by K. D Clark
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by K.D Clark
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.
First paperback edition October 2019
https://kdclark.blog/
Also by K. D. Clark
Merciless Queen: A Mafia Romance (New York Capos Book 1)
Twisted Judgement (New York Capos Book 2)
Fallen Judgement (New York Capos Book 3)
Apprehension (New York Capos Book 4)
Admission (New York Capos Book 5)
Prologue
She had changed into flats and a soft sweater for the prison visit. The sleeves on the sweater were long enough to cover her tattoos. It helped to look like an innocent wife visiting her criminal husband than someone working for the Mafia. The brownies in the Tupperware container had been bought from the store on the way there. The guard led her through white brick hallways, into the visitors’ room. Gavin sat at one of the tables dressed in the orange jumpsuit. A new bruise was on his left cheek, right below his eye. She sat down with a fake smile plastered on her face. Her hand stroked his cheek where the bruise was.
“My poor baby, what happened?” She asked.
The guard cleared his throat. “No touching, Ma’am.”
She dropped her hand and glared at the guard until he moved closer to a family of four.
“What’s going on out there?” Gavin whispered.
Straight to business. Cassandra rolled her eyes. The act was up.
“What do you want to know, Gavin?”
“You told them I wanted that gun money going back into the Casino, right?” he asked.
“How long are you going to try to keep this up? Huh? You’re in here for life.”
Gavin’s hands clenched into fist on the metal table.
“You don’t think I know that? I’m the one in here every goddamn day,” he said through clenched teeth. She fell silent. She didn’t want to argue today. It was the same thing every time she came for a visit. She wasn’t even sure how he was getting all the information he was about what was going on in Cosa Nostra. She figured he must have a connection on the outside. Someone other than her. She didn’t ask because she wasn’t supposed to. Even with a husband in prison she still had to play the role of the innocent mob wife.
“Tell me about the gun money,” he said.
“Yes, it went back into the Casino. It’s clean,” Cassandra replied.
He nodded. “Let them know we need to start moving the shipment that’s about to come in to the building on Broadway. FEDS are still hot on our trail since my arrest.”
“Yes, our trail. Not yours,” she said.
Gavin leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He was done with the conversation. She stood up taking the brownies with her and left.
Chapter One
Cassandra
Cassandra cracked her neck and let out a breath before opening the office door. Her heels clicked against the hardwood floors as she made her way to the dark cherry wood desk, her back facing the rest of the room. She grabbed the grinder and rolling paper that she had laid out the night before next to her gun. She made work rolling a perfect blunt while ignoring the eyes she felt on her back. Licking the blunt one more time she turned around and leaned against the desk. Placing her hands on the edge of the desk, she was giving everyone a slightly better view of her chest in the tight tank top. She had picked it out for the club tonight. She preferred her office at the club. As opposed to this older one she owned not far from the shipyard. Two of her men, dressed in black Armani suits, sat in chairs against the wall staring at her and waiting. The other four stood around the room arms clasped behind their back. She rolled the blunt slowly between her fingers.
“I have another meeting in five minutes, so let’s get on with it.”
She caught the eye of her underboss, signally him to start.
Giovanni coughed to clear his throat. “The new gang we’ve been hearing about on the street—they go by Black Spades—they’ve done some serious damage tonight. Killed three of our men coming out of Calvin’s bar.”
“Those men were protecting Mario,” Ronnie, one of the capos, spoke up from the corner. “There is no way they could have known where he was much less get ahold of his men.”
Cassandra continued to twist her blunt between her long manicured fingers for a moment before gently setting it down to dry.
“What’s the word on the street?” she asked.
“Word is there’s a rat,” Calvin, another capo, said.
In an instant, Cassandra reached behind her and grabbed the Beretta M9 she had sitting on the desk behind her. She aimed at Mario who was sitting in one of the chairs and pulled the trigger before anyone had time to flinch. Blood splattered the wall behind his limp head. The man sitting next to him scurried out of his chair flipping it over in the process but not before blood splattered on his suit. With her gun still in hand and aimed at the now dead man she looked around the room meeting the eyes of every man before placing the gun back down on the desk. The only one who looked truly unbothered was her underboss, Giovanni. Throughout his time in the mob, he’d seen just as much shit as her.
“I’ve smelled a rat for a while now. How sad you all let your friends and family die before figuring out that rat was standing right beside you,” she said slowly making sure every one of them felt the weight in her words. She gave Mario an easy death for such a big crime, but she wanted to make a point. A heavy silence filled the room. The men looked down either at the floor or somewhere across the room avoiding her eyes.
“Carlos or Mario, as we knew him, has been feeding information to the Cartel since last month. Yet! You come to me now suspicious of a rat! Balordo!” She spat, “Clean this shit up! And next time before you come to me with your fucking suspicions, how about instead you just bring me a body.”
She placed the perfectly rolled blunt between her lips before lighting. No one moved as she inhaled. “I want this cleaned up and everyone out by the hour and make sure to cut out his tongue. I think our friends in Mexico might like a gift.”
Chapter Two
Andre
Andre sat at the far end of the bar as Cassandra approached. He watched as she raised her hand an inch signaling for the bartender. Her long brown hair was pulled up in a high ponytail letting the pink ends fall to her back. She leaned against the bar and typed something out on her phone. She wore tight-fitting jeans and a pink tank top that matched her hair and showed off her sleeve of tattoos. Her tattoos traveled from the top of her shoulder all the way to the henna-like symbols on her fingers. She didn’t look like the boss he had imagined. She was easy to spot, stuck out like a sore thumb. The club that she owned, Tempest, was upscale enough that she seemed a bit out of place. Women in short glittery dresses surrounded her, but it didn’t seem to faze Cassandra at all.
“That’s her?” Matteo, his right-hand man, asked. He was sitting in the barstool next to Andre sporting an almost identical suit.
Andre nodded. “Yea, that’s her.”
He downed the rest of his whiskey while a long island was placed in front of Cassandra. She winked at the bartender as a silent thank-you. She took a sip and turned around to lean against the bar. Andre slipped off the barstool and made his way to stand in front of her.
“Long island, huh?” he initiated.
Cassandra
She kept her eyes glued to her phone, ho
ping he would get the hint. It started to ring, and she quickly picked it up and put it to her ear. She waited for someone to speak.
“It’s done,” Giovanni said.
“Good, gather everyone to meet here; we need to have a sit-down.” She hung up not waiting for a response. She should have been tense considering the drama that had unfolded in her office earlier as well as the terrible meeting she had just come from with her business partner, but the blunt she had smoked kept her head clear and focused. She needed to talk to her capos about what was to come next. Someone was in their streets digging into her profit, and it wasn’t the Black Spade as they’d suspected. The sound of a throat clearing brought her out of her thoughts. She ignored Andre and took a sip of her drink. She thought he would have gotten the hint by now.
“You look…,” Andre stared to speak.
“Beautiful, I know. Can we move on? Why are you still standing here?” she snapped her voice laced with venom. She didn’t have time tonight to be bothered. She finally turned her head up and looked at the guy. He wore a fitted suit that outlined his muscles that bulged underneath. His hair was pushed back out of his face, he had a five o’clock shadow, and his blues eyes pierced into hers looking strong and confident despite the fact that Cassandra had stomped all over his pride. Instead of backing away and mumbling something incoherent under his breath like most men she encountered. He stepped closer to her giving her very little space between his chest and the bar. If only he knew the danger, he’d just put himself in. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leo, her bodyguard of sorts, stand from a booth he was sitting in ready to take care of this ballsy guy. She shook her head slightly indicating for him to sit back down. She could smell winter mint gum and whiskey on the man’s breath as he spoke.
“I’m standing here because it’s 2:00 a.m., and in a few hours, I would like to wake up to you wearing nothing but my T-shirt.” His voice came out husky, and Cassandra took a deep breath ignoring the sudden throbbing between her legs. She wasn’t used to men standing up to her much less being so blunt. She appreciated his honesty. She cocked her head to the side.
“Do I look like the kind of girl to just let you take me home?” she asked, finding her voice again.
“When you get out of your sit-down. I’ll be here.” Andre turned his back and walked back to the stool at the end of the bar.
It took a moment for Cassandra to snap out of the daze that the mystery guy had left her in. She downed the rest of her long island and headed back toward the dance floor to clear her mind. Her heels clicked against the floor as she weaved through dancing bodies until she made it upstairs to her office. After shutting the door, she sat at the large marble desk before opening the top drawer. She pulled out a jar of the best California weed, Blue Dream, and rolling paper and then made work rolling a joint. She needed a clear head for her sit-down with the capos. She needed to make them aware that she had taken care of one rat and she needed everyone on their toes. Someone had inserted themselves into her streets. Profits have been down, and more fights have been breaking out. The last thing she needed was to be thinking about the stranger downstairs. She finished rolling her joint and set it on the table waiting for it to dry while she checked the time on her phone. She liked to do business late while most of the world was asleep that way she could move under the radar. Her father had taught her that long ago when she was a child. She had asked him why he didn’t work during the day like her mother. He’d never hidden anything from her. That was one of the reasons she’d been able to make it as the first female boss of Cosa Nostra. She had given up the idea of a normal life long before she could even dream of one. Cosa Nostra was her life. She had just lit the joint when a knock sounded on her door.
“Come in,” she yelled.
Calvin stuck his head through the door. “They’re ready for you, Boss.”
Cassandra took a long drag of the joint before tossing it in the ashtray and making her way out the door.
Andre
He listened to Cassandra’s heels clicking fast against the empty dance floor before she passed him. Her hips swayed in the tight jeans drawing attention to her curves. She had let her hair down, and it hung past her shoulders. Almost everyone was gone from the club now, and the bartender kept giving him dirty looks as he cleaned up clearly ready to go home.
“You didn’t forget about me; did you, Amore?” Andre yelled after her.
She turned around on her heels not missing a step and continued walking backward.
“Of course, I did.”
She smiled before turning back and walking out of the door. Andre ran after her, the rising sun blinding him as he opened the club door. Grabbing her around the waist he pulled her body close to his. Cassandra froze, and Andre didn’t miss the way she put her hand up to stop the man who had been leaning against the black SUV parked on the curb. He looked like he was ready to put a bullet through Andre’s head. Cassandra turned around in Andre’s arms and gave him a look that would have had most men running with their tail between their legs.
She tilted her chin up to look him in the eye, “You’re bold, aren’t you?”
Andre shrugged. “I’ve been told.”
“What’s your name?”
“I’ve already told you. What’s yours?” Cassandra laughed at his question, and he pushed her body closer to his. He was sure she could feel his hardness pressing against her stomach.
“Oh, so you don’t know? That’s why you would dare grab me around the waist Sei stupido?” she asked cocking her head to the side. Andre leaned down so his mouth was at her ear. His five o’clock shadow brushed up against her cheek.
“I know exactly who you are, Cassandra De Luca.”
Cassandra laughed again. “And you trust me to be in your bed?”
“No.”
Cassandra smiled. “Smart man.”
Andre said nothing else instead unraveling his arms from her waist and grabbing her hand.
Cassandra
She let him lead her to the parking lot behind the club. A white Lexus was the only car left with windows tinted too dark to be legal.
“Wall Street guy?” Cassandra asked as she slid into the heated leather seat. It was obvious this guy had money. From the suit, it would make sense he worked on Wall Street or something of that sort. Andre ran his hand through his short black hair. She didn’t miss how his biceps flexed under the suit jacket as he did so.
“Something like that.”
Andre pulled out of the parking, and she took a look around the car to maybe get a clue to who this guy was. Most people kept enough junk in their car to at least give a hint to what kind of person they were, but the car was completely empty. It still had the new car smell, and she could bet money it was bought some time this week. She looked over at Andre. He seemed to relax, and she wondered who he was. Once people found out her name they usually run in the other direction. The news was pretty fascinated with the Mafia and loved to throw her name around for some extra views but very few knew what she looked like. That’s how she liked it. Another thing her father had taught her. The best bosses are like a ghost.
“Your men are following me,” Andre stated, his eyes flickering to the rearview mirror. It was just Leo, but she didn’t correct him figuring it was better if he thought a whole gang of men were in the SUV behind them.
“They better fucking be.”
Andre shot her a glance with his dark-blue eyes that had her throbbing all over again. She reached her hand across the console and let it rest on his thigh, making it clear exactly what she wanted from this night. Nothing more, nothing less. She could feel his length growing hard under his suit pants. The tension in the car only seemed to grow as they got closer to Andre’s building. They pulled into an underground parking garage of a tall building. Andre cut the engine and went around to open Cassandra’s door. The elevator doors had only just closed when Andre pressed the PH button and had Cassandra trapped between the elevator wall and his body. He wrapped
her hand around her wrist and brought them over her head. Her breathing picked up as his mouth went to her neck. She leaned her head to the side letting him have full access. His teeth bit into her skin. It sent a shock throughout her whole body. She wiggled one hand free and reached in-between them and felt his hardness underneath his pants. She rubbed it slowly feeling the length. He let out a groan before grabbing her hand again and pinning it back to the elevator wall. Cassandra was already out of breath as he stared down at her, his blue eyes piercing into hers.
“Tonight, I’m in charge. Got it?”
Scared to use her voice Cassandra only nodded, and he bent back down to nibble on her neck. Her back lifted off the elevator wall trying to get closer to him, but he only held her wrist tighter keeping her trapped. Andre’s kisses trailed down her neck across her collarbone and to her cleavage. Cassandra moaned as his lips bit down on the side of her exposed breast. The elevator stopped, and Andre let go of her hands only to pull her through the open elevator door and into the dark penthouse—the only light was the slight rose-pink color that peaked through the curtains of the window as the sun rose. Cassandra followed Andre trying not to trip over anything. They made it to a bedroom, and Andre had her up against the wall again trailing kisses over her neck, breast and pulling up her shirt to kiss a line from the top of her stomach down to her jeans. He was quick to pull down her jeans and wait for her to step out of them. He stood back up, and both hands grabbed tight on to her ass. He then lifted her up, and she instantly wrapped her legs around his body. She could feel him through the thin material of her panties as he pressed against her. She wiggled against his length causing him to make a deep groaning noise before walking her over to his bed and all but throwing her on it. He stood from the bed and stared down at her while undoing his cuff links.
“Take your clothes off,” he ordered as he continued to undress.
