Mafia Desire (Erotica)

“Do I have plans for Saturday evening?” he repeated, looking at Tina, who shook her head with a smile. “No, I’m open that night. What’s up?”

“My charity is hosting a dinner downtown, and I was wondering if you would go as my date?” she asked.

“Sounds like fun! Is this a black-tie affair? Should I dig out my vintage tuxedo?” he asked.

“While I would LOVE to see you in a tuxedo, the dark suit you wore the night you hit me in the face with your penis would be fine,” she said, suppressing a snort.

“I can hear you laughing,” he grumbled. “Okay, I’ll wear something similar to that. I may have burned that particular suit in embarrassment. What time should I pick you up?”

“I’ll pick you up at seven PM, and Ben, don’t plan on getting home until Sunday… lunchtime… maybe afternoon if I get a late checkout. I’ve booked a room at the hotel where we’re hosting the dinner event.”

“Right, bring an overnight bag,” he said, looking at Tina. Her smile didn’t waver, so he took another breath and felt the tightness in his chest relax. “See you then!”

“Bye, Ben!”

He handed the phone to Tina, who took it back to the kitchen. Ben watched her go and realized he wasn’t feeling tortured with guilt. Maybe this friends with benefits thing could work! His smile slowly faded.

If he could just ignore the voice coming from the dark place in his mind reminding him of how unworthy he was of their love. How they would soon come to their senses, and the love would disappear.

As it always had.

Ben had spent the entire day running around doing errands downtown and was bone tired. Amongst the chores was a visit to the bank. They weren’t moving on putting Tina’s house on the market, and that was frustrating. He’d spoken directly to the branch manager, but his hands were tied as the decision had to come from head office.

Ben had also stopped by his lawyer’s office to sign some papers, including an amendment to his will. He wanted to ensure certain people were taken care of should he meet an early demise. He wasn’t going to leave people in the kind of trouble James had left Tina. Not that he was going to tell anyone, but he felt better knowing.

The passport office was the usual exercise in frustration, but he’d get his new one in a couple of weeks.

He was looking forward to taking a soak in the hot tub, one of Tina’s delicious meals, then crawling under the covers for some shut-eye. As he pulled onto his street, he noticed a huge black SUV parked up on Rochelle’s front lawn just before her house. Not the usual way to park a car and maybe a bad sign. He slowed his truck to a crawl and looked up at the home. He could see movement inside the big picture window as the living room lights were much brighter than the twilight he was driving through.

Suddenly he saw a large man pushing someone, maybe Rochelle, down with a violent shove.

Ben was parked in the driveway and heading up her steps in seconds. He pounded on the door and heard heavy footsteps approaching. The moment the door started to open, he surged forward and pushed inside. The door’s edge caught the man in the nose and rocked him back. Ben stepped past him and headed straight for the living room, where Rochelle was struggling painfully to get back to her feet. He carefully lifted her and set her on the sofa.

“WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?” the man yelled belligerently as he stood in the entrance to the living room, holding his bloody nose.

Rochelle grabbed and held Ben’s hand and gave him a look that silenced him.

Ben nodded slightly, looking into her eyes cautiously. He turned to look at the man for the first time. He was big, well-muscled, with a variety of faded tattoos running down each arm. He was well dressed, clean-shaven, and was very handsome except for the rage twisting his features.

“Greg, I told you back at the restaurant, and I will tell you again, we are over. Done. We had some fun, but I told you from the start I wasn’t interested in a player. You cheated on me while we were on a date! I’m done with being mistreated that way. Please leave,” she said firmly.

“Bitch, did you not hear me? I said, Who the FUCK is THIS?” Greg bellowed.

“He looks like he should be smarter than he sounds,” Ben remarked, his voice oddly flat and calm.

Rochelle couldn’t stop the surprised chuckle from bubbling out but wished she had because Greg immediately rushed forward with murder in his eyes.

Then he was on the floor.

Rochelle didn’t even see Ben’s move.

Greg was flat on his back, slowly blinking and bleeding steadily from his crushed nose. He spat out blood and some teeth.

“Linda, call the police,” Ben said. Rochelle looked at Ben when she heard the name. Linda? His voice still sounded off. She turned and grabbed the handset on the end table and dialed.

Greg rolled onto his chest and started to drag himself away. Ben stepped forward to pin him down until the police arrived. Suddenly the prone man spun and stabbed Ben in the calf with the switchblade he’d concealed under his body. The blade went in deep. Ben grabbed Greg’s wrist and squeezed until bones snapped.

Then he squeezed some more. Bones splintered.

Greg screamed and released the knife, which remained in Ben’s leg.

Ben felt his right leg giving out from the shock of the knife stuck in his calf. He couldn’t risk the bastard getting up and hurting Linda again, so he twisted and let himself fall on the man’s back. He heard another snap. Greg’s face bounced off the floor. Hard. He went still, but Ben heard him breathing.

Rochelle screamed and rushed to Ben’s side. She reached for the knife sticking out of his leg.

“Don’t touch the knife!” Ben growled through his teeth. “Are the police coming? Ask for an ambulance too.”

Rochelle nodded and went back to the call.

“Do you have any zip ties?” Ben asked.NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.

“Yes, in the workshop downstairs.”

“Get them.”

Rochelle rushed away, and a couple of minutes later, she returned. Greg made noises like he was coming to, and Ben looked like he was ready to kill him as he held him down.

“Give me one,” Ben said tersely.

Rochelle handed him one, and Ben immediately pulled Greg’s arms behind his back and zipped his wrists together. Then he got Rochelle to zip tie Greg’s ankles together. Once that was done, Ben carefully rolled off of the man and pushed himself across the floor over to the couch, where he leaned back on it. He kept his right leg elevated, and the bleeding didn’t look too bad. She sat down on the couch next to him.

“POLICE,” they heard shouted from the front door.

“In the living room, to the left,” Rochelle called out.

The first officer glanced around the corner, then holstered his weapon as his partner followed him in. He checked on the zip-tied man lying on his chest and then moved to look at Ben’s leg. “Don’t touch the knife. Leave it in for now, sir. The ambulance is on its way,” he said, and Ben just nodded.

Ben looked up at Rochelle. “You okay?” The shock was setting in, and he looked confused as he suddenly saw it wasn’t Linda.

Rochelle smiled down at Ben. Knife sticking out of his leg, and he was asking about her. “I’m good. I’m bruised from when he threw me down against the end table, but I’m okay besides that. Ben, who’s Linda?”