Mafia Marriage Trouble: MM Billionaire Mafia Romance, page 1
MAFIA MARRIAGE TROUBLE
By
Alex McAnders
McAnders Books
Copyright © 2023
*****
Mafia Marriage Trouble
Chapter 1
Dillon
I stared at my phone for the hundredth time, willing it to ring. 7:24 pm. Tyler was officially 24 minutes late for our date. I bounced my leg anxiously and chewed my bottom lip unable to quell the sinking feeling in my stomach.
This wasn’t like Tyler at all. We had been chatting online for weeks now, and he seemed so sweet, so genuine. I had really thought this could be the start of something real. My heart had fluttered reading Tyler’s texts, seeing how considerate he was, how interested in my life and dreams. It gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I could find a love like my best friend Hil had.
Hil had met his boyfriend Cali so effortlessly, so instantly falling into an easy, loving relationship. Yet here I was, still struggling just to get a first date with a guy I had really connected with online. A guy who seemed to share my feelings and understand what it was like to be young, gay and searching for love.
Everything always seemed so much harder for me – making ends meet, finishing school, finding someone to love me for who I am. Now, here I was sitting alone in the cozy cafe Tyler and I had picked for our first date.
Had I completely misread the signs with Tyler? Was he just looking for a hookup and nothing more? Or worse, had I gotten my hopes up about someone who was just luring me in with empty promises?
I checked my phone again. 7:27 pm. The sinking feeling in my gut twisted sharply. Blinking back tears, I muttered under my breath, “Don’t cry, you idiot. It’s just a first date.”
But it was more than that and I knew it. This date had represented something much bigger – a chance at the true love I desperately wanted. A possibility of having someone finally see me, want me, love me for exactly who I was.
All I had wanted was what seemed to come so easily to everyone else – a loving partner by my side. But disappointment after disappointment was starting to take its toll.
A tear escaped rolling down my cheek when the cafe door chimed open. I quickly brushed it away, feeling foolish. An attractive couple walked in, arm in arm, laughing lightly together. The twist in my gut wrenched tighter. He wasn’t coming. And I wasn’t even worth a text.
Swallowing, I couldn’t bear the thought of going back to my empty apartment tonight with another failure to endlessly agonize over. All I wanted was to know what it felt like to be loved. Was that so much to ask for?
But as the minutes ticked by, the truth set in. I had been foolish to get my hopes up in the first place. So with a deep, shuddering breath, I gathered my jacket and walked out of the cafe alone.
Chapter 2
Remy
I stood in my father’s once grand office, now transformed into a makeshift hospice room. Hil and my mother were next to me, all of us looking down at our father’s lifeless body. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the soft sobs of my mother trying to hold back her tears.
Heartbreak washed over me. But gazing over the shadows cast on my father’s face by the dim light, I felt more than that. His was a mixed legacy. I had spent my life proving my worth to him. I had done things I wasn’t proud of. Now that he was gone, I wondered if it had all been for nothing.
Hil broke the silence. “I’ll organize the funeral. I want to do this for Father,” he said, his voice wavering with emotion. I could tell he was still desperate for our father’s approval, even after his death.
I glanced at him, my heart aching for my brother who had tried so hard to escape the life of crime our family had been born into. He hadn’t been built for it like I was. Unlike me, he had never been able to hide his attraction to men. It hung around his neck like a scarlet letter. To my father’s credit, he never judged Hil for it. But when my father and I were alone, he didn’t hide his disappointment.
It wasn’t for what Hil wanted to do with other men. It was for what it meant about his ability to thrive in our unforgiving world. People wanted my father dead. Given the way Father claimed his power, I understood why.
But that meant that no one in our family was safe. Hil, and his sensitive nature, would always need someone to keep him alive. Father had no problem in doing that, but it was clear that he wanted a son who could take care of himself.
That was what I became for him. I took care of myself. Always unsure of when the pass he gave Hil would end, I soon took care of Hil too. I didn’t mind. He was my little brother. It was my job. But having to be the man my father wanted me to be took its toll.
“Thank you, Hil,” I said, my voice betraying the pain I felt.
My mother reached over and squeezed my hand, her touch tingling with a mix of sadness and gratitude. I could see the hope in her eyes for a better future, free from the violence and danger that had plagued our family for so long.
My thoughts drifted to the pact I had made with Armand Clément, my father’s most vicious rival. I had agreed to hand over my father’s illegal businesses to him in exchange for keeping the legal ones and securing my family’s safety.
We would be out of the mafia world, and under his protection. It was a desperate gamble, but I couldn’t stand the thought of carrying this on without the immense pressure I had felt from my father to do it.
Besides, our family already had so much to make amends for. At some point, I was going to need to figure out how to give back to the community. Father’s obsession with power had caused a lot of pain. That couldn’t be my family’s only gift to the world.
It was then that Dillon flashed through my mind. He was Hil’s best friend and the boy whose presence never let me forget that I wasn’t straight. His lean lines, his lightly tanned skin, his loosely curly hair that I dreamed about pushing my fingers through.
They all turned me into a man who dreamed every night about holding him. A guy who fantasized about sliding my hand up his tee shirt and wrapping my large hands around his narrow chest. He was my anchor in my father’s turbulent seas and now, the ocean that kept me from Dillon lay in front of me, dead, missed, and regretted.
Excusing myself before my family saw the smile that slowly crept across my face, I headed to my childhood bedroom. I couldn’t wait another second. I needed to hear his voice. My heart pounded at the thought. I had to call him.
Retrieving my phone, I found his number. Taking a deep breath, I dialed. My heart pounded in anticipation. The phone rang and my palms grew sweaty.
“Hello?” Dillon’s voice came over the line, warm and soothing as always.
“Hey, Dillon, it’s Remy.” I tried to keep my voice steady as I spoke. “I just wanted to let you know that my father… he passed away.”
“Oh, Remy, I’m so sorry.” Like all of us, he had known it was coming. But his empathy washed over me like a comforting wave. “How are you holding up?”
My throat tightened as I struggled to maintain my composure. “I’m… managing,” I admitted, the weight of my emotions threatening to spill over. Desperate to regain control, I swiftly changed the subject. “Listen, I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“Hil said that he wants to make the funeral arrangements. I think he could really use your support right now.”
There was a pause on the other end before Dillon softly agreed. “You didn’t have to ask that, Remy. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
The silence that followed was heavy with unspoken words, my heart aching to tell him the truth about my feelings for him. But I couldn’t bring myself to say it, not yet.
“Thanks. I always know I can count on you,” I said with a smile.
“It’s no problem, Remy. I like being able to help you… and Hil,” he reassured me, his voice filled with genuine care. “We’ll all get through this together. Just let me know what you need.”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “I appreciate it.”
“I know,” he said assuredly.
As I hung up the phone, I wondered what I was doing. I didn’t have to restrain myself to two-minute conversations with him anymore. I was free. I didn’t know how he felt about me, but I no longer had to hide my feelings for him. It was time for me to tell him.
Heat washed through me, considering it. It was a mixture of terror and exhilaration.
“After the funeral,” I said aloud. “My new life begins at the end of my old one.”
I could barely imagine living without hiding and secrets, but here it was. I was going to embrace the truth and see where it would take us. Was being with Dillon really going to be that simple? I didn’t know, but I was about to find out.
Chapter 3
Dillon
Ending the call with Remy, I stood in my apartment with my saddle bag still over my shoulder. I had just walked in having returned from being stood up on my date and Remy’s had been the first voice I had heard. I could no longer feel my face.
Had Remy just called me? I wondered as my heart raced, washing away the heartbreak of an hour ago. What had been the purpose of his call?
He had said it was to get me to help Hil, but he had to have known I would have done that anyway. No, there had to be more to it than that. Was he seeking comfort for his father’s death? Because as much as I have wanted us to be, Remy and I weren’t that close.
So, could the reason for his call be something else? Could it be that he was secretly in love with me and that I hadn’t been crazy all of these years for dreaming that he was?
It was because of Remy that I had been stood up on my date tonight. Well, not directly because of him. But it was because I had interacted with Remy so much while Hil was missing that I had noticed the gaping hole in my life. Could it have been the same for him?
Thinking about it, I immediately remembered the many reasons Remy would have no interest in someone like me. For starters, although I wasn’t normally a complete mess, around him, I was. There were two months after Hil and I became friends where I couldn’t even form words in his presence.
I was 14 years old, not 10. And yeah, he was super-hot, even then. But there was no reason I should have lost the ability to speak around him.
Then there was the time Remy caught Hil and me watching gay porn in Hil’s room. I had asked Hil if he had locked the door, and he assured me he had. So, when Remy burst in, finding us with our dicks in hand, I could have passed out.
And finally, let’s not forget the time when I was 16 and Hil’s parents let me stay at their place while Hil’s family took my mother on vacation with them. I had school so I couldn’t go, but thinking I had the place to myself, I had a one-man naked dance party in their penthouse, complete with towel turban and hairbrush microphone.
Remy chose that moment to come by and check on the place. It wouldn’t have been so bad if little Dillon hadn’t been so excited to be out. But who could blame the guy? Show me someone who doesn’t like to bounce to the beat of ‘Bad Romance’ and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t know how to live.
My cheeks burned at the memories. But as I always did, I reminded myself that the humiliation I experienced in front of Remy didn’t matter. Because as much as I liked to fantasize about it, a guy like Remy, with his Greek God build, gorgeous hair, and mafia princeling status, couldn’t possibly be attracted to guys, much less someone like me.
Besides, this wasn’t the time for fantasies. I needed to focus on helping Hil through this difficult time. Despite their complicated relationship, I knew how much he loved his father. Yes, his father had locked him away in their penthouse never allowing Hil to have a social life outside of me. But that wasn’t because his father was a monster. They have a dangerous life.
And, it wasn’t like his father was wrong. The one time Hil escaped his family’s protection, he ended up being kidnapped by one of his father’s rivals. Remy and Hil’s boyfriend, Cali, had had to rescue him. The guy shot Cali in exchange for letting Hil go. Cali was alright, but still. Hil and Remy lived in a crazy world and his father had had to protect Hil from it.
On the other hand, when it became clear that Hil was gay, his incredibly scary father accepted him for who he was. Hil told me that never once did his father make him feel bad for who he was attracted to. Hell, his parents even introduced the two of us and it wasn’t like anyone ever mistook me for straight.
So, despite everything, Hil’s father had been a way better dad than mine had ever been. And now his father was gone. My heart ached for him.
Taking a deep breath, I promised myself to set aside any feelings I had for Remy and focus on being there for Hil in the coming weeks. And as the tingles I always got from thinking of Remy subsided, I again picked up my phone.
I wasn’t sure why I was nervous, but dialing Hil’s number, my heart pounded. When the call connected, Hil’s voice was shaky.
“Hey, Dillon.”
“Hey, Hil… I just heard about your father.”
There was a slight pause. “Really? How?”
“Remy just told me,” I said wanting so badly to share how amazing it was that he had.
“Oh. Yeah.”
“I’m so sorry, Hil. How are you doing?” I said wishing I could reach through the phone and hug him.
“It’s just so hard to accept that he’s gone.”
“I can’t even imagine. But I’m here for you, okay? Whatever you need, I’ll be there.”
Hil sighed, his voice cracking ever so slightly. “I appreciate that. I told Remy I wanted to handle the funeral.”
“Wow, that’s a lot.”
“Yeah, but I told Cali I was planning to and he asked if he could help me with it. So, I’ll be leaning on him for most things.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah,” he said followed by a pause.
“What is it?”
“There is something you can help me with, though.”
“Of course! Anything. Just tell me when and where.”
The next day, Hil and I found ourselves in a boutique urn store. I didn’t even know there wasn’t such a thing. But there was and here we were.
The place exuded a somber elegance, with soft lighting casting a warm glow on the polished, hand-painted vessels. Being there, shopping for the last resting place of Hil’s father, felt surreal. It was just for the significance of it, it was also for the price tags.
With all due respect, urns were just vases with tops. How could one cost $22,000? Sure, it was marble with adorned gold filigree… whatever that was. But I could barely afford the bus I took here.
As we drifted through the aisles browsing the diamond urn collection, the topic of our conversation shifted from his father to Remy. I wasn’t the one who had changed it. But I wasn’t about to pass up on an opportunity to add material to my spank-box… when such a thing again became appropriate to do… to the thought of your best friend’s brother.
“I think I’ve come to peace with Father liking Remy best. I mean, I get it. He has my father’s need to take care of everyone. He even had it as a kid.
“There were times when we were growing up that he would do the worst big brother crap to me. But if you asked who I thought would protect me if something bad happened, it wouldn’t be a question. It would be him.”
I nodded, understanding how much Remy meant to Hil. “He’s always been there for you, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah, but at the same time, I can’t help but worry about him.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.
Hil sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I just don’t think he’ll ever be able to leave our family life behind.”
“And by “your family life” you mean your family’s business?
“Yeah. And I know he made the deal that’s supposed to free us, but I’m not sure there’s any way out.”
“You got out,” I said referring to Hil’s new small-town life with his boyfriend in Tennessee.
“I did, but I was never a part of that world. My father once told Remy and me that the only way to leave a family was in a body bag. I don’t think Remy could get out if he tried.”
I frowned, not wanting to believe that. “I think with the right person by his side, he could definitely leave that life behind.”
Hil glanced at me, his expression unreadable. “Dillon, are you talking about yourself?”
I hesitated, realizing how it must have sounded. “Well, I mean, not just me. But someone who cares about him and wants to see him happy.”
Hil shifted uncomfortably, clearly not liking the idea. “Can I ask you a serious question? Because I know you like to joke about things.”
“Of course you can. What is it?”
“Do you really think you and Remy…”
As soon as he began saying it, my face felt like it was on fire. I wasn’t sure if I was embarrassed or just hurt, but I couldn’t take hearing him finish what he was about to say.
“I mean, why not?” I interrupted. “Is it so ridiculous to think that I could be good for him?”
“No, Dillon, it’s not that.” Hil sighed, his voice strained. “I think he’s not good for you. You’re the greatest person I know. What if something were to happen between the two of you? The best-case scenario is that he drags you into his insane world.
“Dillon, I’ve spent my entire life planning my escape from that place. You could end up majorly regretting being with Remy.” Hil picked up an urn and held it between us. “Or worse,” he said with sadness in his eyes.
