AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Never claimed to be otherwise. Now, are we going to do this the nice way or the brute way?”
My glare is all the answer he needs to practically throw me over his shoulder.
I can’t control the excited yelp that leaves my lips or the moans and whimpers that follow when he proceeds to do what he promised.
By the time I come all over his hand, a gloomy feeling hovers over my head.
Is this what he meant by coming after my control? Or is it so much worse?
20
KINGSLEY
I’m having drinks with Nicolo in the Lucianos’ downtown club when he drops the bomb.
“Rumor has it, Bruno will be a free man before his daughter’s next birthday. And by rumor, I mean my intel.”
I pause opening my Zippo to stare at him. “What?”
He leans back against the leather of the VIP booth we’re occupying, a cigarette dangling from the side of his mouth. “He might be thinking about turning her birthday into a date of death. It’s a poetic thing some fathers do by taking back the life they gave.”
My pulse starts ticking in my ears at the speed of a lethal bomb. But I force a steady pace in opening and closing my Zippo, zeroing my attention in on Nicolo, who looks a bit too relaxed about the facts he just shared. Seeming not to notice my reaction, or noticing and ignoring it anyway, he makes eye contact with one of his staff and they scurry over with a bottle of Macallan.
The chaos in the club fails to penetrate the confinements of my skull. The loud music filters to the background, holding the importance of a used condom. The stench of strong perfume, sweat, sex, and alcohol hangs in the air like a gloomy cloud.
But I don’t pay attention to all of those details. I don’t even focus on the bottle he offers me. “You can stop it.”
“No can do. Bruno is one of our loyal soldiers and Lazlo’s trusted man. I might have given the redhead protection, but not at the expense of ending Bruno. My idea of protection is to not let him kill her, and it does not, under any circumstances, entail ending Bruno’s life. Besides, she’s not keeping her side of the deal. Mateo is still married to the gold-digging blondie and he’s been acting like her rejected puppy.” He jerks his chin in the direction of his brother, who’s refusing two leggy brunettes’ advances and looking a second away from having them thrown out of the club.
“Your brother’s objections to divorce are on him and you, not on Aspen. And that’s her fucking name, by the way. Use it.”
He raises a brow. “Are you defending her, King?”
“I’m stating facts. She brought you more money in the past two weeks than all your soldiers combined. I don’t fucking care whether you roll it around your dick, shove it up your ass, or soak it in blood. As long as you keep your part of the deal and provide her the protection she asked for.”
“I will, but only under my terms.” He blows a cloud of smoke in my direction. “But if things go south, and they always do, I hold no responsibility for collateral damage.”
“Meaning?”
“I already passed a message to Bruno that the redhead is under my protection now. Even though he’s under Lazlo’s direct order, he accepted that and promised not to go against me. So unless he breaks that promise, I won’t actively plot his demise.”
I slam my lighter shut, narrowing my eyes. “He doesn’t have to get out to hurt her. He’s doing the job from behind bars.”
“No evidence.”
“Fuck that. You heard those scums mention his name in your basement.”
“That was before I passed Bruno a message.”
“Oh, I see where this going.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“Back in school, you used to surround yourself with as many people as possible—students, teachers, staff, principals. All of them. It wasn’t some popularity contest but more of an elaborate divide and conquer strategy. They were all a part of your chessboard that could and would be used down the line. The situation is similar now. You don’t want to lose Bruno’s services, but you also like the money Aspen brings to the table, so you’re keeping both. But you’re forgetting something, Nic.”
He slides one leg over the other and lights a cigar, then blows the smoke in my direction with the nonchalance of a hedonist lord. “And what is that?”
“I was never part of your pathetic crowd, strategies, or fucked-up god complex. It’ll be a cold day in hell before you use me or anyone close to me.”
