Page 33 of Fixate (Devious Mafia Daddies #2)

Pharrell

Six days into our stay at the hospital, my boy started to get room fever. It’s the equivalent of cabin fever, only it’s worse because there was nothing more unfortunate than feeling fine and not being allowed to leave or do anything for yourself.

Granted, I was most of the problem.

My brain could not comprehend him being well after he almost died. It was like I was stuck on the vision of him bleeding out in my arms. No matter how well the reports came back or how much better his movement became, I felt the need to keep him bedridden.

“Alright, that’s enough,” he said that afternoon. “It’s been days, Pharrell. You have to let me out of here. I need to get back to work. This place is too much.”

Drawing another card from the stack, I looked over my hand before discarding what I didn’t want.

We’d been playing cards for a few days as a way to pass the time since my boy wasn’t a fan of trashy tv.

He’d beaten me at several hands of cards, though I wasn’t one to give up so easily.

Plus, it was a good deterrent for my libido.

My damn cock couldn’t seem to understand my boy wasn’t fit to be fucked right now.

It would be a while before he could take more cock.

The doctor had said as much when I asked him yesterday.

It’s not like I would fuck him while we were still here.

More like I needed a countdown in my head to help me combat the constant ache in my groin area.

“When are you going to let me go? I know you’re the only reason we’re still here,” he said as he smugly laid down his winning hand.

I humphed, then laid down my cards too. “How are you good at every card game there is? It’s sickening.”

“Because there wasn’t much to do for a while there when it was just Dante and me,” he answered while drawing the cards up to shuffle them again. “His father gave me strict limits on what he could and couldn’t do. Cards were something we both enjoyed enough to spend a few hours a week doing.”

“What was it like back then? Just the two of you?

His face transformed into a wistful smile. It took everything I had not to let jealousy tear through me.

They were like brothers.

They were like brothers.

Like. Brothers.

But sometimes, brothers fucked.

Dammit, Pharrell. I had to scold myself to push away the ludicrous ideas. I knew they had never been romantically linked. It wasn’t a question in my mind.

Sometimes though, I still struggled.

“The two of us grew close once he realized I hated his father too. From then on out, it was just about surviving. Then once we understood surviving wasn’t enough, we decided to make the most of it.

Cards and murder were pretty much the go-to activities.

Now that I’ve said it out loud, I feel a bit bad for judging Pip. I sound just as psycho.”

I laughed at his self-assessment. A lot of people did judge Pip, even when they were a part of this life and could find joy in the moments of violence. I think it was because Pip never hid his crazy from anyone. They knew just how far he was willing to go.

“How is he by the way? Any answers yet?”

“Not yet. He’s adamant they’re coming. We’ll have to wait and see.” A little white lie. We did have leads, though none were solid. I didn’t want to work my boy up with suspicions.

“And Henri? He making it work balancing the other stuff?”

I winced. “I’m not sure, really. The hotel is now in Dario’s hands. He’s taken a shine to it I didn’t expect. With the legit side covered, Henri is leading the other men, despite not wanting to.”

“Yeah, I believe that. He seems the type to stay in the background rather than speak up.”

“Very true. I’ve told him it’s only temporary, which has helped. Once we’re out of here, we’ll have to reassess. I can’t believe how easy it was for someone to take me down with a well-timed bomb and a stabbing. My infrastructure fractured completely.”

He shook his head quickly. “That’s not it at all.

Things fractured the minute Stasia decided she wanted to double cross you.

You just didn’t know it at the time. Years of faulty systems means you’re working triple time to fix it all without letting the ship sink.

You’re doing amazing, Daddy, given the circumstances. ”

Kissing him was the only reply I could think to give.

I mean, what do you say to that? It’s as if he reached into my brain and smoothed out all my self-conscious thoughts with a few words.

A few hours later, I caved and asked the doctor to release Ricardo into my care. He easily agreed given all the tests showed he was good to go. My boy still needed to take it easy; however, he was more than well enough to get around on his own and live a semi-normal life again.

As luck would have it, we were in the back of the car heading home when I got a call from the person I least expected.

“Yes, Vlad?” I answered.

Ricardo’s eyes went wide as he shifted closer. I smiled at how nosey he was being. Instead of making him press against me, I put the phone on speaker. I didn’t need to get distracted while talking to this snake.

With the partition already up between the driver and us, there was no chance he’d hear. The level of soundproofing there was in here meant I could fuck my boy to the point of screaming and no one would know aside from the possible shaking motions.

I shook my head to get rid of the visions I had of him riding my cock.

“There is someone I need to reach. He is one of yours, yes.”

Ah, yes. I knew exactly where this was headed.

“Let me guess: He owes you a shit ton of money and isn’t answering your calls anymore?”

He paused, then said, “Yes, that’s right. You know of him?”

“I did.”

The reply told him everything he needed to know. Vlad sighed deeply, then cursed in Russian.

“Why? What the fuck do you have against me now?”

“This wasn’t about you this time, Vlad, or any of the Bratva. The money he sent to you for payment was coming from my profits. He was a thief and a gambler. He didn’t deserve to live after fucking me over. You’d have done the same.”

“Da, I would have. Fucking idiots. We’ll call it done. Next time, let me know. My guys are fucking wasting time chasing dead leads.”

With that, he ended the call as he yelled at someone else in Russian. It wasn’t anything I understood, and I doubt it had much to do with me outside of telling them I killed the guy so they’d stop hunting him.

Speaking of hunting, I’d get the chance to go after my other target soon. Pip and I would be unstoppable once we knew exactly where to look. His intel had given him the person to find. Now it was a matter of when and where.

“That guy is fucking weird. No wonder your dead wife was the way she was if that was her family.”

I hummed. “Some people are the spitting image of their blood relations, both in looks and action. Others learn from their mistakes. I do believe there is a choice though, if one decides they want the change.”

My boy leaned back in his seat, his gaze moving to the window as he thought over my words. He remained quiet the entire way home. I wondered which part of my ideals bothered him the most. Did he feel he hadn’t made a choice? Or was there something else that had thrown him?

It wasn’t until we were upstairs that he put my worries to rest.

“Daddy,” he said softly as he eased onto the couch. “Do you think I’m a bad man?”

I raised my brows. “No, mon chou. Do you think I am?”

He shook his head quickly.

“Then why do you think you are? Is it because of what I said in the car? I wasn’t trying to make you question your own morals.”

“It’s not that. Sometimes, I forget that I had a life before I joined La Famiglia . Back then, I was just a kid who didn’t know any of this existed. Now I’m a killer and dating a mafia lord.”

The laugh I let out couldn’t have been contained even if I’d tried.

“I’m not laughing at you,” I said when he frowned. “It’s just that your title for me was rather funny.”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I thought saying we were dating would be ok.”

“No, mon chou. I meant the mafia lord title. I can’t recall anyone else referring to me that way. I was amused.”

He blushed at the indulgent smile I sent his way. “Sorry, Daddy.”

“An apology isn’t necessary. If you don’t like the work you do now, I can easily put you in a role that’s only on the legit side of business. We’ll promote someone else to work with the men, so you have the time to do as you wish without feeling guilty.”

“I’m not sure I’d know what to do with myself. Plus, sometimes it feels really good to beat the shit out of people.”

I grinned widely as I gave him a nod. Sitting next to him wasn’t quite enough anymore. I tugged him until he gently positioned himself on my lap.

“Then we’ll keep you where you are while we work on helping you see that nothing you do is wrong. Sometimes, there is a need for balance in the world. We are the type of people who help even the score. Without us, there could be someone much worse who comes in to take over.”

He thought about what I said for a minute before he gave me a slow nod. “That makes sense, Daddy. I’m sleepy. Can we nap now?”

I chuckled as I eased his head onto my shoulder. Grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch, I wrapped him up.

“Rest, mon chou. I’ll watch over you while you rest. Then we’ll eat something since I’m sure you’ll be starved by then.”

He nodded against me as he slipped into a restful state. I took the chance to pull out my phone and go through work tasks. There was always something to be done, even in my downtime.

A text from Pip took priority the minute I saw it.

Pip: Found him.

I dialed him immediately. “Where?” I growled when the line connected.

His laugh was dark and menacing. “Might have gotten the party started a bit early. He’s waiting for you. I only bruised him up a tiny bit. He had a cyanide tooth too. Ripped that bad boy out, then stuffed his mouth to help the bleeding.”

“Good. I’ll be there once Ricardo finishes his nap.”

There was silence on the other end. I pulled back to look at the phone to make sure I hadn’t lost the call.

“Pip?”

His voice was quiet when he replied, “You’re a good caregiver to him, Pharrell. He’s lucky to have you.”

I was thankful he hung up because I was utterly speechless. Was Pip kinky? Well, the obvious answer to this was yes. I could easily see him as a sadist or someone into some heavy degradation.

But caregiving and Daddy kink? It was a harder reach.

Didn’t mean it wasn’t possible though.

I stuffed the thought aside as I went back to my emails. The rest wound up being easy enough to handle while I let my boy rest. It was probably the most productive I’d been in months. Holding him this close settled the restlessness I always seemed to have when he wasn’t around.

This wasn’t a viable option for me to always have. For one thing, I wouldn’t be able to hold a meeting with my men on the darker side of my business if I had a bundle of boy in my lap. And for another, I had to be mobile for most of the business.

A vision of him strapped to me had a smirk forming. I was sure I could convince him to do it, but again, it wasn’t ideal. Maybe we could role play it one day to see if he enjoyed me carrying him around.

It took two hours before I felt the first stirrings of Ricardo waking from his nap. I brushed my hands along his crown as he wiggled a bit.

“Good rest, mon chou?”

He nodded softly. “Yes, Daddy. I feel much better.”

“That’s good. I handled some work while you slept, however, there is something I need to handle in person.” I paused as I thought over how he’d feel about this. He might be fine not knowing the true reason I needed to leave. Then again, he might be angry once he found out.

Because rest assured, he’d find out.

“Actually, if you’re up for a trip, I’d like you to come with me. Pip found him.”

The calm, restful state he was in disappeared. His head whipped back enough for him to look me in the eye.

“You found him?”

“Pip did, yes. He’s been holding him until I could get down to them.”

He bit his lip. “I want to come. Is that ok?”

“Of course it is.” I kissed him gently. “You’re welcome to come; however, you have to sit back and watch only. I don’t care if you feel the need to get revenge, you’re not to lift a hand his way.”

“Can I kick him, Daddy?”

I laughed at his cheeky behavior. “No, mon chou. You can shit talk him and threaten him all you want, but no movement. You’re to rest until I say so. Understand?”

He pouted but gave me a nod.

“As much as you want to hurt him, it’s not worth you aggravating your injuries. I’ll exact vengeance in your honor. It will be my pleasure to spill the blood of the man who thought to take you from me.”

The shiver that wracked his body broke the bloodlust I felt tearing through me. I had to remain calm until we made it to Pip and our new toy. Only then can I let the beast out.