by Rissa Brahm
“It’s pitch black outside!”
“And there are hardly any cars on the road. It’s perfect.”
“No license!”
“Quit with the excuses and get in,” he ordered, slapping her sweet ass to move her along.
*
Antonio laughed at Jana’s wide-eyed look as she sat in his driver’s seat. And she was so tiny, only her chin was above the steering wheel. He’d have to get her a pillow for the long haul.
The first part of her first driving lesson would be backing out of the massive garage, so as long as he had her in reverse, there was absolutely nothing to worry about. But her expression of eager nervousness was completely adorable and insanely fucking hot.
He went around the back of his limo, kicking his back tire on the way to surface check its pressure. Then he opened the passenger side door to get in, which was totally bizarre for him, bizarre but unbelievably freeing.
And that’s when he noticed the tall shadows on his depot’s cold gray floor.
CHAPTER 56
“Tone, you didn’t answer my calls,” came the deep Jersey accent from the front of the garage bay.
Antonio stopped, stood up straighter, took a full breath, and turned. Jake Demonte and a tall gorilla of a bodyguard had come for a visit. And he was unsure how long they’d been standing there.
Jana. She was so small that she couldn’t even be seen inside the vehicle. Have a reason for being on this side, damn it. Pull something out of the vehicle. Now!
“Jake, gimme justa second.” He leaned inside the passenger side, pulled the car manual from the glove box, and whispered, “Jana, stay there, head down.” Then he stepped back out of the passenger’s seat holding the thick book in one hand while shutting the car door with the other.
The sound echoed throughout the garage.
He made his way up to his lender, his longtime friend, hand outstretched for a handshake. It was reciprocated with Jake’s usual gusto. “Jake, I know I missed your calls. Sorry, man. A family member’s in the hospital, and there’s no cell service at the ICU, but you got my voice message?”
“I got your message, Tone, yeah.”
“Again, sorry you had to come all the way down here.”
“Well, Tone, it had to be face-to-face, this level thing, you know? Where can we talk, son?”
Antonio led Jake to his office with Jake’s personal ape following right behind them.
Completely hyperconscious of the men’s eyes scanning the garage, his limo––with Jana hidden in the driver’s seat. It was parked far enough away from the row of offices, and its windows were tinted, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Antonio maintained an easy, relaxed stride. Jake couldn’t know she was there, and he couldn’t know her importance to him. Just in case.
He opened his office door and motioned with a welcoming sweep of his hand for Jake to enter, but the man paused first. “What’s the next office down?”
“My salesgirl’s.”
“Eddie…” Jake said, motioning with a sideward nod for his bodyguard to check it out. “Can’t be too careful,” he whispered by Antonio’s ear. Once Eddie came out of the sales office nodding his ‘all clear,’ Jake brought up his volume. “Looks more comfortable in there.” Jake Demonte took the lead to the next office over.
“Thanks, Eddie. Go on and wait in the car. Tony and I are gonna talk business for a few.” Jake made himself comfortable behind the desk. Antonio took the other chair by default, laughing in his head at the movie-esque feel of the entire situation. Hell, laughter was better than panic, right?
“Jake, a bottled water?” Antonio asked, up again at the mini-fridge against the wall.
“Yeah, sure,” Jake said, swiveling the chair back and forth across from him.
Antonio handed Jake a water and then opened one for himself, slammed a gulp, and then slowed to a single sip. Keep calm. Because on the inside, he was already going over that same years-old-response he’d rehearsed in his head: “Sorry, Jake, there’s no extra room in my trunk.”
Seriously God, please let this be a benign visit.
*
They sat in silence for a minute, what seemed to Antonio to be a quiet, passive-aggressive game of ‘who speaks first.’ But Jake was visiting his place of business, so…was this it? Was this the time Jake would call in that favor Antonio had expected for so long? God, had he been stupid enough to think that The Jake Demonte had cut him a break? Letting the whole ‘son I wished I had’ spiel really brainwash him. Antonio was smarter than that, but maybe hope had trumped intellect this time.
“Tone, my kid fucked me. Big time. He deserves what he gets.”
Okay, this was, at least, a good start. The other man knew that the whole club fiasco was all Johnnie. The little prick had tweaked the hell out and, beyond nearly killing two innocents, he’d threatened Jana. Scared her senseless. The bastard could’ve really hurt her. Killed her. A surge of rage shot up his throat for the umpteenth time that day, but he swallowed it back. Keep it together, Antonio. In front of Jake, for Jana, he had to stay calm and controlled. His fists tightened at his sides while he worked to keep the anger from showing itself in his face.
Antonio unclenched his jaws, took a subtle breath and said, “Man, Jake, I don’t know what to say. Glad no one else got hurt. It could’ve been a real bloodbath.”
“Exactly.” The other man cleared his throat, his eyes on Antonio. “The club, though…the authorities shut it down. Indefinitely, they say. It was my only open shop up here, you know, since Manhattan’s still bein’ renovated and Merrick…well, it was delayed even before Johnnie landed himself in a cell last night. Goddamn ’im.” Jake looked down at his hands, interlaced and white knuckled. “Tone, my guy on the Newark force, he needs a month or two to let this die down. That much coke running through…goddamn that sloppy little fucker spawn o’ mine! Lost the Vallarta club because of the white stuff, now this? And the shootings?” Jake’s fist slammed down on the desk hard, then the guy shook his head with his eyelids closed, inhaling deep.
“Jake, have a drink of water,” Antonio said, a little worried that the out of shape sixty-something-year-old man would work himself up into a heart attack or a stroke. That’s what Antonio needed, Jake Demonte keeling over in his goddamn office. Jake slowly opened the water bottle and sipped it, nostrils flaring and forehead lines deep.
“I need a favor, Tone. And I need it now.”
*
Antonio’s chest froze, stale air stuck in his chest. But he forced his brain to re-engage the next second, unlocking his lungs to gain a shallow breath. Of course, he knew it was coming. From the first sight of the tall, warped shadows on his depot floor. But again, a skeptic can turn optimist, especially having met Jana.
Jana. Oh, God…Jana. Jana was only one degree apart from a sleazy thug like Jake Demonte. If he put her at risk, if a favor for a damn wannabe mobster ever touched her, and, after all she’d been through with her own screwed-up family, he couldn’t live with himself.
But that fact didn’t matter a damn. There was absolutely only one thing he could say to the man sitting in front of him. And Antonio knew it. “Jake, what can I do?”
*
“Son, I need my money cleaned. I’m gonna need your shop.”
Jake wanted his shop? His business?
He’d seen enough movies to get the concept of laundering money through a legitimate outfit. But, damn it, wasn’t that only in the movies? But then Jake’s furrowed brow; squinting, targeted eyes; and razor-straight lips, all said no, it wasn’t just in the movies.
“How can I help with that, Jake? I’ll do what I can, of course.”
“I have to take the keys, call the note of the half mill loan. It’s not what I want to do, Tone, but I got too many people depending on me. I’ll hook you up later, I know you got your ‘magic number’ to reach, but I can’t let my kid’s screw up derail everything.”
For fuck’s sake! Call the loan?
Sure, fine.
He had a buyer at the ready; the proceeds of that deal would clear Jake’s loan. But that’s not all Jake wanted. The man with the upper hand wanted the fucking operating business as a front. And he wanted it for free! And even though Antonio had paid each month’s P&I a day early with extra to principal, it didn’t matter a damn. Fair, legal or legitimate, none of those were Jake’s priorities. Not even the history or supposed bond between he and Jake mattered. It mattered not at all.
And to Antonio, nothing mattered but Jana. And, goddamn it, his financial goal was not an issue minutes ago. He’d been happy to take a hit, come out of the legitimate deal he’d procured that day with way less than his goal number, but with more than enough to take care of Jana and their future life together. Now this man wanted to snap his fingers and take his business? Jake would catch him up later? What, and more favors in the meantime?
What the fuck had he gotten himself into? Jesus Christ, what had he done?
*
You see the problem, now focus on the solution. Focus, fast.
Jake needed a business front while Antonio needed his safe, secure dream with Jana to become a reality before he lost way more than money. He didn’t need the million dollar mark. At this point, the money was a blur, a second thought. All he could see was Jana in his head. In his heart.
A business front. To wash a lot of money. The more money, the better.
“Jake, how about a cleaner, far more productive way to get your storefront? You buy this place from me at market value. I had it appraised a few months back in preparation, you know? If you call my note, you only have daily operating expenses to wash your money with. But if you buy me out, on paper…here, let me show you the report—”
“No, Tone. I trust you. And I’m listening….”
“Two million was the certified appraisal amount. We make a purchase contract for that. But under the table, you give me something…whatever you think is fair. Oh, and my limo, I keep my car. But I transfer the business, the licenses, the leases for the rest of the fleet, the land and building, of course, which you’re in first position for anyway. On books, you have every dollar over five hundred grand up to two mil to use for your…cleaning needs. And hell, the business isn’t a strip club, but it nets a good twenty-five percent. Completely under the radar, as you know.”
“I’m listening, Tone, and I’m thinking,” he said, moving the bottle of water to his mouth, but then he paused and put it down before pulling a sip. “What’s that ‘fair off-the-books’ amount you’re thinking? ’Cause you never did tell me your magic number.” Jake lifted his brows.
Antonio blew the air out from his body. “Jake, I want my car and”––he took a long pull from his water bottle. Yes, a stall tactic. Antonio knew damn well that naming his number named him the loser, but he already was the loser here. But as long as he kept Jana safe, and with him, he was the richest man in the universe. “A million. At age six, a million dollars was the shiny magic number.”
“Let’s do this. A million it is. I wipe the loan of five-hundred grand and bring the other half-a-mill to the closing table. But, you gotta stay on, run the show. Make extra salary, and you’ll reach ten million by the time you’re forty-five.” He held out his hand to clinch the deal. “This’ll work out fine.”
But Antonio could only stare at the man’s outstretched hand.
*
It was getting really hot, so stuffy that she could hardly stay awake anymore. If only she could see him, make sure he was okay. He’d gotten a personal visit from Jake Demonte? The strip club mogul was no joke. The things she’d heard about him while working at his clubs, not a guy to mess around with. Rumors or fact, he scared the hell out of her.
And even though she knew Antonio’s history with Jake was a long and professional one, this was one long talk. And again, it was Jake Demonte.
God she prayed Jake wasn’t blaming Antonio for the mess at the club, especially since she had single-handedly created that nightmare. Why the hell did she have to go back to the club in the first place? For her damn ego was why; to check on the girls, who, as it so happened, couldn’t give a shit less; and for her contractual commitment to Johnnie? God, how moronic of her. How fucking stupid.
Then the office door opened and she ducked an inch further down in the seat.
“A week, Jake. Two tops. I’ll have someone more than ready. I’ve already got a few guys groomed at this point. Not an issue at all.” Antonio’s hand connected firmly with Jake Demonte’s, and Jake added a back-slap slash man-hug to end.
“I’ll send my attorney with a purchase contract and the check in the morning. Get some sleep, Tone. And hey, thanks for keeping the drama down as much as you did at the club. If it weren’t for you, more people woulda been hurt, or worse.”
Peeking over the dashboard, she watched Jake take a few steps to leave, but then he paused and turned. “And, Tone…that Winter Snow, one gorgeous girl, right? But she’s gonna melt into a pool of sweet nectar in that car if you don’t get her out soon. Gorgeous piece o’ tail, that one. My Eddie wanted that ass like no other! My piece-o’-shit kid, too, from what I hear.”
Jana’s heart rate spiked, and embarrassment and fear boiled up to her cheeks. She watched Antonio turn toward her with clenched jaws, and he gave her a hardly noticeable nod, but she caught it. His wordless message told her that she was still fine and to just stay in the car, hidden.
Then he turned back to Jake, and with all the nonchalance in the world, he said, “You gonna head back to Jersey City tonight? Or crash at the studio apartment?” Completely ignoring Jake’s comment altogether. Okay, that’s one way to handle it. Men. Whatever, please just get the guy gone, because, God, her hands were shaking like she was buried in snow while it was hotter than hell in that limo.
The club king seemed to go along with Antonio’s redirect. “The studio? Jesus, I wouldn’t stay in that fuck-fest hole-in-the-wall if my life depended on it.” The man’s laugh faded as Antonio ushered Jake out of her line of sight, out to the parking lot, out of the depot altogether.
*
She scrambled out of the car and jumped into his arms, desperately and repeatedly kissing him on the mouth, not able to get enough, never wanting to let him go. He slowed her down, though, with his magic touch, his calming way. His hand moved smoothly over her back, and then using the tip of his tongue to delicately line her lips before dipping back into her mouth, she began to breathe, loosening her grip on him, relaxing into his embrace. Then he pulled away slowly, his hands now softly cradling her face.
“I’m fine, Jana. And more importantly, you’re fine.”
“But he knows I was in the car. How’d he—”
“He was probably lingering a few minutes before he came up. But, yeah, he was bustin’ my balls that whole time. Doesn’t matter, Jana. We’re not in danger. It’s all okay. It turns out to be really damn good actually.” He picked her up, swung her around and around.
“What are you talking about?” Her arms held on for dear life to his neck, not seeing how any handshake with Jake Demonte could be anything close to good.
He let her feet touch the ground. “Nothing…just trust me.” Then he stopped, pulled her over to the limo, and opened the door to the driver’s seat for her to get in again.
“Are you serious? I can’t stop shaking let alone drive…not for my first time!”
Handing her the car keys, he whispered, “Jana, listen, after tomorrow, we’re done and set.” He squeezed her elbow. “A million. My number. It wipes my debt, leaves us with five-hundred grand in cash, not including what I’ve got in my operating account! All I’ve worked for…I’m finally done. No strings, Jana. You and me, and, you know…our future, it’s ready for us.”
She looked at him sweetly, but couldn’t hide the worry from her eyes. “Antonio, it sounds…perfect. But, sometimes perfect is anything but.”
He waved off her comment and kissed her cheek, then her nose, her chin, her lips. “Come on, let’s get going. You got
ta get your first driving lesson under your belt. Two weeks from now, we’ll be heading home to Mexico.”
CHAPTER 57
A half hour later they got to the Palisades Park exit, which was only a few minutes south of Fort Lee. It was sweet, her excitement, driving up the thruway for the first time.
“Pull off here, princess.”
“Oh no! You’re queasy from my driving. I told you I’d be bad—”
“No, not at all. I showed you this place in the daytime, now I want you to see it at night.” He smiled but held his stomach to mess with her. “And I’d like to throw up in a scenic environment.” He laughed and she punched his arm. She hadn’t looked at him since getting on the road, and now she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off him.
“Left! Left here!” he shouted, helping her with the wheel.
He was glad when she looked back at the road and coasted smoothly, proudly into the park.
*
God, it felt like ages ago, their moment by the river. But it had only been a matter of days. A high-speed, time-surpassing love, that’s what they had.
As she followed his finger to where she should park, she realized something: a stark, solid feeling throughout her entire being. She was in the driver’s seat and in complete and utter control, control that Antonio had given her. And she didn’t feel the least bit carsick, not the slightest bit nauseated, better even than when she sat shotgun.
She felt absolutely, definitively grounded in herself, but at the same time, flying higher than high. The feeling was similar to a recent dream she half remembered.
“Come on. I want to show you the riv—”
“Wait.” She grabbed his hand. “Wait a minute. You gave me my first driving lesson. But I want another first.” Pure seduction and desire laced her words. “I want to make love to you, Antonio Ruiz. In the backseat of this limo. Right now.”
*
She watched him beam.
“And here I was trying to be a gentleman, biding my time, but yes, let’s stay right here,” he said, his words and tone sweet and so goddamn sexy. “Because I didn’t know how I was going to make it all the way to the river without attacking you on the way. Plus the mosquitoes, poison ivy,” he rambled and snickered as he unbuckled her seatbelt and hoisted her over the divider without hesitation.
