Lion's Den Ch. 06

******

After a morning of tears and repeated phone calls to Leo's cell, Max rang her father.

"Papi, can I come over?"

"Si, niña." Antonio could hear the distress in her voice so he didn't even bother to ask if she was okay.

It took Max awhile through sobbing and pacing to get out the story.

"Hija, why didn't you call me before calling Ari. I could have told you this was not going to end well." Antonio spoke softly but he wanted to shake Max for being so foolish.

"Papì, I knew it would not go over too well if he found out, but the immediacy of the situation had to be dealt with. If I did not have Peretti killed Leo could be in jail today."

"All that is well and good Max, but you and Leo had a full disclosure policy, no?"

"Sì."

"Alright and you knew you violated it by not telling him what you intended to do. You did not tell him after you did it. Also, you brought your ex boyfriend into it to deal with his problem. You in essence told Leo he was not man enough to protect you or himself, and that another man could."

"I know how it would have looked that is why I never intended for him to find out."

"Child you know better than that. Secrets always come out."

"How are you going to fix it, hija?" This was the first time Tara chimed in. She was still trying to process Max having Peretti killed. This is the kind of life decisions she had always feared Max would have to make.

"I don't know. I've been calling Leo on his mobile and he's not picking up."

******

Max found Leo hours later at Absinthe. He was sitting in his office drinking and staring at the crowds below. He saw her come in and was tempted to have her thrown out. His fury had not quelled since her left her, in fact it increased the more he thought of what she had done. Max lied to him, over and over again. The glass in his hand snapped as she stepped into the office. Max rushed to him as she saw the blood pour, but he yanked his hand away and walked over to his desk. He needed to put as much distance as he could between them.

"Give me your hand before you bleed to death."

"Max I don't have time for this right now. I need you to leave." Leo stated in a restrained voice.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Get the fuck out." Leo banged his hand on the desk. "Max get out before I do something I may regret."

"No, Leo. You gotta hear me out."

"I aint gotta do shit Max. You fucking lied tome.I let you in and you lied. Time after time. You're not dumb. You knew what you were doing could fuck us up, but you did it anyway. I would ask why, but I don't give a shit right now. You are a fucking liar and I have no use for liars. We're done."

"No we are not done Leo. We can fix this."

"Fix this how Max. You tell me how I forget this betrayal and I'll do it now. I never thought I could feel for you as I do now. I can't stand to look at you so get the fuck out." As he said those words he grabbed her with his bloody hand and pushed her out the door. Max tried to resist, but did not want to cause any more of a scene. She felt defeated and weak.

******

Max drove around the city for hours. She was angry at Leo for not seeing reason in her actions. Angry at Ari for starting the ball rolling on his suspicions. Angry at herself for opening the door for all this in the first place. When she finally stopped she realized she was in front of Ari's apartment. She pressed the code into the keypad and heard the welcoming click. She was half surprised that it still worked.

Max walked into Ari's apartment and there he was, sitting at his table shirtless and reading. Without even looking up he greeted her.

"Shalom, Max."

"Shalom fuck all Ari. Do you know what your little stunt did? It cost me everything. Leo's done with me."

"Was it my stunt or your lies Max? See Max I know you. I know how much you like your secrets."

"Fuck you Ari." Max spoke as she removed her shoes, and braided her hair. "You are the last person who should be talking about secrets."

"I know you Max. Not just every inch of you," he looked up eyeing her lasciviously, "but the way you think too. I knew you would not tell him, and that would be my way in." Ari rose from the table and walk over to the sparing mat. He knew what Max wanted. She was angry and needed to let off some steam. And who better to fight with but than the person you blame. Ari however, had other thoughts he knew that after Max got physical like that she loved a nice hard fuck.

"Your way in? What the hell are you talking about?" Max followed him to the mat.

"Max I've never stopped wanting you, but I gave up hope that I would ever have the chance to be with you again. That is until you called. Years without communication then you call needing a favour."

"And you thought that I would be ever so grateful that I would what Ari, fuck you?"

"That would have been a start." With those last words Max lunged at Ari. He was ready for her attack and blocked the shot. They went back and forth like this for awhile, but Max was losing.

Her anger was clouding her judgment in more ways than one. Everytime Ari pinned her to the mat. She could feel her pussy respond to him. The years had aged him beautifully. His tattoos began to glisten under the sheen of sweat from their exertion. His curly dark hair begged for her to grip it and draw his face down to hers. Max's eyes traveled down the happy trail on his stomach as he pinned her again. This time he would not let her up. The sexy black wrap dress she had worn was undone and she lay exposed beneath him. He wanted her to say, uncle. Then he knew the fighting was over and it was time to get deep inside of her. His eyes searched her face for an opening, but she gave none. Max used Ari's uncertainty against him and swung her legs around him flipping him over. She rocked back on her knees a sat on him. She shrugged out of the dress. So now she was just in her bra and panties.

Ari's hazel eyes drank in all that was before him. The growth in his loins was dying for a release that only Max could give him. He ripped her bra off. Max gasped as he latched on to her breasts. His sucking and licking triggered her lactation, but he did not care. Something about Max always brought out the animal in him, and with the dam broken after years of waiting he was not slowing down. Max cried out and whimpered as Ari probed her deep with his fingers. He liked to finger her with her panties on. It made him feel he was somewhere forbidden. He knew the right pace of stroke to get her off. Max felt the orgasm building inside of her, endorphins coupled with adrenaline had her bucking against his hand in no time.

Ari savoured the feel of Max's heat and moisture against his palm. His finger felt the tightening of her cunt so he spread them pressing against the slippery walls. This resistance trick of his always sent Max into overdrive and this time it did not disappoint. Max leaned back and fucked his hand while the other manipulated her nipple. Ari had turned Max into putty. His dick relished the sight of her sweating, panting his name, struggling to come down from her pleasure high. He was so turned on by watching her he came in copious spurts on Max's sexy black tongs. Max disengaged from Ari and rolled onto her stomach. He looked down at the tattoos, a remnant from their past and kissed them. This stirred Max out of her fog. She had to get out of there, things had already gone too far. Anymore kisses and she might be have more than his hand deep inside her.

"Ari stop," Max weakly eked out.

"You don't mean that princess," Ari protested massaging her ass. He wondered if Leo had a chance to pop that cherry or was she still timid about that.

"I do. This was wrong. I gotta go." Despite Max's shaky legs she pulled herself together enough to get her dress on. She stuffed her bra in her purse, as to not leave any evidence at Ari house.

When she got to the door Ari grabbed her hand to pull her in for a kiss. She pulled herself away.

"Ari, I really fucking hated you for what you did to me, and doubly so now for messing with my life again. Why couldn't you just do the job and let that be it? Leo's done with me so you could go ahead and brag to him what we did tonight. He won't care. There's no more damage to be done."

With that Max was out the door. Ari leaned against the door feeling the weight of regret for everything he had done to Max.

******

Max walked around the brownstone in the dark. It was a long night, and tomorrow was going to be even longer with cancelling all the wedding stuff and telling the parents. Max figured she would shower and get a few zz's before going to get Luca. She entered the bedroom and began undressing on her way to the shower.

"You smell like sex." Leo voice startled her. Max knew that he was drunk and still drinking as she heard the ice clink in the glass.

"Okay." Max responded carefully. She did not want to fight with Leo, but she wasn't going to back down either.

"Okay? That is all you have to say."

"That is all there is to say. We're done, remember." Max proceeded to the shower to wash the scent of Ari away. She silently praised herself for the good sense of throw her panties away on the way home. In this state there was no telling what he would do.

Max turned on the shower and sat on the floor to let the water rain down on her. She looked up as she felt the cool air on her back. Leo stared down at her. If his eyes could have bored holes in her they would have.

"Can I help you?" Max stared ahead at the tile as she spoke.

"Who were you with tonight?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I deserve to know. You're still wearing my ring."

"Oh, I am aren't I? Here you go." She slipped the ring off her finger and passed it to him.

"I don't want no fucking ring Max. I want to know where you were." Leo slapped her hand away.

"No you don't."

"You were with him, weren't you?"

"Yes, Sherlock. I went to see him. What of it?" Max's eyes blazed at Leo. And his rage tipped as her grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up. Max scrambled up quickly and stepped out of the shower to avoid the pain.

"Get your hands off me you fucking psycho!" Max struggled but Leo was having none of it. For someone drunk his reflexes were surprisingly quick. He dragged a wet, naked Max to the bed and threw her face down. Before she could fly up Leo pulled both hands behind her and cuffed them. Max hollered at Leo to stop the madness, but he ignored her.

"Max I'm fed up with this craziness. You lied to me. You put your trust in another man, Max. How could you?" Leo paced the floor rubbing face and hair as he spoke. Everything about him was disheveled. His clothes were creased and unkempt, eyes were blood-shot, face was unshaven, left hand haphazardly bandaged, and hair was a mess. He looked like a madman.

"It wasn't about him, Leo. It was about you, and me wanting you to be with me and Luca. How can you not see that? You think I should have just stayed out and let the chips fall where they may with Peretti. Alright, but it would not just be you affected. Your father, your uncle, Pauley. You think those two old guys could do a bid? Get out of you ego for a second and see sense." Max screamed at Leo.

"Out of my ego, Max? Don't you think that stunt was a little power play? You didn't tell me to protect me. Bull shit! You didn't tell me so you could have this secret over me. It's you not giving up all of you. Sabotaging us. Tell me I'm wrong?"

"You're wrong," Max replied with a voice hoarse from screaming.

"Liar."Smack"You've"Smack"gotta"Smack"stop"Smack"lying"Smack"Max"Smack"to me"Smack"to yourself."Smack"Liar!"Smack"Liar!"Smack"Liar!"Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack

The power behind each slap increased with each word. Leo was pissed. When he was done Max was sore and sobbing. She knew what Leo had said was right. From the moment she picked up that phone to call Ari it was destined to come to a head, and she did nothing to preempt it.

"So is the wedding still on?" Leo asked Max putting the ring back on her finger.

"That is up to you." Max responded mildly defiant. After tonight she knew there was a change in their relationship. Leo walked around the bed and stooped down to face her.

"I love you Max, and you almost suckered me into breaking us apart. Don't ever cross that line again. You say that you would kill me if I ever broke your heart. Ditto. You feel me."

"Yes." Max's voice was feeble. She had been seeing Leo's romantic calm side for awhile and forgot just how hard he could be. She didn't want to admit it, but she was kinda turned on.

******

The clock alarmed at 5am, so Max could make it over to her parents before Luca woke up. She got out of the bed gingerly, her ass was still smarting from the spanking Leo gave her. He was not in bed and she breathed a sigh of relief. She went to the bathroom and pinned to the mirror was message from Luca telling her that he went to pick up Luca and breakfast. That pretty much meant don't go anywhere. She wondered if Leo meant to keep her prisoner in the house. Regaining his trust was going to be tricky.

Max took the moment of privacy she had and called Laney and filled her in on what happened yesterday.

"Rise and shine sleepy head."

"Blue you must have lost your mind calling me at this God forsaken hour."

"I'm sorry. At least kinda."

"This better be good."

"Lanes he spanked me!" Max squealed.

"You calling me to talk 'bout yall S&M freakiness?"

"NO! We had a fight because I had Ari do something, and lied about it."

"You did what! Do you want to fucking die?"

"Of course not, but..."

"But nothing! You knew it would blow up in your face. Is that what you wanted?"

Max drew a deep breath. Laney and Leo both had her number. "It started out as a good deed, but became so much more. All blame does lie at my door, but he's not giving up."

"No more tests Max. I'm not sure you will survive. He's your guy, accept it and live happily ever after. You know I had my reservations, but it's him. I am happy for you, so don't fuck it up. You will regret it." As Laney advised Max she realized that even for herself she had a regret that she just could not shake.

******

"Morning Leo," Antonio greeting him civilly. "I'm surprised to see you instead of Max. Is sheok?" His inquiry was pointed. He liked Leo well enough, but Max would always be his concern. Plus after what she did he was expecting a violent fallout between her and Leo.

"Yeah she is great. I decided to let her sleep-in while I picked-up lil' man. I'll have her call when I get back." Leo kept his voice light dismissing Antonio's cold demeanour.

"Morning Leo." Tara appeared holding Luca. "He just woke up and I gave him his feeding. I'm sure he'll be out like a light before you get back to Brooklyn. Where's Max?"

"She's back at home."

"Oh?"

"All is well. We're good. We thrashed it out and got to an understanding. The wedding is still on. Thanks for watching Luca. We really appreciate it." Leo kissed Tara on her cheeks and nodded to Antonio as he was loaded with Luca's stuff.

******

When the door closed Tara blew up at Antonio. He remembered the last time she was this angry at him was when he had had her shipped from the U.S. back to Colombia. Antonio was no fool he knew it was coming since Max had dropped off Luca. He had caught her looking at him with a strange look on her face. She was just waiting for Luca to be out of the house.

"What fuck have you done to my little girl? Did you hear her? Talking all nonchalantly about asking Ari to kill Peretti? And you standing there without a look of surprise on your face. Well for a matter of fact I was surprised. I know you and Max have yall gun hobbies and crap, no big deal really, but our child is a killer, a very cold unremorseful killer Antonio. Is this what you wanted all along? Pretending to be out of the game all the while grooming our daughter to run her own cartel? Answer me you son of a bitch. Because I fucking need answers." Tara's usually jovial eyes were rigid slits.

"Tara," Antonio reached out to touch her.

"Don't you dare."

"We raised Max together. Yes, I've had more influence in her life, but that is because I saw so much of me in her. Getting her educated and trained was a way to channel her nature to a positive path. One summer in Colombia Max and Alex heard that one of the farmhands molested one of the village girls and I mean she was a girl, no more than seven years old. Max and Alex decided to avenge the girl. Together they stalked and killed him. Alex delivered the deciding blow, but with Max's full support. When my father found out he congratulated them. He called me into his office to smoke cigars and plan Max's future. Max is not a sociopath. I know that is what you are thinking. Max is our brilliant, skilled, caring daughter. I was not grooming Max to be an assassin, but she is not afraid to pull the trigger if need be. She is going to be alright.'

"Is that it?" Tara stood silently as Antonio spoke. He had never told her of Max's first kill, and she was not sure if she could stomach it. She walked away to their bedroom to pack, she needed some space. In all their time together she had never felt so betrayed. By both her husband and daughter. She knew that somehow it made sense to them to keep such a large secret from her, but she could not see it. Tara don't act dumb is not like you did not open this door when you stayed all those years ago. You knew what kind of family you were getting involved with.Tara felt fully responsible for all that Max had become.

Antonio followed Tara to their bedroom, looking in amazement as she hurriedly shoved clothes into her suitcases. He knew he took a risk telling her Max's secret, but it was time for all the truth to lay bare. Although every fiber in his being wanted to stop her he knew Tara needed space from him, and he was going to give it to her, but not for long. Tara walked past him without as much as a sideway glance.

******

Leo walked in the apartment with a sleeping Luca. A smiled curled on his lips seeing Max laying on floor dressed in a wife-beater and boy-shorts sleeping just a soundly as their son. He took Luca to his room and returned to the living room to lie next to her. The rise and fall of her chest mesmerized him. His eyes roamed over her stomach. He envisioned her being pregnant again, this time with a little girl. He knew Max was not the barefoot-and-pregnant-all-the-time kinda chick, but having their house filled with the sounds of children was part of his plan. His eyes moved down from her stomach to her crotch snugly hugged by her satin boy shorts.

"So are you just gonna stand there all day staring or are you gonna take what's yours?"

Max's voice startled him.

"Glad to know you know who you belong to." Leo replied beginning to undress.

"What happened last night after I left Absinthe?" Max spoke softly. She left her eyes closed to avoid staring into his eyes.

Leo paused his actions. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when I left you were hella pissed, off the rails and bleeding."

"Yeah I was pissed. And still am but, I got a lot of my system last night." Both their minds flashed on the spanking he gave her.

'Ok, but why the change?"

"Pauley."

******

"Aye Bro!" Pauley knocked and walked into Leo's office at the same time. "What the fuck dude, your hands is bleeding." Pauley was immediately concerned for his cousin.

Leo looked up. His eyes were blood shot and frosty. He mentally debated whether he should tell Pauley about Max or not, but Pauley beat him to it.

"What did Max do?"

"It was Max who solved our problem."

"What!?" Pauley exclaimed in disbelief.