章 29: Disappointment Hits Low

...Tasnim POV...

My new world has just become real. Carson Antoni has just become very real. Do not let that pretty face fool you; this man that has a Ruger SR1911 firmly pressed Angelo Vega's head means business. One wrong word, and he will blow a rather big hole through his thick skull. I must honestly say it is rather scary, but I must admit that it might just be turning me on.

What is even scarier is that look of death on Carson's face; he is showing no emotions whatsoever. His hand does not even move the slightest of bit. He is rock hard and absolutely still. This is definitely not the first time he has done it. The question begs, has he ever pulled that trigger? Even though I would very much like to see that happen, there is no need to blow Vega's head off yet.

"Carson?"

"Yes, princess?"

"The man is going to piss his pants; I think you can put your gun down."

"Not until he apologizes, princess."

"His apology will mean nothing, for he will only be lying."

"Are you sure princess, I have been looking for a reason to blow a hole in his thick head?"

"Don't waste your bullets."

With that, Carson takes his gun away but only puts it in front of him on the bar counter, still firmly gripped in his hand. He looks on over with a wicked little smile; he loved every minute of that.

To think that is what I should become like, no-nonsense, ready to go at any second. That does scare me a bit, but I know I can do it. The biggest part is that I want to do it, not only for Carson and me but mostly for my father.

But to get back to this conversation with my mom, which judging by the past few minutes, she likes nothing of. Even though I can deal with my mother's betrayal, I cannot understand why she stays true to Angelo and not taking her daughter's side.

"Mom, I only have one question for you. Why?

"Tasnim, I did not want you to be part of the world your father was."

"Could you have not let me decide that? Here for years, since dad's death, you have made me believe that we had nothing. That all this was paid for by Angelo. For god's sake, I even became a stripper, and still, you said nothing. Why?"

"It is dirty money, my child. Do you really want to live off money that probably got some guy killed?"

"You have! All these years! Did you not feel bad when you saw me struggle?"

"I knew you would find your feet one day, Tasnim."

Is she seriously for real? Find my feet in what? Make me go through hell; all the lousy little jobs I took that only made me feel small and degraded. All the worry and pain I had to endure day after day. What has gone through her mind all these years? I am her damn daughter, but I have got news for her, which she is not going to take so well.

"Guess what, mom? I have found my feet. I am here for what is mine, all of it, and that includes stepping up into dad's footsteps."

I watch as Angelo's eyes widen, and of course, he needs to add his worth to the conversation. "You are just a little girl. What do you think you can do?"

"I am far from a little girl Angelo. And you might as well hit the road, for there is nothing here for you."

"There is a lot for me here; you are but just in the way."

Carson's hand grips even firmer around his gun as he starts to move it closer to Angelo again. "Is that a threat, Vega?"

"Just a fact Antoni."

"If you as much as blow air on Tasnim's face, then you are dead."

"Is that a threat, Antoni?"

"Yes, I will rip your body into little pieces and feed them to my fish."

"Hahaha. I would like to see that happen."

"If you do not show Tasnim some respect, then you will be heading that way soon."

"How is this little girl going to do it on her own? As far as I can remember, your families have been at war with each other for years."

"Do you want to tell him Tasnim, or should I?"

...Carson POV...

Now that gave me a world of satisfaction; I have been wanting to do that since the first time our paths crossed. My princess should learn not to show pity for men like Vega. I am in no way suggesting that she should blow his head off; she should at least make him beg for it. But that is just me; I will not take a man disrespecting a woman and, most of all, mine.

Now we are just about to rock Angelo's world, but something tells me that this man is not backing off until he gets what he wants. My princess is in danger, and that is something we will need to discuss later. For now, I would like to see the look on his ugly face.

"Well, Vega, there will no longer be a war for me, and Tasnim has decided to join our ranks."

"Hahaha. That is absurd! Your father shall never allow that."

"Lucky for me, my father is not in charge anymore."

"You have no idea what you are doing. This is not playing house with your little stripper. You are running an operation, not a damn crèche."

"What I do is none of your business Vega, you just make sure to keep your face out of my way."

"This is not over, Carson, not even by a long shot. We all know that I shall not give up until I get what I want. The way I see it, it belongs to me."

"Damn, you must be the world's dumbest person. Do you not know how things work. As far as I know, your stupid ass is not married to Giselle yet."

I watch as Giselle's face turns a whiter shade of pale; something must have triggered her to act this way. Something tells me, though, it is something that Tasnim is not going to like the least bit. Vega has gone and done something as stupid as one can expect from him. What, I am sure his proud ass is going to tell us now.

"Sorry to burst your colorful bubble Antoni, but me and..."

Giselle immediately jumps to interrupt him. "Wait, Angelo, I must tell Tasnim."

I sit further back into my chair and rest my gun on my lap. "I can just see one of your schemes sneaking up its fat head."

"At least I have a head, Antoni."

"Hahaha. How big is yours, Vega?"

My princess gives me one death stare; she does not think my silliness is required at this very moment. I have a fair idea of what they have done, but I shall shut my mouth and play along.

"Tasnim," Giselle starts off slowly, "Me and Angelo got married a couple of days ago."

The air around the bar goes dead still; all one can hear is my princess slowly starting to breathe short, rapid breaths. I gently place my free hand on her hand and slightly squeeze it to reassure her that I am here. After a few minutes of complete silence, she is the first one to speak.

"Thank you, mom."

"She then turns to me; I see the smallest of tears pooling in the corner of her sad brown eyes."

"Carson, let's go. We can send for Mason to come to fetch my father's things."

She slowly rises from her seat without even making eye contact with her mom. Vega is just sitting there with one fat stupid grin on his ugly face. My princess is in more danger than I thought.

"This is not over, Vega."

"I am looking forward to seeing you again, Antoni, next time you are bowing to me."

"You have two chances. Slim to fuck all."

With that, I take my princess out to the car; not even before the door is shut, she burst out in tears. I pull her straight from her chair to fit her tiny body onto my lap. I search her face until she allows her eyes to meet mine; I softly chuck a stay hair behind her ear and give her a shy smile. My thumb softly caresses her cheek as I lay a tiny kiss on her velvety lips. I wish I could tell her that I love her, but I feel like a coward.

"Carson?"

"Yes, princess?"

"Can we go to the club now?"

"You sure that you are up to it?"

"Yes, let's go."

She slides back into her seat and straps herself in; in less than two seconds, we are speeding out her mom's driveway onto the road. As soon as she feels her hair playing in the wind coming from the open window, I see the rarest of things appear on her face again. My princess is smiling; just staring at her makes my heart go all mushy for her again.

Fifteen minutes later, we are pulling into the parking lot of the club. For some strange reason, she looks nervous now. This is probably the very last time she shall walk as a dancer through those doors, she is making big steps, but she is making them with brave ones. It is early afternoon, and the club does not seem to be busy at the moment. As we make our way through the door, she takes a deep breath.

"Breathe, Tasnim breathe...you can do this."

I look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I do it every time I set my foot in here."

"Well, that is the last time you will ever need to do that, my princess."

"Come, let's go fetch my stuff first."

We walk hand in hand for the entire club to see, the bouncers look at us strangely, but they know better than to mind their own business. As we step into the dressing room, most of the girls are in here. It does not take them long to notice that I am with her, for their exciting faces soon turns into a frown.

"Everyone out!"

...Tasnim POV...

I cannot believe my mother could have done this. A great part of me knows that it is Angelo that is making her do this. The day my father passed, he was there to help my mom to pick up the pieces. It would not even surprise me if it was him that killed my dad. I have never really liked him but respected her choice. How can I have been so blind all of this time? Carson has opened my eyes to so many things; I know now more than before that he is the man I can spend the rest of my life with.

His power and authority do send my blood boiling as I hear him chase all the girls out of the dressing room. If only they knew that this little stripper would become their boss in less than a few hours. It is sad when I sit down at my station and start packing my things into my bag.

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, Sabrina is not here yet, and we do have the dressing room to ourselves."

"Carson, you are surely not suggesting we have sex in here?"

"Well, why did you think I chased everyone out?"

"For us to be alone?"

"Yes, so we can have sex."

This man is absolutely sinful; he can be dangerous one moment, then all sweet and sexy the next. As I stare at him and nod my head, I can still not believe that I am with Carson Antoni.

I inhale sharply, and before I know it, I am against his warm chiseled chest. I splay my hand against it and slowly start to loosen the buttons of his dark blue shirt. His breathing quickens, and so do mine. We are still locked in a tight embrace when he slides my cotton blouse over my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. He fumbles with his belt sending his pants sliding down his legs, stepping out of them just as my skirt drops next to my blouse.

He picks me up and sits me on the edge of a table. He grabs my ankles and slides me closer to the edge. He lays me back on the table, and it feels I could scream. My whole body is on fire; if he is going to do it, he is to do it now. What is he waiting on? He surely is not going to tease me again?

But then I feel his strong, hard manhood as it slides effortlessly into me. I gasp and scream with pleasure. He shifts forward slightly, taking me in even more. With every subtle move of his hips, he goes deeper and harder.

"How does it feel, princess?"

His voice sounds strained; all I can do is nod and moan as another thrust makes the pleasure rush right through my body.

He drives in and out of me. I am at his mercy as my body is bound to him. He snaps his hips, withdrawing just enough so I can feel the loss of him before filling me again in soul-shattering thrusts. There is a hard edge to his hunger, a deep, insatiable need that I feel down inside my soul.

He begins to rock harder, keeping his hard length still buried deep inside me. I love every moment; I love the violent need he is driving himself into my body as he seeks his release inside of me.

With a few more thrusts, his hips are working faster; his erection is rubbing in short, fierce strokes inside of me; he is pushing us closer and closer until the pressure can no longer be controlled. Soon our breaths become moans; then they become cries. We experience the most exhilarating release while we shatter in each other's arms. For a brief moment, everything else around us disappears.

Then unexpectedly, the door of the dressing room swings wide open.

"Tasnim!"