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DARIO
“We need to talk,” Kelvin says as he steps into my office. I raise a brow and stare at him. It’s been months since I saw him last. Back then, he was wearing a smirk as he put his arm around Portia and pulled her away from me. He thinks he’s slick, that he’s pushing me into claiming her. But he doesn’t know everything like he thinks he does.
“Don’t know what we could possibly have to discuss,” I reply in a bored tone as I turn back to my computer and continue doing the ordering for my club. It’s opening night in less than six weeks, and I need to ensure that I have everything ready.
“Portia,” he says.
It’s the one word that would make me drop everything and focus on him.
“What about her?” I ask, not in the mood for pretenses. He knows she’s mine. That’s why he’s here. He’s got something to tell me, so he’d better spit it the fuck out.
“I know you’re the one who’s been watching her. If it’s not you, it’s one of your men. They’re good, making sure they stay hidden and away from the light so she never sees them.”
I grit my teeth. Is he trying to reprimand me for protecting her? “I’m doing what needs to be done, especially seeing as the job she has somehow managed to put her back on the street, a place she’s not familiar with. She doesn’t know the lay of the land.”
The day I saw her sleeping on the street here in Jefferson City, anger whipped through me. I thought she had lied and ran, so I stayed hidden, knowing she wouldn’t be happy if I took her. I’ve been watching over her, careful to make sure she doesn’t see me, and that’s how I uncovered that she is in fact working for Kelvin, and whatever he’s got her doing, it’s pushed her to the streets every so often.
“Her stepfather is stealing women from the streets. He’s involved in a huge trafficking ring. We’re trying to shut him down, but he’s fucking good, Dario, better than I could have ever expected. It’s taken me six months to get to this point, and right now, we’re no closer to finding him than we were when we started.”
“What?” I hiss. What the fuck is he talking about?
His stare is blank as he watches me. “You haven’t got a fucking notion of what I’m talking about, do you?”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t. Elaborate,” I demand.
He sighs. “I’m not going into Portia’s past, Dario, but I can tell you that Marco Scadiffi has been part of a trafficking ring for years. It has grown over the past few years and is getting bigger as each month passes. We know he’s stealing women off the streets.”
I rise to my feet and push away from my desk. “You mean to tell me,” I snarl as I move toward him, “that you sent Portia out onto the street to uncover information on her stepfather—the man who killed her father—knowing he was kidnapping women from the streets?”
He doesn’t say anything, just keeps his gaze firmly on me.
“You put her in fucking danger,” I snarl. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
He runs his hand through his hair. “I get that you’re angry, Dario. I would be too if the roles were reversed. But Portia is a grown woman and capable of making her own decisions. She wanted to be a part of what we’re doing. She wants to do this.”
I don’t pull my gaze from him. “Was this before or after you told her that Marco was involved?” I ask, wondering just how much information was held back from her when he offered the job. There’s no way Portia hasn’t got trauma from what Marco did to her father. Hell, no one knows what happened once her father died, but her mom and her were not seen again—until Portia turned up in Indiana, when Elio and I went looking for Teagan.
He slides his gaze toward the door.
“Look, you’ve got more contacts than I thought you’d get here in Missouri. I’m asking you, Dario, come on board and stop this fucking animal.”
“I’ll let you know once I’ve spoken to Portia,” I grunt. “I find out that you’ve put her in more danger than she should be, and we’re going to have a fucking problem.”
He gives me a terse nod. “Let’s get going.” He flashes me a grin. “She’s going to fucking love seeing you,” he marvels. “You’ve sure pissed her off. What did you say to her when you were in Bora Bora? She came back angrier than I could have imagined.”
I grit my teeth and reach for my cell and keys. He’s such a fucking sneaky bastard. Trying to uncover information just to rub it in.
“Why are you so fucking close to my woman?” I ask as we exit my office. The moment I descend the stairs, Beppe’s there, waiting for me.
“Your woman,” he says sarcastically, “is her own woman, Dario. She’s a friend, one I’ll do anything to protect. That’s all she is.”
I raise a brow. “Just a friend?”
That snarky as fuck grin on his face just angers me even more.
“Yes, she’s just a friend,” he says, but there’s a weird tone to his voice.
Is he lying?
