Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection

by Ember Michaels

  “Are you serious?” she shrieked, bouncing in front of me. “But you said—"

  “I know, but I think with everything going on, it would be better to re-tie the knot again in some place beautiful and distraction free. So, let’s do it.”

  “So, then we can have it in the Turks and Caicos islands?!”

  “Of course, gorgeous.”

  “Yes!” She planted a firm kiss on my lips, nearly knocking me back in my seat when she jumped on me. I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around her, dissolving into her kiss as her body relaxed into me.

  “I’m assuming your happy?” I asked between kisses.

  “So happy,” she murmured and slipped her tongue into my mouth.

  A solid knock sounded on the door. “Before you guys have sex on the table, just remember we’re still out here,” Saint teased from the hallway.

  Aurora giggled and reluctantly pulled away from me. “Then I guess I’ll have to show my love and appreciation on our date tonight then,” she said softly before frowning slightly. “We are still having that, right?”

  “Yes, baby,” I confirmed with a smile.

  “Good. But…I do still want to tell you guys about my ideas for the mafia though. I think they’re really good ideas.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Aurora—”

  “Please, honey? As an official member—queen, might I add—I have the right to petition things or whatever you guys call it,” she said with a shrug. I sat back in my chair and waved her off with a sigh.

  “Then call the guys back in here,” I said before pointing at her. “If you pull the same bullshit you did before, we’re going to have a major problem. Understand?”

  “Yes, Bennett,” she said, pressing a quick kiss to my lips before crossing the room to open the door. “You guys can come back in.”

  The guys entered and took their seats, looking to me as Aurora closed the door. She came over and sat on my lap before turning her attention to the guys.

  “I want to first apologize for earlier,” she started. “I didn’t mean for my words to come out that way. You guys are doing a great job with what you have and I’m thankful for you all. Forgive me?”

  “I don’t know, I’m still kinda offended,” Nyxin said jokingly as he leaned back into his seat.

  Aurora smirked at him. “Would a free servicing from one of our best girls fix that?”

  “That most definitely will, Boss Lady. I was kidding but I’ll definitely take that,” Nyxin said, rubbing his hands together.

  “Well, hell, I’m offended too then,” Saint said.

  “You can have a premium girl tonight, Saint,” Aurora said with a giggle.

  “You okay with that, Boss? I know how strict you are about the premiums,” Saint asked with a smirk.

  I chuckled. “If that’s how the queen wants to rectify her mistake, I won’t take that from her,” I said, squeezing her hip when she shifted in my lap.

  “Since I’m in a relationship, I don’t want a premium girl,” Bruce said. “But I could use a new gun I’ve had my eye on.”

  “Done. Just get the information to me,” she answered. “How about you, KC? A girl or tech?”

  “Always tech,” he said, glaring at Nyxin when he scoffed.

  “The man is probably still a virgin,” he said.

  “Fuck you, Nyx,” KC growled.

  “Nyxin, be nice or you won’t have any girl,” Aurora said and turned her attention back to KC. “Just get me a list of what you need.” She looked around the table. “So? Are we good?”

  “Yep,” they all said in unison.

  She smiled. “Okay. Now that that’s settled, I wanted to tell you guys a few ideas I’ve been rolling around in my mind.” She shifted in my lap again and I ground my teeth as the friction made my cock jump. I squeezed her thigh in warning, but she only shifted again.

  "Watch yourself," I growled under my breath, but she ignored me.

  "With us being a new organization, I thought we could do business a little different that could possibly keep us off the radar to both competitors and the authorities. For starters," she glanced at me over her shoulder, "I want the sex trade out of my house. If we have to stay here until god-knows-when, the girls have to be moved elsewhere."

  "And where do you suppose we move them, babe? It's not like we have a place for them to go overnight," I said, frowning.

  "We can buy another property or something and keep them there, but that's a conversation we can talk about later. For the girls, perhaps we can set up a maid service. That way we can kind of move away from buying girls and trafficking and recruit willing sex workers who can make a living doing what they need to do under the guise of maid work where it appears to be a legal business transaction."

  "That's actually a pretty dope idea," Saint said, nodding. "There's been talking on the street of all these trafficking ring stings lately, so it would be good to go ahead and start that transition."

  "Then what do we do with the girls we already have? Some are still fairly new and there's no fucking way in hell am I going to let them come and go freely," I said.

  Aurora shrugged. "We can sell them or put them through the same training, but we have to think of more innovative ways to make money while staying under the radar."

  I nodded. It was definitely something to think about, as it was a good idea. Anything that made running my business easier without the cops breathing down my neck would be good for everyone.

  "Well, that's definitely something to consider, babe," I said, squeezing her thigh. "Anything else?"

  "I'm not sure how much red tape there is with this, but I figured we could possibly open up a couple of drug stores," she said. "I'm assuming it's hard to get pure coke here these days, but there's nothing that says we can't pay a couple of suppliers to smuggle our drugs into their shipments to our drug stores, right?"

  "The hard part about that is that it would take a shit ton of research and prep for that," Bruce said. "It's not as easy as just putting drugs in fake pill bottles or something to ship them. Customs has tightened up with their dogs and x-ray machines and shit that packages have to go through when coming out of the country. Most of our drugs here come locally anyway, so we'd already raise red flags having shit come from Colombia."

  "That's true," I said, nodding. "But even if we don't have it shipped to us through the method she mentioned, it would still be a nice hub to sell out of and a good place to clean the money through. We could just set up a shell corp to put new businesses under and do what we need to do without making too many waves that'll put us on the wrong radar."

  "I like that idea," Nyxin said.

  "So do I. I'm liking your mind right now, babe," I said, grinning at her.

  She smiled. "I'm glad you think so. And also...and this isn't pertaining to the mafia or anything, but I want my makeup company back," she said.

  "Like a new one? Because your old one was liquidated."

  "Yes, a new one, which is obvious since you've kinda wrecked my reputation with your degrading video you put out of me," she reminded me with a frown. I rolled my eyes. She'd never let me live that one down.

  "How are you going to run a makeup company on top of mafia shit if you want to take a front seat again?"

  "If I can have my company, I won't meddle so much in mafia things," she said. "Once we get the girls down here to another location, I want to turn this whole bunker into my makeup lab and all the other things I'll need. So, you won't even have to get a separate location for me to be able to build it. I'll probably just need an office for admin reasons, but I can do everything else here, otherwise." When I frowned, she turned on my lap and kissed me. "Just think; I'll be a lot safer at home and can do all of my business right here so you won't have to be worried about me."

  "You have one convincing wife," Saint said and chuckled.

  "Tell me about it," I said and sighed, nodding. "I can agree to that. Just give me a little time to find the right place to put these girls that won't jeopard
ize everything we've worked for."

  "I can live with that. Plus, it's not like I'm trying to open a business right this second. I have a wedding to plan," she said and slid off my lap. "But I think you guys should think of those things. If we want to be a powerful family, we have to start thinking outside of the box a little."

  "I can agree on that," I said.

  "Anyway, I'm going to go check on Liam. Don't be down here too long," she said, leaning down to kiss me.

  "I may have to work for a little bit, but be ready to leave at seven tonight," I said. She nodded and left the room with a wave, closing the door behind her.

  "She has an amazing business mind, you know," Bruce said after a moment.

  "She does. Very smart," I murmured as I rolled her words around in my mind. A maid service and drug stores...it wasn't bad. They were your everyday, average businesses that usually didn't raise too many flags. It would take some research, but I wouldn't dismiss the ideas just yet.

  "What are you thinking?" KC asked, though he didn't look up from his computer screen.

  "I'm not entirely sure just yet. I'm trying to weight the pros and cons on what this could mean. If we did go with this maid service and had our girls go to clients instead of the clients coming to them, another issue pops up. We'd have to get more cars and more drivers, which would be another expense."

  "Then you could probably get away with making a taxi company," Saint suggested.

  "Bingo," Nyxin said, snapping his fingers.

  "Hmm," I mused, stroking my chin. Taxi company specifically for the girls could definitely work. It would definitely start off small, as there weren't many girls that could be trusted to work outside of the house just yet, so it wasn't as if I had to get an entire fleet of cars just yet. That could actually work out perfectly. "I think that might a good idea. Another business to wash cash through as well. And honestly? If things take off with new companies, I could very well get rid of old Moreno companies."

  Even though these businesses had been in my family for a couple of generations, maybe it was best if I let them go. My name may not have changed, but I was no longer apart of the Moreno Family any longer. Aurora may have had a point. If I was going to start over, I needed to start all the way over. There were still a few Moreno men in the family that I hadn't had much contact with since they weren't in the life that I could possibly transfer the businesses to, but that was something I'd think more about at another time.

  Saint cleared his throat. "Since we're springing up ideas on how to better the business aspect of things, I also wanted to throw my hat into the ring."

  "Go on," I said with a nod.

  "As the hitman, I was thinking that maybe we could go into security. That way we can have both legal and illegal contracts in the same business. We can be paid to either protect someone or take someone out. But of course, the only contracts on the books would security-related things."

  "We can do that," I said and stood, walking over to the mini bar and grabbing a small bottled water from the fridge. "So, we have this maid service, a taxi service, a potential drug store, and a security business. I think we need to look into those before we throw anything else into the mix. In the meantime, we should start scouting places for these potential businesses as well as finding a place to move these girls to so that Aurora can start her business."

  "I have a potential place the girls can be," Nyxin said. "There's an apartment complex that the owner is selling, but I can already tell you it could be a bitch to fix. They recently were shut down due to issues with mold and the owner not wanting to fix shit, so he's selling it at a steal."

  I shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to look at it. Get me the contact info on that and I'll place a call," I said.

  I couldn't help but feel optimistic about the future. Things felt as if they were going to hell in a hand basket, but my wife may have been the spark that was needed to truly light a fire under our asses. A grin crept across my lips. It was time to get La Fedeltá on the map and make us one of the strongest families on the West coast.

  “Well, fellas,” I said, turning to my men. “Let’s build an empire, shall we?”

  AURORA

  "I can't believe you got him to agree to a destination wedding!" Savannah squealed, bouncing up and down. "I can't wait to finally be able to go somewhere different."

  While her enthusiasm was refreshing, I couldn't help but to feel sad. I knew her "something different" was more so being able to leave the property, which she hadn't been allowed to do since arriving here with me. I was sure she was ready to explore the world outside of this property and I was excited about having a wedding in my dream place.

  "Well, I think it'll be great. I'm going to do some research and finalize a couple of things with Bennett tonight before calling the wedding planner," I said as I moved over to my closet to grab a bikini. "I'm sure she's gonna kill me when I tell her the change of plans."

  "I'm still maid of honor, right?" Savannah asked with a smirk.

  I grinned. "Of course. You're like, the only real friend I have," I said. An awkward silence fell over us for a few moments. Savannah was the only thing from my old life that I had left. I'd tried to reconnect with Kandice while I was in South Carolina, but she'd acted as if I didn't exist. She'd stayed true to her word once she got her money from Bennett, pretending to not know where I was or who I was. A part of me had been angry at first, wondering if she was truly my friend if she could be bought off so easily, but I could understand the fear she probably had. Watching someone be murdered in front of you had to be tough, especially when the same fate was promised to you if you didn't follow the rules set for you.

  I should know. Bennett and his rules changed my life forever.

  "Can I ask you something?" I asked, turning around to face her.

  "What's up?"

  "What did you do to end up here? I never asked you about that," I said.

  She sat on the side of my bed and shrugged, her eyes dropping to her lap. "I'd called 911 to try to help Heath, but in my hysteric state, I'd mentioned that you were kidnapped also." Her slender fingers fiddled with a loose thread at the hem of her skirt. "All I know is that when I left your place and headed to my car, I was thrown in the back of a van, taken to a small, private airport, and ended up here."

  "Do you regret that decision?" I asked softly. She had it so much tougher than I did upon arriving here. At least I only had to worry about one man hurting me. I couldn't imagine being in the bunker with the rest of the women only to be used and abused by men who wanted to hurt her. I wondered if she'd hated me for the situation I'd dragged her into, all because she was trying to be a good friend.

  She shook her head. "No. You're my best friend, whether you're Vanessa, Aurora, or whoever else. If I thought you were in danger, I would've done anything I could to try to help you."

  "Did you ever hate me for the things that've happened to you since you've been here?"

  "No," she said, a small smile on her lips. "It wasn't like you'd orchestrated this whole thing. You were just as much of a victim as I was. Now, if you were living the high life while I was suffering, then that would be a different story."

  "And we definitely know that wasn’t the case," I said and shook my head.

  "Did you ever think you'd reach this point with him?" Savannah asked as I pulled my shirt off. I untied the strings of the bikini top and worked it onto my body before unsnapping my bra and pulling it off. Sometimes I was amazed at the man Bennett turned out to be. I remembered when I first met him, sexy as sin but menacing. I'd watched him shoot Heath without hesitation, claiming me as his whether I'd accepted him or not. I thought back to the plane ride here, the way he'd beat me with a belt to burn his rules into my mind. The way he'd made me watch a video of my parents' murder that he'd filmed. The way he'd treated me over the course of several months until I ended up pregnant. Never in a million years did I think I could fall in love with someone so brutal, so callous. I didn't even think I could love a baby
that came from him considering that I didn't know if Liam was conceived during a rape. I knew it wasn't out of love because I wasn't in love with Bennett then, but I couldn't imagine not being in love with him now.

  "Absolutely not," I answered honestly. "I didn't even think this man was capable of love to begin with."

  A dreamy look settled on Savannah's face. "I used to think the same about Bruce since he works with Bennett. I thought they were all the same, you know? But...out of all the men that paid to have time with me, Bruce never hurt me. He never did anything without permission. It's always so bizarre to see him as this dangerous underboss who could take someone's life, but when he's around me...he's just Brucey."

  I giggled. "Well, I'm glad the two of you are happy. You should work on a plan to start having babies so Liam can have someone to play with."

  "Or you and Bennett can get busy on giving him a sibling," Savannah said, smirking at me. Just the thought of having another baby sent a wave of confusion over me. There were times were I slightly regretted bringing Liam into this life, but I knew I wouldn't change that if I had the chance to. Even though I'd told Bennett last night that we should wait until things calmed down to have another baby, I wasn't sure if I truly wanted to wait. After what happened this morning, it became painfully clear that tomorrow wasn't promised to any of us. Who was to say that Bennett wasn't shot dead tomorrow or if something happened during this war that would take that chance away from us?

  "I mentioned it to him last night," I said idly, pulling my jeans off and tossing them on the bed.

  "How'd he feel about it?"

  "Well, he was fine with it, but I'd kinda said that we should wait until things calmed down to have a baby. I was more so talking about him getting things set up for the new family since he was so busy with everything. I had no idea this shit with the Russians was going on."

  "The Russians?" she asked with a raised brow.