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"I like feeling the power
of big things between my legs."

- Jade
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Chapter 24 - Progress Is Progress

▪️D O M I N I C▪️

"Sallaku! So glad you could make it on such short notice!" I said with a smile, the cold air of the night causing my breath to appear as vapour.

The Albanian mafia leader, Kadri Sallaku, approached while casually looking around the warehouse, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. It was mostly dark, except for the centre circle where the vehicles' headlights were focused.

"What's with the new meeting spot? I must admit, I was surprised when you called, seeing as our shipment isn't due for another two months. Not that I'm complaining!" Sallaku ended with a smirk.

Running a hand through my silvery white hair, I simply said, "Change of plans, but hey, it's like you said, you're not complaining."

"So, where's the shipment?" the stocky man asked as he looked around the warehouse again, noticing the absence of the usual crates.

"Yea, about that..." my words trailed off as a sound came from the shadows.

Out of the dark corners of the warehouse, James and Da'mon appeared. Their men were pointing guns at the fourteen Albanians who were now surrounded and forced to drop their weapons on the ground.

Noticing that Kadri was trying to sneakily reach for his gun, I threatened, "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I made a clicking sound with my mouth as I wagged a finger while continuing to circle the large Albanian.

"Why are you doing this? If I don't return to Somer's Point by a certain time, the rest of my men will come looking for me," Kadri stated, his hand dropping to his side.

"Heh!" I cackled as I stopped to face him once more, "I'm sure they will, but by now, Tolstoy and Ms. Dixon would have killed them all..." The sound of my mobile phone ringing caused me to pause, "Ah! That must be them now!"

Taking out my phone, I held it to my ear while my other hand went into my pants pocket. My blue eyes darkened slightly as my pupils dilated while listening to the person on the other end.

Ending the call, I asked, "Sallaku, why did you think you could go into business with the Cartel and double-cross me?"

Realisation dawned on the man's face, his eyes widening, "Shit! Listen, it's not what it looks like. We had no choice! I swear. It was out of my hands!"

"No... There's always a choice. When García threatened to kill your family, you should have come to me. I would've helped you. Instead, you chose to mule his poison into my city when you came to collect your guns from me. Now your children are going to have to grow up without a father," I said regrettably.

For the last eight months, I had given the Cartel boss a chance to do business within my city.

The tequila and women they had been providing us seemed to be very popular among certain populations of the city. So much that I had been considering making some sort of permanent deal with them. However, in light of recent events, all bets were now off.

If it was one thing that pissed me off, it was dishonesty.

With a click of my tongue, I slowly walked closer to Sallaku, then demanded, "Give me your gun."

The Albanian's beefy hands were visibly shaking as he slowly retrieved his Walther PK380 and handed it over. My gloved hand accepted the grey and black gun and my eyes narrowed as I inspected the compact weapon.

"Not what I was expecting a man of your stature to carry," I commented, before placing some distance between Sallaku and myself once more.

"Let's talk this out, please Mr. Calvetti! I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement; I know that you're a man of reason!" Kadri begged.

"I didn't know that your palette expanded into kissing ass," I snidely remarked before I went on to say, "but don't worry, we'll definitely work out something."

The Albanian's face seemed to relax momentarily; his body seeming to slump slightly. However, his relief was short-lived as he heard my next words, his eyes widening with uncertainty.

Turning to face James and Da'mon, my index finger twirled in the air as I said, "Line 'em up boys, and don't forget the barrels!"

The unarmed men were pushed forward and made to assemble in front of Kadri. They were then forced onto their knees against the cold concrete floor, their shadows lengthening with the light from the cars.

"I want you to look at their face's, Sallaku. As leaders, we're in charge of our men, and you, my friend, have let them down!" I said, my voice edgy as I walked back up to the stocky man and handed his gun back to him, "You have nine rounds, there are fourteen of your men here, you can choose which nine will die here and now."

Holding the pistol in his hand, Kadri looked up at me, his expression silently asking if I was joking.

From my position, I knew that the lights from the cars created an eerie shadow across my ashen face. In this lighting, my silver-haired presence looked anything but comical. Rather, my appearance was very sinister, almost demonic as I was often reminded. My icy blue eyes were devoid of emotion and would seem as though they were glowing.

"We don't have all night, Sallaku, do your men this one last favour, give them a quick and painless death..." I urged, as I walked to stand behind the stunned man, whispering in his ear, "Don't keep them waiting."

The Albanian leader tried pleading one last time, "Let me prove my loyalty to you!"

"Someone who was a traitor once could never be loyal again, Sallaku," I replied simply, dusting imaginary lint off my coat, before adding, "I'm sorry, but you can't be trusted. Now hurry up and choose!"

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Sometime later in the middle of the night, my men and I drove into the underground garage of the Calvetti residence.

Tonight, had been one of those nights and it showed as most of our clothes were soiled, red stains standing out boldly against my men's white shirts. With our jackets in our hands, most of the men disappeared into the manor above via the steps, their hushed whispers going with them.

I noted that Jade was casually straddling the Pak40.

Over the last few weeks, I had been contemplating on where to move the anti-tank gun. I had decided on placing it next to one of the purple cars, more at the centre of the parking structure. I had felt like the weapon was not being displayed enough, just sitting in a corner.

It was rare to see the men covered in so much blood and I knew that Jade must have been wondering what the hell happened tonight.

Nonetheless, she had a smile on her face as she watched Vincent, Quintin, and myself walk closer to her. She was clearly happy to see that there was not as much blood on our shirts as we held our jackets with two fingers slung over our shoulder.

With idle hands, she gently stroked the purple and grey camouflage-coloured anti-tank gun. My eyes narrowed at the movement as she pulled my attention to her.

"Why aren't you in bed? What mischief are you up to?" Quintin asked, slightly concerned.

"Oh you know I can never really sleep when you guys are out doing business..." Jade shrugged slightly as she added, "So when I heard you guys were coming in I ran down to greet you all," she said with a smile, her eyes turning to me, "well more Dom than anyone else."

Vincent scoffed playfully, "I guess that's our cue to leave," he said, before making his way to the elevator.

Pouting slightly, Quintin walked up to Jade and kissed her cheek, "And here I thought you cared about me!"

"Pfft! You know I care about all of you, Quin. Just some more than others!" Jade grinned as she teased him.

She then blew him a kiss while he entered the elevator behind Vincent. I had always enjoyed watching their interactions. I knew that Jade was happy for Quintin. Within the last year, he had worked his way up within the organisation, proving himself more than worthy on many occasions. Jade knew that it was only a matter of time before Quintin received the mafia insignia on his forearm. She had said as much.

Turning her attention back to me, she gently bit her bottom lip as she gave me one of her innocent looks that had me internally cringing.

Oh God, what was she up to now! I could not help but think to myself.

Even though I had acknowledged my feelings for Jade, I had vowed that I would not act on them as long as she was still in a relationship with Cristiano. Now that she was single, and had been so for almost a year, I had been free to act on my urges. I took great pleasure in holding back, torturing us both.

I was glad to know that she had not been intimate with Cristiano, or anyone else for that matter. As sexist and selfish as it sounded, the animal within me wanted Jade all to myself.

As our eyes locked, I shook my thoughts away as I closed the distance between us.

"Are you looking to get spanked tonight? What have I told you about parading around the residence half naked?" I growled softly as I walked up to the large weapon, my eyes trailing over her body as I rested my purple jacket next to her.

Jade wore a moss green satin pyjama set with black lace trimmings. The camisole top moulded against the round shape of her perky breasts, while the shorts showed off the smooth skin off her upper thighs. The material did not leave much to the imagination as it hugged her sinful body.

I had to hold myself back from tanning her ass red for disobeying my orders once again, knowing fully well that the punishment would be more like a reward to her.

Tilting her head slightly, she took in my appearance. Her eyes scanned the blood stains, clearly happy to see that none of it belonged to me, as it was obvious that I was not bleeding. Cocking an eyebrow as I watched her eyes trail over me, a small smirk came to my lips as I continued to unashamedly take in the curves of her body.

She moaned softly as she noticed the way that I was watching her, "I'm sorry, Dom. I just rushed down here so fast that in my excitement I forgot to grab my robe."

"Now why don't I believe you..." my voice was husky as my words trailed off. With a slow smile, I removed my gloves as I asked, "Want to know what I think?"

Using my naked right index finger, I gently played with the left strap of her camisole, bringing it slowly down her shoulder, exposing more of the top swell of her breast. As I touched her, Jade remained silent, the sound of her breathing becoming more ragged as she shivered slightly.

"I think, that you came down here looking like this on purpose. You like pissing me off, don't you? Straddling this big weapon between your thighs, looking so irresistible like some X-rated army poster. What have I told you about playing with the anti-tank gun?" I asked as my voice dropped while my right hand moved up to lightly grip the back of her neck.

Sighing longingly at my touch, I knew that she enjoyed pulling stunts like this on occasion. It was clear that Jade knew that if she timed it right, her actions would often lead to us fervently kissing as I would be unable to keep my hands to myself.

We had not kissed in the last few days and she was clearly missing my touch as she was trying to aggravate me, knowing that it would probably lead to some form of physical interaction.

I knew of her traps, yet I willingly walked into them each and every time.

When she answered, she boldly whispered, while moving her hips to dry hump the weapon, "Well you know me, Dom, I like feeling the power of big things between my legs."

"You're so fucking reckless with this damn mouth of yours!" I murmured, as I bent my head and kissed her harshly, my grip on her neck tightening.

After having to deal with the Albanians and their treachery involving the Cartel, I had been fuming. However, the sight of Jade waiting up for me when I got home was something that I realised I needed. While I was irritated at her half-dressed state, the vision of her gentle smile calmed me almost immediately.

My mouth conquered Jade's. I needed her touch tonight as my unrelenting lips parted hers, sending wild tremors through her body as she leaned into me even more.

Without breaking our kiss, she lifted her leg over the gun so that she could now fully face me. Moving her hands down my chest, her fingers dug into the fabric of my shirt and pulled me into the space between her thighs.

Using my left hand, I gripped her hips and dragged her roughly against me as she wrapped her legs around my waist. With a jerk of my pelvis, I pushed myself against her, allowing her to feel the effect that she had on me.

Jade wasted no time in rubbing herself against me, forcing a deep groan to reverberate in my chest.

The intense chemistry we had together still amazed me. Ever since that first night when we kissed almost two years ago, as much as I tried to fight against it, my attraction for her only intensified. That in itself had been a scary thing, for I knew that if we were not careful things could get out of hand quickly.

I wanted to take my time though, and I liked having control. The fact that I knew Jade wanted to push things forward was one of the main reasons for me to hold back. I needed to be careful with how I proceeded with us.

After all, if word got out about how I felt about her, I did not want my enemies to use her as a means to get to me. Which is why I had been taking extra precautions to make sure that she would be safe.

Our relationship currently had no label, but I knew that she belonged to me, just as I belonged to her, even if I had not blatantly told her as such.

I enjoyed letting her assume that I was still visiting the brothels. Was that cruel of me? Perhaps, but it served her right for thinking that I was doing such a thing when my feelings for her were more than obvious.

God, her jealous accusations could be so infuriating sometimes. But hell, seeing her green eyes burn with envy as she got all possessive over me just made my dick twitch.

Fuck! Just thinking about it made me want to take here right here and now.

As we continued to kiss, our passionate moans softly resonated throughout the empty garage. Growling low in my throat, I abruptly pulled my lips away from hers, causing Jade to softly whimper in protest as she writhed against me. Her skin was flushed, the bright lights of the garage exposing everything to my gaze.

I enjoyed watching the quick rise and fall of her chest, and the way in which her lips were now swollen and slightly parted.

Moving my fingers into her purple hair, my grasp was tight as I pulled her head back, "If you ever come down to the garage dressed like this again, there will be severe consequences, do you understand me?" I asked as I whispered against her lips.

"Yes daddy," she moaned, no doubt enjoying the sparks of pain and pleasure that flowed through her.

Snarling softly, my fingers pulled on her hair some more, "Good girl..." I uttered before kissing her roughly once more.

Over the last few months, I had given up on getting Jade to stop calling me daddy. Thankfully, she did not use it too often, knowing when not to overstep her boundaries. Ironically, it did end up becoming a sort of private joke between the both of us.

Consequently, I would habitually use it to keep her in line.

Although, that in itself was not very regular as her temper tantrums had all but disappeared over the last year as Jade had matured exponentially over these last few months.

Even though I may not have fully understood her obsession with teasing me, I could not deny that lately whenever she called me 'daddy' it had been slightly exciting even if still a bit annoying.

It seemed that she had awoken all sorts of feelings within me, and I could not wait to fully release myself on her as I officially made her my woman.

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A/N: Sooo... salty snack or sweet treat?