by K. D Clark
She thought about arguing and telling him he wasn’t invited nor did he know where she was going. Instead, she said nothing and followed him out to the parking garage to the waiting Lexus. She slid into the leather seat. She started to have flashbacks to what had almost occurred in that backseat just a couple weeks ago and she felt herself blushing.
“Where are we—”
“Just relax.” He cut her off. “Do you trust me?”
His dark-blue eyes locked with hers. She hesitated. She thought about the file her father had shown her earlier in the day. Andre hadn’t given her any reason to suspect. He was anything except the businessman he claimed to be. Otherwise, she would have shot him back in the apartment. So why was she so scared?
“Yea, I trust you,” she said.
A small smile crept on to his face. “Good. Put on your seat belt.”
She did as she was told, and he pulled out into the empty street. She watched out the window as they drove through the quiet city, a few late-night restaurants and bars lighting up the sidewalk.
*****
“I’ve never been here,” she admitted taking another lick of her ice-cream cone. Andre had bought her one after they had gotten tacos at a small hole in the wall Mexican Restaurant. The sound of the flowing river put her at ease despite the cold Chicago breeze blowing across her face and through her hair.
“You’ve lived in Chicago your whole life, and you’ve never been to the river-walk?”
She shook her head. “OK. I’ve been to the river-walk obviously but not like this. Not just to stroll around and enjoy it. No one has ever taken me and then…I got busy.”
Out of the side of her eye, she looked at Andre, quiet and unbothered by the cold. He looked so comfortable and calm, it gave Cassandra a piece of mind, but she couldn’t help questioning this whole situation. She had never gone further than a one-night stand, let alone going out for ice cream and a walk in the middle of the night especially without Leo close by. It was reckless. She didn’t care. Andre made her forget about being the tough mob boss she was supposed to be in front of her men and the rest of the world. She had almost forgotten who she was before she took over as boss, but being with Andre gave her a glimpse into the old Cassandra.
Andre
He felt a ping of sadness for the woman walking beside him. She seemed so tough and put together, but there was so much she had missed out on. Although Andre was a boss himself, he had worked his way up aspiring to be where he was at. He knew from his research she didn’t have friends, never went into a club or bar, that she didn’t own, and every day was spent working.
“What else haven’t you done?” he asked.
She shrugged it off. “I don’t know, probably a lot.”
“Let’s make a list.” He stopped walking and turned to face her.
“A list of what?” she asked as she continued to eat her ice cream. The dirty thoughts that were running through Andre’s head every time she took a lick of ice cream made his body shudder.
“All the things you haven’t done. A bucket list and I promise to scratch every single one of those things off.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Every single one?”
“Whatever you wanna do, we’ll do it.”
She smiled, a glow lighting up her face, something Andre had rarely gotten the pleasure of seeing.
“Okay, a bucket list it is.”
She continued walking along the sidewalk that lined the Chicago River. The wind had picked up, and she wrapped her jacket tighter around herself.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Us.”
“What about us?”
She hesitated. “Is this,” she made a motion between the two of them, “Really what you wanna do? You know who I am, what I do.”
“And I’m still here,” he said.
“I’ve killed people.”
He nodded unbothered.
“I’ve done horrible things that I can never take back, and sometimes I feel like something is wrong with me because I don’t always feel guilty.”
He nodded his head again. Her words meant nothing to him compared to the equally horrible things he had done in his life. She fell silent.
“If I was scared of who you are or what you do I would have never walked up to you at the club let alone take you to my bedroom. Everyone has done bad things…” he trailed off catching himself before he spilled too much. If only she knew the equally terrible things he had done back in Montreal to become the boss. He wanted so badly to relate to her and comfort her with his own stories, but he held himself back. She didn’t seem to notice the hesitation.
She let out a sigh her shoulders visibly relaxing. “So we’re doing this?”
“I would like to think so. It would be nice if I could stop breaking into your apartment.”
She smirked trying to hold back a smile. “Where did you even learn how to pick a lock?”
He smiled. “Let’s just say I was a bad teenager.”
She nodded. “I’ve never had a boyfriend.”
His eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yea, I’ve had a husband…but it was arranged.”
“Oh?”
“My father prepared me for this life from the time I could talk. I wasn’t surprised when he decided to step down and arranged for me to be married to the next boss.”
He couldn’t imagine a man arranging for their own daughter to get married. They stopped at the short brick wall, both sitting down on the ledge as she continued.
“His name was Gavin, and like most made men he expected me to be the typical mob wife. Dinner on the table by 7 and don’t ask questions.”
She scuffed throwing the rest of her cone in the nearby trash can. Grabbing the ponytail holder off her wrist, she swept her hair into a high ponytail.
Andre smirked. “I’m guessing you weren’t great at that.”
“I played my role for a little while. Until it nearly drove me mad. My father wasn’t aware that my husband was keeping me out of the loop. Women have always been looked down upon in Cosa Nostra. Expected to cook and clean, produce babies, and never question what their husbands do. Many men have mistresses whom their wives are fully aware of, but they don’t say anything. I was happy for Gavin’s; it meant he left me alone most nights.”
He stayed silent waiting for her to finish, but he couldn’t help but be angry at her father. He put in a tough situation and for what?
“He got arrested but refused to step down. He got sentenced to life. He was giving orders through me. Still trying to run the mob as if he wasn’t sitting in a prison cell.”
“I’m guessing that didn’t go over well?”
Andre could only imagine the chaos that would erupt if that happened in Montreal.
She scuffed and shook her head. “Someone sent a hit, killed him in jail. When that happens there is supposed to be a vote on who the next boss. I decided there would be no vote. I wasn’t about to become just another mob wife. I was bored out of my mind. Calvin, Giovanni, and Lucas backed me up the most. They helped sniff out the ones who weren’t happy with a woman being their boss. Exposing the men who wanted to shove a knife in my back. My father had taught me well and here I am.”
They were both silent for a moment, listening to the sound of the wind and the river. He couldn’t totally be angry with her father because it turned out well in the end, but he couldn’t help but think there would have been another way to get the same result.
“Thank you,” he said taking her hand in his. Rubbing his thumb over the back of her smooth skin.
Her eyes flickered up to his face. “For what?”
“Talking to me.” She seemed to understand what he meant.
“You’re welcome.”
They stayed like that for a while, sitting on the brick wall, watching the river, neither of them saying a word. Between the two of them, he felt something he hadn’t expected and he wondered if she felt it too. Once Cassandra’s head rested on his shoulder, th
ey made their way back to her apartment. He held her tight to his chest as she slept in the dark room. The only noise was her soft breath and the wind outside. He realized there was nothing he could do to hurt her. He needed to break into the illegal businesses in the States, but he couldn’t do it by means of the beautiful woman beside him.
Her hair was pulled up in a ballerina bun at the top of her head. The butterflies in her stomach hadn’t subsided all day. This was finally her time, and she expected bloodshed. She expected uproar, but she wasn’t being held back any longer. Giovanni was already at her father’s house. It was a tradition to have the vote for the next boss in the presence of the previous boss. Since Gavin was dead, her father’s house it was. It was supposed to be simple. The men would sit around and someone would nominate whom they think should step up as boss. The men would vote and then they would celebrate. Calvin texted her.
It’s time.
She stepped out of the Range Rover and walked into the house. She had learned to shoot a gun when she was six, but the feel of it at her waistband felt out of place. Her heels echoed off the floor as she walked through her parents’ mansion. She heard voices upstairs. Her father had made her aware that her mother would be out this evening—at least that way her mother wouldn’t be subject to the violence that was about to unfold. She made her way upstairs and into her father’s office. He stood at the front of the room while the men chatted around him. Several men turned their heads, surprised to see Cassandra step into the office, but no one said anything. Probably, out of respect for her father. Calvin flashed her a smile from across the room. She nodded in his direction. All of the men were dressed in suits. She looked completely out of place in her jeans and tight T-shirt, but it wouldn’t matter. Her father cleared his throat, and the men quieted.
“As you all know it’s time to choose a new boss. This decision should not be taken lightly, for the person voted today will stand as boss until the day they die or in my case, retire. I will step out while nominations are placed and the vote is finished.”
Her father left the room squeezing her shoulder as he passed her. Giovanni cleared his throat, and she readied herself. It was now or never.
“I nominate Cassandra,” Giovanni said.
All eyes turned to her. She stood up straighter.
“Ha, enough playing around Giovanni; we have work to do,” one of the men said.
“He’s not playing around.” Cassandra stepped forward, taking the spot her father had just left. “And there will be no voting tonight,” she continued.
“Alright, this isn’t a game, girl. You might be able to be Gavin’s little messenger, but you’re out of your mind if you think you can stand up here and become the actual boss of Cosa Nostra.”
“And why not?” she challenged him.
Someone else spoke up. “You know nothing about Cosa Nostra.”
Her voice lowered. “I know everything about Cosa Nostra. The two biggest money makers for us right now are Cocaine and Prostitution. Cocaine comes straight from the Dominican, usually from shipping crates and 18 Wheeler. Gian has done a great job running the prostitution side of the business. He’s clearing it through his own restaurant which makes us look a hell of a lot better. Gun smuggling can be better, but we’ll get there. I was born into Cosa Nostra, and my whole life has been surrounded by it. I’m not asking for your vote; I am telling you that I am the new boss of Cosa Nostra.”
“Oh, bullshit!” One of the men yelled and stood up from his chair.
She nodded at Calvin. He pulled the gun from behind his back and shot the man in the shoulder. The other men ducked, and the man screamed out in pain.
Giovanni handed her a blunt and Cassandra smiled. “Any more questions?”
Chapter Seven
Andre
When he arrived at the office the next morning, Matteo was leaning over the receptionist desk and flirting with the new girl. Matteo had hired her, claiming that it would help make everything seem more legit, but now Andre was wondering if it was for a different reason. Andre ran a hand over his face making his way to the back conference room. He had left Cassandra sleeping peacefully, while he snuck out to get donuts to leave her when she woke up. Now that he was out of the apartment, he could feel the weight on his shoulders. He had been in the States for too long and wasn’t making any headway. They were making money on the streets, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to get into the arms deals, find a bigger connect for their drugs, tap into gambling. He needed better men and more brains. He decided to call Felix in Montreal, telling him to get his top earners on a plane and down to Chicago.
“Things not working out as planned with the Cagna?”
“Call her that again, and I’ll have you stuffed in a body bag.”
“Sorry, Boss,” he mumbled no doubt surprised by Andre’s reaction.
“I need more men here by Wednesday,” he snapped before hanging up. There was a soft knock at the door.
“Go away, Matteo,” he grumbled. The door opened, and Matteo swaggered over to the chair on the other side of the desk ignoring Andre’s sour mood.
“Good job hiring the new receptionist. I think she’ll fit in great,” he said leaning back in the chair.
Andre ran a hand through his hair. “You hired her, Matteo.”
“Did I?”
“What do you want?”
“Someone is in a mood.”
His blood was beginning to boil; it wasn’t often he got irritated. He was usually calm and laid back, scary when he needed to be, but this morning was not going as planned.
“This isn’t fun for me, Matteo.”
Matteo’s thick eyebrows fumed together. “What isn’t?”
Andre waved a hand around the office. “This! I can’t stand coming here every day like this is real. I’m a fucking hamster on a never-ending wheel.”
Matteo nodded seeming to understand. Matteo loved the business world; he was great at negotiating and selling people things they don’t need. That is why Andre had picked him for a partner on the legal side of things. Plus it kept Matteo in the clean so to speak.
“What’s going on with…” Matteo started to ask.
Andre raised his hand cutting him off. “If you say a Cagna I will cut your tongue out.”
Matteo’s face broke into a smile. “Ahh, so things are getting serious?”
Andre stood up grabbing his suit jacket from the back of the chair, no longer able to stand to be in the office a second longer.
*****
Andre spent the rest of the day checking on his men who were in the streets and making sure the product was still outselling Cassandra’s. It was something he didn’t really need to do but couldn’t find anything else to occupy his mind. At three o’clock he headed back to her apartment. Like he expected Cassandra was just waking up. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a loose bun, his T-shirt barely covering her ass as she was bent over rolling a blunt on the bedside table. He leaned against the door watching her for a moment. He had been with many women in Montreal, mostly to occupy his time and give him some stress relief. As he watched the woman in front of him licking the seal of the perfectly rolled blunt, he had never seen someone so beautiful.
The small cat walked up to him and rubbed its head on Andre’s pants.
“Are you going to say something or keep standing there?” she asked as she set down the blunt.
“How’d you know it was me?”
She shrugged. “Leo texted me you were coming up.”
Andre walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He expected her to push him away but instead, she seemed to melt into his arms. Her hair smelled like strawberries.
“Does he always sit outside like that?”
“No, he usually comes inside and watches the news. I’m sure he’ll stay out there now that you’re here.”
“Good.”
Cassandra
His voice came out deep and husky. Cassandra shivered in his arms. His lips dipped
to her neck. She leaned into his embrace as his hands traveled from her waist down to her hips. She turned around in his arms looking up at his face. His eyes dark and filled with desire. She felt that familiar heat in her stomach as he laid a soft kiss on her lips. The kiss was softer and gentler than the last few times he had kissed her. He shoved her playfully, the back of her knees hitting the bed. She giggled as her back slapped the mattress. Kneeling on the bed he hovered over her.
“I love that sound.”
“What sound?” she asked.
“You. Laughing. I want to hear it more. Are you ticklish?”
Cassandra’s eyes widened like a saucer; she shook her head.
Andre smirked. “You’re a bad liar.”
He reached out to grab her sides, but she was too fast rolling to the other side of the bed. She stood up and meet his eyes, determined.
“I don’t like to be tickled,” she stated.
He smirked. “What too much fun for a mob boss?”
He stood to his feet and dived for the other side of the bed, but once again she was too fast running to the kitchen behind the island.
“I can have fun!”
Andre scuffed. “Then come over here.”
“Getting tickled is not fun.”
Andre ran to the kitchen island cutting her off before she could make it to the other side of the island. He picked her up and flung her over his shoulder as she kicked, screamed, and laughed.
“Andre! Put me down!”
He made his way back to the bed ignoring her tantrum and flung her back on the mattress. She scurried to get away, but Andre was faster lifting her arms up and pinning them above her head. She stopped squirming, her face was probably red. They looked at each other waiting for their breathing to slow.
“So now what?” she challenged him.
He used his free hand to slowly travel from her knee, up her thigh and rested right before her underwear started. Her breath hitched as his fingers lightly danced over the cotton. She tried to wiggle free, but his other hand held firm against her wrist. His finger slipped beneath her underwear, and she clamped her mouth shut trying to stiffen the moan.
“No, no, let me hear it, Amore.”
