Killing Me Softly: A Chicago Mafia Syndicate (Castaletta Book 3)

by Ali Parker

  "I'm honestly at a loss for what Adam might be up to, boss. He's not interested in Chicago. He can't be." I leaned back. "He's got the whole West Coast, and Rodney, our gun runner out that way says from what everyone knows, the old boy is happy living the life his father Terrance set up for him. He's not hungry like most young Dons are, Joe. Something is amiss here."

  "In more ways than one." He brushed his fingers by his lips and studied me. "I shouldn't have said what I said to you the other day. Forget about it."

  "Which part?" I got up and walked toward the liquor cabinet. Izzy was upstairs in her bedroom with her pretty boy toy and Joe was apologizing for things left and right. Life couldn't have been more off-kilter.

  "When I said that we needed to watch my baby girl." He snorted and brushed his hand down his face as I turned back to him. "She's committed to us completely. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking. I guess I'm growing paranoid."

  "Don't." I lifted the bottle, silently offering him some before he shook his head at me and dropped down into his seat. "We know that the Kallups are the reason behind the drug ring going bust for a while, and that they were directly involved in the situation with Sandra's girls."

  "And with Freddy's death." Joe's voice softened a little.

  "Right, but why is the question. They aren't nearly as powerful as they're playing like they are."

  "That's where Cooper has to come in D." He tapped the desk. "And the tapes from Vivian's death show four big football sized boys?"

  "Yeah." I lifted my liquor to my lips and drunk deeply. "There's no fucking way those were Kallups. They were hired or they're from another syndicate."

  "Then we need to keep our eyes wide open at all times around Cooper. We need to see if someone fits the bill, because you and I both know Adam isn't going to give us an inch."

  "Do we know that?"

  He chuckled. "I do. If he's anything like his father, there's only one thing that will bend his will."

  "What's that?"

  Joe crossed his hands over his stomach and narrowed his eyes. "A beautiful Castaletta woman."

  I only had one word for him, though my vote didn't count. "No."

  *

  "Are we not listening to the tapes?" Izabella stood in the hallway, her hand pressed to her hip. "Marco is in his office. I can hear him moving around in there."

  "We can do that when we get back. He said it damns your brother, Freddy, and so it is what it is. Your brother was involved." Joe walked toward the front door.

  "No. That's not enough, Daddy." Izabella knocked on Marco's office door.

  "I'll be in the car. Don't leave me waiting too long." He gave us both a stern look and walked out.

  "Let's just take them with us." I moved up and touched the top of her shoulder, trying to calm her a little. She seemed to be upset about something all of a sudden, where moments before, she was fine.

  "Fine. Get them from him. I'm going to grab a bottle of water." She turned and walked toward the kitchen, leaving me standing there alone.

  Marco opened the door, his hair disheveled, his forehead covered in sweat. "What?"

  "I need to get those tapes Izzy gave you. Now." I almost swallowed my tongue when my sister pushed around Marco, her hair a hot mess and skin flushed.

  "Hey D. See you later, Marco." She walked toward the door as I stood, mouth agape, watching after her.

  "I'll get them. Shit. You guys can't plan these things a little better?" He half-growled at me and walked back into his office.

  I walked in and closed the door behind me, pulling my gun from the back of my slacks and pointing it at him. "What the fuck was my sister doing in here?"

  He knelt down by his desk and shuffled through the doors, glancing up once and rolling his eyes. "What? She and I were talking. What do you care? She's in her forties, D. Get over yourself."

  "If you hurt her, I swear to God, I'll fuck you up and hang your corpse from the flag pole out front."

  He stood and pressed his hands to his desk. "Did you guys already take the tapes? Is this some funny way to barge in on me and Cat? Is that what you wanted?"

  "Give me the tapes and hear me clearly Casanova. You fuck with my sister and hurt her and-"

  "I know, I know. I heard you the first time." He moved toward me, reaching out and pushing the gun barrel away from him. "She's in love with me, and honestly, I won't say that I'm not in love with her. It's complicated, but much like Izzy and you having your torrid childish affair for the last ten years, it's none of my business. This is none of yours."

  "The tapes," I barked out.

  "I don't have them. They were in the desk and now they're gone. Ask Izabella what she did with them. She's the only person that knew I had them in here." He shrugged and walked out, leaving me standing there alone.

  I stood there for a few seconds before my phone buzzed. Marcus Blaine. Good. I needed something to pull me from my murderous thoughts. The fact that Marco and Cat were hiding their relationship was enough to drive me batty. It meant there was some aspect of it that was off. Really off. Like the cock using my sister.

  "This is D." I tucked my gun back in my slacks and walked back into the hallway.

  "It's Marcus Blaine. Just wanted to check in and make sure you didn't need anything from me before you head out of town." Something about the guy’s voice gave me comfort. Maybe it was because he was a true thug, and thugs always remained committed to the guy paying the most and covering their ass often.

  I just needed to remain in control with Marcus and yet still give the big guy as much freedom as I could. Nothing made sense at present, but I had to ignore it. All of it. Everything was another distraction that could get me killed - all of us killed - if I weren't careful.

  "Just clean up the mess out there and if you uncover something you know I need to look at, get it to me." I paused and glanced up to see Izzy walking toward the front door. "Everything going okay thus far?"

  "It's great. Edward hooked me up with Audrey from Madam Giselle's place and said you wanted her working with me."

  "I do. Keep a close eye on her. Izzy doesn't like her much, not that she likes anyone, but she mentioned the other day that Audrey looks like someone we murdered recently." I slipped my hand into my pocket. "I didn't really get to see the guy, but Izzy got up close and personal."

  Marcus snorted. "Why does that not surprise me?"

  "Just find out what you can. Get as close as the girl will let you." I wrapped my free arm around me as a million thoughts raced through my head.

  "Will do. Let me know if you need anything from me. I'm here to back you up, to take down anyone you need me to, or root out whoever the fuck keeps dicking with the family."

  "Thanks. I'll be in touch." I dropped the call as Edward walked down the stairs, lipstick smeared along the side of his mouth. Every bone in my body screamed for me to kill the bastard, but now wasn't the time. "I thought you left."

  "Not yet, boss. I'm headed out soon." He wagged his eyebrows at me and walked into the kitchen, his voice loud and filled with warmth as he flirted with Maria.

  I only hated a few people, but he was at the top of the list. I glanced around once more, feeling off. Something about leaving the mansion in Marco's hands felt off. If Izzy had stayed behind, I would have been fine, but Joe wanted her with us. Of course he did. She would be a pawn in his game with Adam if things didn't go the way we wanted them to. We would start with diplomacy and grace, but quickly move to selling sex and handing out threats.

  I walked out toward the Cadillac Joe loved to ride in and got in the driver's side seat. "Did you know your oldest son was sleeping with my sister?" I asked Joe as I glanced over at Izzy, who was in the front of the car with me.

  "No, and I honestly don't care." He glanced out the window in the backseat, his expression slack. "Our families have always had an animistic drawl to each other. Look at you and Izzy, or better yet, your beautiful mother and me."

  Izzy stiffened in the seat next to me bef
ore glancing back toward her father. "What are you talking about? You were with D's mom before you married momma?"

  He nodded but didn't look her way. Asshole. She had no clue of the affair he'd had, which made him look like the hero and Vivian the whore. All Izzy knew was that her beautiful mother slept with Terrance Cooper, but she had no clue of Joe's infidelities and the resulting kid - my little brother, Drake.

  Unbeknown to her, he was her brother too.

  Chapter 13

  Marcus Blaine

  I spent more of the morning going through Freddy's office, reviewing invoices and trying to put together a paper trail of what the hell happened. Catherine had been a great help, but had an early lunch date and disappeared a little after ten. The call with D had me a little concerned about bringing Audrey out, but what choice did I really have?

  It would seem they were looking for a babysitter for the girl more than anything else, but why? Why not just leave her ass at the whore house and call it even? So what if she helped to capture the dick threatening Madam Giselle and the girls? They were whores. What the fuck did they expect? Rich guys in nice business suits? I snorted before realizing that someone was in the doorway to my new office.

  "You want me to hang around and help a little more?" Selma smiled, the older woman taking good care of me since I got into town. It had something to do with her being Jeffery's mother, and him being an old employee of mine, no doubt. The blond-haired punk-rocker was probably still giving Kate hell back in New Orleans.

  It was a life I left behind, but no matter how hard I tried to forget about it, my mind always moved back to it, to her.

  "No. Zak in the other office still?" I ran my hand over my bald head and leaned back in the dilapidated chair at Freddy's old desk.

  "Yeah. He's got a calculator and a yellow legal pad." She chuckled. "Should we be concerned?"

  "Very." I winked at her and glanced toward the cabinet near the door. "That thing filled with papers and shit too?"

  She nodded, looking toward it. "Yeah, but I think a lot of that is before Freddy's time. Demetri ran this part of the business for a while, and so did Marco. I think everyone worked on it seeing that it's the oldest part of the business." She shrugged. "Some of the drawers are locked, but I think that's because they're are guns in there."

  "No worries. I'll check it out. Might as well go through everything and get it over with." I stood and stretched my arms toward the ceiling. "Hopefully we'll have everything back on track in a few weeks at most."

  She wrapped her arms around her chest as worry filled her eyes. "I think the business and the paperwork is going to be the easy part. Dealing with whatever happened to Freddy and Mrs. Vivian is going to be hard."

  "Not my problem, but if you know something and need my help, I'm here, okay? We're going to be like a family soon out here at the warehouse. I take care of mine."

  She nodded. "Jeffery told me that you did. I'm glad you're here, Marcus."

  "Me too." I waited until she left to pull out my phone. The text from an unknown number telling me to come to the Castaletta mansion had my curiosity piqued. I texted back and found out that my newest associate, Audrey was in need of a ride.

  "What kind of ride would you like, little girl? Slow and sweet, or hard from behind?" I snorted and picked up my keys. It was perfect weather for riding my bike, and if I was lucky, I'd get to visit with Demetri for a few minutes. We needed to finish going over where he wanted me first.

  Clean up or build up? I was good at both, but didn't want to step on anyone's dick by choosing my own direction.

  That seemed the easiest way to end up with a bullet in my skull.

  "No thanks."

  *

  "Hey." Audrey walked around the side of the house as I parked and walked toward the front door.

  The security guy at the front gave us an odd look, and I couldn't help but give her a look of my own. "Umm... what the hell are you doing waiting outside?"

  "I'll explain. Let's just get out of here." She smiled and waved toward the house.

  "Alright." I walked back toward the bike and got on, handing her a helmet. "Hold on tight. I drive like I fuck. Fast and furious."

  She laughed sardonically. "You're going to be my boss, so keep that flirting stuff to yourself."

  "Flirting? That wasn't flirting, baby doll. That was truth." I started the bike as something fluttered in my chest. The girl was going to be fun if nothing else. It would be nice to have something to focus on besides the transition and losing Kate, which played over and over in my fucked up skull most hours of the day.

  I drove like a bat out of hell, giving myself over to the experience and trying not to think too much about why Audrey was walking around the Castaletta mansion like a scalded child. Surely there was a reason for it.

  She got off the bike the minute I killed the engine outside of the warehouse and pulled her helmet off, her blond hair a mess. The fact that she was flustered shouldn't have bothered me, but she looked good hot and bothered.

  I took the helmet and put it under my arm, still sitting on the bike. "Spill. Now."

  "What?" She reached up and ran her fingers through her hair before pulling her long silky locks back into a ponytail. She was no Kate Jarrett, but she had something about her for sure. A secret that I planned on figuring out.

  "Tell me how you got that gash on the side of your pretty face." I was fucking with her, but she seemed relieved that I'd diverted my questioning away from her odd greeting at the mansion.

  She reached up, touched her face and flinched. "I got hit in the head by one of the Kallups while trying to help Edward and Marco the other night." She shrugged, but wrapped her arms around herself. She wasn't as tough as she played off.

  I wonder if she's aware of that.

  "I heard that act got you a job promotion. Congrats." I got off the bike, secured her helmet to the back and walked toward the warehouse. "You can explain why you were creeping around the Castaletta mansion after you finish inventory."

  "There's nothing to explain." She moved up beside me, easily keeping in step with me. She was in shape. Exercise? Yoga? Mmmmm... I could see her bent over in a pair of tight yoga pants pretty easily. My cock woke up and pulsed at the thought.

  "Sure there is." I opened the door and moved back, giving her a hard stare. "You're new to the family and have been at the whore house for a year, but they're only now discovering your hidden talents for taking down bad guys and sneaking around unnoticed at one of the most secure houses in the northern United States? I call bull shit."

  "Where is the inventory room?" She walked into the warehouse, ignoring my probing.

  I might just have to go a little deeper.

  She stopped at the edge of the hall where the building opened up into the large warehouse room where everything was stored in concealed barrels and crates.

  I bumped into the back of her on purpose, reaching around and pressing my hand to her tight stomach, my arousal to her ass. I bent down and let my mouth hover beside her ear. "Tell someone you're going to stop next time."

  Moving around her, I couldn't help but breathe in the delicious scent of her perfume mixed with arousal. She was turned on. Why?

  "Are you always hard for your job?" She chuckled.

  I turned and walked backward into the warehouse. "Naw. I was thinking about fucking you from behind, pulling your long blond hair and biting the side of your neck. Nothing too exciting."

  Her gasp was cute, fun. "You can't be serious right now."

  "So the inventory sheets are over here with Zak and you'll need to start at the far end and make your way around." I pointed toward Zak, who was bent over in one of the corners, working hard.

  "The whole warehouse?" She sounded a little whiny.

  "Unless you need a break at which point, you can come find me, and I'll take you out for a quick drink and something to eat." I walked into my office and closed the door. She was hyped up on something that happened at the Castaletta mansion.
I hated myself for it, but I wanted to know why.

  After working through a few more drawers in Freddy's office, I pulled out my phone and called Jon Peterson, a friend and the guy loving on my girl in New Orleans.

  He was off and on with the New Orleans Police Department, but I knew he knew a few guys and could get a favor no problem.

  "Peterson," Jon barked into the phone.

  "It's my number, prick. Put it in your phone."

  "Marcus." I could hear his smile. Memories flooded me, weakening my resolve to remain untouched, unwanted, unloved. I'd almost entered into a life of sharing Kate with him, like some type of fucked up threesome. The guy grew on me, more than any other ever had.

  "Where's my girl?"

  "She's at the club, running inventory. How are you, brother?" He sounded happy. Too happy.

  "I'm dealing. I need a favor."

  "Why am I not surprised?"

  "I'm thinking that you'll be owing me favors for the rest of our lives seeing that I left my most precious asset with you." I cleared my throat and walked toward the tinted windows in my office. Audrey and Zak were laughing, the smiles on their faces genuine.

  Who was this chick?

  I tried to ignore my desire to force her to be just an average girl without any attachments or issues. I like her already and hated the thought of having to dangle her over the water after beating her senseless.

  "I'm pretty sure that Kate chose me." Jon's cockiness knew no bounds.

  "I guess you would tell the story that way. Prick cop."

  "Dirty thug." He chuckled. "What can I do for you?"

  "Look up someone. Audrey..." I paused, realizing that I didn't know the girl's last name. "Hmmm... hold on."

  "Yep."

  I walked to the door and opened it, leaning my head out and clearing my throat. "Audrey, what's your last name? I'm running criminal back ground checks on you."

  She stiffened. Fuck. Someone needed to teach her not to do that shit.