Mafia Desire (Erotica)

She shook her head. “I’ll just take them into the office.”

They took seats and relaxed.

“How is Cam?” Kyle asked.

“He was shot in the back but nothing vital was hit. He lost a lot of blood.” She looked troubled. “It’s his mood I’m worried about. His father shot him then was killed after fighting with him. He blames himself.”

“It’s part of his programming. His dad did a number on him like Gwen did on me.” While he wanted to avoid thinking about it, he went over his memories of his night with Monique and he recalled he’d actually rejected some of her moves. So maybe he wasn’t really falling under her control. That knowledge made him feel a little better about himself.

The doorbell rang and Fiona immediately headed off to get it. When she returned she was leading an older couple, maybe in their late fifties, early sixties. It was difficult to tell precisely as both had had ‘work done’, on their faces at least. Fiona’s mom likely had other cosmetic uplifts as her chest was fuller and higher than he’d expect such a slim, older woman to have. Her father just had that trapped in a wind tunnel look, where his facial skin was pulled back a little too far for it to look natural. Kyle hoped he had the strength to resist doing this to himself when he aged.

Fiona made the introductions. There was a stiffness in them like they immediately disapproved of her choices of friends. Fiona then ushered them directly into the office and closed the door. Kyle noticed the parents had left their suitcases in the entrance to the hallway next to his saddlebags. So they were likely staying the night. He immediately felt uncomfortable about staying here as well.

“I’m going to put my bags back on my bike,” he said as he began to move towards them.

“You’re not staying with Fiona?” Phoebe asked in surprise.NôvelDrama.Org content rights.

He turned back to her. “I think Mom and Dad will be staying and that would feel… awkward.”

“You picked up on that too?” Charlize said with a grin.

He nodded then carried the bags outside and locked them on the motorcycle. While he was outside he hosed down the driveway where he’d heaved earlier.

He went back inside and saw the others were on their way out. “Do you have anything else of yours inside?” Phoebe asked and he shook his head as his eyebrows climbed. She pointed to the front door. He turned and went back outside. Charlize and Chloe joined him and Phoebe locked the door with the spare key.

“What happened?” he asked.

Phoebe sighed. “We heard some sharp words then Fiona poked her head out the office door and said she was going to be a few hours. She asked if I could host you at my place tonight.”

“I don’t want to put anyone out. I can stay at a motel,” Kyle said.

Phoebe gave him a small hopeful smile. “I’d welcome the company. The house is so quiet now.”

Charlize and Chloe were pouting. “We didn’t know you’d be coming back to town. We’re dog sitting this week for one of our partners. The dogs aren’t friendly with strangers,” Charlize said. “How long will you be here? We’d like to get together with you before you leave.”

Kyle moved forward and hugged them. “Fiona needs me to speak with the police to give a statement.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how long I’m going to stick around after that. I don’t want to see Monique again.” He took a deep breath to ease the tightness in his chest. “It just… feels like I’m prolonging the pain of parting.” He frowned and looked away. “Too much pain.”

Looking at him sadly, Charlize and Chloe swung a leg over their motorcycles and pulled on their helmets. With nods they started up their rides and pulled away.

“So… will you be my guest tonight?” Phoebe asked timidly.

He turned his eyes to her and nodded. She gave him a smile and moved to her car.

Kyle got on his bike and followed Phoebe as she drove down the hill into a neighborhood of small, closely packed homes. She pulled her car up beside the curb and pointed to a driveway. Kyle drove his motorcycle up the lane next to the house and Phoebe moved her car in behind him.

He grabbed his bags from the bike and followed her into the small bungalow.

A sleek coated, chocolate brown Siamese cat rushed up to them to see who’d entered the house. It looked at Kyle then dashed away.

“You aren’t allergic to cats are you?” Phoebe asked cautiously.

He smiled. “No.”

“You probably won’t see much of Aisha. She’s very shy around strangers,” Phoebe explained.

He looked around and saw her place was small but very warm and inviting. “Uh, where should I put my bags?”

Phoebe looked at him with another hopeful expression. “I thought we could share the bed- like we did back in Las Vegas,” she hastened to add to ease his mind.

He looked into her eyes to ensure she wasn’t manipulating him as Monique had, but of course she wasn’t. She was nothing like Monique. He nodded and a grateful and happy smile lit up her face.

He followed her down the short hall to the small bedroom and set his bags down on the floor. The queen-sized mattress was on a low platform and the tables next to the bed were equally short. Phoebe caught his raised eyebrow and curious look and smiled.

“We saw this low profile furniture at a shop in San Francisco and fell in love with it. I purged a lot of items Linus collected and contributed but I love this set too much to let it go,” she explained.

“I guess you don’t worry about falling out of bed,” he said with a grin.

She giggled and glanced at him happily as she shook her head.

They made their way back out to the compact living room and he sat on the comfy couch amongst the colorful cushions. He smiled up at her.

“Hungry?” Phoebe asked but Kyle’s stomach was still too jumpy so he shook his head. “I have herbal tea.”

“Tea would be very nice. Thank you,” he said with a smile.

With a smile and a nod, she turned and quickly hustled off to the kitchen and busied herself with preparing the tea.

As Kyle waited he looked around the room and saw blank spots on the walls where pictures had obviously once hung. There was a bookcase with gaps in the collection and spaces where knickknacks might have once sat. These were memories Phoebe no longer wanted. He shook his head, unable to comprehend the desire to live with such a horrible lie.

The Siamese suddenly hopped up on his lap and stared at him with blue eyes. Kyle stroked his hand over the cat’s back and it plunked down on his lap, purring deeply. He continued to run his hands over its head to its back until Phoebe returned with a tray in her hands.

“Oh! You’ve made a friend!” she said with a surprised smile.

The cat jumped down and made her way into the kitchen, tail raised haughtily.

Phoebe set the tray down and served Kyle a mug of tea. Then she offered him a plate of digestive biscuits. He smiled and took one. He hadn’t had one of these since he was a child and had a stomach ache. His mom picked them up for him on her way back from work.

“Kyle? Are you ok?”

He looked up into Phoebe’s concerned eyes and realized he’d been staring at the small biscuit. He cleared the frown from his face. “Sorry, my mind took me to a memory of my mom.” He raised the cookie in his hand and smiled. “She bought me these once when I had a stomach flu.”

“A good memory?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes, almost all of my memories of her are good. I miss her. I wish I could talk to her… especially now.” He’d welcome her wise guidance in his quest to find his way.

Phoebe picked up her mug and a biscuit and sat on the couch, curling her legs under her as she faced him. She took a bite of the cookie and a sip of the tea as Kyle did the same. After she swallowed she tilted her head. “What would you say to her? Pretend I’m her.”

Kyle looked back at Phoebe then pulled his leg up onto the couch to turn and face her. “Ok. I think… I think I’d start by asking if she was disappointed in me.”

Phoebe looked at him in surprise. “Why would she be disappointed?”

He looked down into his tea and thought about that. “What I allowed Gwen to do to me, to avoid becoming my father. What I’ve become since I broke away from Gwen. I’m not my father but I don’t know if I’m a man she’d be proud of.”

“What about you now would she not be proud of?” Phoebe asked gently.

He nibbled at his biscuit and took another sip as he put his thoughts into words. “The promiscuity. I think she’d be disappointed by that.”

Phoebe smiled at him. “To paraphrase a smart man I know, you have to understand it’s the intention behind the act that makes the difference. You’re not ‘scoring’, you’re sharing intimacy. You may not intend to build a permanent relationship with the women you’re intimate with but you’re not using or abusing them either. There’s trust, respect, and genuine affection involved. None of the women in our circle of friends who’ve been with you have a bad word to say about you.”