by Soraya Naomi
The doors open, and she comes into view wearing a red-striped summer dress that ends below her knees in a wide skirt and sexy red heels with a bow at her ankles.
Desperate not to waste one single moment, we crash into each other.
“I missed you,” she whispers against my mouth.
“Me too.” I grasp her hips.
Pressing our lips together, we fanatically try to extinguish the fire caused by our separation. I’ve been apart from her for too long already. Any more days would be a bane to my existence.
Between frantic kisses and my searching for bare skin to touch under her skirt, she manages to ask, “Why did James tell them I’m his daughter?”
“So they’ll protect you.” I cover her mouth with mine while I discard her panties.
“Did you know he was going to?” She unfastens my slacks to pump my dick in her hands, making me hiss from the exquisite stimulation.
I shake my head in denial and go down, hiking up her skirt in the process and hefting one leg over my shoulder. “Every time I fuck you, I need to taste you before I shove my cock in.” I greedily suck her clit into my mouth as she grabs a fistful of my hair.
“Adriano...” My name leaves her lips in a plead.
My tongue flattens against her, and I’m rock-hard as I crave her pussy. “We don’t have much time, and I want to feel you wrapped around my cock. Now.”
I hoist her up with my palms under her thighs, then glide them to her ass and slam her back against the wall right beside the elevator. Her legs link around my hips, and she pants as I ease her onto my cock, disappearing inside in one thrust.
“Were you already thinking of me, Cam? You’re so wet, as if I’ve licked your pussy for hours and primed you for my cock.”
She stares right at me with unreserved ecstasy. “I’ve been fantasizing about your tongue all night.”
I reward her with a smile and seize her mouth as I start to hammer into her. Nails dig into my nape as she clings to me while I bang her against the wall, her back bending, heels in a lock around me, all our clothes on – except her panties which lie on the floor – connected together in a way only she can own me.
And the reality of how much I’ve missed her hits me. Rotating my hips, I mold the flesh of her ass and nibble my way down her throat. Her moans increase into a satisfied scream, and I watch her unravel while I drive into her hard.
I’m not far behind. While her body is still trembling in the aftermath, I release the tension into her welcoming heat, growling in rapture when I’m rocketed into heaven. Satisfied and depleted, I rest my forehead against Cam’s, and she strokes her fingers through my hair as my heart rate slows and contentment settles in.
She’ll do whatever I want.
“Adriano, where are Fallon and Luca?” she utters against my mouth.
“Fallon knows we’re here. They won’t come home, but your guard’s waiting.”
“I did say I was only getting some makeup I left behind.”
A sigh escapes her lips when I pull out and button my pants, leaving my shirt untucked. Bending down, I take her panties and help her slip them on.
“What’s your plan? I can tell you’re cooking up something.” Cam looks down at me with a hand on my shoulder to steady herself while I guide the lace over her hips.
“You have to trust me. I’m setting things in motion, yes.”
“I want to know.” She grazes her fingers behind my ear, knowing exactly what I like, but I don’t let her deter me.
“No, you don’t. As long as you’re in James’s house, it’s better you have plausible deniability.”
I sink my teeth into her hip, and she shrieks, pushing me away.
I stop her inquiry. “Don’t ask more questions. We don’t have time.” I stand so that we’re face-to-face and smooth her hair back. “How did gun training go?”
Her mouth tilts down. “It was difficult and frustrating the first couple of hours, but I did get better.”
“It’s so hot thinking about you shooting in only those heels.”
She laughs. “Actually, I was wearing clothes and flats while practicing.”
“Sweetheart, don’t ruin my fantasy.”
“Your fantasy is me shooting naked with another instructor?” she jokes with a huge grin.
I bite her nipple over the fabric. “No! In my fantasy, I’m the instructor. No one sees you naked but me.” That seems to placate her until I see apprehension, which I think is about Saturday, on her face. “You don’t have to come with us, you know?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to go. Right now, I’m more worried about you getting lost in those passageways.”
“So you’re going to protect me?” I tease.
I’m still not happy about her being there, but the end justifies the means in this case. And she’ll be safe because she’s on my team – whether anyone likes it or not. I’m not compromising on that subject.
“You’re on my team. And you’ll stay by my side. Now, before you leave, I’m going to ask you something. When James mentions me, I want you to start telling him about how you’re attracted to me. Don’t mention we fucked. As far as James knows, nothing has happened. You don’t need to emphasize that fact, but make sure you get your meaning across.”
“As if I would say that to my father,” she retorts with mocking disgust. “So we’re telling him?”
“No, you’re letting on that you have feelings for me. I want to know how he reacts. He’s difficult to read.”
“I don’t understand how this will help us?”
“You’ll understand later. Now, go back to your guard. My car’s out back, and I’ll leave after you. I’ll see you tomorrow or sooner, depending on how James reacts to your confession.” I passionately kiss her goodbye. A goodbye that was robbed from me yesterday.
When her body melts against mine, I growl and press the button for the elevator before I get hard again. She steps inside and touches her lips as the doors close.
Still hot from our encounter, I’m rolling up my sleeves to my elbows when my phone vibrates in my pocket; it’s her.
“Cam,” I answer.
“Someone I recognize from Club 7 is staking out at the intersection.”
“Where are you now?” I relentlessly press the elevator button, and then I’m on my way down.
“Right outside the entrance. Walking to the car.”
“I’m coming down. Keep going to the car, but don’t get in. Inform your guard and talk to him until I get outside. I’m walking through the lobby now.”
I take the back entrance so that the guard doesn’t see me coming out of The Blackhall too, and I stride outside into the sunny afternoon. After rounding the building to reach the front entrance again, I run toward Cam, who’s still on the phone, bent down toward the passenger’s window of the black car.
She sees me and hangs up as I approach them with strain coiling my muscles.
“Hi,” she pretends to greet me and whispers in a rush, “I told the guard I called you and you were in the area.”
Placing my hand on her shoulder in reassurance, I look through the open window to the guard behind the steering wheel. “Do you see him?”
“Yes, sir. Blonde guy in the blue suit. He just came from around the corner. He didn’t notice that she saw him.”
“Meet us at the second side street.” I motion in the distance to ensure he understands.
“Yes, sir.”
Then I snatch my handgun from the ankle holster, and after making sure no one’s behind me on the sidewalk, hide it in my waistband at the small of my back, letting my shirt fall over. Twining my fingers with Cam’s, I grin and pull her along.
“Don’t look nervous,” I soothe her. “We’re going to bait him. And don’t look at the intersection. He’s still watching us.”
She obeys orders perfectly and just smiles and checks the window displays of the shops we pass.
From the corner of my eye, I see the soldier cross the stre
et with a swarm of people, and he’s now trailing behind us with several pedestrians between him and us.
The guard drives by and stops at the red light; Cam sees him too.
“He’s going to the second side street to the right,” I inform as we also stop at the traffic light. “So are you. When we cross, I’m going into the first shop we see, that shoe store.” I make sure she follows my gaze to the store. “You continue at the exact same pace and turn down the side street as well. The man will follow you, but then I’ll be behind him. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she retorts with, I swear, a touch of eagerness.
The light changes to green, and together with the rest of the pedestrians, we carry on.
“Kiss me.” I crane my neck a little so I can check to see if the man’s still trailing us.
She presses her lips against mine, and I swat her ass, making a teenage boy whistle. “You continue on down the next street.”
I sweep inside the busy shoe store while watching the people pass in the security mirror that’s facing the storefront windows. The man goes by and peeks inside at me, and just like I suspected, he chooses to go after Cam.
Swiveling around, I march back out and see him nearing Cam right before she turns down the designated street.
I swing past a couple and round the corner into a street between two office towers. Just as he’s about to draw his gun, Cam reaches our guard’s car that’s waiting beside the sidewalk.
I shift closer, and as he hears my footsteps, I run up to him, grabbing my piece and pressing it into his back. “Down, boy. That’s my girl you’re about to touch.”
He holds up both hands and swears under his breath as Cam opens the back seat door. Then, without instruction, she opens his jacket with two fingers on the lapel and confiscates his gun from his inside pocket with a smirk.
Fascination and arousal fly through me.
Pushing him forward by his neck, I attempt to heave him into the car. When he objects, I hit him in the back of his head with the butt of my gun, and he falls forward onto the leather seat.
“In the front, Cam. And watch him.”
She sits down, pulls the hammer, and directs his own gun at him.
I lower my aim, drag his wrists behind his back as he struggles sluggishly, and ask the guard, “Do you have cuffs or tie-wraps?”
The guard opens the glove compartment and hands me a black tie wrap, which I lock around my captive’s wrists before I slog him up into a sitting a position.
I jump into the back seat with our prisoner and close the door after glancing around to make sure there weren’t any witnesses. “To our headquarters.”
***
At the Syndicate’s headquarters, I command the guard to deposit the guy in the basement while I get James and Luca from James’s office.
“She called you first?” James asks, incredulous, and rushes down to the basement.
“Yes, thankfully, since I was the only one of us in the Loop.”
Cam and the guard are in the room with the captive who’s strapped into a metal chair, hands and feet tied and one eye that’s swelling up – guard must’ve clocked him.
The chair grates against the concrete when he spots James and Luca.
“Cam, who is he?” James joins her as the guard covers the prisoner’s mouth until he stops complaining.
Seriously, why keep struggling and use your last breath when you’re already restrained?
“He’s one of Fat Sal’s soldiers in the underground club. I definitely recognize him now.” She’s stoic in her reply.
For the first time, I witness how Cam’s still coping with her time in captivity – despite the fact that she forgot a lot, the scars are still there. She has danced in the darkness, but the experience didn’t break her. It enforced her and brought out the Calderone mafia gene that runs in her blood. She’s finding her identity within the mafia, and seeing that turns my dick hard. She’s craving vengeance. I can sense it.
And so does James because he’s studying her while she shoots daggers at the prisoner.
He hints for the guard to let go of the soldier’s mouth.
“Do you know who I am?” James asks with one hand in his pocket.
“Calderone,” he spits.
“Do you know who she is?”
Silence.
“Do. You. Know. Who. She. Is?”
“She’s ours,” he retorts.
No, no, wrong answer.
James holds his palm out to me over his shoulder. “Adriano, gun.”
Handing over my gun from the back of my pants, I foresee where this is going to end. There will be no turning back anymore for Cam. The oath that’s about to commence will also tie her to me, forever.
James presses my Smith & Wesson into her hand, then cranes his neck to me, silently ordering me to help Cam. He’s too involved to help her. She’s his weakness. He’s getting very attached to Cam; he’s always wanted his blood in the Syndicate.
We switch places, and I move close behind her, whispering, “Every member of the Syndicate must pledge omertà, Cam. You’re required to commit murder so you can never rat us out without facing charges yourself.”
She takes the pistol and directs it between his brows, and his eyes widen as he yells, “What do you want?”
“Is Santino still being held captive in the club?” she calmly demands to know.
Silence.
“He won’t answer. He’s of no use. Just one less soldier to kill Saturday.” My lips almost touch her cheek. “Use both hands. Kill him.”
She extends her other arm and steadies her aim. She’s a gorgeous vision in heels, cocking my weapon.
“Did he ever touch you while you were held captive?”
“I don’t think so.” Her voice is robotic.
“Did he watch while others abused you?” I hiss into her ear.
A muscle twitches in her jaw. “Yes.”
I have an entire speech prepared with Shakespearian dramatization for effect, but to my utter astonishment, a shot deafens us in the small room. I never expected her to shoot so fast. The bullet hits the soldier in the chest, forming a red halo. The chair falls back, and his head thuds against the wall.
I snatch the weapon from Cam and blast him once in the heart, waving to James and Luca to escort her out of here.
“Find one of my soldiers to help you dispose of the body and clean up,” I order the guard.
I’m riveted, astounded, and a little turned on. Cam’s an enigma in her actions. I want to know what’s going on in Cam’s head, so I go in search of her. And I find her on the living room sofa with Luca and James.
“Camilla, talk to me.” James looks down at her.
“About what?”
I smile at her incredible composure.
“Are you okay?”
“I feel normal,” she comments with wonder herself. “You don’t have to hover around me.”
Pride gleams from James. “Welcome to the Chicago Syndicate, my daughter. You’re an official member as of today.” And he kisses her cheek.
Happiness crosses Cam’s face when he commends her with his gesture. This is what she wanted; to belong somewhere.
Luca welcomes her as well, and then it’s my turn.
And just like the first time we met, I take her hand in mine and press my lips to her knuckles. “Welcome.” I already welcomed her into the Syndicate a while back, knowing this was her endgame.
A smile pulls at her lips, and we stare at each other, saying so much, yet so little, since she’s hiding behind her poise. I search her depths and observe some reservations – she’s not unscathed. She’s trying to stay strong and still thinks she needs to go through everything alone. But she has her family, in this case James, because she can’t discuss this with Alessa or Rosalia.
And she’ll have me; after I accomplish my plan, she’ll have me forever. I’ll text message her as soon as I’m alone because I probably won’t see her again until tomorrow afternoon.
/>
“We need to fine-tune the plans for Saturday,” Luca says to us.
“Damian will drive you to my house, Camilla,” James offers.
Ferociousness blinds me at the prospect of those two being alone, and Cam watches me anxiously. I warn her with a hard expression.
Luckily, Luca intervenes, “I need Damian here. Another soldier will take you home, Cam.”
“That’s fine too,” James comments. “We’ll talk tonight, Camilla.”
And without the goodbye Cam and I wish for, we part once again.
***
The rest of the day is filled with the division of the teams and methodically planning with Henry, who’s a godlike hacker, when which system will go offline during our attack on Saturday. That kid can get access to any program without leaving a trace.
At two a.m., Luca and James request I stay to check on the men in the strip club while they return to their wives.
The room is jam-packed with soldiers and barely dressed girls. Careening toward the bar, I scan the place and am pleased to see everyone’s subdued. No excessive alcohol is allowed tonight and tomorrow, but after days of training, they deserved a night to wind down.
Damian is shoving his tongue into some girl’s mouth, and I think about the fact that I really need to get rid of him. His presence enrages me. He defied my orders, and he touched Cam. I won’t work with a man who’s touched my girl. He’ll need to be dealt with sooner rather than later.
A pretty redhead and Skye seek me out as I occupy a bar stool.
“Adriano, I haven’t seen you in forever. We miss you.” Skye rests her hand high on my thigh.
I lean an elbow on the counter. I never think of you.
“Want to have some fun?” she purrs.
Tired because she always plays the same game, I enfold my fingers around her wrist. “No, and don’t touch me ever again.” I drop her hand from my clutch.
She scurries away with a miserable puckered brow along with her minion.
The only one who gets to touch me is Cam. I send her a text, hoping she’s still awake. But after an hour and no response, I gather she’s asleep or else she would’ve replied.
I decide to drive to my loft and sleep in my own bed where Cam’s perfume lingers on my sheets.
