Degrade: A Dark Mafia Romance (DeLancy Crime Family Book 1)

by Elizabeth Knox

  “I’m not discussing my ol’ lady’s pregnancy with you,” Chains snaps, probably being overprotective of his woman. Having Madelaine in my life now, I understand the feeling more than I ever have before, but, it doesn’t mean I’m not gonna fuck with him.

  “Of course not,” I chuckle.

  “Do you know anything else or not?” he grumbles, and I can tell I’m irritating him.

  Good. If we’re gonna have a truce, then he needs to learn I have a sick sense of humor and will fuck with him whenever I’ve been given the opportunity.

  “Unfortunately, I don’t but tell me about this woman and I’ll see if I can get some of my own feelers out there for you,” I say.

  “The man who we all thought was Tiny’s father kidnapped my VP’s daughter and a woman named Lyrica. We were able to get Wren back, but he’d sold Lyrica to a group of men. According to him they were a group of white supremacists, but in the last few months we haven’t been able to locate the group. And to top it all off, we can’t find any information on them,” Chains states.

  Fuck. I remember Leo saying something about this woman now.

  “Doesn’t this Lyrica belong to one of your brothers?” I ask.

  “She’s Fuse’s,” he confirms and immediately my gut twists into knots.

  “Right, I’ll look into this and see if I can help. I hope you find her soon,” I mutter.

  “Appreciate it,” he grumbles and hangs up.

  I pull the phone from my ear and place it on my desk.

  “What’s going on?” Rémy asks.

  “Seems one of the ol’ ladies who belongs to a member of the Inferno’s Clutch has gone missing,” I inform him.

  “Whose?”

  “Fuse’s,” I mutter, and my brother’s eyes flare.

  “We’re finding her,” he firmly states.

  “We will.” I nod in agreement. “He’s family, which makes her family.” Even if he doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact he’s related to us and his last name holds as much power as ours, it does.

  Fuse might not be a DeLancy but he’s still our cousin on our mother’s side and we’ll help him find his woman, no matter what it takes. I make a mental note to myself to send out an encrypted mass email to all my connections, putting out feelers in an attempt to help him locate her as soon as possible.

  “Now, tell me what happened last night,” I demand, changing the subject to the reason my brother is here.

  Rémy sighs and runs a hand over his face as he goes into detail explaining how he followed Madelaine after watching her climb down the trellis. He stayed on her trail, keeping back enough so she wouldn’t spot him. I wanted to slap him upside the head when he chuckles about how Madelaine made it difficult for him since she kept checking her surroundings.

  What can I say? My woman is smart and has been through enough to know she’s gotta watch her back out there. Especially with the type of shit she’s had to deal with at the hands of her father, the man who should’ve been protecting her, and all he did was use her . . . it fucking pisses me off to no end. Add in the fact she was assaulted as a young girl to pay for his debts and it’s the sole reason I’m not giving this man a chance. It’s what signed his death sentence.

  Rémy goes on to tell me Richie and his scumbags cornered her. If it wasn’t for him intervening things would have been far worse than them dragging her by her hair. I’m thankful my brother followed her, but I’m pissed he didn’t act sooner.

  “Why didn’t you just stop her from leaving all together last night?” I grind out.

  “Félix, love you, brother, but you have a fuckin’ temper and hurt her last night. She needed to get away from you and I let the girl get some fresh air. I followed her to make sure she stayed safe and you should be damn glad I did. I could’ve just minded my damn business,” he tells me, cocking a brow.

  “Still I don’t like what those men could’ve done to her,” I mutter.

  “I don’t think you need to worry so much about that now. Word’s out Madelaine is a DeLancy. I kinda mentioned last night that you two were married and she’s your wife,” Rémy chuckles. “I swear Richie’s face went whiter than my ass cheeks, and they haven’t seen the sun since the last time I was in France. What was it, a year ago, or two?”

  Grinning, I shake my head. “Fuck if I know. Don’t ever mention your ass to me again, Rémy, but thanks for putting the word out there. With them all thinking Madelaine is my wife it works. Let them know she’s mine in every way.”

  Rémy nods his head and sits forward bracing his arms on his knees. “What do you want to do about Richie?”

  “You know what I want,” I mutter and pick up my phone to call Malcolm.

  When he answers, I ask him to pick up Richie and his crew of scum. I want them placed in the holding cell with Charles who he’d found trying to get in on one of my tables last night.

  Stupid motherfucker.

  Soon as Malcolm rounds Richie and his men up, I intend to make an example of them in a way that’ll show those who want to cross the DeLancys what will happen to them.

  It’s time I show those who need a reminder of what it means to go against a DeLancy. I might not be the sadistic ass my father used to, but it doesn’t mean I’m not someone they shouldn’t fear. I can become their worst nightmare if it comes down to it.

  Rémy and I talk for a few more moments and he leaves to go get the Diamond Dancers ready for opening tonight. I glance at the time and decide to get ready and head out myself. I want to grab something special for Madelaine before heading home.

  Pulling into the driveway, I don’t bother pulling into the garage, I turn the car off and get out with the bouquet of flowers in hand.

  I’m nervous for the first time in my life since I’ve never given a woman flowers besides my sisters. I hope she likes the ones I’ve picked for her. The vibrant red in the coloring of the roses reminded me of her hair, and there are splashes of oranges through them. The woman at the shop called them confetti roses, and they seemed perfect for my bombe.

  I walk up the back steps into the house, stopping short at the sight of Madelaine sitting at the kitchen counter adjusting the strap on her heels. Fuck, the little black dress she’s wearing causes my cock to harden. And those red heels make my imagination run rampant with thoughts of the heel digging into my backside as I pound into her sweet pussy.

  Clearing my throat, Madelaine lifts her head to look at me and gives me a sweet smile. I close the distance between the two of us and place the flowers on the counter next to her, while leaning in to capture her mouth with mine.

  I take the opening she gives me and deepen the kiss. Knowing if I don’t keep it brief, we won’t make our reservations I’ve made at Fournier’s, I lift my head. “Love the dress, bombe,” I murmur.

  “I’m glad you approve,” she whispers breathlessly. Sliding off the stool, she steps to the side and gives me a twirl, showing me the entire dress. There isn’t a back to the dress and I swear I didn’t see a bra. From the tightness of it around her ass I know she’s not wearing panties. I could easily slide that dress up and sink myself into her.

  No. I’m doing this night right. I’ll control my need for her until later, after I’ve taken her out and showed her who I am, the man I can be, and not just the beast.

  “I more than approve. You ready to head out?” I ask, holding my arm out for her to take.

  “Yes, I’m ready.” Madelaine nods and takes my arm.

  I guide her out to the car and open her door for her. Soon as she’s in the car I go to my side and get in. The two of us settle into comfortable silence while I drive us to the restaurant. I pull up to the front and the valet opens both our doors. I take the ticket from the one who opened my door and thank him.

  Inside the restaurant, I ignore the lingering looks the hostess gives me, keeping my grasp around Madelaine. With a huff, the hostess shows us to the table I reserved on a private balcony.

  “This place is amazing,” Madelaine whis
pers.

  “I know.” I grin. “I’m a silent partner here,” I inform her.

  “You are?” she asks, surprised by this bit of information.

  “Yeah, there’s a few places like this one that I’m a silent partner. I don’t want to be hands on with them since they’re not what I want. I only do it as an investment for later on,” I answer her.

  “Oh, wow, that’s amazing,” she murmurs.

  The waiter comes and takes our drink orders. I allow Madelaine to glance at the menu and find what she wants while we wait for the waiter to bring our drinks to us. I’m the type of man who likes to order for my woman, getting the best of both worlds and allow us to split, both enjoying the pleasantries of whatever will be laid before us.

  Madelaine finds what she wants to have and we place our orders, after the waiter leaves us be, I take this opportunity to talk with Madelaine and find out what she likes to do for fun. Not only that, I’m digging a bit deeper and find some of her likes and dislikes. She does the same and finds out I’m a workaholic, but I damn near figured that was obvious. I even said it to her, and she laughed harder than I’ve heard her since we’ve met one another.

  We continue to talk throughout the entire dinner getting to know each other. The more I learn about her, the more I find I was right in the type of woman she is and making the choice I have. After dinner she asks me to take her to Diamond Dancers.

  When we get to the club, I park in the space that has my name. There’s a line already forming at the door waiting for entry, meaning the inside is already packed to capacity. Both men and women love going to strip clubs it seems.

  I nod to the doorman as I guide Madelaine into the club and head for the burlesque side and slide into the booth reserved for my brothers and myself. I spot my brother, Rémy, and give him a chin lift.

  Madelaine and I place an order with one of the waitresses when Missy comes to our table wearing her costume and glares at my woman. “Let me guess, this is one of your many whores,” she snidely says, her tone laced with venom.

  I’d really love to know who the fuck this bitch thinks she’s talking to, because I already know my bombe, and she won’t let this slide. Now I’ll lean back and enjoy the show, because it’s bound to be explosive.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Madelaine

  Immediately I rise to my feet, not caring if I’m out of line or not. Tonight has gone beautifully, and I won’t have some random chick ruining it for me. “What did you say?” I ask her, already knowing very well what she chose to call me. If she called me a bitch, I wouldn’t have even bat an eyelash at her, because let’s all be honest here . . . I can be the world’s biggest bitch. But man, I’m so tired of the term whore.

  Funny since I love being called cumslut when I’m being fucked.

  The blonde bimbo stands up a bit straighter and pops a hand on her hip. “I called you a whore, because it’s exactly what you are. Félix has a habit of playing with women like you from time to time and then he ends up coming back here. I was sucking his dick a few days ago in case you must know, so don’t get too comfortable where you are, ‘cause I’ll be sitting in your spot soon enough.”

  I see Félix start to rise so I hold my hand up and turn to look at him. “Oh no, don’t you dare. I can handle this shit, trust me,” I hiss, then look back at blondie and take a step forward with every word. “If you think a little bitch like you is going to intimidate me, you have another thing coming. I’ve been through more shit in my life than you ever have and I can assure you, I know how to fight dirty, so, do you really want to fuck with a woman like me?”

  “I could fight you in your sleep, sweetheart. I’ll be back with him before you know it.” Her tone is condescending as fuck and I’m one second away from telling this chick exactly where she can shove it. Actually, I’m not gonna tell her, I’ll fucking show her.

  “I highly doubt it, if you were any good he wouldn’t even be with me, but he is, so, I don’t think he’s going to come crawling back to you. I bet you couldn’t even suck his dick right.” Blondie whips her hand back and slaps me across the face, and as she pulls away the points of her fake nails scratch my face. They burn out of nowhere and I know I’m bleeding, but damn she’s going to wish she was fucking with another bitch.

  I grab her by the front of her hair and slam her into the side of the table. Her head knocks against it with a thud and she screams, gets back up, and starts to charge at me. Félix grabs my forearm and pulls me back, causing the girl to run a good five or six feet. “We should leave, I didn’t come here to get our night—”

  “Don’t you dare finish that sentence. If you don’t let me deal with this my way, I’ll never forget it,” I snap, glaring into his eyes.

  For the first time since meeting him he doesn’t look at me with desire, or need, or even the little moments of pity. Instead, he’s looking at me like I’m an equal and nods his head in understanding.

  I turn back just as her nails scrape against me again, this time against my upper arm, almost at my shoulder. The burning sensation shoots through me again, but not before I grab onto the back of her neck and force it down just as I bring my knee up and a loud cracking sound rings out.

  She moans, and then screams. Félix grabs onto me and pulls me back. “You fucked with the wrong bitch, blondie!” I sneer, laughing maniacally.

  “Jesus, you’re a savage,” Félix mutters, almost in complete disbelief.

  I turn my head to look back at him. “You looked into my background. Didn’t you see the part where I grew up in the ghetto the last few years of high school? Those girls in my neighborhood taught me some tricks, tricks I’ll never forget.”

  “Fuck, we should have her giving Olivia self-defense lessons,” Félix’s brother cackles to him, and then looks to me and the blondie. She’s now standing with blood flowing down her chin and parts of her neck.

  “Let me go, Félix,” I warn, trying to rip my body away from his. I’m not done with this chick and everyone here will know it soon enough.

  “Trust me, Missy’s learned her lesson.” Félix automatically comes to her defense. I’m sure he isn’t trying to, but it’s the way it’s coming across to me.

  “If you don’t let me go right now, I’m going to assume you’re picking Missy’s side instead of mine.” Missy, what a typical name for a woman like this.

  “What? That’s not what I’m doing here,” Félix grumbles, finally letting go of me.

  I walk up to her with complete confidence and stare her down. “What is it you do here, Missy?”

  “I’m a burlesque dancer,” she hisses.

  “Correction, you were a burlesque dancer,” I inform her, and she gasps loudly, immediately looking past me to Félix, and then to his brother who’s standing a few feet away. I’m sure he heard the commotion and then decided he needed to come over here.

  “What?! You can’t do that!” she snaps, looking to the DeLancy men to back her up.

  “I can, and I just did, now get your ass out of here before I decide to go for round two,” I threaten, fully intending to follow through with my promise.

  Still, she looks to Félix. Like he’s going to save her, I think not.

  “You heard Madelaine, get out of here.” Félix stands, comes to my side and wraps an arm around my waist, fully supporting me. He could’ve told me to go to hell, how this is his business and all of that, but he didn’t . . . instead he allowed me to do this and supported my decision. For that I’ll be forever grateful.

  Missy shakes her head in either outrage or complete disbelief. “This isn’t over,” she says, just as she begins strutting away, heading toward the back.

  “Make sure she gets out of here without any trouble,” Félix tells his brother, who immediately follows her.

  Chapter Twenty

  Félix

  After leaving the club and seeing the way Madelaine handled herself, I’d been more than ready to take her straight upstairs to my—no—our room.


  Only as I open the car door for Madelaine and help her out of her seat, my phone rings and I have a gut feeling I need to take it. I swipe my finger across the screen and put the phone to my ear. “Hold on, Malcolm,” I say and mute the call.

  “Go on inside, bombe, and I’ll be there soon,” I say, giving her a chaste kiss on the lips.

  Nodding, Madelaine does as I ask of her.

  As soon as the door closes behind her, I unmute the call and put the phone back to my ear. “You get them?” I ask, assuming I would’ve received this call at some point tonight.

  “Every last one of them,” Malcolm remarks and I can practically hear his smirk through the phone.

  “Good, I’ll be there shortly,” I state, not waiting for a response as I end the call.

  I walk into the house to find Madelaine and Olivia sitting in the sunroom near the kitchen laughing. Madelaine is telling Olivia about what happened at Diamond Dancers and my sister can’t stop laughing repeating the words ‘no you didn’t’ and ‘oh my gosh’.

  “Madelaine,” I murmur her name to get her attention. Lifting her head up she smiles at me and I don’t miss the glimmer of need in her eyes. I hold my hand up and wave my finger, giving her the come here gesture. Rolling her eyes, Madelaine tells Olivia she’ll be right back.

  I pull Madelaine into my arms when she’s within reach and move us more into the kitchen.

  “First of all, don’t call me over like I’m a trained puppy. Secondly, what’s going on? You have a stressed look on your face,” she asks.

  “Well, alright. I figured you were more of a jaguar with your attitude and whatnot, but noted. I need to go out for a little while and deal with some business,” I inform her.

  Nodding, she glares at me for a second before sucking a lip in between her teeth. “Are you . . . does this . . . have anything to do with Richie?”

  My first intention is to lie to her but she’s in my life and I intend to keep her right where she is. She deserves to know the true man I am, grit and all. “Yes. Malcolm has Richie and I’ll be handling him tonight. I will not ever tolerate anyone putting their hands on what’s mine and he touched you, bombe. He not only touched you but threatened to do far worse. For that he’s going to pay and no one will ever dare to come close to you ever again. Of that I can assure you.”