Harmony Read online

  Romano shook away the delirium.

  Her nails scored his back and he winced. He blinked at her and she gave him a wicked smile. Romano growled dropping his face to her neck while pumping the ache of his cock in and out of her with fierce determination. They bounced on the bed. He pinned her wrists down and she fought to be free. Nothing, not even the sweet sounds of her pleas could stop him. He was lost.

  Harmony cried out in his ear and he kept going. Romano thrust long and deep, their bodies sweating and gliding over each other. Her hands now free, they rubbed his back. She dug her nails in and he kept going. He kept going until his muscles locked and he let go every ounce of his seed.

  Romano fell on top of her, listening to her rapid heartbeat, his ear against the comfort of her bosom. He kissed her sweaty breast and held on to her, too spent to do much more. But the night had promise, and he would enjoy her over and over again.

  Three

  Something in Common?

  Harmony opened her eyes. She lay perfectly still. There was no sound, no movement, just the uneven pace of her breathing from a dream she couldn’t quite remember. The fear was there. The deep sadness of being trapped and alone covered her mind like a black fog blocking out the source. It hit her with lightening clarity. “Willie,” she gasped. Her brother was in trouble and time was short.

  She closed her eyes and opened them again. This time the shadows didn’t linger. The ceiling clearly came into view and her body bloomed with remembrance of her actions. Shame curled up inside her and made her tense. Did she seduce Vinnie Romano and was she in his bed? Her head dropped over to the left. She was alone.

  Clutching the sheet to her chest she rose. She glanced to the door. It had been left partially ajar. She listened for Romano. Silence greeted her.

  “Vinnie?” she said softly.

  Harmony lowered her sheet and her gaze dropped to her breasts. She could see the raised red patches of skin from the love bites he left after his ravishment. Sex with him had been different. Exhilarating and exciting, it was very different from Lewis yet the feeling remained the same. Paulette called it ‘soul ties’. She warned that women like Harmony couldn’t lay with any Joe. She wasn’t built for it. Sex and all the tendrils of emotions that came with it anchored a woman like her to a man. It would be wise to save it for a lover that would wife her, give her babies, and stay away from the wolves in Henderson’s band or the Negroes sending her love letters and poetry in Sugar Hill. Harmony had heeded that warning until tonight. It frightened her how much she ached for more of Vinnie Romano now.

  Girl get it together. No. Get your stuff and get out. Her mind shouted several warnings. Harmony couldn’t leave now. She’d gone too far. She needed to know what, if anything, Romano knew about her brother.

  Quickly she threw aside the sheet. Her clothes were everywhere, dress, stockings slip, all scattered on the floor. Harmony released a deep sigh.

  “Do you ever get tired?” She asked and tried to roll from his embrace.

  “What man can sleep with you in his bed?” Romano hooked his strong arm around her waist and pulled her back to him. She was forced to roll toward his chest and hold him. The intimacy between them had surprised her. She didn’t mind when he took charge, from his first touch to now, he’d never been selfish. He intrigued her.

  “Vinnie?”

  “Mmm,” he answered. He rolled on top of her and thrust half his length inside of her. Her breath caught. Her heels dug into his back.

  “Breathe,” he said in a voice made hoarse by his own desire. She’d forgotten how. She clutched his shoulders and pumped her hips upward to receive all of him. Soon she found and matched his natural rhythm. The coil of pleasure in her belly unwound slowly.

  “Vinne?”

  “Yes?”

  “This is the third time.”

  “Mmm,” he groaned sinking his teeth into her shoulder as he thrust faster and deeper.

  “It’s just that…we… we can’t do this all night.” She half-kidded.

  Romano’s head lifted. He focused on her face, trained and locked his gaze with hers with such intensity she didn’t dare break the exchange. For long torturous minutes they didn’t speak. Both released unsteady breaths as their bodies did all the communicating. She hitched her legs high on his waist and raised her arms to press her hands to the headboard to steady their motion.

  “Tonight, you’re mine. In fact Songbird this is only the beginning. This body, pussy, your voice, all of it belongs to me.” He turned over bringing her on top. She sat up and worked her hips to keep the momentum as he gazed up at her with heavy lidded eyes. She felt him deeply and her body was afire with the renewed control she had over him. She worked her hips to and fro harder and Romano groaned, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Harmony smiled. Nothing this wrong ever felt so good.

  “Belong to him? I don’t belong to anyone. Not Lewis, not Milo, the band, and not even Willie. After it’s all said and done I will be also. Hell, I already am.” The rebellion swelled in her chest inflating her pride. She didn’t know who the target of her anger should be, herself or her little brother. Once she found him she wanted out of this life. She’d leave Harlem for good. The mere mention of leaving the city had been considered blasphemous with Lewis. He kept prophesizing the rise of the Negro in Harlem. He laughed in her face when she brought up the teachings of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA.

  “Are you for real Mony? There’s no Africa the Negro belongs to. We here now. Here is where we stay. Harlem, the city where a colored man could be his own man.”

  Lewis loved the good and bad dealings he had with those bandits that ran with Grease Man. And where did all the hustles and big talk get him? Dead. God help her but Romano could end up the same way.

  Anxious to escape the room and the flood of memories returning, Harmony felt as if she walked a tightrope. The sex with Romano took her down an emotional spiral. This had to end before she became too stupid to remember the danger lurking behind his smoldering brown eyes when she climaxed on his face, against the wall, on her knees on the bed, and even the floor.

  In the middle of a stranger’s bedroom, with her life a shadow of what her Grams prayed for, Harmony’s wants became clear. She loved to sing. Whether sad, happy or nostalgic, singing made her complete. Jazz was all she had left. But she didn’t need Harlem to have jazz. No. It could be wherever she brought it. Heartache and regret is all that she had left in this city.

  Harmony eased on her undergarments. A man’s voice barked loudly from below. Whoever it was sounded angry. It came from beneath her and echoed up through the empty rooms along the hall. Harmony grabbed the robe on the chair and covered herself. Carefully she crept from the room to the hall then down the hall to the stairs. She kept going along the shadows until the sounds of men could be heard clearly.

  Romano struggled to accept the news delivered to him. But the messenger was a hundred percent trustworthy. Jimmie was a large man. With big farmer’s feet and hands he looked like a man used to hard labor, born for it. Under Romano’s employ, he wore a suit and enforced his wishes with his fists. He wasn’t the brains of the crew, but he was loyal and honest. His intimidating presence usually got the information Romano sought without much argument. Tonight what he had to share disappointed and saddened him.

  Another matter pulled on his attention. His gaze once again shifted to the shadowy stairs beyond his parlor and his chest tightened with need for the woman who waited for him in his bed. The sun would be up soon and he struggled with why he dreaded the idea of parting ways. Had she awakened?

  “I need more from you Jimmie. Is that all?” Romano asked.

  “Word is Mickey Collins now deals with the Negress Queenie, supplies her speakeasy. Suddenly Mickey has enough hooch to supply all of Harlem. And this ain’t the can shit. It’s top of the line Irish whiskey too. Leftie is coming in. Maybe he can shed more light on it.”

  Romano accepted the truth. He fumed over his brother’s absence. But he’d b
lown his top once already. It was best not to set Jimmie on edge.

  “I understand. My booze is missing. We have Mickey bootlegging with the coloreds and Antonio offering protection from the cops to the coloreds. And a missing colored boy in between them all. None of it ties together.”

  “That’s how it figures boss.”

  “The boy? Did Mickey accuse him of stealing?”

  Jimmie frowned. “Not sure what the kid did. My guess is it ain’t the booze boss. Maybe he handles the payment. Yeah. That’s it. He came up short on the money. No way to know really because the coloreds aren’t talking and Mickey, well he’s suddenly held up with his crew down near Five Points. Quiet. The streets are too quiet.”

  Romano stroked his jaw. He shook his head and sipped his scotch. How the fuck did his brother think he would get away with this?

  “Stay on it. I’ll deal with Antonio. I sent Nunzio to find the boy. He’s late with news. Find out what’s keeping him. I want the kid first. I suspect he could shed some light on where the fuck my booze is!” Romano threw the glass to the wall and it shattered. Jimmie didn’t flinch. Romano’s angry gaze cut his way and he nodded his huge head that he’d do as he was told.

  No! No Willie what have you done? Harmony withdrew with her heart in her throat. Could her brother be stupid enough to steal from the Romanos and not Collins? And to add to matters, bootleg the booze to Queenie of all people? Many revered her as a healer. Others said she practiced old customs, akin to witchery. One thing they all could agree upon was she didn’t take any mess from the cops, Sicilians, no one. Now she was in the mix and her brother didn’t stand a chance between them all.

  A door closed. Harmony heard the approaching steps of her lover and dashed back to the room. She began to dress as quickly as she could.

  “Going somewhere?” Romano asked with annoyance in his voice.

  Harmony smiled. “Sure am, it’s late. Best be getting to my side of town before the sun catches me. You understand.”

  “The agreement was you stay.” Romano closed the door. He sipped something dark from a glass. She thought she heard a glass shatter against a wall down below. Did he go around breaking glasses for sport? She could smell its potency from across the room. Harmony dropped her hands to her hips. She had managed to put her dress on. It remained unzipped.

  “You hear anything on my brother? Any news?”

  “Nothing new. Kid’s either lost or dead.”

  Harmony’s smile dipped. She never considered for a moment that Willie could be dead. Romano’s hard edge seemed to soften over her state. “I’m only saying that he’s not easy to find. We don’t know anything yet.”

  Harmony nodded. “Right. Like I said. I best be on my way.” Now that Romano thinks Willie is tied to his missing hooch he was no longer an ally. This she knew as plain as she knew the nose on her face.

  “Stay.”

  Harmony grimaced, but kept her expression free of the tension building inside of her. Suddenly she wanted distance. No. She needed distance from this man and what they shared. She tried to run up her zipper and stopped. “I’d rather not. I… sun will be up soon. I need to get home.”

  Romano set his glass down. “It’s a long walk back to Harlem.” He stepped to her and took her hand. “I can have a car take you home… after.”

  “After?”

  “After.”

  A soft chuckle escaped her. “Sounds tempting. But how would that look? You sending me home in a chauffeured car in broad daylight. I don’t need no trouble.”

  “You make it hard for a man to be nice Harmony.”

  She pulled her hand from his. “You have been nice.” She replied, her voice tight and firm. “You agreed to help me. I’m no fool honey. I know you didn’t do it for my singing.” She cleared her throat. “I also know that you have no intention on flaunting some colored jazz singer around your nice tidy white neighborhood. I’m saying it’s best I leave on my own terms while the leaving is good. The after will have to wait for another time.”

  Romano stood silent. She turned and he stepped forward and ran her zipper up. Harmony didn’t figure him for a man to beg. Though she did consider he’d force his will. Instead he withdrew and watched her with a piercing stare. She collected her stockings and garter and wished she had kept her purse. She caught a glimpse of her tussled hair in the mirror and averted her gaze. She’d pull her hat down low on her head. Sugar Hill didn’t sleep at night, but dawn was relatively quiet.

  “And if I hear anything on your brother?” Romano asked? His gaze tracked her every movement. Would he stop staring! It made her nervous as hell, and clumsy.

  “You can send word to the club. Right?” Harmony headed for the door. When Romano didn’t move from the window she stopped. “Thank you for… everything. Your help, I appreciate it.”

  He dismissed her and returned his attention to the window. She couldn’t catch her breath until she was halfway down the stairs. To her dismay the maid waited for her by the door. She held her purse, coat and hat out to her. Harmony accepted them both avoiding the older woman’s eyes. She barely crossed over the threshold before the door slammed behind her. She fast walked down the steps to the street. There was no way she’d catch a cab or anything in this neighborhood. She looked down the sidewalk realizing the walk ahead of her with the sun rising to her back wasn’t quite wise. She really hadn’t thought her exit through.

  “Mr. Romano wants me to take you back into Harlem. To The Cotton.” A man appeared out of the shadows. Harmony nearly jumped from her skin. Was he there the entire time? She stared up at the tall bulky figure. He blew out a long smoky stream from his wide nostrils and then flicked his cigarette to the sidewalk. He stepped on it and squashed the ambers before he headed to the car.

  “Who are you?”

  “Name’s Jimmie, ma’am.”

  Intentional or not she felt crowded when he stepped from the car toward her. She took a cautious step back.

  “I work for Romano. This way.” The giant said, a snide smirk to his face.

  He held the door open for her to enter. Harmony glanced back over her shoulder and her gaze scaled the three-story brownstone. She could see the silhouette of Romano watching her from the upstairs window. He had to have known she’d make a break for it. That’s why he stood at the window the entire time. He had a man outside waiting for her. Guess he wanted me gone too, figures, he got what he wanted. Though what they shared would never be spoken between them again, the effects of his touch still made her doubtful to dismiss the memory. He stepped away from the window and was gone.

  She turned and met the stare of her escort.

  “We leaving or what?” The man asked.

  Harmony straightened her back. She needed to get the hell away from these men and home quick. God help her, where was her brother?

  ***

  The sun bled warmth and slanted slivers of light over his face. It was dawn. The sounds of the chapel bell reminded him of the hour. Two weeks in the cobblestone walled in cellar, sleeping on a cloth cot Father Michaels gave him had been a new form of torture. Slowly he sat up, placing his bare feet down on the cold slab of concrete. He dropped his head in his hands. Even the light from the single window above didn’t chase away enough of the grey. Shadows covered him. A cool empty feeling had settled in his hell and left him without hope. He didn’t want to die. To live he’d have to survive this nightmare. At night he had the run of the sanctuary, but in the day he had to remain quiet and wait.

  The sound of the heavy door being forced open didn’t surprise him. Willie didn’t bother to look up.

  “I brought you breakfast.” Came the familiar grunt from his visitor. “And a bottle of hooch to pass the time.”

  Willie chuckled deep in his throat. He was only a month shy of his eighteenth birthday but he’d been drinking hooch with Lewis since he was twelve. Mony didn’t know. Grams suspected but never said. Now the mere idea of drinking any of the whiskey made his chest tight with anger.
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  “How long?” His head lifted from his palms and he narrowed his glare. “You said things would be resolved now. When is it done?”

  “It’s done when it’s done Will. You know how this ends. Now eat. I’ll stay awhile…”

  Willie tensed at the offer. “You staying?”

  His visitor smirked. “For awhile.”