The Banker

by Penelope Sky

  I could slip my hand into her hair and kiss her then and there. I could rumple the sheets with our sweaty bodies. I could make her come just the way I fantasized about. But being with one woman hadn’t been my taste in a long time. It became too boring to be exciting. Now I always had two women at once—and even that was becoming tedious.

  Siena wouldn’t be any different.

  She scribbled some notes then came back to me. “Since this room is primarily just for you, I thought we could go with dark and sultry images, of women and historic landscapes, unless there was something you specifically had in mind. I have a few clients who prefer to decorate entire rooms inspired by a single artist.”

  I heard everything she said, but I didn’t really take it in. I watched her lips move and focused on the way her sexy mouth opened and closed. Glimpses of her tongue reminded me of the way it felt in my mouth. “Whatever you think is best.”

  Bates joined me at the bar. Instead of going to the club right away, we met up for a drink in Florence. I left Tuscany because I had work to do in one of our offices in the city. Bates was managing another just down the road. The trouble with having a big company was two people weren’t enough to keep it running. Neither one of us trusted anyone else to delegate any high-profile work, so it always fell to us two.

  Bates clinked his glass against mine. “How’d it go with Siena?”

  She’d been on my mind a lot lately. It surprised me how she could walk into my home and remain professional, when our initial meeting had been anything of the sort. Maybe she was just trying to get a job at the time, but no woman kissed like that unless she enjoyed it. The fact that I had no idea what she was thinking or what she wanted was a turn-on in itself. Women were so brazen with me, throwing themselves at me with little respect for themselves.

  Siena was different.

  “Took her on a tour of the house. She already has a lot of ideas.” I stared at the TV in the corner and ignored the woman who was staring at me from across the bar. I had a whole phone book of women I could contact for a dirty night. There wasn’t much excitement in the chase anymore. Like an animal that already had a carcass by its side, there was no reason to go out and keep hunting.

  “Married?”

  “No idea.” I never asked because I didn’t care if a woman was married. Her husband could hate me all he wanted, but there was nothing he could do about it. If he didn’t want his woman to hook up with someone else, he should be a better husband.

  “Boyfriend?”

  I took another drink. “Does it matter?”

  “I suppose not.” He rested both of his arms on the table as he fisted his glass.

  I still wanted to fuck this woman, but I didn’t have any claim on her. I’d never made a claim on any woman in my life. It would be strange to start now. “But since she works for me, lay off.”

  “Her job won’t last forever, so that’s fine.”

  Even when she was finished, I didn’t like the idea of her screwing my brother. Bates would be down for a one-on-one, so he could give her exactly what she wanted. “Let this one go, Bates.”

  Instead of taking a drink, he lowered his glass and looked at me.

  I felt his stare on my face but ignored it.

  He kept up the look. “If you want her, why haven’t you done something about it?”

  “Already did.”

  He ignored his drink altogether, far more interested in our conversation than booze—which was a first. “So, she really did turn you down. That’s a first—and Cato doesn’t like it.”

  “That’s not what happened.”

  “Well, what did happen?” He turned on his stool so he could look at me better, ignoring the TV I was looking at along with the pretty women in the bar.

  “Saw her in a club. Kissed her. Took her back to my place—but she bolted when she saw Christina.”

  “So she’s that kind of girl.” He nodded slightly. “Not the adventurous type.”

  “I suppose.” I took a drink.

  “How did she end up being your art buyer?”

  “One of my men said she was the best.”

  Bates, the most paranoid person on the planet, simmered with hostility. “You don’t think that’s an odd coincidence?”

  “Yes. I asked her the same thing. I noticed she’d been following me for a while.”

  “How long?”

  “A few weeks. She was at the bakery outside one of our offices, watching me. I caught her off guard and confronted her about it.”

  “Interesting.”

  “In the end, it seemed like all she wanted was this job. Claimed to be researching me so she could figure out exactly what I liked and didn’t like.” I wasn’t the kind of man who believed people so easily, but her story fit. She was clearly passionate about her job, and she’d been at the gallery for many years. “She’s ambitious and driven—and was willing to do anything to get the job.”

  “Except a threeway.”

  I shrugged and took another drink.

  “I don’t know about her, man.” Bates turned sinister, the anger slowly coming into his eyes. “We can never be too careful.”

  “I agree. But I think she’s harmless.”

  “You just think she’s harmless because she’s beautiful.”

  “No.” The more beautiful they were, the more dangerous they became.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her. Don’t trust her.”

  “Fine with me.” As long as he wasn’t fucking her, I didn’t care.

  “If you want this woman, why haven’t you made it happen? She was just at your place a few days ago.” When the tension in the conversation faded away, he turned back to the TV and scanned the people in the bar.

  “I’m not a one-on-one kinda guy.”

  “Not even for one night?”

  I shook my head. “If I’m bored with two women, you don’t think I’ll be bored with one?”

  He clinked his glass against mine again. “Touché.”

  “And she won’t change her mind.”

  “Must be a good girl.”

  It seemed that way. She had the kind of beauty that could capture the soul of almost any man. The curves of her waist and lips weren’t the only sexy things about her. Her eyes drew me in the deepest. So bright and intelligent. And the way she strutted into every room like she owned it made me respect her. Instead of jumping into a threeway she didn’t want, she decided to walk out and find a better alternative. She wasn’t the kind of woman to make a sacrifice for someone else.

  And I wasn’t the kind of man to make a sacrifice for anyone else.

  Maybe the sex would be incredible. But we were just too stubborn to find out.

  8

  Siena

  Bones sat across from me at the table in the bar, looking furious from the second he took his seat. Covered in tattoos and awash imminent threat as he was, not even his pretty eyes could make him seem harmless. His muscles stretched his t-shirt, and his broad shoulders looked like a solid wall. A glass of scotch sat in front of him, and he downed it quickly before he ordered another.

  “Thanks for coming.” Now that I’d had a tour of Cato’s home, I realized it would be impossible for me to pull any kind of stunt—at least with my skill set. I could win a shootout and fight off a grown man, but to kidnap someone so protected was impossible.

  “You aren’t welcome.” Both of his elbows rested on the table, and he sighed as he glared at me. “I’m only here as a favor to Crow. Make it quick.”

  “How do you know him?” The Barsettis seemed to have a connection to everyone in Italy, from the Skull Kings, to the mob, and even politicians.

  “He’s my father-in-law.”

  It took a moment to process his confession. “You’re married to his daughter?” Bones seemed too dangerous to be part of the simple life Crow described. He was hostile and aggressive, a man with a reputation for blood lust.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh…I didn’t know that.”

 
“Don’t blame him for being ashamed. Now get on with it. My wife has a Barsetti attitude, so if I’m out too late, she’ll raise hell.”

  “Yeah, of course.” I pulled out the rough drawing I’d made of Cato’s home in Tuscany. The dimensions weren’t perfect, but I had a good schematic of the place. “I got a good look at the house. It seems like there’re five staff members at all times, and the outside wall is protected by a security detail of at least thirty men.”

  Bones didn’t even glance at the schematic. He kept staring at me, his hostility rising. “You’re kidding me with this bullshit, right?”

  “Bullshit?” The only way I was going to pull this off was by collecting every ounce of information possible. Maybe Cato’s home in Tuscany wasn’t the best location, but his building in Florence was even worse.

  Bones pressed his finger into the page, his eyes still focused on me. “You think you’re gonna overpower him and somehow sneak him past all these people?”

  “Overpowering him will be the easy part.” Nothing a syringe couldn’t handle.

  “So, your plan is to drag a 200-pound man out the front door?” His jaw tensed noticeably, filled with rage.

  “No. I’m asking you for advice, which is why you’re here.”

  “I already gave you my advice.” He pushed the paper toward me. “You want this guy? You need to fuck him.”

  “And what will that accomplish? He’ll screw me then forget about me like all the others.”

  “Then make sure he doesn’t forget you.”

  The last time, just when things got hot and heavy, Cato threw a curveball and expected me to share his bed with another woman. Regardless of how open-minded I was, that wasn’t a course of action I would take. “Even if I could pull that off, what then? If I get him to like sleeping with me, how does that get me closer to saving my father?”

  “When a man is obsessed with a woman, he can’t think straight. It’s the only situation where he can be manipulated or misled. Get him wrapped around your finger and deep in your pussy, and you can get whatever you want.”

  I didn’t appreciate the crass way he spoke to me, but I liked his candor. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who could speak any other way. Brutal honesty was the only way of life he knew about. “I’m an experienced woman, but if Cato is obsessed with threeways, I don’t think there’s anything special I can offer him.” Even in lingerie with a kinky trick up my sleeve, there was nothing that could surprise him.

  Bones took a long drink from his glass then wiped his mouth with the back of his forearm. With the same irritation in his eyes, he looked at me. “I remember the moment I fell in love with my wife, even though I didn’t realize what was happening at the time. She was just some woman I wanted to murder for revenge. But the second I fucked her, it was game over. She took all the power—and I surrendered.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “Wait, you wanted to murder your wife?”

  “Yeah, long story.” He brushed it off with a wave of his hand. “But my point is, I was thinking clearly before I got between her legs. The second I was there, all my ambitions were destroyed. She became my biggest obsession. Like she was a drug, I couldn’t stop until I got the next hit…and then the next.”

  “How romantic…”

  His hard expression didn’t change. “That’s what you need to do with Cato.”

  “You’re simplifying it. Were you screwing lots of women before her?”

  He took another drink. “Yes. And I was into kinky shit too.”

  “Well, I can’t control Cato’s reaction to me. The idea of him becoming obsessed with me seems unlikely. This guy gets more ass than he knows what to do with. I’m a talented lady, but there’s nothing I can do to impress him.”

  “My wife just lay there—and that was more than enough.” An evil grin stretched across his face.

  “Well, maybe she’s your soul mate.”

  His smile dropped, but the intensity in his eyes deepened. “I don’t believe in that bullshit.”

  “Then what other explanation is there?” I didn’t believe in true love or soul mates either. My own father wouldn’t protect my mother, and now I was being threatened with rape and death by his enemies. If he’d spent more time loving us instead of trying to gain more power, I would be living a normal life right now.

  He shrugged. “Till this day, I still don’t know.”

  “Well, that definitely won’t happen with Cato. He’s not my type. I’m not his either.”

  “All women are his type,” he said. “Has he tried getting you into bed since?”

  Cato didn’t say much when we were together, but I could definitely feel the tension in the room. His eyes always scanned my body, and he blinked so little, sometimes I wondered if he needed to blink at all. “No.”

  “Cato is the kind of man who always gets what he wants. Maybe defying him is your ticket.”

  “I just said he hasn’t tried to hit on me.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything. He wanted you before, and you took off. It’s unfinished business for him.”

  “Maybe.”

  “The best way to stand out is to be different. Denying him definitely makes you different.”

  I tried to follow his logic, but I came to a dead end. “You said I needed to fuck him, but now you’re telling me not to?”

  “I’m telling you to play hard to get. When I met my wife, she wasn’t afraid to tell me off. She wasn’t afraid to shoot me. She stood her ground when other women would have melted. It was that spark that captured my obsession to begin with—because she didn’t need me.”

  What kind of relationship was this? “Your wife shot you?”

  His grin returned to his face, full of sincerity. “Yeah.” He rubbed his left shoulder, like he was remembering the pain from the wound. There was no denying the pride in his eyes, like that memory was holy to him.

  “Alright…” I didn’t understand how a relationship based on such violence turned into a marriage, but asking more questions wouldn’t make me understand it better. “Well, I’m not gonna shoot Cato.”

  “Then keep him on your line—and slowly reel him in.”

  “And then fuck him and hope it goes well?” I asked incredulously, despising myself for sinking so low. No one would judge me for sleeping with a man to save my father’s life, but I wished there was a better way to do this.

  “You have no other option, Siena. Even if you had a team of thirty trained men, getting him away from his guard and making the handoff would be impossible. Not only would your father die, but you would die too. It would accomplish nothing.”

  “So if I make this happen, then what?”

  “You’ll have to gain his trust. Then the two of you go off somewhere together—alone. You have Damien wait for you there.”

  “I never see Cato go anywhere alone.”

  “I know.” Bones nodded in agreement. “Which is why he’ll need to trust you. Have him take you away for a romantic evening or something. All you need is a thirty-minute window. You guys make the trade, and then you run for it.”

  That was the only plan that seemed feasible. Plotting an escape from one of his residences would be futile. There was no way I could pull this off under these circumstances. Getting him alone and away from his men was the only possibility, and for that to happen, he would need a reason to want to be alone with me. Sleeping with him really was the only way this would work.

  Bones watched me from across the table, examining my expression as I gripped the glass in front of me. “Your father is an asshole. No one would blame you if you left him to his fate. It’s his fault he’s in this situation—not yours.”

  I stared at my glass as my fingers felt the condensation on the outside.

  “He had his chance to walk away—but he didn’t.”

  Crow had given me the same advice. I lifted my gaze to look at Bones again. “As much as I don’t want to do this, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try. He’s my father…my blood. Lo
yalty is the most important thing in this life.”

  Bones opened his mouth like he was going to argue with me, but then he closed it again as if he’d changed his mind. He gave a slight nod instead. “I understand.”

  “I don’t know how Cato is mixed up in all of this, but I’m beginning to feel bad for what I’m about to do to him.” He wasn’t the kind of man who trusted anyone. He didn’t even seem that warm to his own brother. If I successfully tricked him, it would destroy him. Was he innocent the way I was innocent?

  “Don’t feel bad for him. He’s not a good man.”

  “He’s not?” I whispered.

  Bones shook his head. “His money isn’t clean. He’s the richest banker for a reason—because he uses blood money.”

  “What’s blood money?”

  “He acts as the treasurer for all organized crime. When the mob needs cash, they call him. When the Skull Kings need to hide their cash, they call him. When they need to borrow money for a weapons deal, they call him. Cato Marino knows about all the crimes against humanity because he funds most of them—and makes a profit each time. He doesn’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his way. His finger doesn’t stay on the trigger for long.”

  I felt a tremor move down my body when I realized who I was dealing with. This man was pretty on the outside but murderous on the inside. He had more power than anyone I’d ever heard of. “No wonder Damien wants him gone.”

  “I’m sure Cato is funding competition. If they can get rid of him, the nucleus binding all the organizations together, it would be chaos. A free-for-all. There’re just as many people who want him dead that want him living.”

  And I would be the one to make it happen.

  “So, don’t feel bad. Cato Marino is just as evil as I am.”

  After listening to Bones speak so highly of his wife, I didn’t feel afraid of him. “You don’t seem so bad.”