You Are Mine

Guns

Adrian.

My eyes roamed around the private area as I sat behind one of the booths at The Red X. Michael had called for a meeting after news of Ricco's latest f**k up reached the ring. For some reason, the asshole thought it would be a great idea to try to make a coke deal in broad f*****g daylight and of course, with no backup plans in case s**t went south. As anyone would expect with a deal so badly laid out, it did go south and now there was new s**t for me to handle.

I knew fully well Ricco had done this to stir me up as usual yet, I let myself fall into his trap to pis me off, taking out my anger on everyone else through the day, including Nicole. I knew I was being an asshole this afternoon, but I could not be blamed for how that bastard made me feel. That did not mean that I did not feel like a total i***t for being that way to Nicole.

Michael and I were the two most powerful men in this city, even Mauricio could not stop us if he wanted to. Along with the money and the power we both had each, we were the only ones that had been given as much training as we received from our fathers.

"Another group was hit last night," he said as he stroked his rough and thick chin filled with black beards up and down. His eyes were trained straight ahead as his forefinger circled the rim of the glass.

I took a swig from the glass of bourbon in my hand. "Whose?"

"The Germans," he continued. His tone was just as clipped as mine, and I could tell that just like me, his mind was running faster than usual, thinking of all the things we both wished we could do to Ricco right now. "All of their shipment was drowned by a commotion caused by Ricco after he unexpectedly showed up."

"How much lost?" I asked though I knew just how much loss it would be for a drowning shipment.

"A lot," he answered.

"How are they?" my hand gripped the glass firmly.

"You do not want to know," he growled. "It was their second hit this month, a third one and they'd go bankrupt."

"The bastard. Do you have any shipment coming in soon?" I asked Michael.

"You should worry more about your own territory Adrian," he advised. I knew he meant no harm with his words, but I was crabby enough for three people today.

"Answer the goddamn question Michael," I growled.

"We have all our shipments on hold for the next few weeks. I would prefer to not lose more than 10 million in one movement." he shifted in his seat and took a large gulp of his bourbon. I did not bother telling him that I had lost 10 million to the bastard a few weeks ago. I had dealt accordingly to the asshole he had sent into my own home in the guise of one of my men, but in the first chance I got, I would give him a thorough rundown of why I was not to be f****d with. "I will give the order to re-open shipments once I know Ricco is no longer on rampage thinking of new ways to f**k up everyone's life."

"His new family seems to be backing him a lot more these days," I said bluntly.

"f**k they're the New Yorkers, that's the only thing holding him back from all the s**t I have laid out," he gave a grim expression and pressed a hand over his knee, as his jaw tightened.

"Of course a bastard like him is cowardly enough to throw his s**t on us and expect his newly found family to protect him." the thought only reminded me of how much I hated Ricco. He was always the one too scared to take the blame for his own s**t. Too irresponsible to actually own up to s**t and try to fix it. He would always take a much easier course and dump it on anyone else available "I do not fear him or these so-called New Yorkers. The ring is taking too f*****g long to get Rico off the streets and believe me I'm tired of cleaning up his s**t like he's a f*****g teen."

"You have to think about the others who are losing their shipments every week." Michael said with reasoning, "if s**t gets f****d up now, and there's a clash, they cannot even defend themselves, until they're able to stand on their own again."

"Right now that does not even matter to me..."

"You cannot say that Adrian," he frowned, "It should matter to you, you will be leading the ring as soon as the board thinks you're ready."

I snorted at that thought. "If leading the board means that I have to clean up everyone's mess, I don't think I want it."

"I would like to hear how your mom feels about you saying that," he chuckled humorlessly.

"She's back in the country by the way," I shifted in my seat, resting my elbows on my knee. "Which is why I need Ricco out of my way."

"Let me guess she is pissed because you have not handled him yet?"

"You know my mom so well," that was not a lie, Michael had been with me long enough to know my family as well as I knew his. we never considered each other friends, rather, colleagues who were closer than usual.

"You're the idea man Adrian, you have to think of something to get Ricco out,"

"Well I want to kill him right now, that's for sure," I shrugged.

"I'm in," he said stiffly, "bit Mauricio will have our heads,"

"Do you really think I give a f**k about what he would do?" I raised a brow, "I gave him two weeks to do something about Ricco, or I will make my first move."

"You gave the head of the ring an ultimatum?" he feigned shock, "my respect for you just reached new heights."

"Acting head of the ring," I corrected sharply. "I am a Davonte and it is my place to lead the ring."

"Five minutes ago you did not want the position," he shot me a coy smile.

"Haha very funny," I mocked.

"What will you do if Mauricio cannot handle Rico in those two weeks?"

"Then I'm guessing I would have to kill a childhood buddy." I shrugged.

"Now that you mention that, I know you both were always so close, what the hell happened to..."

"I have an early meeting tomorrow," I said and gulped the last of my glass contents, successfully stopping Michael from venturing too far into my sourest topic. It was one of the topics in my life I could not bring myself to get over just yet and while everyone thought the very opposite, just the reminder of what I used to be, what we used to be made me want to rip his head off. "When those two weeks are almost up, I'll call you so we can do some real strategizing on how to f**k Ricco up"

"You know f*****g up assholes like Ricco is my favorite hobby,"

"This is not a f*****g hobby," I glowered at him. "Ricco is a major threat to my family, with my mom and sister back in town, I will not risk letting that psycho loose again."

"Right," he said and gulped his drink too. "You know you can count on me anytime man. Just say the word and I will have my men ready."

I gave him a small hug along with a manly pat on his shoulder. "I do not doubt you for a minute."

*** *** ***

I returned from the club sometime before midnight but ended up drowning myself in work as I tried to revisit my other means of cash flow apart from my weekly shipments. With all of the Ricco s**t, I also had to shut down the drug part of the business temporarily, another reason Ricco had to be taken out.

I had a feeling Nicole would still be up waiting for me as she always did every night I was out late. I was eager to go back up to her and wrap my arms around her. I lived most of my life in this mansion and I always had everything I needed, yet after just one night, I had to convince myself that her soft and smooth skin on mine was the most comfortable place for me to sleep and find peace. But with the state of mind, I found myself after spending most of my time talking about the asshole, I knew it was not such a great idea.

She was really upset when I had taken out on her this morning and the only cherry I need on this cake was to have her pissed at me for doing the same thing that made her just as furious this morning. So I decided to stay back and focus on work till some time well after midnight.

Some hours later, I felt the weight of working all night without sleeping heavily. I snapped my laptop shut and walked on my close-to-dead feet to our bedroom. I crept in slowly, laughing inwardly at how I had switched from the one with a loud entrance to the sly and furtive husband sneaking in and trying not to wake his wife almost every night.

My feet were dead and my back felt like I was holding ten barbells at the same time. I walked to the bed, drinking in Nicole's slender and small form as her chest rose and fell in the softest rythym. She was for sure one of the worst sleepers I had ever met. But I could not help the way I smiled at how peaceful she looked compared to how jumpy she was the first time I had brought her here. Her sleeping positions were not something I wanted to change in her for any reason. Along with her defiling attitude and her exceptional beauty, it was one of the things that made her Nicole—my Nicole.

I stifled a yawn, my body's way of reminding me that I had to get some sleep or I would start making mistakes. I took a hot shower, a quick one since for some reason, being in the same reason as Nicole made me just want to have my hands on her as soon as possible.

As I walked back into the room in nothing but my boxer briefs, all I wanted to do was sink into the bed, but I stopped in my tracks as my eyes caught sight of Nicole sitting on the side of the bed where she lay five minutes ago.

Just like last night, it took all the self-restraint I had to hold back from climbing over her, spreading her legs open and filling her with my seed until she was crying my name, and begging me to stop.

"You're home late," she whispered as she fiddled with her nails, her eyes focused on them. Even in the dim light of our room, I could see her chew her bottom lip nervously and I smirked well aware that she had no idea how crazy her little gesture made me. It was not a coincidence that I was always hard since I set my eyes on her.

"I apologize,"

"Sorry.." she demanded and I knew just what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry kitten," I climbed over her on the bed. "did I wake you up?"

"Not really," she brushed it off, "I find it hard to sleep when you're not here."

I brushed some of her hair that covered her face away. "Good thing I'm here now." I kissed her lips softly, and she responded by wrapping a hand around my neck. "Let's get you to bed," I pushed myself off to drop the guns I had placed on the table next to the nightstand.

"Will you leave again?" she whispered, fear coloring her voice.

"No kitten," I answered and dropped the guns on the nightstand. She flinched in surprise but relaxed as I sank on the bed next to her. My tired and stressed-out body sighed in relief at the feel of a bed.

I rolled her over with one hand, so she was facing me. Temptation and lust coursed through me as she looked up at me with her big blue eyes. "Can I tell you something Adrian?" she asked in a small voice.

"Anything,"

"I don't like your guns," she whispered.

"I will not hurt you with them," I promised.

"I know," she released a small sigh, "but when you hurt others with them, it's...." she trailed off and I could tell she was choosing her words carefully. "scarry,"

My chest tightened at the thought that she did not feel safe around me. "Nicole you do not have to fear me, at least not in that way. I would always protect you."

"I'm not scared of you, at least not right now" she clarified, "it's what you do when you hold that weapon."

I sucked in a sharp breath and closed my eyes. "We'll talk about your dislike for guns later, but or now, turn around."

She gave me a few second's look and her face was so unreadable, I could barely tell if she was upset, but when she turned around and snuggled into me, I realized she probably wasn't. "This feels so nice," she mumbled.

"You feel so nice Kitten" I kissed her shoulders softly

"Good night Adrian,"'