“What if she doesn’t know?”
“Who cares? They have to keep an image, maybe a cover to protect their real lives. As long as your cousin is safe then it’s all good.” He gave C.J. a slap to his arm.
“It also puts us at an even higher advantage. Once he finds out you’re related, he’ll probably give us better positions in the business and we’ll be making a shit load of money and have our own beauties on our arms like your cousin in no time.”
C.J. stared at him, his concern was for his cousin.
“Dude, stop worrying about who your cousin is fucking. She hangs out with made men all the fucking time. Her friends are doing a bunch of them. She can take care of herself, obviously. Now remember, you have to keep your mouth shut. No one can know what we know or we’ll get whacked. This is heavy shit. So get that look off your face and focus. She’s a grown woman and if she spreads her legs then she needs to handle the consequences of who she does that for. Although knowing Alda, she’s making those men work for it. She isn’t easy. Not by a long shot.”
“She probably doesn’t have a clue that they’re dealing drugs then.”
“Not your problem right now, besides, like I said, the main guy is leaving town for a few days. Let’s make the changes and be ready for the next shipment and sale. Okay?”
“Okay, but if I catch wind of anything that puts Alda in serious danger, I’m telling her.”
“Hey, that’s your suicide, not mine. My lips are sealed. I’m in this to make more money. What we made so far is peanuts compared to what we will make as this grows. Think like a boss, not like a sissy.”
* * * *
Royce held her against his body, his palm over her ass as she hugged him good-bye. She leaned up and kissed his chin and he smiled at her.
“Do you have to go in for this meeting?” he asked.
“You know I do. We spent all day Sunday in bed, and I called in sick Monday. I have to go back to work,” she said to him. She eased back and so did he but kept his arms around her waist.
“What are you going to do about Antonio and Tatum?” Brew asked her.
She smiled at him, reached out and took his hand, brought it to her lips and kissed his knuckles. His mean expression softened. “I won’t be alone with them, Brew. The most that will happen is a lunch meeting or something with them and Haley and Maxwell. I think I’m going to tell them I changed my mind about the modeling.”
Royce squeezed her hips. “Wait, don’t do that because you think that’s what we want.”
She pressed her hand to his chest.
“I’m not. I thought about it,” she said and looked at him, then Brew, Train, and Logic who all stood in her kitchen. They had driven her home early this morning so she could shower and dress for work.
“I don’t want to be apart from you guys. I also don’t want anyone questioning my judgment, my personal life and who I care about. If it means losing my job, then so be it. If Maxwell lets me go over this then he isn’t the man I thought he was.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Brew said to her. She smiled.
“Well, you guys need to head to work and so do I.”
Royce released her to Brew so she could kiss him good-bye and then to Logic and Train. Train caressed her ass, then ran his thumb along her lower lip and clenched her chin.
“Do you need to wear something so sexy as this?” he asked.
She slid to the side and smoothed the material of the dress back into place.
“It’s business attire,” she countered.
Brew stroked a finger along her neck and the V of the top that exposed some of her cleavage as well as a designer necklace.
“This is a lot of skin,” Brew stated. She placed her hand on his hip.
“I’m yours though, remember.”
He pulled her close. “I remember, and I hope you do, too. Perhaps tonight you’ll need some more training,” he teased and pressed his lips to hers.
She pulled back. “You are making it so difficult to leave right now.”
“Good,” all four men said at the same time, making her blush, her belly quiver and giddiness fill her heart. She smiled.
Oh yeah, I’m in love with them. Won’t tell them yet. That could send them over the edge.
She smiled as they headed out of her apartment, together.
* * * *
“She slept with them. Spent the fucking weekend in their arms, not ours.” Tatum raised his voice. Antonio had his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face.
“I’m as angry as you are and didn’t see this coming. I should have known when she didn’t show up at the party and didn’t acknowledge my texts. I should have picked her up and made her come before she had a chance to go to the club and let those four men seduce her into bed. I fucked up.”
“Well, you need to make this up to me. I want her. She fits in every way. You and I both know this.”
“Calm down and stop thinking about fucking her.”
“I’m thinking about more than that. The whole fantasy, Antonio. Don’t tell me you haven’t imagined it, too.”
“Of course I have and especially since the other night when we both kissed her and held her between us.”
“Then we need a plan. Maybe we should head out tonight. I think the longer we wait the harder it will be to get her to accept us,” Tatum said to Antonio.
“We have the upper hand, Tatum. If she doesn’t leave willingly then we do what is necessary.” Tatum nodded.
* * * *
“A lot is riding on this, Alda. You can’t blow off Antonio and Tatum for some wild fling with four men who won’t take you seriously. Your job is riding on this. It needs to be resolved before they leave for a business trip upstate,” Haley told her.
“I don’t appreciate you coming here and putting this pressure on me. My personal life is none of your business. I don’t know why so much is riding on whether or not I get romantically involved with Antonio and Tatum. That isn’t going to happen. I’m in a relationship with someone else.”
“Are you serious? You’re choosing a relationship with them over one with Tatum and Antonio? Men who care about you, will take you seriously, support you, and commit to you?”
“Excuse me, but you do not know the men I’m involved with. They are committed to me and I am committed to them. Now, this conversation is over. Now do you have something to discuss with me business wise or not?” She raised her voice at Haley, who looked shocked. Alda didn’t really care. She realized in that moment that this job didn’t mean as much to her even though she put so much effort into building the company and the products. Was it because she had a safety net, her four lovers who promised to take care of her and provide for her? Not that she would let them. She was an independent woman but it did give her peace of mind and a bit of confidence while facing Haley. The woman was a feared boss in the company.
Haley narrowed her eyes at her. Then she pointed at her.
“You better not screw up this deal with Antonio. His company can provide the best arrangements for us here and for Maxwell. In fact, we’ll see how Maxwell feels about this situation and whether you have a job here anymore.”
Haley walked out of the office and slammed the door closed.
Alda leaned back in her chair and exhaled. She felt nervous, unsure, but went about doing her job. She texted Royce and told him what happened and about Antonio and Tatum leaving for upstate for business and it was probably a good thing. He gave her supportive words, and made her feel better and then she told him she couldn’t wait to see them tonight after work.
We’ll have a double pomegranate martini waiting for you, honey, he texted back and she smiled wide and chuckled. Her four men had instantly become her rocks, her everything.
* * * *
“What do you want me to do? Maxwell isn’t here today. Everyone is busy finalizing things. It looks like your personal plans are falling through,” Haley said to him.
“Not falling through, ju
st altered slightly,” Antonio told her and looked at Tatum, who stared out the window.
“Call her for a meeting in an hour, at the back meeting room. Say we’re going over importing and exporting details as well as appearances for her to do as the cover model for the project.”
“You’re keeping her in that position anyway?” Haley asked.
“We made some changes this morning. Our other deal is taking a change of direction and this whole idea of overseas sales can wait a bit. No rush, and it will give us time to convince Alda who she really belongs to,” Antonio told her.
Haley exhaled. “So you still want her, despite who she’s been with.”
“That isn’t your concern.”
“I’ve been here for you. I helped to set this whole thing up with Maxwell so you can do your thing and I can get my cut. Now you want to hold off so you can fuck some whore.”
Before Antonio could react, Tatum was across the room and gripping Haley by the neck. She gasped and grabbed onto his wrists.
“You don’t ever talk about her or say anything negative. She is better than you, that’s why you’re jealous. Watch what you say and do, Haley, or you’ll wind up dead,” Tatum said then shoved her away. Antonio squinted at her as she coughed and backed up.
“Get it together. Get her here for a meeting and we’ll take care of the rest,” Antonio told her.
She hurried out of the room and Tatum stared at the door as it closed. One look at that expression, those eyes and he knew that Tatum was close to losing it. “Patience, Tatum. We need to play this very carefully and strike when she least expects it.”
“I know, Antonio. I know, but Haley pisses me off. She set me up. She gave me those drugs and I nearly killed that woman.”
Antonio swallowed. That woman died by his cousin’s hands but his cousin didn’t know it.
“That’s over and we know not to trust her.”
“Then she should be taken care of, too.”
“Leaving bodies around is not smart business. Let’s stay focused on what we want. Isn’t that why we created the drug, and put it out there? To bring something unique and profitable in the game of life.”
“How long will we have to run the business hands on?”
“Not long. Salento will be our bitch in this. A seventy/thirty cut of everything. Seventy for us, and we control the amount distributed. We can focus on our life with our desires and wants and no interference. We have more than enough money and a continuous cash flow coming in. Relax. It will work out fine, and Alda will be right there with us along the way.”
Chapter 12
Alda didn’t want to go to this meeting. She was so nervous. She felt uncomfortable seeing Antonio and Tatum, knowing they liked her and that they knew she slept with Royce, Brew, Logic, and Train, and committed to them. She was basically choosing the four men over the two of them.
When she arrived at the meeting room, the smaller one at the back of the building by the stairs, she got an eerie feeling. Probably because it would be only her, Tatum, Antonio, and Haley in the room. As she entered they greeted her with smiles and her gut clenched.
“So glad you’re feeling better and were able to come in to work today,” Antonio said to her, smiling and looking her over. Suddenly she thought about Brew’s words of concern over her dress. Perhaps it did show off a bit more skin than necessary. She did love the dress. No, she was being silly because of the situation.
“Thank you, I’m feeling great. So what’s this all about?” she asked as Tatum held out a chair for her. Each of the seats had a folder and a bottle of water in front of it.
“Let me get that for you,” Tatum said to Haley, unscrewing the cap on her bottle. Alda reached for hers and Antonio offered the same thing.
“Let me get that while you look at the folder and the picture we thought was perfect to place on the main cartons of makeup,” he said and took her water bottle, opened it while she looked at the folder. When she opened it up she was shocked at the image. It was perfect. Not too large but definitely a symbol of a cover image associated with all the products. She placed her hand over her belly and had a mix of emotions. She felt excited about the images and product and being chosen, but also a bit nervous to take it on and especially if her personal life was an issue.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but no one can deny how perfect you fit on there, Alda,” Haley said to her.
“It’s amazing. I can’t believe I’m on the cover of a product like this,” she said then reached for the water bottle and took a long sip. She placed it down but remained holding it.
“I know things have changed. Business is business though, and we’d be foolish to remove you just because we’re disappointed by personal choices in your life,” Antonio said to her.
“Not smart choices,” Tatum added and she squinted at him. Antonio cleared his throat.
“He’s still feeling jealous and disappointed. Aside from that, in the file you’ll see that we’ve gone and crunched numbers, talked about aspects we can use to properly ship and export the packages, but first there’s the concern over the size of each one. You see here, the multipack is bulky, we don’t want to take away from your image or the product image. What do you think?” he asked her and she looked at the photos. She had to blink a few times, as her vision blurred and then sharpened. She felt a little lightheaded and went to take a bit more water. She finished the bottle and then Antonio reached over and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.
“Are you feeling okay, Alda? You look a little pale,” he said to her.
She leaned back. “I, I don’t know why. I was fine, before.” She heard her slurred speech and felt it.
“Now, Antonio?” Tatum asked.
“I’ll look to make sure it’s all clear,” Haley said and Alda felt confused. She reached for her cell phone in her bag and laid her head on the table. She didn’t know what numbers she pushed and then she dropped it. The chair pulled back.
“I’ll carry her, you get the car ready so we can get her to the house. Haley, cover everything up.”
“Oh shit,” Haley said.
Alda grabbed on to her arm. “Help me. Please, I don’t feel right. I feel dizzy,” she said loudly.
“Move it now. Fuck,” Tatum yelled and Alda felt her body bouncing but it was like slow motion. Then the blood rushed to her head and she felt it swish side to side, hitting her ears, her eyes and then her mouth.
“Antonio, please.”
“I’ve got you, baby. We’re going to take good care of you, don’t you worry.”
* * * *
“Alda! Alda, what’s wrong? Who is this?” Royce yelled into the phone. He was standing by the bar with his brothers and their friends. They were waiting to hear from Alda for a time to pick her up.
“What is it?” Brew asked with concern. Royce covered his ear with his hand.
“Fuck,” he heard someone yell and then Haley’s name and then Tatum’s.
“Something is wrong,” he yelled and ordered them to come with him. Their friends followed and they headed outside as he explained what he heard and the phone went dead.
“Her office, now,” he yelled and they rushed to get there.
“What do you think they did? You think they took her?” Logic asked.
“It sounds like it from what you said,” Lenox added. Ziek, Jack, and Harley were in the SUV behind them. They hurried to Alda’s office building.
By the time they got there she was gone. Haley was nowhere to be found and hardly anyone was in the office.
“Where the hell could they have taken her? Do you know where they live or are staying?” Harley asked them.
“Look who I found,” Brew stated, dragging Haley by her hair down the hallway.
“I told you all I know. I’ll call the police.”
“And tell them what? You helped abduct our woman? I heard you on the phone, bitch. Now tell us where the two dicks took her,” Royce yelled at her.
“I don�
�t know anything,” she said. Brew shoved her up against the wall and pulled out his gun. He placed it under her chin.
“Do you know who we are? What our profession is?” She shook her head.
“Let’s just say if someone needs to get rid of someone and doesn’t want to get caught, we eliminate them for fun,” he said with clenched teeth. Tears filled her eyes.
“Holy shit,” she whispered.
“Talk,” Harley ordered.
* * * *
“What’s going on? Why did all those men run out of here?” C.J. asked one of the security guys that worked for the Coglonie men.
“Something happened to their girlfriend Alda. They’re fucking pissed.”
“Alda? What happened?” C.J. asked and tried to push past him to find out from Dominick and the guys.
The guard grabbed him by his shirt. “Whoa, it isn’t your concern.”
“The hell it isn’t. Alda is my cousin.”
The guard’s eyes widened.
“Come on,” he said and pulled C.J. along with him to Dominick and Angelo.
“What is going on with Alda? I heard something about her being hurt,” he asked Dominick.
“We don’t know yet. Her boyfriend Royce got a call from her. She must have hit the phone and dialed without anyone knowing and it seems two guys doing business at her company may be after her.”
“Oh God, they hurt her?” he asked.
“We don’t know, C.J. It sounded like maybe they gave her something. She was out of it, saying she didn’t feel well and asked for help,” Angelo stated.
C.J. ran his fingers through his hair. “Oh God, the drug. They gave her the pill. Shit,” he said and paced then went to take out his phone. Dominick grabbed it from him and the guard grabbed C.J.
“Wait, what do you know about this?” Angelo demanded to know.
“I don’t know much. Just that if it’s the two guys she works with, the one in the picture from the newspaper article, then he’s a bad dude.”
Made Men 8: All or Nothing (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Page 19
