In a Stranger's Eyes

"You're fine. I've been around worse."

"Really? When exactly? During a prison riot?"

"I admit you are an acquired taste."

"Spend enough time around me, and you will long to send me away like my father does so often."

"He is just watching out for you. Family is everything."

Grace looked over at the sleeping Marco, "That may be true, but now I know why some species eat their young."

"Ouch! Marco is not so bad. He can be a brat, but he only teases people he likes."

"What does he do to people he doesn't like?"

"Shoots them," said Lenny.

Grace laughed even though she wasn't sure whether Lenny was serious or not.

"My Dad calls you Lucky Lucchesi sometimes. Why is that?"

"Because I've been shot twice, stabbed four times, and had part of my hair burned off by a Molotov cocktail."

"That's why he calls you lucky?"

"Yeah, after all that I'm lucky to be alive."

"You're funny, Lenny. I don't think I've met many funny hit men."

"My original plan was to go into stand up comedy, but it didn't pan out."

"Is that what my father saved you from?"

Lenny got quiet thinking back to his violent youth, and the man who had seen the opportunity in a kid who was so good at dishing it out.

"Your Dad saw a kid in a tough neighborhood fighting to survive. There weren't enough jobs to go around, and I wasn't much of a student, so I wasn't going to get out that way. He gave me a hand up."

"Then sent you down a path of murder and mayhem."

"It's not for everybody," Lenny said quietly.

"I get the impression you're not as at peace with your place in this world as you let on."

"You trying to psychoanalyze me, Ms. Riccoli?"

"You can call me Grace, Lenny, and no, I'm just making an observation."

"Try observing the back of your eyelids. We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow."

"Be that way about it, Lenny. A little introspection can be good for the soul."

She clicked off the T.V. and rolled over on her side while Lenny stretched out to take his turn at guarding the room. Grace was asleep in record time. He could just make out her face that was even more beautiful in its calm repose.

How long had it been since the last time he had been with a woman?

He couldn't recall exactly, maybe at Don Luigi's birthday party two years earlier, but his memory on the subject was hazy at best.

"I should have my head examined for even thinking it. Luigi would have my dick in that jar right next to Marco's" thought Lenny.

He stretched his arms over his head and glanced at the clock by the bed. It was a long way to 1:00 a.m.

ON THE RUN -

"Who do you have to fuck to get a cup of coffee around here!" said Grace Riccoli irritably.

"The line starts here," laughed Marco as he tied his shoes.

Grace didn't even dignify his latest crude remark with a reply.

"Marco is going to fetch us some breakfast while we finish packing don't worry about it," cut in Lenny in a reasonable tone.

A nights sleep had done him good, and Lenny felt slightly better prepared to deal with another day of being caught in the middle of Marco and Grace's war of words.

"I want mine with cream and two sugars," said Grace.

"She needs the sugar to offset all that vinegar she's filled with," whispered Marco to Lenny as he walked by.

"Don't be all day about getting the food. I want to get on the road."

"No problemo, Uncle. I will be back in a flash."

Marco went out the door which banged shut behind him.

"Do you need all this shit just to travel for a few days?" asked Lenny as he sat on her suitcase to get it closed.

"Yes, I do. You should see me when I go overseas," replied Grace as she went into the bathroom to pack her beauty supplies.

"I can't even imagine."

Lenny started to lift the heavy suitcase off the bed, but it slipped in his hand and tumbled onto the floor. He sighed in frustration and bent over to pick it up. In retrospect, it was this tiny fateful movement that saved his life.

An explosion that shook the hotel immediately followed the sounds of his Grandfather's car starting out front. The window of their room blew inward sending wicked shards of glass cutting through the air while the blast wave knocked the T.V. off the wall and overturned the lighter furniture.

Grace screamed from the bathroom, but Lenny barely heard her his ears ringing from the sound of the blast. He staggered to his feet looking out the ruined window at his car, or at least what was left of it wreathed in flames.

"MARCO!" he screamed.

The front door had blown back on its hinges, and Lenny darted through the doorway, but he couldn't get anywhere near the car that was a raging inferno. He stood helpless watching his nephews funeral pyre burn brightly in the early morning sky.

"Oh...God...Marco," he whispered.

Time seemed to stand still in the parking lot, but it wasn't long before all his years of experience took over, and it occurred to Lenny Lucchesi that he couldn't just stand there. This fact was made even more imperative when he happened to turn to his left and saw two dark-haired gentlemen exiting a sedan not fifty feet away.

It was Jimmie and Max Calivari.

"Son of a bitch!" snapped Lenny.

He turned on his heel running back into the room and drawing his pistol as he crossed the threshold. Grace was standing in the bathroom doorway her face still in an expression of shock.

"Poor Marco...Is he..."

"Worry about Marco later! Run now!" yelled Lenny pushing her back through the door of the bathroom.

He slammed the door behind them locking it and turned to kick out the bathroom window. He used a towel to cover the edges of the broken glass and climbed through into what turned out to be an alley between the hotel and the office building next door. Grace stuck her head through the window, and he motioned for her to follow. She slipped trying to climb out and be bent over to help her to her feet just as a spray of bullets punched through the bathroom door. Lenny returned the fire blindly shooting several holes of his own.

"Haul ass!" he shouted at Grace.

The pair fled down the alley with Lenny throwing constant looks over his shoulder. They hit the end of the alley just as Jimmie Calivari poked his head out the window spotting them.

"This way! Stay up with me!"

"I'm trying!" wailed Grace.

They ran like crazy with Grace doing a respectable job of keeping pace despite having to run in designer boots.

Lenny cut across the street and down another alley then back up the next street over trying to throw as many twists and turns as he could into the route to confuse pursuit.

"We can't stay on foot we need to find some transportation," he said panting with the exertion of running. He slipped his gun back under his jacket not wanting to draw unwanted attention and made Grace slow to a walk as they entered a busier area surrounded by shopping centers and markets. Lenny knew what he was looking for, and his eyes darted around the different parking lots. Modern technology had made the old-fashioned notion of hot-wiring a car a thing of the past, so he needed an older model. He got lucky on the third lot they passed.

The pickup was a classic, and it took Lenny's practiced fingers less than ten seconds from the time he punched through the driver's side window to have the engine roaring to life. Grace climbed into the passenger seat, and he drove carefully out of the lot making sure to obey the speed limit. They hit the main road five-minutes later and were out of town shortly after that.

Lenny had kept his cool to this point, but he suddenly struck the wheel violently with his hand over and over at least a dozen times cursing at the top of his lungs. Grace endured the display of fury silently.

"What just happened?" she finally asked in a subdued voice.

"My nephew was just murdered right in front of me," said Lenny staring straight ahead.

"I'm sorry, Lenny, but...I don't understand. Why would they bomb our car? Donnie wants me alive."

"I doubt this was Donnie. It stinks of Manzano. Maybe this was his way of making sure he gets the war he wants, or an opening gambit to throw your father off his game by killing you."

"How would he even know where I was?"

"Carmine..." said Lenny through clenched teeth, "It had to be him. He was the only one who knew the route and where we would be."

"You think he has thrown in with Manzano?"

"It's the only explanation that makes sense. I can tell you one thing. When I catch up with that son of a bitch, I'm going to gouge out his fucking eyes and cut him to shreds."

This declaration was followed by more violent abuse of the steering wheel.

Grace waited for Lenny to calm down before she continued.

"What do we do now?"

"We have to come up with a new plan. The itinerary is out the window obviously, so we will need to lay low someplace else. Somewhere they would never think to look for you."

"Any ideas?"

"One maybe...First, we need a legit car, not one we stole. At the next big town, we find a rental place. I still have Carmines walking around money so we can pay cash."

"Then?"

Lenny took a slow breath trying to calm himself, "Then we get some supplies and lay low until I can figure a way to get a message to your father that Carmine won't intercept."

The drove in stunned silence for a short while longer.

"I really am sorry about Marco. I know it seemed like I hated him, but..."

"Don't worry about it. He liked you too," said Lenny

"These guys that are after us?"

"The Calivari brothers. They're bad news that's for sure. They have a four-person crew. Besides themselves, there's this explosives expert, a little red-haired troll named Barry Sutter, and their wheel man Tommy Abalone.

"So it's four against one?"

"Don't worry I've faced worse odds," said Lenny trying to sound confident.

"Seriously?" replied Grace and he could hear the unspoken fear in her tone.

Lenny reached across the seat and took her trembling hand.

"I promise you, Grace, no one is going to hurt you."

This time the conviction shown in his eyes, and Grace pulled back slightly at the predatory look she found there. She had no doubt he would kill anyone who got in his way.

They ditched the pickup in the next town and rented a four-wheel drive. Lenny was careful to pay cash and used a fake I.D. for the vehicle under the name Manny Chevitz. With Grace's help, he bought food at a local grocery store and then set out on a new route. The scenery slowly changed as they drove becoming first more hilly, and then heavily wooded.

"Where are we?"

"The Catskills," explained Lenny.

It had been a long time since he had driven out this way, but he found himself following the correct route without thinking about it. The closer he got to his Grandfathers old cabin the more the memories of his childhood came flooding back to him. When he pulled in front of the old structure, he could easily picture his mom and dad sitting on the front porch listening to oldies and watching the sunset while he and his brother wrestled in the grass.

"It's beautiful up here," remarked Grace.

She looked around at all the trees many of them sporting flowery growths heralding the spring season.

"Help me unpack," asked Lenny.

The cabin was a bit musty from disuse, but still quite livable. He and Grace worked into the evening cleaning things up before sitting down for a meal. Grace had bought all the fixings for some excellent spaghetti, and she did her Italian heritage proud by delivering a very savory dish. Lenny pushed away from the table rubbing his belly.

"I have to say that may have been the most delicious meal I've had in ages."

"It was my Mom's recipe."

"You look like her only prettier," said Lenny without thinking and then he immediately blushed in embarrassment.

Grace took his compliment in stride and merely laughed and said, "Thanks."

They cleaned up the dirty dishes together, and Lenny was once again reminded of his parents. He had memories of them washing dishes in the kitchen at the end of a meal. Mom cleaning while Dad stood next to her drying them off with a towel. They had been a perfect unit his Mom and Dad.

He placed the last dish back in its place in the cupboard while Grace poured him a glass of tea. They moved out into the living room and took seats on opposite sides of the sofa.

The walls were covered with old photo's of Lenny and his family, and Grace glanced around the room.

"Oh My God! Is that you?" she said laughing and pointing at a photo of a young man of maybe eight-years of age covered in mud.

"Yeah, Pauli tripped me. The little bastard."

"There is a lot of history upon these walls."

"My mother was big on photographing everything. It was kind of a hobby for her, but not one she got a chance to indulge much in the city. She loved her camera and Dad loved his music."

"The golden oldies?"

"Yeah, here I can show you."

Lenny sat aside his drink and walked across the room pulling a drop cloth off an antique looking phonograph.

"My Grandfather fixed this up after he found it in a junkyard in the city," explained Lenny.

The old crank made a soft grinding noise as Lenny turned it round and round. When he dropped the needle down the sounds of The Platters singing, "Only You," filled the room.

"It was my mom and dads song," said Lenny.

He looked down at the old record going in circles and wondered if his parents were together in some better place still listening to it. A hand touched his shoulder, and he turned around to find Grace standing right behind him.

"May I have this dance?" she said smiling.

Lenny laughed. It felt good after all they had been through that day.

He put one arm around Grace's waist and took her opposite hand in his while leading her out into the room. They danced in time to the music. Grace was smiling up at him, and if he had ever seen a more beautiful woman in his life, he couldn't recall when.

They turned slowly, and Grace grew closer until her head rested on his chest and he had released her hand putting both arms around her.

"This feels nice..." she whispered.

The sweet smell of her hair filled his nose, and his heart started to beat faster in his chest.

When the song ended Grace made no move to pull away, and they stayed together in the middle of the room.

Lenny cleared his throat, "We should probably get some rest. You can...Uh...Take the bed. I'll be fine out here."

Grace pulled back enough to look up at him.

"I think you would be a lot finer in the bed with me," she said.

Before Lenny could come up with an answer, she stood on her toes and kissed him.

Her lips were like silky butterfly wings brushing across his, and Lenny returned her kiss without thinking, pulling her tighter to him. They quickly started to kiss more passionately a hunger for each other growing between them. Grace's full lips mashed tight to Lenny's mouth, and her tongue shot forward making his knees quake as she Frenched him deeply. Lenny rocked backward suddenly breaking away in a panic.

"What's wrong?" asked Grace in confusion.

"Jesus, Grace, your Dad will kill me! I don't want my dick to end up in a jar."

"Oh! He threatens men all the time with that line, but he's never actually done it...At least not as far as I know."

"Seriously, I should probably sleep on the couch."

Grace smiled a sultry, wicked looking smile and to Lenny's dismay, she started to unbutton her blouse.

"You should sleep on the couch, huh? I guess that's one way to go."

The blouse drifted back off her shoulders dropping to the floor. Lenny's heart skipped a beat as Grace, wearing nothing but a black lace bra, started closing the distance between them. Her hands looped behind her working at the hooks.

"I hate the thought of you sleeping out here by yourself. It could get cold tonight and what would you do then?"

"Blanket?" said Lenny in a strangled voice.

"Would you rather cuddle with a blanket or...?"

She didn't bother to finish the question but just dropped her bra on the floor.

Lenny couldn't speak for a full five seconds. Grace Riccoli had what were without a doubt the most spectacular pair of breasts he had ever seen. Her big, firm mounds of flesh were lighter than the surrounding tan skin with wide, acorn colored areolas, and nipples thicker than his pinky finger.

They say there is no such thing as a stupid question, but Lenny realized whoever said that was full of shit.

He grabbed Grace and pulled her against his chest covering her mouth in a desperate, hot French kiss. She threw her arms around his neck gratefully accepting his tongue and quickly returning the favor. They stumbled backward breathing hard through their noses and beginning to make soft groaning sounds in their throats as waves of desire broke over them.

Lenny dropped his head away breaking from the intense kiss to bring his lips to Grace's perfect breasts. She cried out as his warm tongue lashed across her hard nipples. He pressed forward talking one between his teeth and nibbling on it. Grace grasped at the back of his head with one hand holding him tighter to her aroused tit.

"Oh! Fuck! Lenny! Do it just like that...I love it rough, Baby! Bite my fucking nipples!"

He was loving every minute of touching and playing with her body. The skin of her tits was smooth and flawless. Her nipples so thick they filled the roof of his mouth as he sucked and bit at them. Grace cried out and thrashed in his arms. They turned in place until she pushed him away grinning like a feral cat with a cornered mouse before she moved quickly forward to grab at his shirt and rip it open pushing it off his shoulders.

"Damn! Grace!" gasped Lenny caught in the maelstrom of her sexual fury.

She ripped his t-shirt getting it off then covered his muscular chest with hot kisses before licking her way down across his stomach.

Lenny's eyes got larger as her fingers worked his belt loose and dropped his pants to the floor.

Grace looked up at him watching the play of emotion across his face while she slid off his boxers, and took his erect penis in her hand. Those same full lips that had been kissing him seconds earlier slid around the swollen head of his cock, and Lenny couldn't hold back the moan that escaped from his chest.

"Uhhhh! Graceeeee!"

Her mouth kept moving forward deep-throating his thick pole until her nose was almost buried in his dark, curly pubic hairs. She pulled back leaving his dick shining with her spit and started to stroke the slick flesh up and down before pushing forward again to engulf him in her warm mouth. The oral pleasure went on and on with Grace's head picking up speed, and Lenny's groans and cries getting louder.

"Ah! Fuck! Grace...Grace, Baby! If you don't slow down you're getting a mouthful!" he warned her.

"Yeah...Am I doing too good a job down here?" she snickered.

Lenny grinned back at the naked woman on her knees then grabbed at her hands pulling her back to her feet. He kissed her hard holding the back of her head while he tasted the puffy flesh of her wet cock-sucking lips then lifted her body from the ground and swung her around dropping her onto the couch. She had barely caught her breath from the sudden plunge to the cushions before Lenny was pushing her backward and yanking at her panties. He exposed her juicy pussy that was surrounded by a well-trimmed bush of dark hair.

Grace spread her legs, and he ran his hands up her smooth thighs before kissing his way down toward the glistening valley between them. She arched her back off the couch when his lips brushed across the swelling entrance to her vagina.

"Oh, Shit! Baby! I love this part," she moaned.

Her soft labia parted at the touch of Lenny's tongue, and he licked her slit all over tasting the tart nectar that coated her pink love tunnel. Grace's movements on the couch became more frantic and desperate with each deep thrust and gentle flick as Lenny used his mouth to increase her desire to a fever pitch. He slid his hands upward to take her bouncing tits in a tight grip pinching her rock hard nipples.