Detonate: A Dark Mafia Romance (Beneath The Mask Series Book 2)
Detonate: Chapter 2

The constant buzzing in my pocket distracts me from dousing the warehouse in gasoline. I glance over to the three men who are tied up and gagged. Their blood mixes with the tears streaming down their faces.

Yes, I’m a fucking monster. Get over it.

I stop pouring for a second, as the fumes burn my nostrils. The pure adrenaline rush, knowing you’re about to burn a whole building to the ground, is enthralling.

I pull out my phone from my back pocket and Keller’s name flashes on the screen. He’s the one I’ll always answer the call for, no matter what.

“Frankie, I gotta take this. Carry on pouring,” I shout over to Frankie, holding out the can of gasoline to him. He’s busy moving the drugs into the car. He didn’t want to get any mess on his new fucking navy suit. Luca’s newest recruit. Apparently, he was a bodyguard for the Capri family in Italy. He needed to come back to New York for some family shit.

Frankie walks over, rolling up his sleeves.

“Let’s set these fuckers alight.” His deep Italian accent is like music to my ears. His gray eyes flash with a darkness that mirrors mine as he turns and starts throwing the liquid around the room.

I chuckle and answer Keller’s call.

“Mr. Killer himself.” I can’t help but mock his famous boxing name. Keller ‘the Killer’ Russo being chanted by thousands of fans to an actual killer, a mafia hitman. Well, not anymore, since he’s Mr. Family Man now and I’ve never seen him happier.

When he stepped out of the darkness, it paved a way for me to enter. Luca, the Boss, gave me an outlet for all this pent-up rage. Beneath the carefully constructed life I portray, the boxing trainer to the stars, the playboy, the billionaire. It is all a mask to the real me. The darkness that consumes me.

I’m trained to kill.

It’s what I’m good at.

Now I get to keep up the cool, professional façade that I created when I turned my back on my life in Chicago and moved to New York. That day, I saved Sienna, when I killed the five men holding her without blinking an eye. Luca witnessed the rage in me and recognized my potential. He now uses it to his advantage. And, well…mine too.

Since that day, I haven’t looked back.

“Grayson, what are you up to?” Keller asks.

“You don’t wanna know, Keller, you might get jealous.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” He chuckles, then adds, “Do you wanna come over for a beer? Sienna’s going out with Maddie tonight and Darcy is just off to bed.”

Maddie…Fuck. My cock twitches just at her mention.

I can’t help the visions that flood my brain of her when she ran toward me outside Jamie’s apartment. She launched herself into my arms and wrapped me in a tight embrace, her ass resting perfectly in my hands. I was so stunned that the woman I thought couldn’t stand my entire existence jumped into my arms. Then when she slammed her lips down onto mine, everything changed.

She was the first woman I’d kissed in seven fucking years.

And fuck, it was the hottest kiss I’d ever had, and ever will have.

I haven’t been able to get it out of my brain, no matter how many cold showers I take.

So, I did what I always do after I’ve been with a woman. I ghosted her.

Except, this little ray of sunshine doesn’t seem to be going away. She’s here to stay. Smothering me in her rays while I thrive in the darkness. I don’t crave the light. But I can’t get her out of my mind.

We aren’t compatible. I just can’t shake this burning want to consume her. Whenever she’s near me, all I want to do is bend her over and fuck her until she shuts up.

I can’t help it.

She’s intoxicating. Out of bounds.

“Sure, I’ll be there soon. Make sure those beers are cold.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he says and hangs up.

I retrieve the lighter from the inside of my suit jacket, then take one last glance of the warehouse. The place is falling apart anyway. I’m helping them out. Well, minus the three bodies.

The Falcones might think they’ve one-upped us by taking our shipment, but they don’t realize how easy it was for us to take it back and kill their men. Stupid fuckers.

Smiling at the men, I flick the zippo, and the flame dances before my eyes. I toss it onto the floor next to them, and the angry flames start to cover their bodies. That’s my cue to leave.

Frankie follows closely behind me, chuckling.

I slide into the driver’s side of my white Audi RS6.

Frankie jumps into the passenger seat and quips, “Fuck, what a shitty way to die.”

“I can think of worse. We’ll do that next time.”

The engine roars to life as I drive toward the shimmering lights of Manhattan.

I pull up into Keller’s goddamn fancy mansion, and even the gravel driveway is extravagant. I kill the engine next to his fucking massive water fountain and shake my head with a chuckle. He did go out all out to give his woman everything.

I knock on the wooden door and shove my hands into my pockets. A wave of nerves hit me from nowhere. I don’t like it. Not one bit.

A couple of minutes pass, and he doesn’t answer. I knock louder.

I know she’s in there, I can feel it.

My body almost vibrates with excitement; my heart flutters in my chest. The effect this woman holds over me is unnerving.

“Hang on, I’m coming!” Her voice makes my breath hitch.

I know she will be fuming at me, more stand-offish than normal. She doesn’t know about my no-kissing rule, or my past. Even after I killed Sienna’s captors and was smeared in their blood, she didn’t falter. She isn’t scared of me, of who I am.

She doesn’t realize the angrier she gets, the more turned on I get. There’s just something about watching her try so damn hard to resist me that makes my cock twitch.

The door flies open, and her eyes land on me, her feelings evident as she scrunches her nose up and squints her eyes.

Oh, she’s angry all right.

I devour her with my eyes. The woman is smoking hot. She has on a short tight glittery dress that stops below the V of her thighs, barely covering that pussy I’ve been dreaming about for the last year. I trail my gaze further, landing on her tits that fill the dress perfectly, giving me a delicious view of her cleavage.

When I finally reach her face, she crosses her arms over her breasts, still scowling at me. That little silver sun necklace rests between her collarbones. Even looking like she wants to murder me with her bare hands, she is beautiful. Her emerald eyes hit me straight in the heart. Those plump lips are begging to be wrapped around my cock.

Fuck, I need to get laid. I cannot be thinking about her like this. Not that it ever seems to help.

“Fuck, Sunshine, you look incredible,” I rasp.

She simply raises her eyebrow at me. “Gee, thanks.” The blush spreads across her chest. Apparently, I get under her skin as much as she has clawed herself into mine.

“Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna let me in?” I ask, smirking.

Her dainty fingers wrap around the door as she pulls it toward her, opening the gap. I stride past, my right arm gently brushing her side, sending bouts of electricity through my body. I hiss in a breath at the contact as she gently closes the door and turns to face me.

“Nice shoes. I think they’d easily take someone’s eye out if you need.” I wink at her. Part of me honestly believes one day she would do this.

“It will be yours if you don’t shut the fuck up. The baby is sleeping,” she snaps. “Oh wait, I forget you’re a big bad mafia man now, so I better shut up.”

She actually fucking rolls her eyes at me.

This woman knows how to rile me up.

Maybe it’s time I gave her a taste of what happens when she pokes the bear.

I stalk toward her, and as she takes a step back, her back hitting against the door. I slam my hands above her head. Her mouth parts in a perfect O.

“Don’t fucking test me, Sunshine.”

She tips her chin up in defiance. Her eyes meet mine, and a sly smile passes her lips.

Oh, here we go.

“Coming from a man who doesn’t even have the balls to talk to a woman after a kiss? Please, as if I’m scared of you,” she huffs.

“Well, you should be,” I whisper in her ear, and goosebumps form along her neck as I do.

“Whatever, Grayson. It was a mistake anyway.” Her voice falters at the last part.

“Ouch, that hurts, baby.” I trace my index finger along the soft skin of her cheek and all the way down her neck.

“It’s such a shame your body gives you away. I bet if I stuck my fingers under that tight little dress you have on, your pussy would be soaking for me.”

Her mouth opens and snaps shut. I think I’ve finally shut her up without having to shove my cock in her pretty little mouth.

Maddie jumps as Keller clears his throat behind me. She sports the color of a beet with the same guilty look a kid would have when they’re caught stealing sweets.

With a sigh, I straighten myself, and Maddie darts underneath my arm, awkwardly tugging at the hem of her dress. I stride straight past a flustered Maddie and wrap the dainty Sienna up into a massive bear hug.

“You look gorgeous, Sienna,” I say, releasing her from my hug. Without even looking, I know Keller will be glaring daggers at me. He’s never quite gotten over the fact I technically knew Sienna before him.

“Mr. Killer, is it beer time yet? I’m a little flustered,” I say. Turning, I give a wink to Maddie who returns me a death glare.

Keller’s deep laugh fills the room, and Sienna shoots Maddie a questioning look.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Keller responds with a laugh, grabs his wife, and starts to tongue-fuck her in front of us. I flick my eyes to Maddie and raise my eyebrows in amusement. She sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to hold in a laugh.

And like that, my heart starts pounding. The way it does every time she smiles.

I take that as my cue to leave.

I fling my hand up to wave as I make my way into the kitchen.

“Have a lovely evening, ladies,” I shout, encouraging Keller to hurry the fuck up.

“Fuck, that’s good,” I groan out as the ice-cold beer slips down my throat.

“Well, what the fuck was that with Maddie?” Keller questions, striding past me to grab the bottle of beer I got out for him.

“Just fucking with her.”

“So, it isn’t anything to do with the kiss?” Keller asks with a smirk.

I spit my beer out in response. How the fuck does he…? Oh wait, Maddie.

“It was nothing.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. So, how was your first kiss in, what is it, eight years?”

“Seven,” I deadpan.

I should have told him; he’s my best friend. Fuck, I’ve trained him nearly every day for the past six years. Together, we made him the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. At this point, there isn’t much we don’t know about one another.

Yet it just didn’t feel right talking about Maddie like that.

“It was just a kiss,” I repeat, not sure who I am trying to convince.

“Yeah, that’s why you’ve been avoiding her like the fucking plague for months. Come on, man, we know you want her. It’s been obvious since you first laid eyes on her.”

Yeah, I want her, and that’s the fucking problem.

I never want a woman for more than one night. But Maddie has me imagining all the ways I could take her, fantasizing about her moaning into my ear and screaming my name. The only way I can stop myself is by avoiding her. The more I see her, the more I want her.

“Fuck off, Keller,” I warn, tightening my grip around the bottle and taking another sip.

“Fine,” he replies, raising his hands up in surrender. “So, how’s things going with Luca? Seems like you’re having a lot of fun.”

“It’s fucking carnage, I love it.”

“Who’d have thought—my trainer takes my place as mafia hitman. I didn’t know you had it in you. Looks like all that special forces training did come in handy. But, fuck, we need you back at Kings Gym. We’ve got new sign-ups every day.”

The Kings Gym is our baby, our life’s work. Since Keller became the undisputed heavyweight champion last year, amateur boxers have literally been lining the streets to join. To be trained by the best and fight alongside the best in the world.

“I’m on it. It’s just been a busy week. You know I won’t let you down.”

He nods in response.

“Come on, let’s watch Andre’s fight,” he says.

I pinch the bridge of my nose to relieve some of the pressure building, my mind still stuck on Maddie.

I need to make sure I’m gone before she and Sienna get home.