped me onto my stomach, and bent me over the bar.

With painful slowness, he slid a hand down my spine, curling his fingers into my hips. Working my pants, he popped the button and slipped his hand into my panties, searching for my sex.

“Fuck, Cyprus, you're so damn wet right now.” A single finger dipped between my folds, massaging the juice against my clit.

“Mm,” cooing, my head snapped forward, fingers clutching the firm wood edge. Brushing the counter with my belly, the cold surface iced my skin, forcing me to suck in a quick gulp of air.

“Tell me what you want, Babe. Tell me what you want me to do.” Rolling his hips, he massaged the dimples above my ass with his thumbs. “Let me hear you say it.” Gliding a hand back into my panties, he cupped my mound, putting pressure on my swelling nub.

“Fuck me, Birch.” The tip of his finger flicked my clit, causing my legs to tremble. “Fuck me.” The words came out built on nothing but air as my hips rocked, forcing his finger against my needy button harder.

“That's what you want, hm? You want me to fuck you?”

All I could do was nod. I had lost my voice as his finger massaged and swirled my hot center, forcing all the words from my mind. An air-filled moan escaped my lips as he pushed his finger into my pussy, then pulled it free to find my clit again.

Running his free hand up my back, he tangled his fingers into my hair and tugged the locks with a quick snap. “Tell me, say it so I can hear you.”

“Fuck me.”

“Again.”

“Fuck me.” Groaning, my ass rolled and bucked, pushing into his belly.

Tearing at my pants, he worked them down over my thighs, leaving them to trap my knees. Wrapping my hair around his fist, he gripped my roots and shoved my head down against the bar. “Again, say it again. I love hearing you beg for me.”

“Fuck me, Birch.”

I heard the metal teeth on his jeans as he tore open the zipper. Harsh fingers dug into my ass cheek and pulled the plump flesh apart. A throaty growl rolled off his tongue, as the tip of his cock pressed my entrance.

My body was on fire, begging for him to take me. I needed his cock, I needed to feel him deep inside me. There was nothing I could do once I hit that level of greed. I had to have him, right there, right then.

If he even tried to stop and walk away, I would have jumped him like a starving cougar, and devoured him whole.

In one quick thrust, Birch's length was buried inside my pussy, pulsing and throbbing as he stilled. He didn't move, allowing my walls to stretch around the muscle and lubricate his cock.

The coarse hair at the base of his dick tickled my ass, my pussy clenched around him tight and firm, waiting anxiously for him to move.

Shifting his hips, he pulled back slowly, only to drive in deeper. His crown hit my lower belly, forcing a rush of air to skip out of my lungs. Thrust after thrust, he fucked me. Raw and needy, the love of my life turned from man into beast.

And I begged for every second of it.

“Harder, fuck me harder.” Gnawing on the inside of my cheek, I did my best not to scream. The last thing I wanted was to be interrupted by a curious old man, searching for the sound. That would be a recipe for disaster, killing any and all arousal that had claimed us.

Each piston of his hips was followed by a deep grunt. With clenched teeth, grinding into each other, he slammed in and out hard and fast.

My brain went fuzzy and numb, forgetting where we were. When I was with Birch, it always felt like there was no one else in the world. He was all-consuming, engulfing every inch of my body and mind.

The orgasm bubbled, tingling in my stomach and spreading down my legs. My tits scraped the bar top, making my nipples tender and firm beneath the fabric of my shirt.

“Mm, Birch, fuck, I'm so close.” Biting my lower lip, I looked back at him over my shoulder. “Don't stop, harder, harder. Fuck me, fuck me harder.”

His hips drove in with malice, threatening to force me to my knees. Pressing the tips of my toes into the floor, I found my balance and readied my body for pure ecstasy. I was right there, teetering on the edge of sexual insanity, ready to jump.

With white knuckles I held on tight, as fireworks shot through my muscles turning them weak. The orgasm hit hard, making my thighs quiver and my lungs struggle for air.

I couldn't breathe, but I didn't need to. He fed me everything my body needed to survive. He was my food, my water, my oxygen. I could give up everything, and as long I still had my man, I would be happy.

Birch picked up his pace, gripping my hips in both hands and pulling me back to meet his rhythm. With one final thrust, he groaned, stilling above me and clinging to my waist with the tips of his fingers.

Dropping his chest onto my back, we laid there like that for a few seconds. Our chests rose and fell together, our breathing loud and ragged as we both slowly came down from the high coursing through our veins.

“Okay,” he finally said, pulling his cock free and grabbing a few cocktail napkins from the holder to clean off. “Back to work.” Slapping my ass, the sound rang out, echoing in the empty bar.

Giggling, I grabbed a few napkins for myself, and turned to look at him. “You're lucky I love you.”

Smiling, he clasped my jaw with his thumb and finger. “I know I am.” Giving me a kiss, he snapped his back straight. “I've always known how lucky I was to have you.”

My heart pitter pattered, watching his eyes glisten with that same look he has given me since we were kids and confessed our love to each other.

Tucking his cock back into his pants, he buttoned them up and glanced at the clock. “And we still have twenty minutes to spare. Want to go again?”

“You're a fucking animal.” Shaking my head, I threw the napkins into the garbage. “And no, we'll have to go for round two later.” Wriggling my hips, I shimmied my jeans back into place.

“You're no fun.” Pouting his lips, he batted his eyes like a sad puppy dog. “Come on, I can be quick.”

Smirking, I nodded in agreement. “I know.”

“Hey,” he barked, doing his best not to laugh. “That was one time.”

“That's all it takes for me to know it can happen.” Grabbing the stack of papers from under the register, I rested them in my arm, and started for the office downstairs.

“I love you!” he yelled as my foot hit the top step.

“I know you do.” Smiling to myself, I pressed the papers to my chest and walked into the dimly lit basement.

For years I often wondered what my life would have been like if this tragedy hadn't happened. I wondered who I would be and what I would be doing if I hadn't ended up in those woods.

Would I be in college, working towards a degree in accounting?

Would I be slaving day after day as a waitress in a shitty restaurant, barely getting by?

And then one day those thoughts just stopped.

Because there was no place I could picture that would make me as happy as I was with Birch.

There was a silver lining to my story; finding the love of my life in the middle of a nightmare.