“Frolic,” she said. “Come inside.”
Tatiana didn’t argue. She climbed out on her side when Corri opened her door for her. Corri kept her body between Tatiana’s and the street, making her wonder why.
Alexi let them in to a foyer that ran into a space where settees and chairs lined a wall.
“I need to go upstairs,” Alexi said. “Galli, you’re with me. Corri, take Tatiana to the clubhouse for a drink.”
Tatiana frowned but followed the other woman to what might have been just a kitchen once. However, it had clearly been added onto, making it big enough to accommodate several tables and a bar.
“What would you like?” Corri asked going to the fridge. She pulled it open and removed a couple of bottles. “Water? Tea?”
“Water’s fine.”
Corri brought the bottles to the bar.
“What kind of boss is Alexi?”
“Fair. Kind. Generous. We grew up on the streets,” Corri told her. “Working in places like this for men way colder than Alexi could ever be. They didn’t care about the girls or the boys. All that mattered was the money and keeping them in line.”
“Boys?”
“Alexi has one gay club, too,” she said with a shrug. “She hated the way the workers were treated—from the sex workers to us, the bouncers.”
“Why work in places like that?” she asked with a frown.
“You had to have a permit to work if you were under age,” Corri said. “We needed to live, and we didn’t want to do it on our backs. So, we did it with our fists. Alexi turned to shooting, and we all learned to box. Later we all learned martial arts and weapons training.”
“Why weapons training? I mean beyond just learning to shoot?”
“We needed the skills,” Corri told her and twisted the cap from her bottle. “Alexi decided to open a club one day after we found this girl on the streets, beat so bad we could hardly recognize her.”
“She was a prostitute?”
“Yeah. We all agreed the business didn’t have to be brutal, inhumane, or a life sentence. Girls could use it as a stepping stone or a way to survive until they could do better.”
“Did you ever?”
“A time or two,” she said. “That was before I met Alexi.” Corri shrugged. “I was in a good foster home, but they had a baby and decided they didn’t need a foster kid.”
“What happened?”
“Long story short, I ended up on the streets when I was fourteen. Most of the ladies that work for Alexi have a hard luck story, but the beginning isn’t the end.”
“Ready to go?” Alexi asked.
“Find what you were looking for?” Corri asked.
“Yeah.” Alexi grinned.
“What were you looking for?” Tatiana wasn’t sure Alexi would tell her.
“The real reason one of my girls was killed,” Alexi told her. “She was smart enough to hide the evidence here after her boyfriend, a dealer for Breakers, was killed.”
“My brother killed her because she knew something that could hurt him,” she said quietly.
“She was a federal agent as it turns out,” Alexi replied. “He was going to jail, and so were a few other people.”
“My grandfather?”
“He was included, and if he doesn’t stop fucking with me, I’m going to use this information to bury him,” Alexi told her. “Let’s head out.”
“What kind of information was it?”
“Money laundering, drug dealing, murder, and extortion,” Alexi told her. “Your grandpa’s a bad ole boy.”
“Nine times out of ten, he didn’t just go bad,” Galli said. “In fact, some of this stuff goes back to when he was in office. The only thing from back then that might be a problem is the murders.”
“He killed someone personally?” Tatiana asked, her gaze on the bag in Alexi’s hand.
“Unfortunately, one of them was a minister, who was probably going to blow the whistle on some of his corrupt dealings as mayor. He’d have gone to jail for a long time.”
“What about—what about my father and uncle?”
“We haven’t had a chance to go through it all,” Alexi said. “But I like your father. I won’t go after him. He’s a stand-up guy when it counts.”
“He did some work here, too,” Corri said, giving Alexi a look.
“Some of your girls?”
“Yes,” Alexi said. “I paid him well, so I don’t owe him a thing.”
Tatiana got to her feet. “Alexi, this is my family, baby. You can’t just get them locked up.”
“No?”
“Damn it,” Tatiana exclaimed.
“You can bat your eyelashes from now until the cows come on back home, but I’ll do what I have to to keep Rayne from destroying me, Tia. This is where you get off the train and run on back home and tell Grandpa his ass is in a royal sling, or you stand by me.”
****
“You look as if you’ll survive,” Felix said the next afternoon.
Charles had raised his bed, so he was more leaning back against the pillows than lying on them. His injuries were minor thanks to his bodyguard and the bulletproof vest he’d been wearing.
“To what do I owe the visit?” Charles asked.
“I’ll keep things brief,” Felix told him.
Charles inclined his head.
“Five by Five was behind the attack. Retribution for your attack on them,” Felix told him.
“I knew it was coming, but I didn’t think it would come so soon,” he admitted. “I was busy working on figuring out who our Judas was.”
“Have you found him?”
“He was one of the men at Ewan’s funeral. He’s dead. He’d been promised a good position here.”
“Did you get all of his crew? One man alone wasn’t behind all of that.”
“We did,” Charles answered. “The police took the one survivor in, but my people will make sure he doesn’t make it to trial.”
“I see you have everything under control,” Felix said. “My decision to leave you in charge is a good one.”
“Of course, it is,” Charles said insistently. “I know what I’m doing after all this time.”
“There is one thing I’m concerned about.”
“Which is?”
“This business with Alexi,” Felix said. “I’m aware that your granddaughter is involved with her.”
Charles frowned, not interested in the man’s ideas on how to deal with Alexi.
“There’s no need to be concerned,” Charles said. “You said let it go.”
“I have a feeling you’re not going to, and that could be costly in the end.”
“I don’t know why you’re concerned about what she might do, but I’m going to heed your advice on the matter.”
Felix studied him. “I hope you do because a war with Alexi will only bring us under scrutiny, so push, but don’t shove.”
“Understood.”
“Now, that we’ve cleared that up, I want you to know I’m leaving town tonight. You’re officially in charge of my business here.”
“Have a safe trip.” Charles was mentally rubbing his hands and planning his next attack on Five by Five.
“Be careful with Five by Five. Think before you make your next move because there is plenty of room in this town for us both.”
“I’ll bow to your advice.” For now, until he was certain everyone under his command was loyal to him and wouldn’t run and tell Felix every time he made a move.
“I hear your wife is out of the coma,” Felix said. “Spend some time mending and enjoying her company. Life is too short to be solely focused on business.”
“I hear you,” Charles said and flashed him a faint smile.
When Felix was gone, Charles’s right-hand man, Clyde Bennett, came in.
“Your family is doing fine,” he said. “Cruse said your granddaughter is still with Alexi.”
Charles grimaced. “What have you found out about the rumors of Ewan being
involved with Five by Five?”
“I can’t substantiate anything,” Bennett told him heavily. “And that worries me because the Wrench is rumored to have joined forces with another cartel and they have their sights set on taking over the drug trade here as they have in Texas.”
Charles frowned. “Confirm the rumors and find out who it is.”
“I have verified they had hits on you and that Judas ordered hits on your family that have been rescinded. You and your brother are the only targets,” Bennett told him.
Charles nodded slowly, not expecting anything less. At least his wife was safe.
“We never found the information Baynard had. I torched his place and the girl’s, but I would feel better having it in my hands especially since my contacts have confirmed the girl was FBI.”
“She was investigating Alexi?” Charles asked, hope flaring to life inside him as he saw a way to get at Alexi.
“No, ironically. The girl just went to work there to hook up with Trevor,” he said. “She was investigating you.”
Baynard had worked for him. That’s how he’d gotten so much information on him. Charles had feared Carrington had given it to him as a way to get rid of Charles, which was one reason Charles had had no problems having Carrington killed.
“Alexi hasn’t made any demands yet, so it’s gone.” He hoped.
“We’re taking chances without the material in hand,” Bennett told him. “And Alexi was asking around. She knows the girl wasn’t killed just because she wouldn’t put out.”
“Keeping looking for the information in case Baynard gave it to one of his buddies,” he said.
“I’m already on that,” Bennett assured him. “One more thing on that matter.”
“Spill it,” he said impatiently. He was growing tired thanks to the meds they’d given him.
“Alexi is now under investigation. The Feds want to know what she knows about Naomi’s killer,” Bennett told him. “They also want to know if Alexi killed her herself.”
“I can make a case for that,” Charles said with a grin.
“The girl contacted her handler the night she was killed, according to Cruse. She had something on Alexi. Something that could close her doors.”
Charles laughed.
“Before you make any moves remember, Alexi might have that info, and this sword will cut you far deeper.”
He wouldn’t rest easy until the person who had that information was found. Too much was at stake not just for him, but his brother, too. He couldn’t see either of them doing time in jail.
So, Charles hoped Alexi didn’t have the information, but he knew how to push just hard enough to find that out, and he would as soon as he was out of here.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Tatiana studied Veda, having gone over the file Veda had called her about two days ago. The papers before her detailed the life her grandfather had lived over the last ten years.
Even as mayor he’d had a turbulent term that had included run-ins with the city council. Some of them had ended badly with the finger being pointed at Charles. His resume as a public servant was perfectly interwoven with his work as a crime leader. Somehow though, people still spoke highly of him and the good he’d done for the city.
“Jo is a computer expert for the FBI, and she got all the information. Your grandfather has been on their radar for the last four years. They believe he killed the agent who’d infiltrated the organization and was working for him at the cleaners.”
She got up and went to stand at the window that overlooked a large backyard. The gazebo was Veda’s idea, she knew, along with the porch swing.
“She’s trustworthy?”
“Yes. Your mother isn’t involved or hasn’t been under investigation, but your brother was, and they were going to arrest him as soon as they got the chance.”
“My mother was hoping,” she admitted and then let out a derisive laugh.
“The girl he killed recently was a new agent. She’d only been out of the academy two years.”
“Oh, my God,” Tatiana murmured. Alexi had sent her body home. “How do they know he killed her?”
“She called in and told them about him messing with her and the dealer she was working to bring down. Jo said she was ambitious and wanted to close Frolic, too.”
Her hands shook as she tried to ask the question. “Did she have anything on Alexi?”
“I don’t know what it is, but Jo intercepted it the night the girl was killed,” Veda told her.
Tatiana closed her eyes for a moment. The very thought of losing Alexi made her head swim and her vision blur.
“Jo said the agent told her handler she had info on both your grandfather and Alexi that would get them both put behind bars, your grandfather for life.”
“D-do they have it?” Tatiana quizzed. “I didn’t read anything about it in that file.”
Veda held up an SD card. “Separate file. Jo assured me no one knew about it, and they never would if I said the word. Course, you or Alexi would owe her big.”
Tatiana went to sit back down on the couch across from Veda, who was curled up on a loveseat in the gray and blue room.
“Tell her to delete it,” Tatiana said. “I’ll do whatever she asks.”
“Your grandfather is in a precarious situation,” Veda said. “But they don’t have anything on him yet. The agent’s info on him went missing.”
Tatiana nodded. “I went to see him in the hospital yesterday. He told me he could deal with my being gay as long as I broke up with Alexi.”
“What are you going to do?” Veda asked quietly.
“He said he’d ruin her,” Tatiana said. “Are there more agents working for Alexi? He must know of one if he’s threatening her business.”
“No. They’re trying to get another agent into Frolic because the other clubs look legal. Jo included the file on her.”
Tatiana sighed. “Thanks for all your help.”
“No problem,” Veda said with a small smile. “I’m just sad it doesn’t look the way you hoped it would.”
“I wanted the truth, not more sugar-coated lies.”
“Tatiana, I’m not going to tell you what to do, but you’re in a precarious position here,” Veda said. “I can imagine the depth of your conflict. We’re all taught that this kind of life is wrong.”
“Sabrina’s magazine is legal unless she’s laundering money,” Tatiana said.
“I don’t know if she is, and I don’t want to,” Veda told her. “I do know that she’s had her brushes with the law, and she’s connected with an agency that’s under a federal microscope.”
Tatiana frowned as she studied her friend. She didn’t expect to hear anything close to this from Veda. Sabrina seemed so perfect and so legal.
“Which organization?”
“Mojo. They’re a security firm who’s been investigated for carrying out assassinations,” Veda told her.
It made sense why Alexi would be friends with Ace.
“Sabrina worked for them?”
Veda nodded. “A long time ago. What I’m trying to say is that I know what Sabrina is into, even if I won’t share it with you. Can you live that kind of life with Alexi?”
“She’s not an assassin.”
“No, but she draws attention like your grandfather. Can you live with having to make a choice between the two of them every day? Because that’s what you’ll be doing.”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain? If he keeps going at her like you said he would, one day someone will go to jail or die. Can you live with either knowing the other is behind that?”
****
Alexi put away the copy of the file on Naomi. She was surprised that she hadn’t seen through the girl’s cover, but then, her background had been flawless, which only made Alexi that much more determined to make sure another one like that didn’t slip through her fingers.
Ace had given her the heads-up about two other agents sent to infiltrate her clubs. Alexi, lik
e Mojo was under investigation, but Alexi wasn’t considered a high-priority case. Just a case they wanted answers to.
She’d stored the original off site after making four copies, one of which was with Ace in case anything happened to her. She wasn’t sure what Tatiana would do, but Alexi wasn’t going to push her.
Her office door opened after a brief knock. She frowned ready to chew Zoe out for not waiting for a response when Tatiana strode in.
Alexi leaned against the wall where the picture of Tatiana would go if things worked out. “Tia?”
Tatiana glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sure it’s okay, Zoe.”
“Alexi?” Zoe asked behind Tatiana.
“Not a problem,” Alexi said. She could throw her out if she became one because Alexi had already decided she wouldn’t kill Tia.
Tatiana crossed the room to her, her eyes giving her away. Those copper pools danced with life as if happy to see her.
“Hi,” Tatiana said, her lips tugging into a smile. “I’m not surprised you’re in here. Do you ever leave this office?”
“You know I do,” she said.
Tatiana took her hand as she moved closer to Alexi. “I had someone look into my grandfather’s past. I trust you, but I needed to know.”
“I’m glad you used your head,” Alexi said with a shrug.
Tatiana drew out of Alexi’s arms. “I also found out the Feds are trying to put someone else into Frolic because of the agent that was killed there.”
“I know,” Alexi said, wondering where she was going with that.
“Do you know that I don’t want a life that you aren’t a part of?” She raised on tiptoe to kiss Alexi softly. “I’m falling in love with you, and I need you in my life, Alexandra Russo.”
Alexi smiled, the jaguar growling in excitement. Their mate was choosing them. She’d made an informed choice.
Alexi wrapped her arounds around Tatiana’s waist and pulled her against her. “I’m falling for you, too, angel,” she murmured. “And you’ve just made me one of the happiest women alive.”
Tatiana laughed, staring into her eyes. She could see the joy in her; her eyes were incandescent with it.
“Damn, you’re beautiful.”
Tatiana kissed her. “So are you, my princess charming.” Tatiana pushed her hand into her pants pocket. “This is a sign of my devotion.”
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