by Bethany-Kris
Dino understood perfectly well what Theo was saying.
Maybe the cops were waiting on him.
Why, Dino didn’t know.
“You’re clean, right?” Theo asked when Dino didn’t immediately reply.
Dino bristled, feeling as though Theo had just thrown one hell of an accusation at him without a care in the world. An accusation that burned like acid.
“If you’re asking if I have recently gained the same affliction our father had and turned informant for the police, I haven’t.”
“That’s not—”
Dino stepped away from his brother, not willing to hear whatever it was Theo planned to say to him. “Later, man.”
Theo cursed under his breath, but instead of saying something else, he wisely chose to head back inside the club. Of course, not without tossing another look over his shoulder at the men still casually leaning against the car.
Now, unfortunately, those men had turned their gazes on Dino.
He made every effort to avoid the police on a good day, but being involved with the Outfit meant he always had someone watching him—usually FBI. He was almost positive they had a damn board dedicated to just him, and everything they knew about him and his position within the Outfit. Any made man got that sort of attention from the officials, and even those who weren’t made, but liked to make a fucking spectacle about their affiliation to the mob probably had their own special place in the cops’ hearts, too. If nothing else, because cops had a habit of building cases over a period of time, and then using what they had as a threat of sorts against the man to frighten them with serious jail time, or … turning rat.
Dino was not immune to that tactic simply because he had a Capo title.
Especially considering his uncle was the underboss of the operation, and Dino’s own father had once been a rat for the officials, it all swirled around to leave him with a big, fat bullseye on his back. He wasn’t sure if they thought he was the weak link in the chain that made up the Chicago mob, or what it was, but over the years, Dino had been approached more times than he cared to admit by police. They almost always approached him under the pretense that they just wanted to talk.
Nothing else.
Talk.
Dino wasn’t up to talking with police, so like he had all the times before, he kept his head down and focused on getting the hell out of their presence as soon as he possibly could. Apparently, it wasn’t going to work with these men, not that he thought it would.
“DeLuca, got a minute?” the shorter of the two detectives shouted at him.
Glancing up at the overcast sky, Dino blew out a heavy breath and silently told whoever was supposed to be looking out for him up above that they could take a flying fucking leap off the closest high wall.
“Not today,” Dino said never once giving the men his attention. “Busy day; call my lawyer and he’ll set up a time.”
Dino was even kind enough to rattle off the number to his lawyer for the fools, hoping to God that they would take the hint and run with it.
Run far away from him.
“It’s not the sort of thing you need a lawyer for, DeLuca,” the other detective said.
The two detectives crossed the few parking spaces between their car and Dino’s, putting less space between them until there was nothing left but a couple of feet. It instantly made Dino nervous, setting him on an edge that forced him to balance carefully between publicly acceptable behavior with police that wouldn’t get him arrested, and privately acceptable behavior for the Outfit that wouldn’t get him fucking killed.
It was the kind of edge no man in the Outfit wanted to be put on.
It was exactly why they all avoided cops like the plague.
It only took one single whisper from one person to another that someone else had been seen talking to cops like they were friendly and there the man would be—fucked.
He might as well have signed his own death warrant.
Dino did not want to be that man.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Dino slightly turned his shoulder and back to the detectives, letting them know he wasn’t open to talking while also making his body language clear for anyone else who might see that he didn’t want or invite this attention. It was a game he had learned to play well, especially after seeing other men—men like his own father—be slaughtered for their mistakes with police.
“Are you deaf?” Dino asked, his gaze sweeping the parking lot as he spoke. “Or did you not understand when I said I’ve got a busy day?”
“We understand.”
“Then take a hint and get lost.”
“We’re good. Agents Stanley and Courtly from—”
“Fuck,” Dino uttered, pulling his keys out and hitting the unlock button on the fob.
Yeah, he’d messed up.
He’d assumed the two were just plain-clothed detectives come to rattle his chains like the many times before. He certainly hadn’t thought the two were FBI as those fucking idiots rarely bothered him unless something big was about to go down.
Dino had just grabbed the handle of the driver’s door when the agent stopped him by saying, “How many businesses do you own in Chicago, DeLuca?”
Christ.
“A few,” Dino answered.
“Do you use all of them for Outfit business, or just the club?”
Dino didn’t know what the agents were getting at, but he didn’t like it. His teeth grinded in his effort to stay quiet, but he still spoke even though he knew he shouldn’t. “What does the FBI have anything to do with my business? Chicago PD getting lazy and they called you in? I’m pretty sure my business is below the level of the Bureau.”
“War on crime?” the taller of the two—Courtly—asked.
Dino scoffed. “Right—the war. Like the war on drugs that actually only created more drugs. Or the war on guns, which only left Chicago with more bodies piling up. If that’s your mode of operation, you people are fucking failing. Miserably. Try again.”
Agent Stanley stepped forward, a strange smile curling his lips. “Keen observation skills you have there, Dino. I bet it does you well as a Capo, huh?”
“I’m not even going to respond to that.”
The man shrugged. “Didn’t think you would.”
Agent Courtly glanced around the parking lot. “Three-hundred-million this year was dedicated to fighting the war on crime, but of course, we all know that starts at home, right? How much Outfit business is tied to overseas trading and exporting? How much business is tied to importing? We’re just doing our jobs, DeLuca.”
“And I’m done wasting time on this today,” Dino replied, opening his car door.
He had just slid inside his vehicle when Agent Stanley grabbed the edge of the door, keeping Dino from closing it completely. The agent didn’t even grace Dino with his attention when he demanded he let go, given he wasn’t under any sort of arrest and they had no reason to be bothering him.
“Thought we’d give you a heads-up,” the agent said quietly. “Maybe give you a chance to do something worthy with your life.”
“What are you talking about?” Dino barked.
The agent looked Dino right in the face, and smiled. “Seems someone is out to make a mess for you.”
What?
That question seemed to be the story of Dino’s life lately.
Instead of asking the agent to explain himself again—he knew damn well he wouldn’t get a decent answer—Dino pulled hard on his door, forcing the man to let go or get all of his fingers broken when it slammed shut. Thankfully, the fool let go, leaving both agents standing outside of his car as Dino started the engine, backed out of the parking space, and pulled away with tires squealing against the pavement.
But even as he drove away, his mind was frozen.
He was stuck on the whole encounter, as strange and random as it had seemed. He was one person who knew all too well that no matter how odd something seemed, coincidences did not exist in their life.
Dino could still hear the agent’s words all too loudly in the back of his mind.
Someone is out to make a mess for you.
What did that mean?
What in the fuck does that even mean?
Dino decided he would have to figure that out later, because at that moment, he had far more important things to consider. Like the fact the agents had specifically thought to mention his club, and the business that he conducted inside.
That was more important.
That was something he could handle immediately.
Hitting the call button on the steering wheel, the car’s Bluetooth turned on, chiming loudly with instructions.
“Call Theo,” Dino said.
Seconds later, the call rang through. It took three rings for Theo to pick up, and for that, Dino was grateful. Sometimes when his brother was in a mood, he wouldn’t pick up a call from Dino at all. He certainly hadn’t left his brother with the best attitude at the club.
“What?” Theo demanded when the call connected.
“We’ve got—maybe, I don’t know—a problem.”
Theo sighed harshly, the sound crackling over the speakers. “Speak in a language the rest of us understand, Dino. I don’t have time for bullshit today.”
Fine.
If that was the way Theo wanted to do things.
Dino could do that.
“Clear out the club,” he demanded. “Everything related to the crew—the books, dope, whatever—get it out.”
Theo balked. “All of it? It’ll take weeks to get the whole crew up to speed on new details and—”
“Do what I said. Get it out before tomorrow morning. Make damn sure nothing is left, and wherever you move it all to, it’s not connected to another one of my businesses.”
Dino wasn’t taking risks.
He didn’t know what was going on exactly, or what might happen.
But something might.
That was all that mattered. Something might happen, someone was watching, and he was not going to get caught up in the mess that was left behind when it did go down.
“The detectives?” Theo asked, clearly choosing his words carefully.
“Not detectives—agents.”
Theo cursed heavily.
Dino understood the feeling.
“All right, I’ll get it cleaned up,” Theo finally said. “What about your other businesses—you hide money in those books, Dino. It’s not as easy to clean that up, you know?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
The club would have to do, Dino knew.
The rest … the rest would have to wait.
Or he would have to deal with it.
“What are you doing right now?” Theo asked.
Dino stared out at the road ahead of him, barely blinking an eye as he sped up a bit more and passed another line of slow moving vehicles. He knew exactly where he was heading because it seemed to be the only place he ever wanted to go when shit was not going as planned and he needed a break.
Karen.
Of course, he wouldn’t tell Theo that.
“Business in Wicker,” Dino settled on saying. “I’ll be at the club in the morning as usual. Make sure what I asked for has been done by then.”
That was all Dino would offer.
Karen was still untouched by the Outfit.
He intended to keep her that way.
THE most beautiful sight, Dino decided, was Karen sleeping with navy blue sheets tangled around her body in a disarray as though she’d been tossing and turning. Her naked legs peeked out through the sheets, and the swell of her hip drew his gaze upward to where her hand rested on his side of the bed.
His side.
It was a strange thought, and certainly not something he was used to thinking. Or even having, for that matter.
Dino knew it was true. Despite how strange their relationship was, and how he often came and went without any real explanation, it was true. Karen never complained, and she often smiled at him come morning when she found him tucked into her bed with his arm slung around her waist, keeping her tight to his body.
She never asked for more.
That was probably what Dino loved the most about her.
It was also what scared him the most.
Would she wake up one day and want more?
He didn’t know if he could give it to her.
Silently, Dino shed his clothes and slipped into the bed, his arms finding Karen’s waist as he dragged her closer to him and then buried his face in the crook of her neck.
She smelled like heaven and home.
With her, he didn’t dream horrible things, or at least not as often.
With her, he was calm and content.
With her, there was peace.
The very second he was in her bed, surrounded by soft sheets where he could soak in her warmth and pretend like the outside world didn’t exist, everything was perfectly fine. The thoughts that had constantly plagued him on the drive over disappeared, melting from his mind without a second of hesitation.
His worries were gone as he pulled her body closer into his, thoroughly enjoying how well her curves fit into his hard lines. It was her day off from the restaurant, and in usual Karen fashion, he wasn’t surprised to find her sleeping in. Dino didn’t want to wake her from the dreams she was so clearly enjoying—if the lax expression of happiness on her features was any indication—so he was extra careful not to wake her.
It took every bit of willpower he had inside not to get her up just so he could pull those sheets away and explore.
Dino knew she wouldn’t complain—hell, she’d probably be happy he had woke her up—but he liked to watch her sleep, too.
This was good.
“Hey,” he heard whispered.
Her raspy voice made him smile. Apparently, he hadn’t needed to wake her up; she did that all on her own.
“Didn’t mean to wake you,” he said, kissing her bare shoulder.
Karen stretched in his arms like a little kitten waking up from a long nap. “This is good, Dino.”
Like always, he could only stand to have Karen naked and in his hands for so long before he was acting on the thrumming lust washing through his veins. Her breathless laugh echoed in the apartment when Dino rolled them over, putting her on top of him. All her caramel waves tumbled over her shoulders, and he sifted his fingers through the strands, enjoying the silkiness.
It wasn’t long before she was lifting her hips, her hand snaking between her thighs to grab the base of his cock, and then she was lowering down.
Painfully slow …
Tight, wet heat engulfed his length and for one suspended moment, the world was right and lovely again.
With Karen, it was always lovely.
“Jesus,” Dino grunted out as she settled on top of him fully.
Karen’s lips curved into a sensual, pleased smile. The sleepiness hadn’t fully left, so that dazed look in her eyes made her seem almost high. Her teeth cut into her bottom lip as her hips shifted, and every silken inch of her pussy clenched around his cock, holding him tight and taking away his breath for that split second.
“This is how you wake up,” Karen whispered.
Dino had to agree, even if he wasn’t the one being woken up. Whatever she wanted in that moment, he was inclined to agree with her, as long as she kept circling her hips like she was. It was driving him fucking crazy.
In a good way.
“Karen,” Dino said.
“Mmm.”
Her lashes fluttered over her cheeks as her eyes closed, her body lifting and lowering down on him slower than before. Each time she came down, he felt that telltale tremor crawl over her skin, and she seemed to heat right up under his hands.
“Hey,” he said, the word catching slightly in his throat.
Karen swallowed audibly, her tongue peeking out to wet her lips, but she never once opened her eyes. “Yeah?”
Dino’s hand traveled up the flat expanse of her st
omach, between the valley of her breasts, and stopped at the column of her throat. The delicate line of her shoulders shuddered as his fingers wrapped around her throat, and her pulse drummed hard under his hold. Never too tight, he knew, but just enough to let her know he was there, that he could feel her life beating under his fingertips.
Then, her body lowered on his a little faster—harder.
His free hand found the dip in her waist, his fingers digging in hard enough to leave the imprint of his touch behind, but she didn’t seem to mind the roughness.
In fact, she sighed.
And smiled again.
Dino let out a shaky breath, willing the pressure building in his spine to leave, if only for a moment. Fucking Karen was a dream—one he never wanted to wake up from. Still, he wasn’t quite ready for the dream to end, and if she continued what she was doing, it was going to come to a stop a hell of a lot faster than both of them wanted.
Of that, Dino was most sure.
“Look at me.”
His demand came out harsher than he intended it to, but that was only because he was so focused on the way Karen looked on top of him with her head tossed back as she rode him, that he couldn’t tamper the desperation coloring his words.
Karen didn’t seem to mind as her eyes flew wide open instantly, seeking him out as her hands came to lay flat on the railroad path of his abdominal muscles. If anything, that bit of leverage gave her the ability to ride his cock faster than before.
“You’re going to make me come,” Dino warned.
Her teasing smile said that was exactly what she wanted to happen.
He wasn’t ready to yet.
“Have I told you,” Karen said, a breathless quality curling around the edges of her words, “that you’re the most beautiful when you’re fucking me?”
Dino’s hands squeezed her a little harder. “Beautiful is the word you want to use?”
“Real. Raw. Ridiculously beautiful. Pick one.”
He didn’t need to.
It was how she seen him, not the other way around.
It wasn’t for him to decide.
