by Hart, Gemma
“You the new numbers man?” a gruff voiced said from behind.
I whirled around, my hair nearly whipping me in the face. Behind me stood the notorious Roy Desmond.
Six feet tall and over two hundred and fifty pounds, the man was a force to be reckoned with. His eyes were flinty and low and his face covered in rough stubble. He gave me a suspicious glare that made my toes turn numb.
But steeling myself, I nodded and said, “I don’t know much about the man part but yes, I’m your new accounts manager.”
A brow rose at my response before Roy huffed a laugh and walked around towards the large walnut desk that sat across from me.
That was the cover I had been given.
Roy Desmond was very paranoid. Increasingly so with age. He had multiple accountants taking care of different parts of the family business with only him at the top knowing all of the workings. That way, it was hard for any one accountant to steal from him and it was nearly impossible for any of them to testify against him. They only knew what he allowed them to know.
And now Roy was looking for a new accountant for some new deals that he clearly didn’t want to have any of his older hands managing.
“And you’re perfect for the role,” Agent Hadfield had said. “You have literally no record and your job history with the Bureau can be obfuscated. You’ll look like a clean slate to Desmond, which is exactly what he would want.”
“Wouldn’t experience matter?” I had asked, unsure about the plan. “Experience in something illegal, I mean?”
Agent Truman huffed a laugh. “Hell no,” he said. “Desmond hates that. If you’ve dabbled in crime, it means you’re criminal and can’t be trusted, as batshit as that logic is. He likes to hire clean people and they don’t come any cleaner than you.”
Aside from the fact that I work for the freaking FBI.
Roy sat with a loud grunt into his thick leather armchair. He gave me another long hard look.
I tried to look nervous (which wasn’t hard at all) but also competent and calm. I had to show him that I was ready to take on whatever kind of crooked work he was about to dole out to me.
“You’re the first broad to ever have this job,” Roy said.
I didn’t know how I should respond. I wasn’t surprised by this information.
“But when I asked my men to look up someone good, you came up in the pile of candidates. And you have a good background. Worked for Camden & Lane, did you? Prestigious firm,” he said.
I nodded. “For a year and a half,” I responded. “I was their executive accounts manager for the domestic end. But I do also have some experience with foreign accounts.” And then I gave that all up to join the FBI but let’s keep that to myself, why don't we.
Roy stared at me for a moment longer before giving a shrug. “Whatever, sweetheart,” he said. “In the end, who cares if you’re a woman or a man? As long as you get your shit done and keep your lips closed, I could give a flying fuck who was doing the work.”
Who would’ve thought a criminal kingpin would be more progressive about gender equality than the FBI? Color me surprised.
“I have some deals coming up soon,” Roy said vaguely. My thighs tensed. Agent Hadfield and Truman were quite sure I was being hired to manage the Juarez deals but we wouldn’t have firm confirmation of that until I began working.
“I need a good pair of eyes to make sure it goes through smoothly,” he said. Roy made an expansive gesture with a hand. “I also want you to clean up some old deadweight that was left by your predecessor.”
That stopped me short. My predecessor?
Roy grinned, showing off two gold teeth, when he noticed my reaction. “He got a little too nosy and a little too greedy for my tastes,” he said abstractly. “And I don’t like keeping people like that around.” He fixed a steely gaze directly on me.
For half a second, I had almost forgotten who I was talking to. But looking at the mobster in front of me, I realized that this employer doesn’t fire you when he’s unhappy. He kills you.
I knew this mission would be dangerous. I had prepared for that. But no amount of mental preparation is enough to prepare you for the real thing. To sit in front of a man who has killed possibly hundreds of men and can casually mention another hit like he was talking about the weather takes a lot more out of you than any mental exercise can prepare you for.
“I understand,” I said in a clear voice.
Roy nodded. He looked out at the archway where two guards stood sentry. One of them made a gesture towards him.
“Fine then,” he said, rising heavily to his feet. “I have other matters to see to. An escort will come by and pick you up. Wait here.”
And without so much as a goodbye, he left along with one of his guards. One guard remained by the archway though, clearly ordered to watch the new hire.
I sat back and sighed.
The escort would be taking me to my new rooms. Roy Desmond was too paranoid to let his employees live wherever they wanted. If you worked for the Desmond family, you lived where he told you to live. And Agent Hadfield and Truman had told me that since I would most likely be working on the Juarez case, I would be right under his thumb.
I was about to move into the Desmond Family compound.
I ran a hand through my hair, accidentally loosening the careful bun I had pinned in this morning. My whole body felt as exhausted as if I had just run a marathon. As soon as I got to my new room, I was going to pass out.
But, I thought with a small smile, I did it. I was hired. I had passed the first hurdle.
My plan to show the Bureau just what I was made of was already on its way to success.
I looked across the desk at the plush leather seat. I knew a large part of the success was actually thanks to Roy Desmond. My real target was Marco Desmond and I had worried that he would be present during my interview. I didn’t know how I could possibly keep a straight face in front of Roy Desmond while simultaneously trying to seduce his son, Marco Desmond.
No, it was good and extremely lucky that I wouldn’t see Marco until much later. That way I could prepare myself and possibly learn a little about what made him—
“Who the hell are you?”
I froze in my seat, not wanting to turn around. That voice was definitely not the gruff and grizzled voice of Roy Desmond.
No, that voice had a low timbre of power with a steely edge of strength. This was a different voice. But it couldn’t be. I had just been thinking about how lucky I was.
Slowly, I turned in my seat.
There in the archway, standing tall and broad like a Greek statue, stood Marco Desmond, the son of the most powerful mafia in the country.
And he was glaring right at me.
Chapter Four
Halle
“Who the hell are you?” Marco repeated.
I immediately stood up, nearly knocking my chair back in my haste. I watch with my heart in my throat as Marco stepped into the den, walking straight towards me.
The man was tall. Much taller than I had expected. I had of course seen his file at the FBI and all his stats but seeing every inch of his 6’4 frame hover over me was a lot different than reading it on a piece of paper.
Even with a suit on, I could tell every ounce of his body was pure muscle. You could see it in the way he walked. His every movement was controlled. There was a grace to him that spoke of the immense power he held back. I had to crane my neck back to look up at him.
Standing only inches from me, he leaned down, his lethally dark eyes close to mine.
“I said,” he drawled quietly, his voice like an ice cube down my spine, “who are you?”
“HalleMargot,” I said in one quick breath. Fisting my hands, I tried to remind myself of my mission. With a small smile, I said again in a softer, slower voice. “I’m Halle Margot.”
Marco carefully looked me over. From the top of my head to the toes of my shoes, his gaze roved over me. But unlike the chauvinist training agent wh
o had done the same, Marco’s gaze left me on fire. Every part of me burned in the wake of his gaze.
“Well, Halle Margot,” he said slowly in a voice that sounded like dark caramel, “what the hell are you doing here?”
Remember, you can’t be seductive if you’re shaking. So man up, Margot!
Giving him another smile, I said, “I’m your new accounts manager.”
An eyebrow rose. “My accounts manager?”
“Well, the Desmond Family’s, I mean.”
Marco stared at me for a moment, his face suspicious. “I wasn’t told we were hiring a new one,” he said slowly, clearly bothered at this lack of information.
I shrugged. “Well, I just spoke with Mr. Desmond right now and he’s hired me to manage some new transactions.”
Marco ran a tongue under his lip as he seemed to measure me up. “He hired you to do that?” he said.
I bristled at his tone of voice. Did he think I couldn’t do it? I wouldn’t think the younger Desmond was less progressive than the older one.
“Yes, he did,” I said with a bit of emphasis in my tone.
A glimmer suddenly entered his eyes. The corners of his lips twitched upwards in a way that made my heart stammer. He leaned closer to me.
“You’re telling me a girl with your face in a place like this was hired to manage accounts?” he said slowly, his voice rolling and low.
“Well, what else would I manage?” I nearly snapped from nervousness. My eyes widened almost immediately though at my words. I could’ve bitten my tongue.
A knowing grin finally crossed his face, transforming him from gorgeous to dangerously seductive. He reached out and grabbed my hand.
I pulled back instinctively in surprise at his touch but he kept his grip and pulled my unwilling hand towards him. His large hand nearly swallowed my own, easily closing around my wrist.
He placed my hand on his chest. I could feel the heat of him radiating through his shirt. The steady bump bump bump of his heart pulsed beneath my palm.
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. He began to trail my hand down his chest. I could feel every carved muscle across the planes of his stomach. Was nothing on this man soft? He felt like he was carved from marble.
I sucked in a sharp breath as he kept pulling my hand lower, past his waist, past his hips.
“What do you think you can manage?” he said, amusement clear as day in his voice.
My hand was just inches away from the growing hardness below when a voice called out from behind us, “Miss Margot? I’m here to escort you to your rooms.”
I immediately pulled back in surprise and this time Marco let go.
I stared up at him, breathing as hard as if we had just been fucking right on the floor in plain sight.
His hooded eyes were warm and sultry as they looked me over. A faint smile still played at his lips.
“Miss Margot?” the escort called out.
I licked my lips, my throat feeling suddenly quite dry. “Yes, yes,” I answered a little breathlessly. “I’m coming.”
A flicker of amusement passed through Marco’s eyes at my last words.
I pushed past him towards the waiting escort.
I definitely need to bite my tongue out.
Chapter Five
Marco
She was too blonde.
I lounged in my leather seat as I watched Roy introduced his new accounts manager to Gus and Vance, the two highest ranking members of the Desmond Family, aside from myself.
“She’ll be taking care of the new accounts,” Roy said broadly, giving Gus and Vance a quick, knowing look. The men quickly caught on.
Gus gave the girl an amused look. “It’ll be something have a woman around these parts,” he said, meaning the parts of the compound where business was conducted.
It was true. There were basically no female members of the Desmond Mafia. It was just the old tradition of having the criminal world remain a man’s world. I’m sure Gus and Vance were surprised by Roy’s decision to hire a woman.
But I wasn’t.
Everyone knew Roy was always a control freak and quite paranoid about uprisings and dirty dealings. He’s definitely survived more than a few assassination attempts. And in his older age, he seemed to only be getting more batshit paranoid. So it made sense that he would think that hiring a woman was a clever move.
He’d met every type of man—the cowards, the weak, the foolish, the deadly. He probably figured hiring a woman who seemed upstanding and moral would undercut all the problems he’d had before. Perhaps even bolster his confidence in having a quiet little mouse of an accountant.
I quirked my head as I watched Halle shake hands with the men. I could tell she was trying very hard to avoid my gaze. I couldn’t help but grin at her futile attempts at ignoring me.
It was obvious by how much she ignored my general direction just how badly she really did want to look.
She was a little on the petite side. Curvy and lusciously stacked and despite her drab business wear and her severe bun, she still managed to somehow convey an air of delicacy and fragility.
It was easy to see how Roy could think this woman was a proper lady who had never dabbled in anything unsavory and had just happened to fall into this kind of crowd. He knew the right kind of salary could swing a person into a shadow they never thought they’d cross.
But I knew better.
Looking at her again, I thought, she’s too blonde.
Her hair actually wasn’t that blonde. It was a very deep golden honey blonde. And despite its severe look right now, I could tell that if I were to pull that bun loose, her hair would flow into a silky waterfall down her back. Suddenly, I had the overwhelming urge to feel that silkiness against my bare chest as I held her from behind, her hips pressed against my hardening—
I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat.
No, it wasn’t just the blondeness. It was that there was something…different about her. No one who is truly moral and upstanding would dare work with the Desmond Mafia, no matter how high the salary. There is something else at play here.
But it was hard for me to think that this girl was truly an aspiring criminal. I squinted a little, trying to figure her out.
Then it hit me. It wasn’t that she was too blonde. It was that she was too light.
She literally looked like a girl off a toothpaste ad. With sweet full lips and glowing blue eyes, she had a soft face that wasn’t what people would call gorgeous. No, they would call it—lovely. She was lovely.
I snorted to myself.
Was I turning into some kind of fucking poet now? Lovely? Who says that anymore?
But it was the best word I could think of for this Halle Margot. And for such a lovely girl to be in this den of vipers, it was off putting to say the least and suspicious to say the most.
I didn’t believe for a moment this woman was here solely for the money. This little thing wanted something else.
“And here’s Marco, my son,” Roy said suddenly, his gruff voice loud and aggravating.
I watched with amusement as Halle waited as long as she could before reluctantly turned around towards me.
As soon as I caught her eye, I raised a brow in mock offense, clearly showing that I had noticed her reluctance to look at me.
A rosy blush immediately suffused her cheeks.
Fuck. Roy was insane to hire this girl. She would get pounced on before the week was up. What the hell was the old man thinking?
I stood up in one fluid movement, putting myself directly in front of Halle. I extended my hand. “Hello, Miss Margot,” I said.
There was a pause too long before Halle finally put her hand in mine. I felt her immediately try to snatch it back once the formality of a handshake was over but I closed my fingers around hers, keeping the touch of her against me.
“Show her around if she gets lost and all that,” Roy said with a dismissive tone of voice, clearly bored of introductions. “Some paperwork from pr
evious deals have been put in your office, Halle. Take a look and sort it out. It’s some kind of mess and I don’t want it laying around like that any longer.”
Before Halle could respond, Roy and his men took their leave, leaving her right within my paws. Literally.
I hid a smile.
Halle watched Roy leave then turned around slowly, raising her eyes at me in a way that reminded me of a doe in a glen.
