Dirty Little Brat (Dirty Series Book 1)

“You better be back here in two hours, Lexi. Is Carmina outside?” He asks, wondering if my female guard is outside. I can’t help but kiss his nose. So cute when it’s scrunched up.

“Yes, she is outside.”

“Very well. Have fun ladies.” He says hugging me to him. I wrap my arms around his neck and inhale his smell. God, I love the smell of his Cool Water cologne. His grip on me gets tighter like he is scared to let me go. For a second it scares me. My big strong mafia man is worried about something and fuck if it doesn’t give me pause. But then almost as soon as it comes, it goes. I can feel him hardening up again, the steel coming back into his spine. He grabs my face, looks me in the eyes and simply says, “I love you, Lexi. Always.” Why is it that every time he says it, I cry? It never ceases.

“I love you too, Sax. Always.” I barely get out. He nods, wipes my tear streaked face with is thumb, kisses my head and walks toward his office with Ramone. Why do I feel like something bad is coming?23SaxsonFuck! I hate letting her go anywhere without me. If it were up to me, I would wrap her in a bubble and not let her breathe without my presence. Is this what the hell my father felt when he got my mother? No wonder he built her a bakery on the grounds. So, she would never leave his sight. I am tempted to demand that she finds something to occupy her here, within these walls we have found together, and that I have been building into a fortress. But at the same time, I don’t want to stifle her. I want her to know the world is at her feet. That she can have, do, create whatever the hell she wants to. She is a Maldonado now. What I really need to do is fucking get my kid in her, so she has no choice but to sit in one spot. Believe me, I have been working on it.

“Brother have you heard a single fucking thing I have said?” Ramone says to me, looking at me like I am losing it. I ignore the asshole. He is only able to not be so fucked up because he keeps running from his destiny. He thinks he is fooling all of us by not taking Lara and actually claiming her. Like we don’t all know she is his obsession. He has set up cameras inside her dorm room, all of her classrooms, and has done a background check on every student in her school. Not to mention he has listening devices in her professors’ offices. He is more than obsessed. He thinks he is doing the right thing by not claiming her because she is safer, and he might be right, but it is turning him into a lunatic. Hell, the girl doesn’t even know he has basically hijacked her life.

“I am fine Ramone. I heard you. So, what are we going to do about it? When we left for the island, Ransom was simply a nuisance that needed to be neutralized. Now, he is a problem. Not only is he moving in on our territory, with drugs and prostitution, but he is still looking for my wife. He needs to be dealt with.” I say to my brother looking out the window over the expanse of my land.

“I know Sax. We have been looking for him. Seems he and his son, have gone underground.” Cowards.

“What about Lexi’s sorry excuse for a father? Where is he?” I turn to him, rubbing my head. It seems I keep a migraine nowadays.

“As far as we can tell he is still home. Keeping up pretense of still having money and connections, though as it seems, most of his people have long since washed their hands of him and all of his collateral has been used. I gathered that is why he needed Alexis to marry Ransom’s son.”

“Over my fucking dead body. Do you hear me!! They get within ten feet of her and they are dead. DEAD!!” Throwing everything off my desk, I yell out my frustration.

“This is why you should have stayed away from her.” He mumbles, moving over to my liquor cart.

“Oh, you mean like you keep staying away from Lara? Quite a coincidence you showing up here the same day as her, almost at the same time.” I say with as much sarcasm as I can muster catching my breath. I want him to know that I know. He ignores me as he pours himself a shot of Vodka.

Bzzz.

Looking at my phone, I see it is my mom calling. “Buenos Dias mama.”

“Buenos días hijo. How is my new daughter today?” I smile. Hearing my mom call her that and seeing their budding relationship as it grows, makes me happy.