CHAPTER THREE
BY SUNDAY EVENING, Rafael was beat. He’d flown back to Vegas from San Francisco early that morning, and he’d gotten right down to work. In addition to his work on the city council, he also quietly oversaw the finances of The Brotherhood’s operations; while he was left out of the group’s decision-making, he was still very much involved behind-the-scenes. While most conglomerates employed teams of people to oversee all facets of operations, The Brotherhood preferred to manage as much as they could by themselves. Some people could look at his business involvement and see a conflict of interest, if they knew how closely tied he still was to The Brotherhood. Rafael had never explicitly used his political power for the betterment of his friends, or his own business, but he’d always considered it using all of the tools at his disposal. It was just how things were done.
From his office in the BH, the commercial tower they’d erected that housed the headquarters of their respective companies, he was putting the finishing touches on his analysis of the previous quarter’s profits. He closed his spreadsheets and turned his attention to a Word document he was working on. He heard his door open, and Alex walked in. The partners all had an open-door policy between them and rarely knocked before entering each other’s offices. It was Sunday, but that didn’t mean they weren’t at work. There was a lot to do. A lot of balls to keep up in the air. Rafael raised his hand in greeting, and Alex took the seat on the other side of his desk. Rafael hadn’t seen his friend since he’d returned.
“How was San Francisco?”
“Good,” he said simply, not willing to provide any detail. Not looking up, he put the finishing touches on the report, trying to forget the way his body stiffened, remembering how he’d touched and kissed Jessica the night before.
Alex leaned forward in his chair. “So, what happened? Did you see her?”
“If you’re so interested, maybe you should have come along.”
“Dude, I told you. I had a date. That fortuitously turned into two dates,” he said with a satisfied grin.
Rafael smiled, glad that Alex hadn’t actually tagged along. “Well, good thing I gave you the weekend off from the campaign.”
“But you need to tell me. Did you see Jessica? Was she at the strip club?”
Rafael didn’t respond at first. He closed his laptop and looked at his friend. “I need you to keep what you know about her between us,” he warned him.
“What? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“You can’t tell anyone about what we found out about her, okay?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah, man. Of course. But why? This could hand you an easy victory. Why the change of heart?”
He ignored his friend’s last question. He didn’t even know the answer to that one. He had gone to California to bust her, to see firsthand the information that would win him the election. “I did see her,” he confirmed, with a quick nod of his head. “And she was dancing. But I don’t know what I want to do about it yet.”
“What’s to know? Just give us the okay to leak it to the press. Dude, this is what you want.” He cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing in understanding. “Did something happen between you and her?” he asked, suspicious.
“Nothing happened,” Rafael responded. Except a kiss that completely scorched him to his core and left him with a burn no number of cold showers would heal. “But I decided that I don’t want to win like that. I can win this election on my own. I don’t need to ruin her in the process.”
He could tell that Alex knew Rafael was hiding something. “What’s going on?” his friend asked. “Just two days ago, you wanted to end her.”
“Nothing’s going on. Just give me a little time to wrap my head around this. Everything is fine. I assure you. Don’t worry.”
“Fine.” Alex held up his hands in mock surrender. “It’s getting late. I was going to take off, but I stopped by to see if you wanted to head downstairs to the club and get a drink. See if there’s anything fun going on.”
The club, Di Terrestres, was their favorite business, their pet project, the crowned jewel of all The Brotherhood’s operations. When they’d built the office building, they’d left the bottom floors empty for their own fun—a members-only adult playground for the elite. The sex club catered to almost any desire a consenting adult could have.
“Weren’t you with two women last night?” Rafael asked, eyebrow raised at his friend’s insatiable sexual appetite.
Alex shrugged and checked his watch. “That was like twenty-four hours ago.”
Rafael thought of the beautiful women and everything else he could ever want waiting for him downstairs, and he sighed. None of it interested him at the moment. He needed sleep, and a certain petite, green-eyed brunette with a heart-shaped face, who occupied an office at city hall and the forefront of his fantasies. “No, I can’t. I’m going home.”
“Now I know something’s going on.”
“Dude, I haven’t slept since Friday night. I’m allowed to take a night off from debauchery.”
“Yeah, you’re allowed, it’s just never happened before.” He stood. “All right, I’m done. I’m heading down. Join me if you want.”
Rafael shook his head. Tired and horny, but with no way to ease either at Di Terrestres, he sat back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
CHAPTER FOUR
ON MONDAY MORNING, Jessica boosted the speed and incline on the treadmill and she ran, pumping her legs as a surge of energy coursed through her body. She couldn’t get Rafael out of her head. He’d gone to San Francisco to what? Bust her, to show that he knew about her secret life?
She knew how to figure out men, they weren’t complicated creatures, but Rafael was an enigma that she couldn’t decipher. Waking up in her hotel room yesterday morning after only a couple hours of sleep, she’d felt hungover, as if she’d overindulged in alcohol, but she hadn’t. So, she downed some coffee, and had then gone online, checking news sites and gossip rags. She’d even Googled her own name to see if he had leaked her secret life. And she’d found nothing. What was his game?
She thought about the night before, remembering that she hadn’t been drinking, nothing but herbal tea. The only intoxicant she’d experienced had been the taste of Rafael’s lips and the brush of his tongue. The stroke of his fingers.
And what about that kiss? And those hands... She ran harder, trying to rid herself of the memory of his lips and fingers on her. Her muscles screamed as the adrenaline flowed through her, and she remembered being trapped with him in the back of that cab. From the way he touched her, she knew he must be a spectacular lover. It was something she’d always suspected whenever she’d looked across the room to him at meetings, or when they met at functions. The way he held himself, the capable, confident swagger of a man in control. But with Rafael, it wasn’t an act. Even keeping pace with the belt of the treadmill, she felt a desirous hollow between her thighs, one that she could fill with only him. Frustrated, she boosted the speed of the treadmill again, hoping to run it out.
But his knowledge made her vulnerable. He held her life, her career in the palm of his hand and could snatch it all away from her if the whim struck him. Everything she remembered from that night had actually happened, and it hadn’t been her worst nightmare, or her hottest erotic dream. Not only did Rafael now know the secret that she’d successfully hidden for years as a city councillor, but she’d also about dry humped him in the back of a taxi. What a goddamn mess. She considered his proposition—spend time with him, get to know him, and maybe he wouldn’t spill the beans. She didn’t like the man, but to be fair, she didn’t really know him. What she did know was that he had a hard, hot body and he kissed like a demon.
Her heart rate sped up, and it didn’t have anything to do with running. She looked up at the television and saw a newscaster was speaking with Rafael outside city hall. She took out her earbuds and turned th
e TV volume up to hear him over the sound of her feet pounding.
“I want to encourage business growth. And that’s why we need to work with business owners in our city. All successful cities are built by the people first.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. She hated his act of pretending to care about the little people, when it was clear he only cared about helping business owners. Since announcing his campaign, he’d been eager to talk about his upbringing in a middle-class, immigrant family. But no matter his background, he was now so far removed from anything middle class. He may have started out there, but what did he know about the struggle of the people now, while he looked down upon them from his ivory tower?
Jessica knew the people intimately. She’d devoted herself to community issues surrounding housing and social assistance since she’d become a councillor. Growing up, she’d made a point of volunteering regularly in her neighborhood—even now she would go across town once a month to help out at the shelter she’d become so familiar with as a young student. Looking back, it was probably no surprise she’d ended up in public office.
Rafael might have a good act, but she knew better.
But it didn’t matter; he currently held the upper hand. He knew about her secret life. And even though he hadn’t said anything yet, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t. There were so few people that she trusted, and she was reluctant to add Rafael Martinez to that list.
Frustrated and fatigued, she pounded the end button on the treadmill’s control panel. When the belt stopped, she hunched over the panel, breathing deeply. She knew better, but it didn’t stop her from wanting the man more than she’d ever wanted anyone before.
Jumping down from the machine, Jessica took more calming breaths and drank her water. She picked up her phone and saw the text message from Ben telling her to call him. When she did, her friend sounded excited.
“Girl, have I got news for you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about Dreamboat Martinez.”
“What about him?”
“I found something out about him.”
It was as if Ben had read her mind. “How did you know—”
“I’ve been talking to some people.”
“Again with these mysterious people you know. I know for a fact you don’t know people.”
He laughed, but then turned serious. “Just listen to me. Have you ever heard of Di Terrestres?”
“Of course I have.” Who hadn’t. It was a well-known hangout for Las Vegas’s superrich and the elite. But she’d never been inside. Not being rich, or elite, she’d never been invited through the front doors.
“What do you know about the shadowy cabal who runs it?” Ben asked. Jessica was running out of time and patience to play this guessing game.
“I’ve got stuff to do today, can you just save us some time and tell me?”
“I have it on good authority that Rafael Martinez is a silent partner of The Brotherhood, the extremely well-connected group that owns it and many other enterprises.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I heard a rumor and I got a friend of mine to do a little digging. It was tricky, but apparently Mr. Cute-but-Dumb-as-a-Post has some friends in high places. But this is some real information for you. What would staunchly conservative Las Vegans think of their golden boy owning a sex club within city limits?”
Jessica felt a smile grow on her lips. She finally had some leverage on the man who knew a truth about her. “Thanks, Ben. I know I told you not to dig, but I’m glad for once that you didn’t listen to me.”
“No problem, doll. Will you be home for dinner?”
“No,” she said, her lips pursing as an idea formed in her head. “I’ve got plans tonight.”
“It sounds like you’ve got something on your mind, and I want you to fill me in later.”
“I will. Don’t worry.” Jessica hung up the phone, checked the time and realized that her workout had run long. She had a meeting with her team, and then she had an appearance to make at the university. Time to get her ass in gear and out the door.
* * *
Jessica took the time to talk to every student who’d shown up to meet the mayoral candidates and other members of council. It was part of a city initiative, in conjunction with the student union, to get young people interested in municipal politics. And judging by the crowd that had packed the student union building, people were interested. This high a youth turnout was almost unprecedented. The plan had worked, and it gave Jessica hope for the future generation and political engagement. Even the local TV news crews had shown up. She couldn’t remember an election that had gotten so much coverage. People were fascinated by her, Rafael and the entire electoral process, and voter registration was high.
She looked across the room and saw Rafael and some of his people working his own corner. He looked confident, strong, gorgeous, in his jeans and T-shirt, just as he had that night in San Francisco. They had both opted for a more casual look, and again, just like the last time she’d seen him, he looked damn good.
He laughed at something a young man said to him, and the sound rang over the din of the packed room. When he looked up, he caught her eye, and they maintained contact for a brief moment, before she turned back to the young woman she was speaking with. She then moved on, making her way through the crowd, until she found herself in front of Rafael.
He looked down at her, his smile amused but cordial, and she nearly blushed at the way secrecy lingered between them. Her own lips tipped upward.
“Hello, Jessica.” He turned back briefly to the people he was talking to. “Excuse me, for a moment.” They found a quiet corner.
“Hello,” she replied politely. She turned to the crowd, if only in an attempt to not look at him. “Great crowd, huh?”
“Certainly is. Pollsters think voter turnout is going to reach an all-time high.”
“I didn’t think you listened to the polls,” she said, referring to the conversation they’d had at the diner. Maybe he cared more than he let on.
Another flash of white teeth. “You caught me.”
“And from what I hear, most of them are going to vote for me.” She looked at him to gauge his reaction to the polls that had been released earlier that morning, which had shown her ahead by a couple of points. Nowhere near a landslide, though.
His face remained neutral. If her words had had any effect, he didn’t show it. “It’s not over until it’s over.”
“It could be over,” she continued to prod at him. “You could just save face and drop out now. Save yourself the embarrassment of being beaten by me.”
He looked at her, silent for a moment, before he threw his head back and let loose with a loud laugh. A photographer took the opportunity to take their picture, it probably looked like they were enjoying a cordial joke, but the subtext behind the moment was much heavier.
He leaned over her, close enough to her ear. “I could say the same thing about you. Have you forgotten that I could end your campaign in a second?”
He was right, and she tried not to let her confidence waver. “You wouldn’t.”
“Are you sure? Maybe I’d do anything to win.”
And he would, too. “Go right ahead,” she challenged him. “I mean, if you don’t think you can beat me fairly on the merit of your campaign, go against your word. You could win in a dirty way if you really want to. But your term as mayor would always have an asterisk next to it.”
He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. “You’re good.” He changed his stance, moved closer. “I’ve got to be honest, I’ve been thinking about you since yesterday.”
That caught her off guard. “Really?” It surprised her that she’d left him just as affected as he’d left her. “I’ve been thinking about you, too.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “I’ve been especially thinking about whether or not I’d
go online and see my picture splashed all over the internet.”
“I didn’t tell anyone.”
“I know.”
“Not yet.”
Jessica pulled back and frowned. “I don’t have time to fool around with you. If you’re going to expose me, then just do it.”
“But this is too damn fun, don’t you think?”
“I’m not having fun.” She reconsidered. “Well, I wasn’t up until a couple of hours ago.”
“Oh, really? What changed?”
“Yeah, you’re not the only one with information. I may have unearthed one of those skeletons you spoke of.”
“What have you got?”
“Why don’t I tell you tonight? I could meet you at Di Terrestres.”
His jaw ticked, and his eyes widened slightly. His self-assured mask faltering only for a fraction of a second before glossing over again.
“You know the place?” she asked innocently.
He nodded. “I do. I’m a member, like many people.”
“I heard you’re a little more than just a member.” She smiled when he said nothing. “I thought as much. Why don’t you put me on the guest list, and we can talk over all of this?” She was bluffing, expecting him to laugh again and move along. Maybe try to shut her up. But instead he leaned in. She inhaled and involuntarily pulled in more of his spicy cologne.
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” he agreed. “Be there at nine.”
Jessica nodded. Less than an inch separated their bodies. She was brought back to the cab, sitting on his lap, kissing him, being touched so intimately by him.
“I’m looking forward to it. I know you are, too.” He made a point to let his eyes roam over her body. His gaze scorched her skin, and if he didn’t stop soon, she was certain her body would start smoking.
“And how do you know that?”
He leaned closer again, and she held her breath, trying not to inhale, lest she pull his expensive cologne or his natural essence into her body. “Because I know that you haven’t forgotten about that kiss, and the way I touched you, or the way you pressed your sweet ass into my hard dick in the back of that cab.”
Sins of the Flesh Page 4
