A big thank you to @Rujula07 for the new cover!
Cheri Sixx, the lead vocalist and guitar player for New Jersey metal band Guardian, comes home from a seven month tour to find that their last gig is at the same place they got their start, Chains...
Cheri hadn't realized that his hands were all fisted up in her hair until he pulled her closer to his mouth. She allowed herself, just this once, to get lost in his kiss. His lips were so amazing. He tasted of scotch and a hint of cigar which she found completely sexy.
Finally he broke the intimate embrace, sat back and just looked at her swollen lips. They sat, saying nothing and then Cheri went back to her list. "I'm pretty organized, so whoever you send shouldn't have any problems finding what I put on here" she said indicating to her list.
"Are you hungry?" Alessio asked as he continued staring at her. "I could eat" she said, not looking at him because she was afraid she might just let him take her on the table.
Pulling out his phone he called Lorenzo. "Order a large pie with..." he looked at Cheri. "What do you like on your pie?" he asked. "Anything except anchovies" she made a face like she'd sucked on a lemon. He couldn't help but laugh and this made her blush.
"Get a supreme" he told Lorenzo. "Pick up some beer too." Hanging up he looked back at Cheri. "It'll be about forty-five minutes for the food to get here. Feel up to answering some more questions?" he asked.
"I guess it's the least I owe you since I have now gotten you involved in my family's shit" she said sounding a little hard. Sighing, she slid the pad over to Alessio. "That's everything and like I said, when I leave to go on tour, I leave everything very organized so they should be able to find it all."
"I'll be right back" he said picking up the pad. She watched him walk off. She liked how broad his shoulders were in contrast to his narrow hips and she could only imagine what his legs looked like. Shaking her head, she tried to rid herself of those thoughts.
Alessio returned quickly and let her know that he had three men on their way to her apartment. "Thank you" she said quietly. "Come on" he said. "Let's go somewhere more comfortable while we wait on the food."
Following him back down the long hallway, they went back up the stairs and back into his room. "Have a seat" he said pointing to the bed. "I've got to get out of this suit" he said working on the tie first. Cheri watched as he kicked off his shoes, picked them up and walked into his closet.
She could hear rustling around in there and as if a silent prayer was answered, he walked out in black sweat pants and no shirt. Holy Mary, mother of God! She thought to herself. She came face to face with the chest and abs of a god. Her eyes unashamedly raked over his upper body.
Just as she thought, his shoulders were very broad, his chest was muscled with abs of steel. He had a small happy trail and she could see the V peeking out from the waistband of his sweats. Above his belly button, in an arch written in cursive, was Mi Famiglia. He had a deck of cards tattooed on his left pec and on the right one was a pistol. On the inside right forearm it said Loyalty and on the left Respect. She couldn't tell if he had any on his back but what she'd seen was sexy as hell.
"Did you get a good look?" he smirked at her. Leaning back on her left elbow, Cheri shook her head, much to his surprise. "Nope. I need you to turn around" she said motioning with her finger. When he turned, she saw a huge tattoo of a Valkyrie on his back. It was simply beautiful.
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"Hmmm" was all Cheri said as he turned back to face her while slipping on his tank shirt. "Does it meet with your approval, bella?" he asked. "Yep, actually it does" she smiled.
Taking a place against the headboard, he brought one knee up and leaned back. Cheri was laying at the foot of the bed on her side facing him. Before Alessio had a chance to ask her a question, she asked one first.
"What happened to Geraldo?" she asked. Running his forefinger around his lips, he answered "We sent him back to your father, in one piece, and very much alive." Silently Cheri sighed. She didn't need a war started between two Mafia families because of her.
"You almost look relieved" Alessio pointed out. "Do you know how shitty I'd feel if something were started because of me?" she told him. "It wouldn't be the first time either. That's another reason I left my father's home" she added.
Alessio was curious now. "Care to expand on that?" he asked. "Not really but I will" Cheri responded honestly. She rolled onto her back, her knees bent while one hand played with a strand of hair.
"I got engaged when I was twenty. He was the sweetest, kindest, most giving man I'd ever met. The fact that he was very handsome didn't hurt either but that's not what drew me to him at first" her voice sounding a bit low.
"Our tragic mistake was to think that because he was from a rival family, we could make it work. I went to his father, had a sit-down with him. I laid everything out for him and was honest and upfront about my feelings for his son. He believed me and welcomed me instantly to his family. He even told me, because of my willingness to meet with him, he would set up a meet with my father. Not to worry, we would be happy."
"He sat down with my father and my father said all the right things, made all the right gestures but on the inside he was seething. When the man left our home, my father all but demanded I give up seeing Paulo and when I refused he kicked me out. I was all too happy to leave. Paulo and I found a little house that we were very happy with and had settled down. We were going to be married within the month."
Cheri rolled onto her other side, her back now facing Alessio. Her voice was starting to crack now. "We'd gone to bed early one night and someone broke into our home. They held me and made me watch as they beat Paulo half to death and as if that wasn't enough, I watched them shoot him in the head."
It was so very long ago, Cheri was surprised by the uprising emotion of just talking about it caused. She couldn't bear to look at Alessio now and he made no attempt to approach her either which she was okay with.
"My father acted like he was just so very upset and at the funeral he actually promised Davilo, Paulo's father, that he would get revenge for the both of them. Miraculously a man turned up and the finger was pointed at him as being the perpetrator and I thought it was very convenient that they never found the other men. There were four, but everyone only seemed to care about this one man" her tone devoid of emotion now.
"I couldn't stand to look at my father's face anymore, so after the funeral, I went to his house, gathered up the rest of my clothes and personal effects and stayed in mine and Paulo's house until I started working at Chains. I became roommates with one of the female bartenders and lived with her until we got our break and now...here I am" she finished.
She could feel the bed moving and then she felt Alessio's body in behind her's. Placing his hand on her hip and his lips to her shoulder, all he said was "I'm very sorry you had to go through that." She didn't respond, she just let him hold her. And for now, that was enough.
