I can tell anybody now that no one would believe me if I said the beautiful woman lying next to me in my bed fell asleep naked because July in Chicago is the hottest month of the year. Stifling and suffocating. You want to take off your fucking skin it’s so hot.

Know what’s hotter? The woman lying next to me who’s supposed to be my ‘friend’.

Her name is Maria Cipriani, but we’ve been calling her Mimi for a lifetime. It was me who gave her that name. It suited her little pixie, fairylike features.

Now that little fairy looks like she just stepped out of a wild erotic fantasy. The kind that would leave a badass mobster like me begging for more.

The kind of wild fantasy that people come to live out at The Dark Odyssey, my sex club.

The woman lying next to me looks exactly like a wild, dark fantasy come to life, but… we’re supposed to be friends.

Friends…

Right. Fuck, fucking hell.

I try to remind myself on the regular that we’re calling it that … we haven’t said we were calling it –us—that, but it’s implied and we say the word friend a lot.

More so for the last year.

One year of this…Jesus H.

Friends.

And no, I’m not telling myself that we’re friends because I’m in denial. I’m a long way from denial and so is she. We both know this is a game we’re playing.

I roam over her perfect body as she turns onto her back. Her ass brushes over my already rock hard dick, making it harder, and now that my gaze is on her massive tits that look like sun-kissed melons with rose bud tips I’m not sure what the fuck I’m meant to do.

Or…

Which kind of day this is meant to be.

Is it the kind where she gets up and mills around the place acting like we’re old pals… she’s my babygirl and I’m her boy.

Or is it the borderline friendship day where she’s acting like she’s already my doll and allows me to suck her tits.

It’s those days I wish she’d stop playing this seriously weird game and allow me to take her on her hands and knees the way I want.

Her on her hands and knees, or chained to my bed…

Whichever day it is, we’re changing things up today.

I am.

Last night as I watched her strip, I decided today was the day I was going to give this unusual relationship of ours a kick in the right direction.

Change the game we’re playing and I’m not going to allow her to tell me anything other than yes.

I’m too old for this shit. I just turned thirty-nine and I’m not some fucker who needs to pussyfoot around shit, even if our particular case is a little delicate.

This situation here makes me look weak and I hate weakness of any kind.

I’m a ruthless bastard, a prick at best, and it’s not in my nature to see a woman I want and play friends with her.

The worst thing about it is, this isn’t just a now thing. It’s been happening since we were kids. There were many instances when I had no business looking at her then because I’m nine years and a few months older than she is.

Try being twenty three and watching her at fourteen, twenty five and watching her at sixteen.

I could have probably taken the plunge to do something when she turned eighteen or the many years that followed, but she was head over heels for Gabriel. Gabe, my younger brother.

Long story, very long story… it led us here.

Here where I accept that she loved him. Loved, as in past tense

Here, to this peculiar relationship of ours.

Here to my bed where she comes almost every night and we do…

nothing.

Sometimes we end up like this. Sometimes not.

I gaze at her perfection. Long wild honey blond hair sprawled out against the pillow. Her pretty mouth with full cherry lips pressing together as she stirs.

The soft hint of sunlight spilling through the window caresses her skin the way I want to, stopping just at the edge of her black lace panties.

At least she always keeps her panties on when she’s with me.

That’s going to change very soon.

She stirs again and I run my finger over the taut skin of her stomach. In response, she lifts her dainty hand and presses it to my chest. A little smile tips the corners of her delicate mouth as a perfectly manicured finger traces the deep ridge of the muscles lining my abs and her cheeks flush.

Good. Good sign to set the scene for what I have up my sleeve for this doll.

Thick black lashes flutter as she opens her eyes fully and I’m greeted with her warm coffee colored gaze.

I would have led slowly into this if I didn’t see the tips of her nipples pebble.

She sees me looking and knows I don’t plan to look away.

Thank fuck she knows not to protest when I trail my finger up her stomach, up the enticing underside of her right breast and glide over the hard tip of her nipple. I look at her then and give her a cocky smile.

A smile at her frozen in my grasp, her eyes shimmering with the want and desire that courses through me, threatening to take her right here.

I make a point of keeping my gaze trained on her as I lower to the now diamond hard nipple and take it into my mouth. She’s trying… I can see she’s trying not to be aroused but she fails just as much as I do to be her friend.

Fucking fuck that –friends.

Friends, I don’t think so and definitely not when a moan filled with pleasure falls from her lips.

I suck harder and when she arches her back into the sheets I move to her right breast and give her pleading nipple the same attention.

Fingers flutter into my hair, encouraging me to continue, and fuck do I want to. I do, but… I won’t.

I won’t because this is where things change and I start another game I already know she’s going to give me a hard time agreeing to.

When she thinks I’m going to continue like I’ve been doing every time we do this I stop and pull back.

Her cheeks flush and her hands fall from my head.

I sit up and it’s like she just remembered we’re friends and shuffles to get off the bed.

“I’m gonna get coffee, do you want some?” she asks, and like she’s my girl she reaches for my shirt and covers up the glorious view of her body by slipping into it.

She straightens and that mass of hair swishes around her waist.

Mimi looks at me and I stare back at her, still smiling. Or rather it’s more of a smirk. She knows me and now she’s suddenly wary because she can sense something’s up.

“No,” I answer, my tone flat.

“What do you want?”

I slide off the bed. Instantly I tower over her with my six feet and six inches and the width of my shoulders. In her heels she barely reaches the top of my chest. Like this with her five feet, she’s my erotic little fairy and she doesn’t know she just made a mistake by asking me that question.

Or, maybe she does. I step closer to her and she steps back. One more step and she steps back. It’s like an uncoordinated tango. I finish the rest of this dance by taking hold of her tiny waist and pushing her up against the wall.

A little gasp falls from her lips.

“I want you. That’s what I want,” I inform her with a crude smile. “Babygirl, I want you to be mine, properly.”

“Properly?”

Her eyes widen and when her breath hitches I lean just a little closer. “Yes, Maria.” I call her by her real name so she knows I’m serious as fuck.

“Yours,” she says that more as a statement than a question. More to herself than to me, like she’s contemplating it. She’d better. I’ll allow her to do that and unravel the shit from the past with my brother from her mind. When I’m inside her I just want her to think of me. Just me, nobody else.

“Babygirl,” I grin at her and brush my nose over hers. “You were always mine, now I want to claim you. That’s why I need us to cut this shit and you stop being my babygirl and be my doll.”

“Salvatore –”

No, no. I don’t want to even hear the hint of an excuse or whatever fucking thing she might think to tell me. I press my fingers to her lips. Those luscious lips. “This…” I smooth my finger over her full plump lips. “Those lips belong to me.”

That holds her attention. I smooth my hand down to her breasts and move the shirt away revealing the sexy pink nipples. Since I’m not about to see nipples looking like that and not suck them I lower again and suck briefly on the left one.

“These tits… are mine,” I tell her, giving them a good feel and that pleasure-filled expression fills her face again. However it’s replaced by undiluted shock when I slide my hands down to her panties and rub my thumb over the silky smooth skin of her mound. “And this. Your pussy belongs to me.”

Her panties are already wet, and like she knew not to stop me on the bed she knows now to keep still as I glide past the lace covering her folds and slide my finger inside her tight wet pussy.

The smile recedes from my face. I don’t want to fall in the trap of my own game, but fuck does she ever feel good. Wet and dripping with need for me.

It’s the furthest we’ve gone and I just successfully stepped over the line. I slide in and out of her and she moans, lips parted, eyes begging me to take her against the wall.

I don’t though. I won’t.

Not yet.

I remove my fingers and bring them to my mouth to lick off the glistening nectar and it’s definitely a taste to savor. Sweet like the finest honey.

She watches as I lick my fingers and now her skin is completely flushed.

“So, no… I don’t want coffee. What I want is to fuck you so hard, you’ll be coming all night, screaming my name.” I hold back a laugh at the shocked look on her face.

I’ve never spoken to her like that before and she’s the kind of woman who would have given me the back of her hand by now if she didn’t want me too.

I chuckle. “Don’t worry, Babygirl… give me your answer later.” My gaze drops to her lips again as they part and I move away. “Give me your answer later at the club. Wear black… looks good on you.” I wink at her and leave her right there in my room.

She can think about my offer for the rest of the day.

I can’t wait to see what will happen tonight…

“You look fantastic…” Jenna beams as I walk into the reception. She was just by the corridor leading to the main floor of the club.

Tonight’s my night off so I dress accordingly, wearing black like Salvatore asked. I’m wearing a black negligee and a black mask with feathers and actual diamonds around the rim. It was a treat to myself. I work damn hard here so when I come out to play I do it well.

It’s exactly the thing The Dark Odyssey is about. Playing hard.

“Thank you,” I reply. She gives me that fake as hell smile and I give her one back.

“And which guy are you dolled up like that for tonight?” she asks, like she doesn’t know.

I can’t stand this girl and she’s a fake ass jealous bitch to me. She’s one of the receptionists here and one of the harem of women Gabe had. She’s a bitch that wants to collect the Giordano men one by one. Started with Nick and worked her way down the line. Except she’s never been with Salvatore.

I haven’t failed to notice the scathing looks she’s given me every time she sees me with him.

I widen my smile and pivot on my heels, facing her so she can see I’m giving her my undivided attention.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I throw back.

“Seeing Salvatore tonight?” she asks with a sassy smile. I can see she’s trying her best to look nonchalant but shit like that doesn’t work with me. I can’t stand girls who like to fish around and pretend to be my friend because I’m close with the guys.

Maybe it’s my fault because I’m always super nice to everyone and sure, I probably mother hen them a lot too. I just loathe fake people.

I walk up to her and it throws her off balance. She’s never seen me switch before. I slide my mask up my forehead so she can see me properly and know I’m not hiding behind it.

“Why?” I ask and tilt my head to the side.

Her lips part and she brushes a lock of her dark bob over her shoulder. “Oh, I was just asking. I bet he’ll love the outfit on or off.” She giggles and flicks her wrist like she’s just trying to be one of the girls, but the blush creeping up her cheeks is a tell that I’ve made her nervous. “It’s just that you two look close. It’s nice…”

“Like fuck it is,” I grin. “Jenna do me a favor and mind your work, my business with my boy is my own.”

I slide my mask back down and saunter away, heels clicking, leaving her staring at me open mouthed.

I’m not testy. No I’m not that tonight even though it looked like I was. My answer to Jenna was completely out of character for me even when I can’t stand a bitch like her.

What I am is nervous.

I’ve been coming here for a little over ten years now and tonight is the most nervous I’ve ever felt.

Except for the occasional flutter, there’s an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach and a lightheaded sensation that makes me feel faint every time I start overthinking or my thoughts become erratic.

Put simply, while I may be all dolled up in my outfit, I’m a hot mess inside.

Pushing my thoughts aside I draw in a breath and take comfort in the vibrant atmosphere I can feel from out here as I walk down the corridor.

For me The Dark Odyssey is more than just a sex club. That would sound so strange if I said that to anyone, but that’s the truth. The club with its nightly Venetian Masquerade themed parties is like a show to me. Every night we put on a show and people come for the lure of living out their wildest fantasies.

The echo of my heels clicking against the floor takes me back to the beginning. It was my idea to get the marble floors. The guys fit the whole club with marble two years after it opened. I suggested it and that was enough for Salvatore to make it happen. He’s like that with my ideas. Always showing me that he values me.

I was with the guys from the beginning, right from when the doors opened.

Salvatore, Gabe, Nick, and their cousins Christian and Georgiou. Those are the five owners. The five sex crazed members of the Giordano pack.

When they opened they didn’t even ask me to work with them they just included me like it was a given I’d say yes. I literally got a call one day from Salvatore telling me this is what we’re doing and I’m supposed to look after the girls who’d be working for them.

That was it. That and a salary I couldn’t say no to. I was nineteen at the time. Not even old enough to get in the club let alone work right there in the open with the guys and all the crazy sex.

I did it though and practically signed my life away to the crazy Giordano pack who claimed they wanted a woman’s touch to the place.

Vincent likes to think he’s above the obsession with a sex club and all loved up with Sorcha, his wife, but he’s only just become the cool collected guy people know him to be in recent years. I guess though, to be fair, that with a wife like Sorcha, who is literally like an angel, it’s easy to understand why he’s so loved up. All the more understandable because they just had a baby.

The man was as sex crazy as the rest of the boys in his younger days though. I think he was a little worse. Nick, the youngest brother, always used to spy on him when Vincent got up to all the shit with the girls who went crazy for him. What Nick didn’t know, and doesn’t have an inkling to this day, was I was always watching and spying on him.

We have a similar personality –Addicted to trouble. Many times that trouble landed my ass in more trouble. Like the time when I tried to spy on him, fell out of a tree and into the river and would have drowned if Salvatore hadn’t saved me.

Or, like the time I followed Nick into a den of drug lords because I thought he was sneaking into the cinema to see an R rated film. That time was the last time I followed that boy because when bullets started flying and nearly hit me I knew my little pushbike couldn’t get me away fast enough.

Who came to save me on his motorcycle?

Salvatore.

It was like he just knew to look for me. For a long time they all thought I had the hots for Nick but it wasn’t that. He just fascinated me because he’s the wild child.

That night, like always the boys all knew what Nick was up to. But Salvatore knew that if Nick was in trouble little Mimi wouldn’t be too far behind. He wasn’t wrong.

All those times he did something like that, always watching for me, it never crossed my mind that we could be more than what we were.

He taught me to pick a lock, he taught me how to use a gun, he taught me to dance, but it was the day he started teaching me how to protect myself and Gabe thought he knew better that the tides changed.

It swayed another way. Right in the direction my little heart moved, making me think he was interested in me.

I walk through the large oak doors leading out to the dance floor of the club and my legs start shaking.

I’ll see Salvatore in about five minutes and I still feel the roil of emotion I’ve had all day. All day I’ve been thinking about my answer and I’m still in limbo.

I call him my boy. I’m so crazy… Salvatore and the other guys haven’t been boys in years but to me they still are. And he’s mine whether we’re a couple or not.

My heart knows what it wants but that’s just my heart. That’s the problem.

My heart. I get in trouble when I follow it.

Thank God for the music blaring around me. The music and the people around tune out my inner turmoil. It’s distracting.

I walk past the cubicles designed for sex. My idea again. I thought something that looked more stylish would be sexy. The cubicles on the main floor are different to the ones above. In these ones the people can hook up on the night. The other cubicles on the floors above have to be booked just like the theme rooms and the sex dungeon.

The ones I pass by have long padded leather sofas and, Jesus Lord is it seriously crazy tonight. I think it’s the Chicago heat.

No cubicle I’ve passed so far has had less than four people inside. Tonight everyone seems to have the itch for group sex.

I have to stop by the cubicle nearest the end of the dancefloor because it looks like everyone’s possessed because of the way they’re moving.

On one end of the sofa there’s two men sharing a woman. She’s sitting in reverse cowgirl on one guy’s lap so he can pound into her ass and the guy in front can take her pussy. Another is standing on one of the raised platforms by the sofa so he can assault her mouth with his cock. I don’t know how she manages to concentrate enough to give the other guy on her side a hand job.

Everything’s so fast and wild, and in tandem with the threesome on the other end of the sofa where one guy is pounding into a woman’s ass while she bends over to give the guy in front a blow job. All are wearing masks.

I’ve been here for so long and this scene before me is nothing new. I’ve seen wilder in the sex dungeons, yet seeing all this here still makes my body blush with that crazy sexual heat you’re meant to feel from watching. It’s always fascinated me.

I always try to imagine how the scenarios play out, how it all happens. Most people come with a friend or a group of friends and hook up with others on the night. The tradition is that everyone gets the silver coin at reception to give to the person or people they want to spend the night with.

We create the environment for the fantasy and then they take it from there. They get lost in the fantasy. We, the ones watching, get lost in the distraction.

Distraction is what I need now.

I look away and gaze above to the floors on the upper level. Each of the Giordano boys has a private lounge and they have a suite in the penthouse.

I always manage to see Nick first and these days Nick is always here with Mia, his wife.

They’re standing on the fourth floor and she’s laughing at something he’s saying. He kisses her and I can’t help but smile. I’m so glad his wildness didn’t get him killed. These days he directs all his energy to her. It’s nice to see them look so in love with each other, like they just met. They’ve been married for two years and they have a child.

My gaze takes me higher to the man I’m here to see. He’s on the fifth floor looking down. He likes to do that because all the artistry and the show of the whole Venetian Masquerade setting is him. He’s the tech for The Dark Odyssey, the creative director for lack of a better description.

All I see is the silhouette of him standing by the archway of his private lounge. That’s where I usually meet him.

I can tell now, even without seeing him properly, that he’ll be standing there with a cigar looking sexy as fuck in his mafioso way.

I pull in a breath and continue my pursuit to him.

I can do this…

The plan is to see what happens. That’s what I’m going to do.

I’m going to see what happens.

He wants an answer. He wants me to be his.

I’ll see if I can truly find the courage to give him the answer screaming in my heart.