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“Time to take more photographs.”
I had a terrible feeling this was only the beginning of a nightmare.
CHAPTER 3
Los Angeles, California
Diego Santos
“Women are like fine cognac,” Ivan said in passing.
I barely shifted my attention to my lieutenant, but his words amused the fuck out of me. I took a sip of the very drink he’d mentioned, savoring the flavor. “How so, my Russian friend?”
“Every taste needs to be enjoyed over an extended period of time, relishing the aroma and flavor, the intensity of the experience requiring even more.” He grinned after issuing the words, knowing he’d amused me. The brutal Russian had a way of doing that.
At least someone could.
“I would be careful. You’re drooling.” Known as a ladies’ man, Ivan usually had one beautiful woman on his arm after another, refusing to settle down even though he was only a few years shy of turning fifty.
I’d once thought I was the playboy of Tinsel Town, but he had me beaten in spades. I had to admit that after my brother and I had taken over the Santos regime, there’d been little time for a sex life, which is the only attachment I allowed in my life. Relationships weren’t destined for men in my position, our brutal nature and dangerous conditions only part of the reason for denying building a family.
While my twin brother, Dante, had been successful in balancing the two very different worlds, I wanted no part of it. Why should I? Women only led to complications. That didn’t mean I was immune to admiring beauty, which was one reason for the recent purchase and renovation of the club I’d renamed the Playhouse. I only hired the most exquisite, talented women in the world to handle my clients, men and some women who refused to accept anything less.
My brother and I also used the location as a meeting ground more often than I’d originally thought, which allowed for privacy as well as entertainment. Tonight, I was on my own, my mood in the toilet given the recent clandestine activity in our family’s territory.
The situation was unnerving and had yet to shine a light on who was responsible for the two recent hijackings of ships holding diamonds from South America. Given we’d recently moved into Alaska, using small ports to allow for distribution to other countries, the concern was increasing and intolerable.
Both Dante and I had a feeling the culprit was a spinoff of the New Generation Cartel eager to manifest retribution for the upheaval of the two leaders, notorious brothers who’d made it their mission to derail several crime syndicates throughout the United States during the past year. After one had been killed outright, another captured and held prisoner, things had quieted down.
Over the years, I’d kept an eye on their activities, my instinct telling me they’d either been absorbed by another cartel or had partnered with them. If they believed they could play a dangerous game with our organization, they were dead wrong.
However, until additional information or evidence was found on the responsible party, both Dante and I had to remain on guard but going about our usual business activities.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t ready to spill blood. I was good at it after all.
“You might be celibate, but that’s never going to be this man,” Ivan huffed in response.
I almost choked on my drink, finally turning my full attention to the man. “Celibate? You are kidding me.”
“I call it as I see it.” He lifted his glass, growling like a bear sniffing out his prey before taking a huge swallow of the fine liquor. “Tebe nuzhno perespat’.”
“Uh-huh. What was that?” I asked him, his use of his native language usually indicating he was enraged about something.
“I said you need to get laid.”
“And why is that?”
“You’re fucking difficult to work with when you haven’t been laid in months. Or has it been years?”
While I laughed, the truth was I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been with a woman. With business activities increasing, our foray into Oregon, Washington State, and Alaska occurring over the last few months, time had slipped by. Maybe I needed a vacation. I owned several houses, for fuck’s sake, two of them in the islands. Yet I hadn’t bothered to head to either one of them in at least two years.
Maybe my buddy was right. Ivan and I went way back to when I was just a boy, his tutelage less brutal than that of my father, even though I’d almost gotten him killed before I’d become a soldier. Somehow the event from twenty years ago had cemented our relationship, the mentor becoming my best friend over the years.
“Maybe so but business comes first,” I told him as I studied the packed club. The women I employed served as everything from waitresses in skimpy attire to dancers, although I refused to allow them to strip. We were a classy club, the routines only an illusion of what was to be anticipated. We also catered to those who preferred aspects of BDSM, the private suites booked months in advance. While the operation didn’t make nearly as much as our diamond trade or movie production company, it was still a powerful tool in keeping control of those who would choose to ignore our required alliance.
In other words, we used their proclivities in methods of blackmail and extortion only when necessary. The threat alone was enough to keep certain members of law enforcement, politicians, doctors, judges, and corporate moguls under our thumbs. That had made for a much kinder living environment in the city. There hadn’t been any real turf wars in or around Los Angeles in years.
I’d like to keep it that way even though some of the soldiers, Ivan included, were bored with their wealthy yet uneventful lives. I snickered from the thought. Who knew living so well could be an issue?
