by Gemma Hart
“Well, the Desmond Family’s, I mean.”
Marco stared at me for a moment, his face suspicious. “I wasn’t told we were hiring a new one,” he said slowly, clearly bothered at this lack of information.
I shrugged. “Well, I just spoke with Mr. Desmond right now and he’s hired me to manage some new transactions.”
Marco ran a tongue under his lip as he seemed to measure me up. “He hired you to do that?” he said.
I bristled at his tone of voice. Did he think I couldn’t do it? I wouldn’t think the younger Desmond was less progressive than the older one.
“Yes, he did,” I said with a bit of emphasis in my tone.
A glimmer suddenly entered his eyes. The corners of his lips twitched upwards in a way that made my heart stammer. He leaned closer to me.
“You’re telling me a girl with your face in a place like this was hired to manage accounts?” he said slowly, his voice rolling and low.
“Well, what else would I manage?” I nearly snapped from nervousness. My eyes widened almost immediately though at my words. I could’ve bitten my tongue.
A knowing grin finally crossed his face, transforming him from gorgeous to dangerously seductive. He reached out and grabbed my hand.
I pulled back instinctively in surprise at his touch but he kept his grip and pulled my unwilling hand towards him. His large hand nearly swallowed my own, easily closing around my wrist.
He placed my hand on his chest. I could feel the heat of him radiating through his shirt. The steady bump bump bump of his heart pulsed beneath my palm.
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. He began to trail my hand down his chest. I could feel every carved muscle across the planes of his stomach. Was nothing on this man soft? He felt like he was carved from marble.
I sucked in a sharp breath as he kept pulling my hand lower, past his waist, past his hips.
“What do you think you can manage?” he said, amusement clear as day in his voice.
My hand was just inches away from the growing hardness below when a voice called out from behind us, “Miss Margot? I’m here to escort you to your rooms.”
I immediately pulled back in surprise and this time Marco let go.
I stared up at him, breathing as hard as if we had just been fucking right on the floor in plain sight.
His hooded eyes were warm and sultry as they looked me over. A faint smile still played at his lips.
“Miss Margot?” the escort called out.
I licked my lips, my throat feeling suddenly quite dry. “Yes, yes,” I answered a little breathlessly. “I’m coming.”
A flicker of amusement passed through Marco’s eyes at my last words.
I pushed past him towards the waiting escort.
I definitely need to bite my tongue out.
Chapter Five
Marco
She was too blonde.
I lounged in my leather seat as I watched Roy introduced his new accounts manager to Gus and Vance, the two highest ranking members of the Desmond Family, aside from myself.
“She’ll be taking care of the new accounts,” Roy said broadly, giving Gus and Vance a quick, knowing look. The men quickly caught on.
Gus gave the girl an amused look. “It’ll be something have a woman around these parts,” he said, meaning the parts of the compound where business was conducted.
It was true. There were basically no female members of the Desmond Mafia. It was just the old tradition of having the criminal world remain a man’s world. I’m sure Gus and Vance were surprised by Roy’s decision to hire a woman.
But I wasn’t.
Everyone knew Roy was always a control freak and quite paranoid about uprisings and dirty dealings. He’s definitely survived more than a few assassination attempts. And in his older age, he seemed to only be getting more batshit paranoid. So it made sense that he would think that hiring a woman was a clever move.
He’d met every type of man—the cowards, the weak, the foolish, the deadly. He probably figured hiring a woman who seemed upstanding and moral would undercut all the problems he’d had before. Perhaps even bolster his confidence in having a quiet little mouse of an accountant.
I quirked my head as I watched Halle shake hands with the men. I could tell she was trying very hard to avoid my gaze. I couldn’t help but grin at her futile attempts at ignoring me.
It was obvious by how much she ignored my general direction just how badly she really did want to look.
She was a little on the petite side. Curvy and lusciously stacked and despite her drab business wear and her severe bun, she still managed to somehow convey an air of delicacy and fragility.
It was easy to see how Roy could think this woman was a proper lady who had never dabbled in anything unsavory and had just happened to fall into this kind of crowd. He knew the right kind of salary could swing a person into a shadow they never thought they’d cross.
But I knew better.
Looking at her again, I thought, she’s too blonde.
Her hair actually wasn’t that blonde. It was a very deep golden honey blonde. And despite its severe look right now, I could tell that if I were to pull that bun loose, her hair would flow into a silky waterfall down her back. Suddenly, I had the overwhelming urge to feel that silkiness against my bare chest as I held her from behind, her hips pressed against my hardening—
I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat.
No, it wasn’t just the blondeness. It was that there was something…different about her. No one who is truly moral and upstanding would dare work with the Desmond Mafia, no matter how high the salary. There is something else at play here.
But it was hard for me to think that this girl was truly an aspiring criminal. I squinted a little, trying to figure her out.
Then it hit me. It wasn’t that she was too blonde. It was that she was too light.
She literally looked like a girl off a toothpaste ad. With sweet full lips and glowing blue eyes, she had a soft face that wasn’t what people would call gorgeous. No, they would call it—lovely. She was lovely.
I snorted to myself.
Was I turning into some kind of fucking poet now? Lovely? Who says that anymore?
But it was the best word I could think of for this Halle Margot. And for such a lovely girl to be in this den of vipers, it was off putting to say the least and suspicious to say the most.
I didn’t believe for a moment this woman was here solely for the money. This little thing wanted something else.
“And here’s Marco, my son,” Roy said suddenly, his gruff voice loud and aggravating.
I watched with amusement as Halle waited as long as she could before reluctantly turned around towards me.
As soon as I caught her eye, I raised a brow in mock offense, clearly showing that I had noticed her reluctance to look at me.
A rosy blush immediately suffused her cheeks.
Fuck. Roy was insane to hire this girl. She would get pounced on before the week was up. What the hell was the old man thinking?
I stood up in one fluid movement, putting myself directly in front of Halle. I extended my hand. “Hello, Miss Margot,” I said.
There was a pause too long before Halle finally put her hand in mine. I felt her immediately try to snatch it back once the formality of a handshake was over but I closed my fingers around hers, keeping the touch of her against me.
“Show her around if she gets lost and all that,” Roy said with a dismissive tone of voice, clearly bored of introductions. “Some paperwork from previous deals have been put in your office, Halle. Take a look and sort it out. It’s some kind of mess and I don’t want it laying around like that any longer.”
Before Halle could respond, Roy and his men took their leave, leaving her right within my paws. Literally.
I hid a smile.
Halle watched Roy leave then turned around slowly, raising her eyes at me in a way that reminded me of a doe in a glen.
I mentally shook myself. A doe
in a glen? Who the fuck are you now—Shakespeare?
“How did you sleep on your first night?” I asked.
Halle had moved in last night into the east wing rooms. I had watched her things being brought in. She had literally had only one medium sized suitcase with her. Where were all the trappings most women brought with them? All the shoes? The accessories? The endless parade of outfits?
Halle looked down at her hand, still trapped within mine. I could almost hear her thinking. I wondered what she would say. Would she look up with those luminous blue eyes, lips quivering, begging me to let her go? Would she maybe just go pale, too nervous in front of the infamous Marco Desmond?
I had been careful in the past to keep my work with the Family as hush hush as possible. But that didn’t mean paparazzi didn’t love to follow me around as I hit the town with one woman or another—actress, model, high priced call girl, I’ve had them all.
Oh god, I thought with disgust. She wouldn’t faint would she? I could already feel the tired idea boring me when suddenly I felt the small fingers in my hand tighten around my own.
I looked down in surprise.
Slowly, she started gently stroking the inside of my palm. I could feel each finger play across my hand, stroking softly. Each touch sent a small sizzling electric bolt through me.
Then, without warning but with a sudden grace, she leaned in towards me and raised her eyes.
But there was no hint of fainting. Not even a sign of fear or nervousness, damn her.
Instead there was a faint smile playing at her lips. The same smile echoed within her eyes. I remembered the shock and fear that had played across that delicate face the other day when I had surprised her in the den.
That felt like almost a hallucination of a memory now. Because there was no fear or shock in those ocean-like eyes.
There was a warmth. A heat. A quiet promise.
“Mr. Desmond,” she said, mimicking my mock formality, “I slept very well.” She had a clear, clean voice like the sound of a bell. And even as she whispered, I could hear her voice still echoing within my brain like the end of a sweet note.
I opened my mouth to say something although I had no fucking idea what I was supposed to say when she leaned in even further, practically resting on my chest.
“I slept very well knowing how much we’d be working together here,” she said. Her lips, soft and pink, gave me a teasingly short glimpse of a playful smile before she pulled back.
She pulled her hand away and this time, I let her go, not even aware we had still been holding hands. “It looks like I have some work to get started on,” she said with that same glimmering smile. “But any help you can provide would always be appreciated.”
And with one final eye fuck, she turned and strolled out the room.
Leaving me standing there.
What. The. Fuck.
A few beats of silence passed.
Then from the bottoms of my feet all the way up, I felt a deep chuckle escape me. My shoulders rocked as I let it out.
“Oh that’s how you want to play, kitten?” I said aloud quietly to the empty room.
Women had been strolling in to the Desmond Mafia and Family compound for literally decades. Every single one of them carried the dream of landing a Desmond man. The power, the wealth, the infamy—it was too tempting for most women. From the age of fifteen, I’ve had full grown women throwing themselves at me.
I stared with aroused amusement at the doorway where Halle had just left. A burst of intriguing excitement shot through me.
I still couldn’t figure out why someone like Halle Margot would be in a place like this. Perhaps she was just like those many other women who had come through, hoping to land herself the title of a crime lord’s wife. Except she was trying to be clever by pulling herself above those regular whores and presenting herself as an actual competent worker.
I shook my head, unable to stop grinning. For the first time in a long time, I suddenly felt a sense of anticipation. And hunger.
Miss Margot, you better watch yourself.
Because when I get the anticipation and hunger for a chase, I never lose.
Chapter Six
Halle
I looked across the expanse of my new large desk. This was probably the nicest office I had ever been in and probably would ever be in.
I had no idea what kind of wood the desk was made out of but I could tell that it was high quality with impeccable construction. The entire room was the same. All the incredibly expensive furniture was made out of leathers or woods I couldn’t identify but just by their appearance, I could tell they were not from a store I could find in the mall. These were all custom pieces with their materials sourced at most likely expense of the environment.
And above it all, a mound of paperwork sat in front of me, nearly swamping me.
I ran a hand through my hair, my bun having come loose several hours and many files ago. Just looking at all the work in front of me made me want to go cross-eyed.
I had always figured the Desmond network was very extensive. Everyone in the public knew that. People knew Roy Desmond had more than a few politicians comfortably in his pocket. He even owned a majority stake in a popular online news website, convenient whenever there was negative press exploding around the Desmond Family.
And yet, seeing it all before me in black and white, I never realized just how incredibly large and varied the scope of the organization was. The Desmond Mafia had fingers in everything—including charities! It was incredible.
I had yet to be tasked with any new, upcoming deals or mergers, much to the frustration of Agent Hadfield and Truman. I hadn’t even heard someone whisper the name Juarez yet.
All I’d been expected to do so far was to organize my predecessor’s files which had been left in a complete mess. I suddenly lowered the papers I was holding. Perhaps they had been left in a complete mess because he had been removed from his job so suddenly….
It was always jarring to have these sudden reminders of just how incredibly dangerous this mission was. I was in the heart and center of the most powerful crime family in all of America where within a few thousand square feet, hundreds of guns and weapons were loaded and carried about like toys by nearly every man in sight.
If I were to be caught as an undercover FBI agent here in the Desmond Compound….I shuddered even thinking about the possibilities.
I shook my head, trying to clear it of such dark and morbid thoughts. Refocusing my attention on the work at hand, I tried to make sense of everything. Although none of this stuff was related to the Juarez trade, Agent Hadfield and Truman were pleased at the sudden pile of information I was now privy to. They drilled it into me to carefully review each file and to take note of anything highly sensitive or suspicious.
I picked my papers back up again and read down the sheet. It was a listing of small manufacturing plants held in Germany. Erlösung Manufacturing.
At this point, I was hardly surprised to see the name of another country on these files. The truth of the Desmond reach had already been shown to me.
But I squinted at the paper. These manufacturing plants were quite small. They made a special type of processor chip that was used by specialty computers. Definitely a successful business that had a good monopoly on the market but it was a niche business. Very niche.
They were smallest business holding that I had yet reviewed. Almost all the Desmond business ventures, no matter the industry, brought in several tens of millions of dollars per year, making them an incredibly wealthy family.
But this string of plants were barely scraping by in the low millions. Some of the plants were only making profits in the six figures. These were a pittance for the Desmonds. Why would they want plants like these?
In a short time, I could already tell two things about Roy Desmond. One, he was an incredibly suspicious man, which made him erratic and cruel. And two, he was very, very greedy. He only wanted the best. And these plants would never have re
gistered on Roy Desmond’s radar.
I ran my finger down the paper till I saw the name listed as the owner.
Marco Desmond.
My body stilled at the name. Marco.
If enigma could be personified, Marco Desmond would be it. My body immediately flushed as I remembered meeting him in the den, my hand pressed forcefully against his body. I had felt every carved muscle, every hardened groove of his body.
And caught so off guard, I had let my shock and shyness get the better of me.
But I was on a mission. I had a target. And that target was Marco Desmond. And that mission?
