The Enforcer or The Mafia Prince

Chapter 7

Tristan eyed the single flower that Jessica had bought, wondering why she did so. If it wasn't for him, was it for her? Jessica was the first woman to make him think so much about her. In the car, she hummed along with the music while staring out the window. He took the chance to study her. For once, he was looking at her instead of just the circumstances that brought her into his life. Her hair was a beautiful shade of brown, like light copper. Her eyes could be the most stunning or unsettling shade of green, depending on how she looked at you. Tristan couldn't decide if they were like jade or gemstones, but they had become precious to him either way.

"What do you have to do this weekend," Tristan tried making conversation with her.

Jessica turned to him, "Just homework. I think I'll need to go to the library later to look up details for my paper. It's technically complete. However, I'd feel more satisfied with a few more details for one specific section." Tristan was following her, but there was just something about her dusty rose lips that distracted him.

"Oh, uh, I can have Declan take you later," he cleared his throat when he returned to his senses and realized she expected a reply.

"Just great," Jessica thought. "That's exactly what I need in a quiet library on a Saturday afternoon. Just me and Declan." Her discontent was not lost on him, but Tristan had no idea what made her unhappy. Did she dislike Declan?

Jimmy cleared his throat, "Declan and Jessica might not be okay with that." He was looking at Tristan in the rearview mirror. Jessica's eyes grew wide as she blushed, turning away from Tristan.

"What do you mean, Jimmy? What happened?" Tristan couldn't afford any discord between his team and Jessica.

"Oh, did neither of them tell you what happened?" Jimmy chuckled at the memory.

"Can you not," Jessica's voice was stern and irritated. She really didn't want to talk about what happened.

"Look, one of you has to tell me what's going on between you and Declan," the sentence made Tristan uncomfortable as soon as it left his mouth. Tristan didn't want to think about Jessica and Declan as though they had a relationship that didn't include or revolve around him.

"Jessica," Jimmy looked back at her, "You just made a mistake. Tell Tristan and put the poor boy out of his misery."

Jessica huffed, "Fine!"

She turned back to Tristan, red as an apple, "I accidentally saw Declan naked when he was changing clothes the other day." She omitted the fact that Declan had also walked in on her as she was getting off, but there was no way she'd tell anyone about that incident.

"You. You did what now?" Tristan started laughing. He couldn't figure out if it was funny as Declan was such a solitary person or if it was uncomfortable because Tristan was supposed to try to establish a relationship with her.

"Ahem!" Jessica pouted. "Mr. Dunn," she emphasized Jimmy's last name, "Would you please explain why the mistake happened in the first place?" Tristan was still smiling as he looked at his driver.

"My wife was sick, so I stayed at the apartment the other night. I left my phone in the kitchen while settling in, and she called twice in a row. Jessica, her kind soul, thought it might be an emergency and tried to bring me my phone. That was when she accidentally walked in on Declan changing. In all fairness, she hadn't been on that side of the apartment, and the doors were both cracked. It was an honest mistake." Jimmy covered all the main points.

Tristan saw that Jessica was still uncomfortable, so he placed a hand on hers, "It's okay. I'm sure Declan just told you to drop it. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, but that's not the only thing that happened," she thought.

Back at the apartment, Declan had tried to catch up on sleep, but the image of Jessica from the night before kept popping into his head. Her flushed cheeks. The way her beautiful t**s rose and fell with her breathing. God, her moans alone could have driven him insane. Unfortunately, every time this line of thought circled back around, he could help how turned on he was. It had been too long since he'd gotten any. Still, he wouldn't touch himself to thoughts of her. He absolutely could not let himself do that. No, Tristan was supposed to get her to fall for him. Declan could not cross signals and start thinking about her like that. He resisted the urge to start stroking himself and took another icy shower.

When he heard Tristan and Jessica return, he took a deep breath and put on a poker face. He entered the living room to find that Jimmy had accompanied the couple upstairs. He was laughing while Tristan was trying to reassure Jessica about something.

"What's so funny," Declan asked the group. Jimmy started cracking up and went to the kitchen to grab a Coke.

"Jimmy let slip that you and Jessica had a little run-in," Tristan began.

Worried that Declan would think she had told them about last night, Jessica hurriedly interjected, "I'm still so sorry for walking in on you." She tried to signal with her eyes not to say a word more about their so-called "run-ins." Declan understood her intention.

"It's fine. I said drop it." Tristan had known precisely what Declan would say.

"Anyway, Tristan and I had a flower class today. We learned that gardenias could be a way to say you're sorry, so I got this for you," Jessica handed Declan the red gardenia beautifully displayed in a small round vase. Tristan bit his tongue; he knew the difference between red and white gardenias and realized Jessica's mistake. He hoped that Declan didn't understand or, if he did, wouldn't overthink her intentions.

Declan took the single bloom, unsure of what to do. Did he take it? Did he set it down in the kitchen? What do you do when a girl gives you an apology flower? He opted for the most diplomatic response. "Thank you for the gift. I think it'll look nice here," he said, placing it as a centerpiece on the dining table. Tristan assumed that Declan didn't know what the flower meant and decided to let it go.

"Okay, okay," Tristan interrupted, "no more talk about this. Declan, Jessica needs to get some work done at the library today. I have a meeting, and Jimmy must get home to care for his family. It'll be up to you to go with her."

Jessica jumped up, "That's okay. I can just take the bus or call an Uber. I'm wearing my bracelet; he doesn't need to go with me." Tristan found it almost suspicious how she tried to reject his plan.

"No, Jessica." He really couldn't let her go alone. "It's late afternoon now. I don't want you to end up stranded. Declan will take you. Plus, if anything happens, he can get through to me, my father, or anyone else he needs right away." Tristan didn't expand on what could happen. He was just adamant that Jessica shouldn't go alone.

"Sure thing, boss." Declan looked over at Jessica, "Just tell me when you want to leave." Assuming it'd be best to go as early as possible so that plenty of people were around, Jessica told the men she wanted to go right away. All four individuals departed the apartment together. Tristan got off on the floor right below. Jimmy got off on the fourth floor. Declan and Jessica went all the way down to the basement parking lot.

Declan directed Jessica to a black Tesla she hadn't seen before by using the key fob to make the car light up and echo a honk around the parking structure.

"Is this another car owned by the O'Sullivans," Jessica asked him.

"No, this is my car." Declan's admission surprised her; for some reason, he didn't seem like a Tesla guy. A motorcycle, maybe, not a Harley. She couldn't determine what style suited him best, so the Tesla might be the right fit anyhow.

The library was much quieter than Jessica had expected. Hardly anyone was there. She sat at an empty table to pull out her laptop and pull up the library's catalog to figure out which part of the library she should go to. After locating what she needed, she dragged Declan up to the second floor of the Regenstein Library. She found an excellent workspace and asked Declan to sit while she trekked into the stacks for the books she wanted.

Declan didn't argue and pulled out his phone. He checked his email, managed some financial transactions he'd been putting off, and read up on the local news. It had been almost a half hour, and Jessica still hadn't returned. He'd faced the elevator and stairs, thinking he could watch for anyone coming and going, not realizing there were three other staircases on the floor, out of sight.

When forty-five minutes had passed, he started to get worried. Jessica had left her stuff on the chair beside him, so he didn't know what could take her so long. Not wanting to leave their things abandoned, something one should never do in a college library no matter how secure it is, he picked up her things and started walking the stacks one by one.

Declan's worry increased with each row he passed that Jessica wasn't in. As he neared the north side of the building, he heard a muffled argument. It sounded like Jessica was arguing with someone whose voice seemed vaguely familiar. He started walking faster and faster. The voices were getting louder now, the argument picking up speed. Declan increased his pace until he was almost jogging up the length of the library.

Finally, he found her. She was being pushed up against a bookshelf by a familiar-looking blonde boy. Her head was turned, but Declan could tell Jessica was crying. Greg had one hand holding her, pressed so she couldn't move. His other hand was over her mouth, muffling her shouts while trying to turn her face to him.

Declan saw the fire in her eyes and knew she was barely resisting. Ultimately, seeing Declan and unwilling to let Greg bully her further, Jessica planted her left foot and jammed her right knee as hard as she could into Greg's groin. The boy dropped instantly. Declan rushed to her side as footsteps could be heard running towards them.

"Jess," Declan clamored over the whining figure, "are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?" Declan couldn't stand to see the tears running down her face. He reached her, dropped their things, and turned Jessica to face him. At eye level, this was the closest they had ever been. Since Declan walked in on Jessica last night, this was the first time they'd looked at each other.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Jessica was swatting away at his hands, unable to handle the warmth touching her. When the crowd finally reached them, she called over to one of the other students to call campus security. Greg wasn't paying attention to anything. The i***t was just writhing in pain on the dirty floor. Jess didn't want to explain more than once, so she told Declan to hold on until security arrived.

When she told them what had happened, Declan was pissed and wanted to beat the little s**t all over again. Jessica explained that she had been squatting on the floor near the bottom row, searching for a volume on political and economic structures in Belgium, when she was suddenly pulled to standing and pushed against the bookshelf. The shove was so hard that she feared the shelf would fall over. There was a noticeable bruise on the back of her arm that had landed first. Greg started lecturing her on how he was a "good guy" and how dare she "stand him up for a couple of random rich boys" the other day. He kept invading her space and trying to kiss her.

That was when Declan appeared, and she decided he was a good enough witness that she felt comfortable defending herself. Declan corroborated her statement, while Greg could only squeak out that Jess was a lying slut. Security escorted Greg out of the library and took him away. When the crowd dispersed, Declan and Jess were left alone again.

He gently wiped away her tears, "If he didn't hurt you, why were you crying?" Declan wouldn't believe she was all right after looking at her.

Jessica's bright, watery eyes met him, "I was just so angry and upset I felt unsafe to do anything."

"You were mad?"

"Yes, I was mad! How dare he say those things about me. He even said some horrible things about my friend Andrea. Things I can't handle repeating. Then he was on me and trying to kiss me, to touch me. I just couldn't stand it. I started crying when I couldn't decide if defending myself physically was worth the trouble it could cause."

Declan couldn't understand her; if someone tries to assault you, you defend yourself. It was that simple. Only it wasn't. Unless Jess had a witness, it would be her word against his. He was a popular, well-off student on campus. She had superb grades but a lesser-known reputation and no money. If they got violent, whose side would everyone take? If she didn't hit him hard enough, would he hit back? It was so much more complicated than Declan made it out to be.

Overwhelmed with the situation, Jess didn't think about what she was doing as she flung herself into Declan's arms. She needed his comfort right now. She was angry at Greg. She was angry at herself. She was upset about Andrea. Then, coupled with the stress of the last week and her mom's health and her dad's debt... everything caved in, and Jess lost it. She cried into Declan's shirt until there was nothing left.

Her tears finally dried, and she looked at him. Somehow, despite her sobbing, she still looked beautiful. Declan couldn't tear himself away from her stare. She was an emotional wreck. She had seen him naked. Declan had seen her on the brink of pure bliss. He had watched over her since they met, enamored with her since the moment he saw her.

They couldn't resist anymore. Jessica launched herself against Declan, pressing her lips hard against his. Declan lifted her up and pressed her against the wall at the end of the aisle. She moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist. Declan moved his hands up her sides until he was under her shirt, palming her breasts. Her tongue sought his, moving in ways that captivated him. He was painfully hard against her core. She ached for him, the memory of her ruined orgasm still alive.

"Yes, Declan," Jess moaned as he began sucking on her neck. His name jolted him back to reality.

"f**k!" Declan gently set her down and stepped away, refusing to look at her. He had forgotten himself.

"You cannot tell Tristan about this," Declan growled before marching to the men's room, leaving behind a disoriented Jessica.