Ruthless Queen

by K. D Clark

  “Cass, do what you have to do, but make sure you have to do it.”

  She turned and left, Leo following close behind.

  * * *

  Andre paced his office as Liam updated him through the speaker phone. Things were starting to come together but he knew he had to go back soon.

  “I think the FEDS are on to something new from what my mole tells me.” Liam said.

  “Good that’s what we want. Talk to me about the money.”

  Liam was silent for a moment and Andre stopped his pacing. The money was what was important to him, it’s what made this whole life worth it.

  “Liam…” Andre warned.

  “We don’t have a lot out here Boss, gambling is not doing well.”

  “What do you mean its not doing well?”

  “Something’s going on someones coming up short.”

  Andre sighed pushing his hands through his hair.

  “I can handle it Boss just give me the green light.”

  “No I need to handle it. I’ve been gone too long. I’ll be back soon so don’t get too comfortable.”

  Andre hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. He couldn’t keep hiding in the States while Liam held things together in Montreal. Business was going good here, his men had made their way into the gun trade, dope was selling fast and now that the FBI was off their case he needed to get things moving in Montreal. Everything was at a stand still right now but when he got back it was going to be a different story.

  Matteo cracked the door open and peaked his head in without knocking. “You got a visitor.”

  He waved him in as one of Andre’s main men on the street, Al walked in wearing jeans and a hoodie looking like the typical street thug.

  “What do I owe the pleasure?”

  “We got a problem, Boss.”

  * * *

  Andre barely had time to put the car in park before he ran up the steps to the apartment taking them two at a time. It would take Cassandra a good hour to get back from her parents which means he would have a few minutes to hide all the guns before she got there. He had swept her place before and hopefully, knew of all the hiding spots. Behind the fridge, in the cereal box, strapped under the bed, and next to the toilet. As he got to the front door he hesitated, what if she was already in there? He wasn’t sure what would be waiting on the other side. It wasn’t often Andre felt fear and never from a women half his size, but up until this morning he had never been scared of seeing that side of Cassandra. He knew it was there. The Boss that everyone feared the one that set men on fire and cut off their balls for interrupting her. He wasn’t sure if that Cassandra would be able to rationalize with the one that spent so many nights sleeping soundlessly in his arms, but he knew one thing. No matter what he could never bring himself to hurt her. As quietly as possible he unlocked the door and opened it. The apartment was quiet and as he searched the space. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized she hadn’t made it back yet. Looking around the apartment he ran a hand threw his hair, this was the worst thing that could have happen. He took his suit jacket off tossing it on the bed. He loosened his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. He knew it was going to be hell when Cassandra got here but hopefully if he hide all the guns at least she wouldn’t kill him…maybe. He got to work moving from the kitchen to the bedroom area and then the bathroom grabbing all the guns as he went. He stuffed them all in a far closet just as he heard the door knob click. His jaw clenched in anticipation, she walked in her heels clicking against the floor.

  “Hey.” She smiled up at him. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and he noticed a bag of groceries in her hand. “I thought i’d make dinner since I was up. You leave work early?” She said as she made her way to the kitchen and started unpacking ingredients. Andre raised a eyebrow. He wouldn’t put it past her to play this off like nothing was wrong and poison his food. He quickly masked his emotions not giving anything away as he stepped into the kitchen.

  “How about you let me cook, relax?” He suggested.

  She shook her head. “No, I wanna cook I’m not going to Tempest so we have all night together.”

  Her lips turned into a smile but it didn’t reach her eyes. With hesitation Andre slide into one of the stool, watching carefully as she made her way around the kitchen grabbing various pots and pans. She seemed to be completely focused on her task as she started boiling water. Andre didn’t see any kind of rat poison or anti freeze that she could be slipping into his food but he couldn’t completely relax yet. She finished making dinner as Andre sat on the stool keeping a close eye on her. When dinner was done they ate in silence as Cassandra scrolled through her phone. Andre raised an eyebrow as the phone vibrated against the counter.

  “Its just Gio updating me. OK I’m done, i’m all yours.” She sent a quick text and turned the phone face down on the counter turning to Andre.

  “So what are we doing tonight? We could go on a real date.” Her lips perked up into a excited smile. Maybe his information was wrong. Knowing Cassandra she would have tried to murder him as soon as she walked in the door. He let his shoulders relax. This gave him the chance to tell her himself before she would hate him. How was he suppose to tell the most powerful Crime Boss in the world that he’s played her without being murdered? She scooted the stool back and stood between his legs.

  “Or we could stay in…” His dick was instantly hard from her sultry tone and he grabbed her hips pulling her closer to his body. He would tell her soon but for tonight he would enjoy this moment with her. Her teeth nipped at his throat and then she started trailing kisses along his neck. He fist her hair and pulled her face up so he could kiss her plump lips as his fingers dug into her hips. She let out a moan that made his dick throb against his already strained pants. She rubbed her hand over his pants teasing him and just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore and would grab her to throw on the bed. He was falling from the stool. Her red high heel had came up and kicked right between his thighs. A inch from his strained dick and the stool had tumbled over sending him to the ground. He jumped up as fast as he could but he was too slow. She already had a gun out and cocked at his temple. His heart raced in his ears as he froze.

  “Cassandra…”

  She breathed heavy beside him and out of the corner of his eye he could see the anger in her face. He seen the Cosa Nostra Boss in that moment. Not the women he had come to love but the women who earned her place to lead men double her size and age.

  “You made me into a fool.” She spat her face was flushed with red and her chest rose and fell with each breath. Andre turned slowly to face her the barrel of the gun moving from his temple to the middle of his forehead as he started into her eyes. He could feel the anger rolling off of her in wave.

  “I was going to tell you.”

  “I don’t have time..” Before she could finish Andre swiped her arm to the side. Surprising her he ripped the gun from her hand and threw it across the room. Before he could blink she had a knife out and point at him but from a farther distance. Cassandra tried to control her breathing as she stared at Andre. Her muscles tense with anger as she gripped the handle of the knife. His dress shirt was crooked and wrinkled and his hair was tousled. She expected him to look as angry as she did but all she seen was sadness in his dark blue eyes and it just pissed her off more.

  “You’re going to kill me?”

  “You killed Calvin!” She shouted

  He shook his head. “No I didn’t.”

  “Don’t lie to me.” She spat. “We found one of your men, he ratted you out, I know everything Andre. You’re a snake. You thought you could make a deal with Cosa Nostra by stealing my fucking money and killing my men.”

  Her hand that held the knife shook. She needed to get herself under control and do what she needed to do. She took a long deep breath trying to calm herself. Andre took that as a opportunity and kicked her legs out from under her sending her to the ground and the knife rolling out of her hand. In a m
oment he was on top of her holding her hands above her head.

  “Cassandra…”

  Before he could say anything else she used all her body strength to buck her hips and roll them over so she sat on top of him. She landed a hard punch to his jaw. He heard a crunch but he couldn’t even register the pain. She landed punch after punch onto his hands that were now protecting his face.

  “You. Killed Calvin. And. Then. Comforted. Me.” She said between punches. He rolled them over and pinned her to the ground with his hand on her neck. Not hard enough to hurt her but enough to keep her pinned to the cold hardwood floor. She brought her knee up and she heard him let out a burst of air as her knee connected with his groin. He slide off of her releasing her neck.

  “Ahh Fuck!” He moaned as he rolled on the ground holding himself. She didn’t get up. Instead laying on the ground next to Andre as he moaned. She started up at the ceiling as she caught her breath and once she did the tears streamed down her face. It hurt more then anything else she had felt before as her heart broke wide open and she felt the emptiness. She knew she couldn’t truly hurt Andre. As much as she hyped herself up to have him killed and set out like an example for everyone else in the organized crime world. She couldn’t do it. She had failed and all she could do was lay on the floor of her apartment and cry and cry and cry. Andre had stopped moaning next to her.

  “I love you Cassandra.”

  “No you don’t. I know what love is Andre. My parents are in love and people who are in love don’t use each other to gain what they want. They don’t lie to their face everyday about who they are. This isn’t love. This is business that you disguised as love.” She said calmly all the fight leaving her.

  He shook his head. “No, it started as business but I am in love with you Cassandra.”

  The tears begin to roll down her face again as she stayed quiet.

  “I needed more revenue for Montreal, after the agreement we lost a lot of ways to make money. I came here to get close to you and find out more about how Cosa Nostra made money and later convince you to strike a deal with us or I would steal you business. One way or another I didn’t expect you to be…you I didn’t expect to feel the way I do about you Cassandra. I wanted to tell you so many times but I didn’t want this to end. I was selfish and I’m sorry.”

  She wiped her face and stood up from the floor. She said nothing as she grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter and left.

  * * *

  She wasn’t sure how long she had been driving around but it was way past dark when she pulled back into the parking garage. Leo had followed her the whole time but kept a good distance. She let her mind wander as she drove. She knew she couldn’t get rid of Andre as much as she knew she needed to. Her heart wouldn’t let her, and maybe that made her weak but she didn’t care. When she opened the door to the apartment Andre was sitting up on the bed, shirtless with just a pair of sweatpants on. His hair was slightly wet as if he just came from the shower. He used one hand to scroll through his phone and the other to balance the ice pack he had on his crouch. His eye was turning a ugly color and she felt guilt in her stomach. She wanted him to hurt like he hurt her but it did nothing but hurt her more in the end. He set his phone down and looked up at her as the door clicked shut. They both started at each other not saying anything. She walked over to the bed and sat on the side. She kicked off her heels and took off her clothes until she was in nothing but her bra and panties. He scooted over to make room for her on the bed as she sat against the head board next to him.

  “I don’t know where we go from here.” She admitted.

  He nodded grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers.

  “How about we figure that out in the morning.” His voice came out tired and exhausted the same way she felt. “For now lets just lay here and watch one of those Alfred Hitchcock movies you love.”

  All she could do was nod.

  11

  Chapter Ten

  In the morning it was as if something clicked and one thing became clear. They had to figure this out. Cassandra wasn’t going anywhere and neither was Andre. They sat at the kitchen island in the their sweats both with a cup of coffee in their hand and papers laid out in front of them. Cassandra felt the most clear headed she had in days despite the fact that she hadn’t picked up a joint.

  “What percentage of the money is cleaned through Tempest?” Andre asked.

  Staring at the spreadsheets she had gave him along with a list of all the big names in her organization and their position. All documents that would need to be burned after this was over.

  “Between both of them about 70%. I don’t visit the one in New York much but I have Giovanni check on it every so often. The other 30% goes through the car dealership. The other properties are clean businesses.”

  “You need some more men there?” He asked

  “In New York? It wouldn’t hurt anything and it would get your men out of my streets here. I have Chicago covered. We need to find something permanent you can take over on your own without pissing off my whole organization.”

  “Guns?”

  “Go it covered. What about the Casinos, in Vegas? It looks like your doing well with it in Montreal?” She said looking down at her own pile of papers

  Andre shrugged taking a sip of his coffee. “Its a start I guess.”

  Cassandra grabbed a marker and rounded the island to write on the write board she had set up against the counter. Andre grabbed her around the waist before she could get to it and set her on his lap. He smelled of fresh soap and the stubble on his chin tickled her neck as she leaned into his chest.

  “Are we okay?” He asked in her ear. She didn’t need clarification on what he meant.

  She nodded. “We’re good, Andre.” and she meant it. She had been hurt of course but everything that could of been said, had been and now they were in agreement. It wasn’t going to be instant. They still had things they needed to work on to get back to where they were. For now she felt good about where things were heading. She shifted on his lap and he sucked in a breath of air.

  “Oops sorry.” She said jumping up. Andre’s face twisted in pain. Apparently she kneed him a little harder then she thought.

  “You want me to call the medic to stop by?” She asked.

  He shook his head. “No i’m OK.”

  She wrote Las Vegas on the white board and turned around to see Andre mulling over the paperwork. He was right in his element. He looked like the hard working business man she had original thought he was.

  “Are you sure about the guns? I think you could be making a lot more there. We have our own connect in Canada but if you could offer us a better deal we could work something out.”

  Cassandra thought it over. “Depends on what your deal is. We’re running them ourselves but we don’t have much control over the wholesale price.”

  They went back and forth for the rest of the day locked in her apartment and trying to figure out how this was going to work. No matter what she knew her men were not going to be happy. It was going to take a lot of convincing for them to believe that going through Montreal for guns was a better deal for them. Her men were not stupid and she was sure rumors had already spread about herself and Andre. Mixing business with other organizations could be dangerous. One wrong move could mean a war between them.

  * * *

  “I’m going to have to leave soon.” Andre said interrupting her thoughts.

  They had move their brainstorming from the kitchen to the living room where Chinese take out littered the coffee table. She nodded. She wouldn’t tell him how much she wanted him to stay, even though there was a understanding between them things didn’t feel the same and she wasn’t sure now was the time for him to be going anywhere.

  “I’ve been out of the country too long I need to straighten some things out.”

  She nodded again unfolding herself from the couch and walking to her bedside table. She grab the jar of weed and started to roll a blunt.
She felt arms around her as she licked the bitter rolling paper before setting it down.

  “Your OK with me leaving?” He asked against her ear. The stubble along his jawline tickled her shoulder, he needed to shave.

  “Yea, I get it.” The lie rolled off her tongue easily. It was probably better that he left anyways. That way she could focus on dealing with her own side of things without being distracted. Some space might be nice between them. Give her time to breath and think. Being around Andre made her feel out of control and dazed and thats the last thing she needed to be as she delivered this news to Giovanni and her capos. She turned around in his arms looking up at his face.

  “Don’t lie to me.” He said his face blank, blue eyes narrowed on to hers. He could always tell when she was hiding something.

  She shrugged. “I get it, you need to go back home. You can’t stay gone forever you have a organization to run and so do I.”

  He continued to stare at her obviously not believing a word she was saying. She let out a breath, she wanted to tell him she didn’t feel like everything was OK between them and that even though they had a plan in place and she understood why he lied, whether she liked it or not things had changed. She shrugged out of his arms and picked up the blunt rolling it between her fingers.

  “Focus on your side of the business and I’ll focus on mine.”

  Andre’s jaw twitched where it looked like he was clenching his teeth, but he didn’t call her on her bullshit like she expected him to. Instead he grabbed his car keys off the counter, dropped a kiss to her forehead and then left without saying another word. She didn’t have time to think about Andre being mad at her or the fact that he was flying out of the country. She needed to feel normal again. She needed to get her head back in the game. She lit her blunt taking a large inhale. She slide on a pair of jeans and heels, threw her hair in a ponytail and called Leo to let him know she would be leaving to go to the club soon.