by Ali Parker
"Come and let me taste you." I lifted up a little and shook my face from side to side as she bent forward toward the wall and rocked against me, screaming as her orgasm hit her. Between the taste of her on my tongue, her heavy panting and shaking legs... I was in the only heaven I would ever see... her.
"More," I grumbled against her swollen flesh, kissing at her slowly, softly.
"Fuck me," she groaned and pulled away.
"Yeah." I moved from her as she clung to the wall. After working my black jeans over my hips, I gripped her and thrusted, filling her up and leaving my own head spinning at the wet tightness of her body. The sharp slap to her ass was delicious, and she cried out as I gripped her hips and pressed farther into her.
"You should see how fucking hot this is, Kate. Your little pussy takes me so well, so beautifully, baby."
My thumb brushed by her ass, and she cried out again. "Yes."
I gripped her shoulder as I worked myself in and out of her in long, deep thrusts, forcing her to take more of me each time.
"Push back and take what you want."
What I wouldn't have given for her to want more than that last time together. That's all I had to take with me. Somehow it just didn't feel like enough.
*
"Wow. These fucker went all out, aye?" Zak walked into the apartment behind me and stopped in the doorway. "I'm in the next one over. I'm going to check out, but hit me up later and we'll grab something to eat if you're up for it."
I nodded and walked into the living room, dropping my bags on the couch and moving languidly through the plush two bedroom apartment. It was fifty times nicer than anything I'd ever owned, but then again, these guys were the big time. The big shit.
I couldn't help but wonder how quickly Demetri's warm welcome would turn into a noose around my fucking neck. Every man with power wanted to keep a tight grip on it, and I had no doubt that he wasn't any different than any of them I'd met before.
"We'll see where we end up." I walked into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of my bed. Pulling out my phone, and flipped through my text messages with Kate and let out a long groan. I needed to get drunk and laid. Fast.
Otherwise I'd stew in my decision to walk out of her life and give her and Jon a chance. I had walked out, right? Or had she kicked me out? It was all a little fuzzy, which was most likely my brain trying to cover up the trail of rejection and pain that clung to me like a stench I couldn't shake.
My phone rang, and I smiled. It was someone from Expulsion in New Orleans.
"Marcus."
"Hey man. It's Jeffery. You make it to Chicago okay?"
"Yeah. We're here." I glanced around. "The apartment is really nice. Maybe a little too nice?"
"Naw, you'll get used to it." He chuckled. "My mom said that she would love to give you a tour of the shipping facility and shit. I'm not sure of protocol or any of that mess, but her name is Selma. I'll text the address to the location. Just check in with her when you get a chance."
"Alright, man. Thanks for the help." I hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed behind me. Getting over to the warehouse sounded like a great idea, but I wasn't moving until Demetri said move. It was a game of cat and mouse as far as I could tell and I wanted to play my cards right just in case I was wrong about the guy.
I got up at the sound of someone knocking at the door.
"You already lock yourself out?" I opened the door expecting to find Zak standing there, but some preppy looking mother fucker in Khaki's and a button down shirt was there instead.
"I'm Edward. I work for Don Castaletta." He extended his hand. "I'm the real estate and IT guy. Nice to meet you, man."
"You too. Nice place." I moved back and shook his hand briefly. "It's a little too much, but I guess it will work for now."
"Really?" He walked in and looked around, grimacing. "I felt bad this morning about giving you one of the shittier places, but I figured it would work until we found you a permanent place."
"Shittier places?" I chuckled and shook my head. "You guys are gonna take some getting used to."
"Same, man." He walked toward the kitchen. "You good staying here for a few days? I got some shit I gotta take care of, but the minute I'm free, I'll get you and Zak relocated."
"We're good with this. Let us know how long we have here and I'll make sure we find a place before that time." I crossed my arms over my chest, not quite sure what to think of the guy. He was a pretty white boy with a laid back persona and a perfect smile. Not exactly the kinda guy you'd expect to be planted in the center of the most nefarious mafia syndicate in Northern America, unless I had my facts wrong.
"You don't have to find another place ever. Joe provides your apartment, house, condo or what-the-fuck-ever you guys want to live in. It's part of the deal." He tilted his head to the side a little. "D didn't go over this shit?"
"No. We were too busy killing people to worry about what perks came with the job last week."
"Ah, right. Well, he's still knee deep in some bastards blood, so don't expect too much from him this week either." He walked to the door and tucked his hands into his pockets. "Can I get you anything else before I go?"
"I don't think so." I glanced around. "Do I need to head out to the docks? The kid that hooked me up with this gig said that Selma wanted to meet me."
"I'd wait on D to set up that rendezvous, but that's just me." The guy shrugged and opened the front door. "Well, if you need me, my number is on your phone. Welcome to the family."
"Yeah. Thanks." I closed the door and shook my head. What the fuck had I gotten myself into? Was everyone like that penny-loafer wearing frat boy?
Demetri wasn't. Izabella sure as fuck wasn't.
I gripped the door and opened it. "Hey, Edward."
"Yeah?" He turned and stopped in the hallway.
"Is Demetri with Izabella?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "That, my new friend, is the age old questions. Good luck answering it."
For some reason I had the feeling that I wasn't the only one trying to.
Chapter 19
Audrey
Where I was horrified to find out that Jenny was murdered, I was insanely grateful that everyone was getting involved in finding the guys that did it. I couldn't help but wonder if I was wrong. Demetri and Izabella had pulled together with Edward, Sandra and Daniel to figure this shit out, not because it was losing money for them... because the cared about Jenny.
The sound of Sandra wholeheartedly crying in the room next to mine all night forced me to consider another possibility. Maybe only some of them were monsters.
"No. All of them are. Stop trying to make everyone good and everything right. There are fucked up people in the world. People who loan guys two million dollars without figuring out if it's a good investment and burn the guy to death when he doesn't come through with the loan when they're ready. People like Parker."
I swallowed hard and pushed a few papers around my desk at the agency. It was always tricky to get into the building without being scene, but the government was good about hiding things, people included.
No one would be looking for me that morning with all the drama that was going on surrounding Jenny's death. It would give me a few hours to put together some of the documentation I had on the Kallups and the Castaletta's. The Kallup brothers were small time criminals, or had been until now. I would have them wrapped up and out of the way in no time.
With Derrik Kallup's name coming back as a match for the blood under my fingernails, my guys were issuing warrants and putting together their attack for later that day. I couldn't be a part of it or my cover would be blown. As much as I wanted to press my knee to the front of Derrik's throat and smile menacingly down the barrel of my gun at him, it wasn't going to happen. I couldn't give up my position just yet.
The Kallup brothers weren't the ultimate goal. They were just good at fucking with the Castaletta's just enough to open the door so I could slip in. The goal was to get to the sm
all-time thugs before the big guys did though. With Jenny's murder on their hands, I knew D and Edward were going to be working around the clock to find the bastards and take them out. That left us a small window.
"You doing okay?" Mike knocked on the frame to my open door and leaned against the side of it as he smiled at me.
"I'm alright. I'm glad I didn't have to see what Demetri and Izabella saw last night. I've been through some shit, but after talking with Edward this morning, it seems maybe I haven't seen the worst of people yet." I shrugged and pulled a few more pictures toward me. "I can't help but think that we're racing against a clock we have no control over, no access to."
He walked in and nodded toward my empty chair. "May I?"
"Of course." I leaned back in my chair and clasped my hands together.
"You're right, you know? Usually we're just racing against one enemy, but this time we're having to beat the Castaletta's in order to get to the Kallups before they do. We won't have anything but a blood bath to mop up if Joe's boys get their first." He brushed his hand down his face. "But those fucking Kallups are great at hiding, at moving around."
"So let's find them. What do we need to do?"
His smile grew wider. "What would you do if I wasn't here?"
"I would look for a way to entice Derrik to come after me again. To finish what he started in the trailer in the woods. I would have you guys ready to take him out when I got there with him."
"That's awfully dangerous, isn't it?"
"Everything we do is dangerous, Mike. I want to close this down. I need to get back to the drill of pulling the Castaletta's apart."
"And how close are you to getting integrated into the main part of the family? Any closer?"
"I think so. I need to earn D's trust, or Izzy's, but she seems a little offstandish to me."
"Izabella Castaletta has been on our watch list for a long time. Since she was a girl, funny enough. Offstandish is the least of your worries." He chuckled. "How do we entice Derrick? What would you suggest?"
My first response was a snappy, agitated, 'I don't fucking know,' but I held my tongue. Mike had been training me more and more lately. It could only mean one thing. I was getting ready to be moved up, to be promoted to a new level within the agency.
"Let me think about it for the next hour, and I'll let you know."
"Alright. I'll be in my office." He got up and walked to the door, pausing and glancing back. "And chew on this too... Sometimes the most simplistic way to take out an individual attacker, say a bee, would be to shake up the entire hive."
"The hive?" I glanced down and shuffled my papers around. "The Cooper Syndicate? You think we should send a message to Adam Cooper?"
I glanced up to find him gone. I rolled my eyes and traced the connected line between Thomas Kallup and Adam Cooper. Why someone as powerful and deadly as Adam Cooper was said to be, would work with a small time act like Thomas Kallup was beyond me, but there had to be a reason for it.
"Eyes and ears in Chicago? Someone harmless to watch and wait for old Joseph Castaletta to kick the bucket?" I leaned back in my chair and let the room fade around me. Was Freddy a connection between the Castaletta's and the Kallups? Everything I'd studied about the youngest member of the Castaletta clan said there was no way possible. Someone stronger, braver, more intelligent had to be involved, but who?
I needed to walk around, to try and force my thoughts into a more streamlined pattern and less of a moving nebulous of ideas floating above my head.
"To draw out an individual attacker, you sometimes have to shake up the hive." I walked down the hall and ignored the stares I got. No one knew who I was with my hair dyed blond and my grungy t-shirt and jeans. It was irrelevant. They didn't matter. Finding the Kallups was the only thing that required my focus.
"Shake up the hive." I glanced up at the ceiling and walked down the hall, turning and walking back from where I'd just come. "That would be Cooper. I need to shake up Cooper so that he'll send his boys after me. But I need it to happen now while the trail is still hot. Today. I need it today."
"Got it yet?" Mike's voice echoed from down the hall.
"Do we have plant in California?"
He waved me toward his office, speaking once I walked in and closed the door behind me. "We sure do. Why do you care?"
I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. "I need the plant in Coopers syndicate to poke the hive. I need him to tell cooper that Audrey, who's a whore in the Castaletta prostitution ring has evidence of her attacker and is going to the police. She's scared and waiting until tomorrow because her estranged father is coming into town for a reunion with her, and she wants him to go to the police station with her. She's not going alone. The plant needs to suggest that they take out this Audrey bitch. Now. Tonight. Get the Kallup boys on it or anyone else you have in the city." I stood up and walked toward the window. "I'll take the tracker pill and the Castaletta's will follow me closely, thereby allowing me to gain their trust by helping them get these bastards. Our agents can be in the background to stop the bloodshed should it get too bad."
"Right, but that would blow your cover. Is our real intent to bring the Kallup boys in for fucking with a few whores or is it to take down the greatest threat to the peace and goodness in our city?"
I'd been taught to control my emotions during training, which was a good thing. Mike's words were harsh and hateful toward the girls at Madame Gizelle's. Every life mattered, regardless of what someone did or didn't do, who they were or weren't. Every life mattered. Even Thomas Kallups.
"Call your plant in California. I'm going back to the whore house. Set this up and lets get it rolling."
"Do you want us in the background tonight?" He stood up with a smile on his face and approval in his eyes. I'd passed his test, but I wasn't so sure how I felt about his final remarks.
"No." I paused by the door and shook my head. "No, you're right. If you guys show up, the Castaletta's will know without a doubt that someone brought you along for the ride. I'm the only odd man out in the scenario. It would have to be me."
"And that's not going to do you any favors for getting into the mansion." He pressed his hands to his desk and leaned forward. "Who's your best target for winning over?"
"Edward Ellis. They're IT guy, but he's not nearly the biggest fish in the frying pan." I glanced down at my shoes. "It's gonna have to be Demetri or Izabella."
"And are you going to push for a relationship with one of them? Nothing binds the heart like the body."
I turned my attention back to Mike. "Are you saying you guys expect me to sleep with one of them?"
"We expect you to bring the deal to a close as soon as possible. Nothing more." He slipped his hands into his pocket. "Keep this in mind though... one of them killed your brother. It had to be Demetri, Izabella or Marco, Joe's oldest son. Those are the three likely candidates. If you do decide to sleep with one of them to pull them over to your side and win their hearts, be ready to put a bullet between their eyes. Let them fall for you, Audrey. Don't ever return the favor. Got it?"
I nodded and walked out of the office, slightly sick to my stomach. I had a massive amount of stuff to think through, but it would have to come later.
Tonight I was playing bait for a mass murder... at least, I hoped I was.
Chapter 20
Demetri
"Hey boss." Nate lifted his hand as I walked toward the house. It was almost nightfall, and somehow I'd slept the fucking day away. It was by far the worst time in the world for my alarm to not go off, but the day was over now. With no messages on my phone, I figured the world had stopped on it's axis, or some fucking thing like that.
"Hey, Nate. How was your day?" I opened the door to the mansion, but paused to hear his reply.
"Good. My brother, Timothy said he'd be down to help us out in any way possible, so just know you got him in your corner if you need him."
"Great news. Thank you for checking on that." I
walked into the house and poked my head into Marco's office to find him gone. "Alright... Let's try Joe."
I knocked on his door and pressed my ear against it. "Joe? You here?"
"No. He went for a walk. Needed to clear his mind." Izabella walked down the long stairs to my right, looking like sex in her tiny bikini.
"Go get dressed." I nodded toward her room, though I honestly preferred that she not put anything over her nakedness. "Let's go have a drink in our new club. I invited Marcus and Zak. We'll fill them in on everything and have some fun while we're at it."
"I'm not really in the mood for celebrating, Demetri." Her tone was flat and her eyes filled with a darkness that wasn't healthy for a violent girl like her.
"I don't care what you're in the mood for. I hate drinking alone, and I wanted these new guys to see you and I as an united front. Your father isn't going to be around forever." I took a step toward her, locking gazes with her. "It's going to be you in his place with me supporting you or me in his position with you by my side."
"And what about my brother?" She put her hand on her narrow waist, causing her breasts to bounce.
"He doesn't want this, Izabella. You know that as well I do. Go change and come help me welcome the new narcotics guys into the family. It wouldn't be right without out." I licked at my lips. "Besides, I need someone to dance with me."
She snorted and turned, jogging back up toward her room. "Not happening."
"We'll see." I turned on the ball of my foot and walked to the kitchen, letting the events of the night before penetrate my resolve to stand strong in the face of what we had coming at us. I had to be steady and rock-solid for the family. No one else was going to do. Joe was too tire, Izzy too broken and fucking Marco was absent all the time. He was sleeping with my sister. I just knew it.
After waiting a few minutes for her, I got up and brushed my hand down my slate grey button down and walked out into the hallway.
