Breaking the Rules

chapter 9





Susana’s face blanched with panic, and she clutched the sheet about herself. “Don’t open it!”

“How would they know you’re here?”

She shook her head, eyes wide with terror. “I don’t know, maybe they went to my apartment and found the note you left with your address.”

Joe took a few steps into the living room, grabbed his jeans off the floor and tugged them on.

“No, Joe, don’t open it,” she pleaded, her voice reedy. “They’ll kill you.”

“No one’s going to kill anyone.”

“You don’t know them, Joe… Please, I’m begging you.”

He picked up her dress and tossed it to her. “Put this on.”

Maybe he said it too harshly, because her lip quivered and tears welled in her eyes. She remained frozen on the bed, kneeling with the sheet clutched around her. The hammering and shouting became louder and more insistent.

“I’ll take care of them,” he said softly. He walked to her and stroked her cheek, wiping away a tear with his thumb. “I won’t let them hurt you.”

He turned and walked toward the door.

“Don’t!” She shouted loud enough for the men on the other side of the door to hear.

“I knew it! Susana! She’s in there!” Boots kicked at the metal, and Joe heard something being thrust into the lock.

Anger fired his gut as he strode to the door. He’d be damned if he’d let anyone threaten Susana, and he certainly wasn’t going to cower behind a locked door in his own apartment.

“Don’t force the lock. I’m opening it.”

The silence from the other side of the door was more eerily threatening than the shouting and banging of a few seconds earlier.

Joe pulled back the ancient deadbolt. He hoped Susana had her dress on by now. He sucked in a breath as he tugged the lever that opened the door and slid it aside.

Two men stood on the other side, glaring at him with black eyes very much like Susana’s.

“She’s here,” hissed one. “I heard her.”

“Yes,” Joe said coolly. “She’s here.”

Both men were tall, black haired, with intense faces. One looked a little older than the other, maybe mid-thirties. Joe quickly took in the details and assessed the situation.

No unconcealed weapons, except teeth-baring rage.

The younger one tried to push past him, but Joe caught his arm and held him back. The older one stared at Joe, narrowing his eyes and fixing him with a stare that bored through his skin like a laser.

“You can come in only if you promise not to hurt Susana.”

“Hurt Susana? I’d slit my own throat first, you gadjo scum.” The man in Joe’s grasp raised his fist but stopped an inch from making contact with his chin. He pulled his fist back. “We’d never hurt her. We look out for her.”

Joe glanced from him to the older cousin, who still regarded him with his chilling stare.

“Can you respect my home?”

They both just looked at him.

“Well, can you?”

The grunts they gave could be taken as assent or not. He decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“Then, come in.” He stood aside and ushered them into the room, then closed the door.

The open door to the bedroom revealed Susana, hastily clad in her rumpled burgundy dress, her hair wild, falling about her shoulders.

Damn, he’d never seen a more intoxicating sight. He almost forgot about the two menacing goons beside him as blood rushed from his brain to his groin.

“What has this gadjo done to you?”

Susana obviously wasn’t there on a palm-reading housecall. Her red and swollen lips, her glowing skin and wild hair all painted her as a woman who has made mad, passionate love in the very recent past. The twin spots of color high on her cheeks darkened under her cousin’s gaze.

“I’m here of my own free will,” she said, her voice a little unsteady. “Joe is my friend.”

“You’ve had sex with him, haven’t you?” said the older one, his voice low and controlled.

“Yes.” She lifted her chin, and Joe saw her swallow.

The younger man clenched his fists. The older turned to Joe and looked hard at him, shaking his head. “You don’t know what you’ve done.” He stared into his eyes, and Joe stared back, unblinking. The piercing black gaze wandered down over Joe’s torso, his lip curling as he took in the tattoo and scar before returning to his face. “You’ve ruined my cousin’s life. You’ve contaminated her. From now on, she will always be unclean.”

Joe heard Susana whimper, and he froze, not wanting to take his eyes off the man. Not sure how to respond. What did he know about the gypsy world? Maybe he had ruined her life.

“No Romani man will want her now. She’ll be an outcast, a pariah.” He looked past Joe to Susana. “Do you still have the third eye?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care.” Susana’s determined tone made Joe turn to her. “I’m tired of being a professional gypsy all the time. I don’t have to make a living telling fortunes. I’m intelligent, I’m hard working, and I want a real life.”

“Susana.” The older man shook his head, his face grim. “You know the gadjo world is not your home. You know what happened to your mother.” He fixed her with his fierce stare. “She tried to live among the gadje, and it killed her.”

“Did it kill her? Or did the family kill her to end the embarrassment of her living with a gadjo man?”

Both men froze, staring at her. “This gadjo scum is planting his filthy ideas in your mind. Our family is not a gang of murderers.” The younger man had finally spoken, and he still held his fists clenched, ready for use.

“Don’t treat me like a child. I know what our family is and isn’t.”

“Do not speak of the family in front of a gadjo.” The older man said it quietly.

Susana glanced at Joe. Suspiciously. Suddenly he really did feel like a gadjo, whatever that was. “Listen,” he said, “I’m not interested in airing anyone’s family laundry. Susana’s a grown woman who can make her own choices. She doesn’t need to be chaperoned or bossed around by you.”

“You don’t understand,” said the younger man. “She is a Romani woman. Our ways are different.”

“She’s only half gypsy,” Joe interrupted.

“Even one drop makes her all gypsy,” intoned the older man quietly. “We take care of our own.”

“Susana can take care of herself.”

The younger man snorted. “See! This scum is not even offering to take care of you, Susana. He’s used you up and now he’ll throw you aside. He has another woman’s name tattooed on his arm.”

“That’s my mom’s name. Maria. I had it inked there when she died.”

“Yeah, right,” said the younger man. The older man raised an eyebrow.

“What do I care if you believe me? Susana knows I won’t lie to her.”

There was a long, awkward silence.

He had once had another woman’s name tattooed on his arm. He’d pledged his life to her and given her almost a decade of it. Burning her name off his arm had left it scarred, along with his heart. He knew he was damaged goods.

He hadn’t promised Susana anything beyond one night. Maybe they thought he really had screwed up her life and was about to leave her twisting in the wind?

Maybe they were right.

The thought twisted in his gut like a knife.

“Susana,” the older one crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her. “Do you wish to marry this man?”

Susana looked panicked, her face suddenly white, lips quivering. “I…I… No.”

Joe’s heart palpitated out of control as she hesitated, but at the sound of Susana’s, no, it deflated like a balloon. He swallowed hard and drew back his shoulders.

“Because if you wish to marry him…” He paused and glanced at Joe with disdain. “He will marry you.”

“No. No.” Susana’s voice quavered, and tears filled her eyes.

Why did it hurt so damn much to hear her say no?

“See, gadjo scum, she doesn’t even want you.”

Something surged inside Joe as the younger man sneered at him. Next thing he knew he’d grabbed the front of the kid’s leather jacket and flung him to the floor, sprawling on top of him. His knees hit the wood hard and the jacket zipper scraped his knuckles.

“Joe!” Susana’s panicked voice squeezed his heart.

The tide of rage ebbed, leaving regret in its wake. “Look, I’m sorry.” He loosened his hold on the kid and scrambled to his feet. “I don’t want to start anything ugly. Could you just lay off calling me gadjo scum? It’s getting on my nerves.”

“We’re all adults here,” said Susana. “Step away from each other, and we’ll start this over. I’ll introduce you, and you can meet each other like normal people. Okay?”

Joe nodded.

“Joe, this is my cousin Janus.” Janus, back on his feet, scowled at him and brushed imaginary dust from his jacket. “And this is my cousin Roman,” she indicated the older man in the incense-reeking coat, who hadn’t moved a muscle. “They’ve looked out for me since I was born. I love them like brothers, even though they don’t know when to stop treating me like a baby.”

She pushed her hair back with her hand. “Janus and Roman, this is Joe Figueroa. He’s a good man.”

“How do you know?” asked Janus.

“Because I know.”

Joe knew she was fibbing. She didn’t know him well enough to say with any assurance that he was good. He wouldn’t even make that claim himself, but he was grateful all the same.

He looked from one to the other. “As Susana said, she came here of her own free will. She’s an adult, she can make her own choices.”

Susana moved until she stood next to him, presenting a united front against the two intruders. He half expected her to take his hand, and the flesh of his palm began to heat in anticipation. But she tossed her hair again, lifted her chin and crossed her hands over her chest.

“As Joe said, from now on I’ll be making my own choices. I’ve been a prisoner of this family too long. I’ve lived like a nun and worked like a slave since I was thirteen. I would have done anything for Granna, but she’s gone now, and it’s time for a change.”

“Susana.” Roman spoke slowly. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I know what I’m doing, all right. I’m taking charge of my own life, and if anyone doesn’t like it, they can keep their thoughts to themselves.”

Joe shot a glance at her and took in the confident tilt of her chin with a swell of pride. He was genuinely glad to see her stand up for herself.

“But the family…” Janus hurled his words out like fists, and as he trailed off the unspoken ones seemed to clang together in the air around them.

“The family will only know as much as you tell them,” said Susana. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I can’t live someone else’s life any more.”

“Susana.” Roman’s eyes narrowed. “You are Granna’s successor. It’s your duty to help shape the direction we all go in.”

She blew out a frustrated snort. “I’m twenty-three years old, for crying out loud! I can barely figure out what direction I want to go in when I leave my apartment. I have no business telling a bunch of other people what to do.”

“You have the power.”

“The power to what? See the future? Who cares about the future? We’re all living in the here and now.” Her voice was getting shrill, and Joe could see her starting to tremble. “I’ve lived my life for everyone else until now, and I have to start living for me.”

She was on the verge of tears from the sound of it. Joe stepped forward. “I think you should leave now. You can see I’m not keeping Susana here by force.”

He couldn’t help but notice Janus’s disdainful glance at his tattooed torso, and he raised his shoulders. He was taller than both of them, fitter too. Not that it mattered, since he had no intention of indulging in any more Neanderthal antics.

“I’m staying,” she said firmly.

Roman nodded, his face grim. “As you wish.” His long coat swished as he turned to the door, and the resulting tang of incense tickled Joe’s nose. Why on earth was he wearing a coat in midsummer? Don’t ask. Janus followed close behind him, jaw clenched, a faithful pit bull deprived of a chance to draw blood.

As the door clanged behind them, Susana let out an audible breath of relief.

“See? No one’s dead.” He turned to face her fully for the first time since her cousins interrupted their lovely morning in bed. She still held her chin high, but her hands were trembling and her face chalky.

He reached out and cupped her cheek with his palm. “You took a stand, Susana. And they listened.”

She nodded. He pushed back a loose strand of hair. She still looked wonderfully unkempt, wild, her dress slipping off her shoulder. He slid his hand down her soft neck to where the slim bones of her shoulder lay bared.

“You’re a woman now,” he whispered. She shivered slightly as he placed one hand at her waist. She softened, and on instinct his hand rose to her breast. He covered the soft roundness with his palm, feeling her nipple tighten under his flesh.

Testosterone and adrenaline still roared through his system, and apparently the feeling was mutual. Susana reached out and snatched his ear roughly, tugging him toward her. He seized her around the waist, almost knocking her off her feet. As she thrust her cool tongue into his mouth, a flame of arousal speared up inside him.

Their tongues tangled, and he grabbed at her dress, shoving it down over her lush curves, pushing it past the delicious fullness of her hips and thighs. She moaned, the sound vibrating through him, as her nails scored his back and shoulders.

“I want you, now,” she rasped, breath hot on his neck. She slid down the length of his body, arms around him. Her breasts grazed his torso and brushed against his hard arousal for a moment before gliding over his shuddering thighs as she pulled down his jeans.

As he stepped out of the pants, almost falling, she stretched herself out on the floor of his unfurnished living room.

Sunbeams danced over her body, making it shimmer golden in the morning light. Her black hair splayed over the shining floorboards.

“Oh, no.”

“What?” Her eyes were black with desire, her lips flushed dark.

“No more protection. We used up all the condoms.”

“No!” Susana rolled onto her side, burying her face in her hands. He squatted on the floor beside her and stroked her backside, then slipped a finger into the hot wetness of her sex. She writhed against his finger as he thrust it deeper and caressed her with his thumb. Almost immediately he felt the quivering muscles that signaled her release.

“I want to please you, too,” breathed Susana. “But I don’t know how.”

“Licking works well,” he murmured, almost deranged at the sight of her face glowing under the tangled mane of black hair.

She flashed a dangerous glance at him, climbed over him, then stuck out her dark berry tongue and licked his lips with it. The resulting shiver shook him from head to toe. She trailed her tongue over his torso, following the hollow between his pectorals down to his belly button. His skin jumped in response.

His erection quivered as she drew near, anticipating the caress of her hot mouth. As she lowered her lips over his painfully aroused flesh, his eyes closed and he gave himself over to the agonizingly intense sensation as she licked and sucked him to the point of total madness.

His heart stretched almost to bursting as the rush of his orgasm shook his limbs, and he clutched Susana to his chest.

He didn’t want her to leave. Ever. He wanted to hold her safe in his arms until the world stopped spinning and faded away. The past and future evaporated in the mist of pleasure fogging his senses and nothing was left but the sweet immediacy of their embrace.

Even on the hard wooden floor of his apartment they fit together like a hand and glove, and he wasn’t sure which was which. Didn’t care either. He just knew everything was a hundred percent perfect at that moment.

Susana sighed, snuggling even closer inside the circle of his arms. Their lovemaking was so raw and steamy, the aftermath so tender. He was coming completely undone and it felt way too good.

The phone rang again.

Joe groaned and hugged Susana tighter. “Don’t go. Don’t ever go.”

There he’d said it. He really did want her to stay. Was that so crazy? She could move in with him, even bring the mean old parrot if she wanted. They’d get to know each other quick enough. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut.

“I have to leave. I have appointments this morning.” Her voice was husky.

“Blow them off. You’re giving all that up, anyway.”

“Not so fast. I have to pay the rent.”

“No, you don’t. You could come live here.” There, cards spilled all over the table.

She pulled her head back and stared at him. “I suspect some part of your body other than your brain is talking.”

“That may be partly true, but we’re good together. Maybe there’s something to that destiny racket you’ve been peddling.”

Susana didn’t reply right away and Joe held his breath. Damn, she already meant so much to him. He’d bargained on hot sex, not on wanting so much more. How had he gotten way over his head so quickly?

“I’ve always believed my destiny is to cherish my gift as a seer and devote my life to my people.” She squeezed her eyelids closed, as if hit by a sudden headache.

“But you don’t think that any more, right?”

“No…” She pressed her face into his shoulder. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I believe any more. I’m trying to figure it out. Don’t rush me, okay?”

“Okay.” Rushing in without knowing all the facts. That’s what got him into a jam ten years ago. He’d taken lust for love and paid the high price of betrayal.

Betrayal. The third card. The memory of their last reading hit him. He’d been so doped with lust at the sight of her naked body he hadn’t paid too much attention to the cards. But she’d warned him. He’d sworn he’d never let a woman hurt him again, and here he was laying himself out on the floor like a rug to be trampled.

They didn’t know each other. But did anyone ever truly know another person? He’d changed so much just since he’d met her. Last week he’d been an empty husk of a man incapable of feeling anything except raw anger. Now he felt alive, tender, capable of feeling way too much. And Susana had done that to him.

“You’re magic,” he whispered. “And I don’t mean because of your powers.”

She opened her eyes and flashed him a warm glance that heated his blood. “You’ve made me feel beautiful. I’ve never felt that before.”

“You’re the most beautiful woman in the universe.” He pushed his fingers into her thick, silky hair. “The most beautiful woman in the history of the world.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Don’t forget there have only been two girls, and the first was a case of mistaken identity.” He narrowed his eyes, “I went to this fortune-teller, you see…” He trailed off deliberately and they both shook with silent laughter.

“I can’t believe you never slept with anyone else!”

“I’m a one-woman man.”

“You’re something else, Joe.” She pushed their torsos apart slightly and traced his long scar with her finger. “That wound must have been bad enough to kill you.”

His skin shivered where she grazed her nail over the raised line of flesh. “So they tell me. There’ve been times I wish it did.”

He should tell her what happened. Let her know who he really was. Would she still want to be with him?

The phone rang again.

“Someone wants to get hold of you pretty badly.” She raised a slim black brow.

“Maybe it’s for you? Your family didn’t seem to have any trouble finding you here.”

“I’ve got to get my locks changed. Now Granna’s gone I don’t need the whole gang trouping in and out when they’re in the neighborhood.”

The shrill beeping rang through the still air of the apartment. Joe groaned and rolled back, his skin aching at the loss of contact with Susana’s warm satin flesh.

He scrambled to his feet and grabbed the phone. As he made an appointment to meet with the CIO of Drake Morgan Investments that afternoon, he watched Susana dress herself and attempt to tug his comb through her hair.

He hung up the phone. “We haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“I have to go.”

“Call me. Or just come see me.”

She nodded, and pushed a lock of hair awkwardly behind her ear. He reluctantly tugged on his jeans. He didn’t want to open the door.

Her goodbye kiss stung his lips, pleasure torquing with pain at the thought of parting from her, even for a minute.

Don’t go! He kept the words to himself, knowing they wouldn’t keep her. She’d been prisoner to other people’s needs for too long. She needed to taste her freedom and find her own way to what she wanted.

She didn’t say goodbye, just turned from him and walked down the short hallway to the stairs. When he heard the metal door downstairs close with a loud clang, he knew with chilling certainty that she wouldn’t come back.