by Soraya Naomi
At first, it unsettles me to delegate tasks. I’m used to taking care of everything on my own. Though, this saves me a lot of time. “That’d be great. Have Janey call me.” I stand up and dip my chin. “I’ll be back later.”
As I descend the staircase in the club, I check my bank account on the app on my smartphone and stop for a second. There’s never been this much money in my account. My mission is accomplished. The agency believes that I’m undercover at the Syndicate, so I have access to classified government documentation and systems, along with the latest arsenal of ammunitions.
While I’ve worked for months to achieve this, all I think about is Rosa. Last night was just a preview of all the pleasure I intend to show her. Wanting to seek her out again, I finish my task quickly and race to Nana to pay off the outstanding bill of her nursing home.
Around noon, I’m contacted while pulling my convertible onto the road.
I look down to where my phone is connected to the car charger and slide my finger across the screen to answer, putting it on speaker so I can watch the road. “Henry?”
“Are you in the Loop?” Henry’s voice booms through the car.
“Yes.”
“I’ve got a lead on Mykhail. He was spotted with a woman in the Loop.”
I’m on alert instantly. “How long ago?”
“Half an hour. An associate saw him going into a store.”
“Text me the address,” I instruct him.
“Okay, I’m on my way too, with Luca. We’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He cuts the call, and I brake at the intersection, veering into the left lane to meet Henry and Luca at the address.
***
I smash open the door with my fists, stepping into a small, nondescript store that sells tons of knick-knacks. A bell rings, notifying the owner of visitors.
Luca and Henry come in behind me, and there aren’t any customers, so Luca locks the door as Henry and I move to the cash register where a pale-skinned, overweight male leaps up from his seat behind the counter.
Henry points to the upper corner of the room at a security camera.
“Good afternoon,” Luca greets the employee, unbuttoning his charcoal suit jacket calmly. “I’m looking for information about a young man who came in here about half an hour ago.”
Glancing warily between the three of us, he asks, “What man?”
“I’m not in the mood to drag this out,” Luca warns. “There isn’t a customer in here, so I’m sure you remember Mykhail.”
“You’re Italian mafia. Get the fuck out.” His hand disappears beneath the counter, and then his arm shoots up as he aims a Glock at us.
After we all duck, I jump forward, knocking the weapon from his hands as he pulls the trigger. The bullet hits a shelf with antique crystal, which topples to the ground with a loud crash. Snaring his wrist, I slam his palm face-down onto the counter and seize the chrome-plated letter opener that’s lying next to it, puncturing the tip of it into his skin with extreme force.
“No!” he howls in an earsplitting tone. Blood streams down the side of his hand as he drops to his knees, impaled to the counter.
There’s a creak behind us, but Luca swoops around the corner, snatching his gun from the inside pocket of his jacket before he levels it at someone. Another man crouched behind a rack surges up, and Luca hooks his arm around his neck, dragging him out to the cash register.
Breathing raggedly, I keep my fingers secured around the letter opener, and snarl, “Well, now that’s out of the way. It doesn’t matter who we are, but I bet you’re Ukrainian mafia?”
“Did Mykhail come to you for help?” Luca demands, his gun pointed at his captive’s temple as he chokes him for a moment.
As Henry’s going behind the counter and checking the security camera feed on the computer, no one speaks because my guy keeps sobbing in pain. Luca sends me an exasperated look, telling me to wrap this up.
I do as I’ve been trained by the Syndicate and instill fear with a fair amount of intimidation. “I’ll give you one chance to answer. If you lie to me – and I will find out – then I’ll return and truly torture you. What did Mykhail want?”
“He wanted to know if we’d seen Dimitri,” he confesses, sweat seeping down his hairline.
“And?” Luca demands.
“We haven’t. We’re not Ukrainian members, just associates.”
“Was he alone?” I ask.
“No. He was with a blonde woman whom we didn’t recognize.”
“The feed’s been erased,” Henry informs us.
“The woman did that,” my man spills easily.
“Did Mykhail say anything about where he’s hiding?” I inquire and lift my arm, pulling the letter opener from the counter with a firm tug and flinging it aside as the man topples backward, sobbing and clutching his bloodied hand in disbelief.
“He didn’t say,” the second one answers. “He left just as quickly as he came in.”
Luca releases his captive and wonders aloud, “So a woman’s helping Mykhail?”
“He has an accomplice,” Henry adds.
“A clever blonde accomplice – it seems,” I conclude before we exit without another word to them.
CHAPTER 19
Rosalia
“What the hell is that?” Mykhail asks around a smile, standing before me and pulling a blonde strand of hair between his fingers.
“It’s a wig from an old Halloween costume,” I reply, perched on the edge of my bed with Adam in my lap. He’s eating a banana and absorbed in his movie, Cars, that’s playing on TV. “The three of us are going out for the first time, and we need to be careful. I’ll take it off when we get to the realtor’s.”
“It suits you,” he teases, tapping Adam’s nose – he’s ignoring us.
“Should I go blonde? They say blondes have more fun.”
Mykhail angles his head to the side. “I think you had a lot of fun last night since you can’t stop grinning.”
Biting my lip, I look away. Since Logan dropped me off at home, I’ve been cuddling Adam all morning. I’m completely enamored with Logan, a man who’s ranked right beneath Luca. He didn’t just become a soldier. He’s become a powerful man, the head Capo.
I’ve managed to make an already problematic situation even more complicated as I continue to lie to two men in my life, my father and my lover. Nevertheless, I don’t have another choice. I’m getting much too attached to little Adam and Mykhail.
“Let’s go,” Mykhail decides. “Before we meet the realtor, I have one person I can visit who might know more about Dimitri’s hiding place.”
If we find information about Dimitri’s whereabouts, we can go to my father or Logan and inform them, and then they’ll help me to protect Mykhail and Adam.
****
“Have you seen Dimitri?” Mykhail asks in this scant, musty store in the Loop while I hold Adam’s hand.
“We haven’t seen him, Mykhail. The entire organization has fallen apart, as far as we know. All your father’s high ranking men are missing, and most are presumed dead. The Italians have won. Dimitri is MIA.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Mykhail grumbles.
Spotting a video camera in the ceiling, I edge closer to him to whisper, “Mykhail, there’s a camera in here. I can’t be on camera.”
“I’m going to need to check your computer,” Mykhail tells him, signaling to the PC on the counter and gesturing for him to step aside.
After handing Adam over to Mykhail, I round the cash register and scroll down today’s feed on the computer.
“What’s she doing?” the owner comments. He’s obviously threatened by Mykhail and doesn’t come near me.
“Deleting your recording,” Mykhail answers just as I click delete and return to him.
Adam pries loose from Mykhail and laces his fingers through mine again when Mykhail holds out his arm for us to precede him, and we escape the store.
Unfortunately, that visit doesn’t help us any further, although ou
r next appointment proves to be more successful. The one-bedroom apartment in a plain building in the Loop is for rent immediately. Using a fake ID, Mykhail signs the lease and can move in within two weeks, on December first.
By the time we get home, Adam is out cold. I make sure that he and Mykhail get into the pool house, safe and sound, before I drive toward the hospital to visit Cam.
***
As I pass the waiting room at Northwestern, I’m confronted with my parents arguing heatedly.
“What do you want me to do?” Dad whisper-shouts.
“What we agreed on!” my mother retorts and freezes, inhaling a sharp breath when she sees me in the doorway.
“Everything okay?” I ask, concerned about Cam.
My father turns around and says tiredly, “Yes. Cam’s still unresponsive, but she’s okay.”
“What’s going on between you two?” I examine their anxious manner.
“Nothing,” mom answers. “Your father is just working too much.”
Ah, the usual fight between my parents.
“I’m going to see my sister,” I announce, leaving them behind to deal with their issues.
Inside Cam’s room, the heart monitor beeps solemnly while she’s tucked beneath snow-white bed sheets.
I scoot down on the side of the mattress and whisper to her stomach, “Hi, baby. I hope you’re doing well.” I have to keep the faith that she’ll wake up soon.
“Why are you talking to her crotch?” a familiar voice rumbles from the doorway.
I feel a smile tugging at my lips before I stand up. The heat of Logan’s stormy sapphire gaze burns into me as he closes the distance quickly, and memories of our intimate encounter blaze through my mind.
Cradling my face, he tilts my head up to his and slashes his mouth over mine. “Hey.”
I grip his dress shirt, sighing, always intoxicated by his presence. “Hey.”
Hungrily, he draws me back into his kiss, parting my lips with his tongue, conquering me. It’s as if we’ve been apart for far longer than a mere couple of hours.
He rears back, and I chase his kiss, causing him to flash me a devilish grin. “We’re not alone. Luca and James are in the waiting room.”
Disappointed that our few forbidden minutes are over, I release him and turn around, but he tugs me back against his chest with his hands on my biceps.
“I don’t hear them yet,” he whispers. His blond, messy hair tickles the sensitive skin on my cheek, and he delves his hand inside the V-neck of my shirt, groping my breast.
Pursing my lips together, I suppress a whimper. “Don’t...” My body’s reaction betraying the lie in my words as I press my backside into him.
He grunts, letting me feel his stiffening arousal. “God, I can’t keep my hands off you, Rosa.”
I’m pleased that the pull between us is mutual.
“Come to our rooftop tonight.” His voice is a husky demand as he watches me with a lazy, confident smile that holds no promises and yet all the promises in the world.
He’s dubbed it our rooftop. With those words, he steals another piece of my heart.
Regrettably, we hear footsteps coming from down the hall, and Logan and I jump away from each other. He relocates to the other side of the bed while adjusting his slacks. Since I wish to spend more nights with him on our rooftop, I nod once to give him my answer and am rewarded with a provoking smirk.
Then my father, Adriano, and Luca tread inside, and I learn what a masterful actor Logan is. While my body is on fire with sensations, he seems completely unaffected and has shaken it off as the men engage him in conversation. Thankfully, he doesn’t meet my eyes once, because I’d definitely betray us.
Although I have no idea where this is going, I start sneaking around with Logan, seeking an illicit few moments whenever we can. Yet I’m not fully honest with him. I’m afraid of the consequences – telling the truth could launch a path of destruction for Mykhail, Adam, and even myself.
CHAPTER 20
Logan
As foreseen, my life has altered for the better in the weeks since I’ve been pledged in. A burden that I’ve carried around my entire adult life has fallen off my shoulders and relief has taken its place. They say money doesn’t make you happy, which is probably true, but it does make things a hell of a lot easier.
Although we still haven’t captured Dimitri or Mykhail, business is going quite well. Henry and I have uncovered information that Dimitri has connections on high governmental levels and that senators from Illinois and other states were clients at his sex club. Therefore, the most plausible scenario at this point is that one of the senators is helping him hide or smuggled him out of the country. Adriano’s livid that Dimitri’s still a free man and is determined to even the score with him. Especially when Cam’s condition remains unchanged well into a cold December.
In the meantime, my grandmother has been moved to the new nursing home, and I make an exorbitant amount of money that I need to invest.
Today, I’m meeting the realtor for the second time to see another apartment. I’m leaning against my metallic white convertible in front of a residential tower in the West Loop when Fallon, who’s joining me, parks her vehicle beside mine, and I recognize another familiar face in the passenger seat. When Rosa and Fallon step out of the car, my mood improves, and the world seems to slow when I look at Rosa.
“Hey, I hope you don’t mind that I brought Rosalia,” Fallon states.
I most certainly don’t.
But I enjoy teasing my cricket, so I wink at Rosa and object, “I mind.”
Yet she struts right past me.
“Don’t listen to him. Come on.” Fallon leads the way to the front entrance where the realtor is waiting for us.
“I wasn’t planning to,” Rosa responds. “I’m too curious to see this apartment.”
She didn’t tell me she was coming, and I’ve missed her after not seeing her for a couple of days – that’s the truth that burns in my soul. I also get annoyed when I can’t locate her, because even though business has calmed down, I can’t underestimate the savagery that happens all around us. Admittedly, my attachment to her is making me overprotective.
Trudging behind them, I pinch Rosa’s ass in the delectable body-hugging jeans she’s wearing, which she’s topped with a leather biker jacket and a burgundy scarf that’s draped casually around her neck to keep the icy winter’s wind away. She’s fucking sexy without even trying to be, and her outward beauty is calling to me.
Rosa cranes her neck just enough to cast me a fetching grin before she hurries forward, out of my reach.
“Wade, I think you’ll like this one.” The realtor – dressed in a striped pantsuit – jolts me back to the present and sends me a flirtatious smile, but I don’t encourage her. Especially with Rosa scowling at her.
“I hope so,” I reply in a businesslike tone as she presses the button for the elevator and we move inside.
“Which apartment is it?” Fallon asks while I’m fighting not to wrap my arms around Rosa’s waist as she stands before me to get a whiff of her rose-scented perfume.
“It’s the penthouse suite,” the realtor answers, inserting her key into the penthouse lock.
The doors glide open into an enormous space with floor-to-ceiling windows that go up to an open second floor.
“This is the bedroom entrance, but the elevator also goes up one more floor so that you can receive guests upstairs. The place is fully furnished,” the realtor explains, passing a king-size bed with a dark-grey headboard. “This is the master suite with a seating area and a bathroom with bathtub. There are three more bedrooms and another large bathroom upstairs.” She turns right, toward an immaculate white curving staircase that takes us up to the second floor where the living area and kitchen are located.
“As you can see, there’s a magnificent view of the Chicago River,” the realtor continues, gesturing to the far side of the room.
Rosa passes the state-of-the-art stainless
steel kitchen to get to the high ceiling windows where she stares out at the stunning view of the azure sky whirling with clouds, the splashing water of the river, and the roads and structures of the Loop.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” she utters.
“It is,” I say, watching her silhouette.
Still spewing her sales pitch, the realtor goes to the terrace, so Fallon begins to roam around, too impatient to wait for her to finish her story, and disappears downstairs. This provides me a moment alone with my girl.
Rosa inspects the ashen shade of the walls and the black and white lounge set. “It does need a little color though,” she mumbles, touching the pieces of furniture as she eats the distance between us.
“You can help me add color,” I suggest.
“I’d love to. We can decorate it together.” She stops right in front of me.
“We?” I echo, winding my arms around her back and pulling her against me.
“Yes, we. Don’t go all commitment issues on me,” she teases just as easily, bantering with me like no woman has done before.
I’m not bothered a bit by her usage of we. Quite the opposite. Damn, if we were alone, I’d rip off her clothes and spread her legs.
“I’ll try to capture your masculine taste,” she adds and furrows her brow as she realizes the ambiguity in her statement.
“That sounded like dirty talk,” I growl and nip her ear.
“Shhh. She’s coming back.” Rosa pushes me away, and I reluctantly drop my arms.
Thank God I can switch my emotions on and off without difficulty. It’s what I’ve been trained to do for years, as a soldier and as an agent.
“You look very handsome in your new designer suit, by the way,” Rosa compliments.
My finger brushes her chin. “I’d rather think about you taking this suit off me.”
“Can I see you tonight?” she whispers, exuding such an arousing mix of sensual promise and innocent wonder.
“Yes, I’ll make time for you, cricket. I can be at the rooftop at eleven; it’ll be closed already.”
“Okay, I’ll be there too. I’ve missed you,” she confesses, her eyes widening just a touch.
