AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s twenty-five,” I told him. “I was years ahead and he was years behind.” I paused, remembering that time in my life. “But then my dad moved me to that private all-boys school.” My muscles locked and my teeth clenched. There was no doubt they could see and feel my icy demeanor now. “We were never best friends, but we were friends because of…” I waved my hand in the air, signaling the life we live.
Lorenzo stared me down, fire in his eyes. “Jesus, Romeo, why the fuck wouldn’t you tell us this?”
I stood deathly still, not wanting to make a move and piss him off even more. “Because you said I was the only option.”
“I could have thought of something else,” he commented, his body relaxing a little. We all stared at each other, letting the silence sit because we all knew there was no other option. This was the only play, and I couldn’t put that at risk, not when it meant getting to the bottom of what happened to Navy and Dario.
“We all know this was the only option,” I repeated. I looked them both square in the eye and told them, “I’m going back there tonight. We’ll take him and every fucker he has working for him down. Us going to school together is an advantage, one I intend to use.”
I spun around, not saying another word as I departed, exiting his office and then walking through the entryway. Not a single soul was around as I strolled out of the mansion, then slipped into my car. It wasn’t until I was off the grounds and heading toward Gio’s bar that I realized I actuallywantedto do this. I wanted to take this motherfucker down. I wanted to be the person on the inside.
Maybe I could be good at more than one thing? Or maybe I was fooling myself just so that I didn’t have to be reminded of my father and everything he’d taught me since I was a little kid.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter at the thought of that man. There was no way I could let him infuse his toxicity into my brain right now, not when I had to concentrate on the task in front of me. I needed to scout the bar, see how many people came and went and what women were around. I needed to know how every inch of that place worked so that I could analyze how Gio worked.
He was hiding something—the people he was trafficking. He’d given me a glimpse of his business but I knew there was a damn sight more happening behind the scenes. It was those things that I needed to see, those business decisions I needed to witness.
Then he’d be gone—eradicated. But not before I got my hands on him.
The promise of what I would do to that fucker was what pushed me forward as I pulled up near the bar. My mind was occupied with all the methods I could and would use on him to make him suffer just like he’d done to all the people he’d trafficked. My cell was placed in a Ziplock bag and then the safe when I got inside, the same as last time, and then I was sitting in a booth in the middle of the room, taking everything in.
I hadn’t been sitting for more than two minutes when a bottle of beer with the cap still on was placed in front of me. Damn, I could see why people came back here if they remembered who you were. There was a personal aspect to this place, and I was sure Gio was the bright spark behind that idea. Make them want to come back and you’ll never go out of business.
Naked women were roaming around again; men in corners and booths doing what they wanted to them. This time there were a few young men with collars around their necks too. All tastes were catered to, and the clientele was taking full advantage of it all.
I pulled the cap off my beer and took a long swallow as my eyes veered to a woman standing on her own. She was trying to keep her hands between her legs, covering herself as much as she could. I swore I could feel her nervousness from all the way over here.
The lights were dimmed even more today, so it was even harder to make her out, but there was something about her that intrigued me. Something that drew me to her.
“You like her?” a voice asked. A voice I knew.
My body tensed, not moving a single inch until I turned my head to look at him. He was standing there, grinning at me like he was the cat who got the cream. Fuck. I hadn’t noticed him here or even when he moved closer to me. I’d been too inside my own head, something I never allowed to happen.
“What?” It was the only thing I could think of to say in that moment.
“You’ve been watching her for the last thirty minutes.” He tilted his head like he was baiting me. “You like her, yeah?”
I didn’t answer. I refused to answer him. I didn’t fucking know her, but there was something familiar about her, something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. If only she would have moved closer to me, then I could figure it the fuck out.
Gio raised his arm and did some kind of signal, and a few seconds later, she was being dragged over. Every fiber of my being wanted to stand up and demand the man who was acting as security let her go, but that wouldn’t go down well here. I had a part to play but it was damn hard to keep my rage under control at the sight in front of me.
The security guy deposited her in front of us and she fell to the ground, only saving herself by landing on her hands and knees.
“She’s yours,” Gio said backing away a few steps. “Only for the night, of course.”
Clenching my teeth, I could sense how tense I was. I should have gotten up and told him she wasn’t my type. I should have refused to play his game. I should have walked the hell out of there.
But I didn’t.
I stayed seated, cursing myself as Gio backed away and sat at a table across the room.
I could feel his gaze on me, burning a hole in the side of my head. Maybe this was a test from him?
Fuck. Of course it was a damn test. He needed something that he could hold over me, and this was it.
I made a fist and slammed it on my thigh under the table. It was a goddamn test, and now I had to follow through. Now I had to show him that I was just like the other men in here that were taking advantage of the women that were no doubt here because Gio had snatched them away from their lives.
My gaze veered to the woman who was still in the same position. Was she waiting for me to tell her she could move? I shuffled to the side and away from the table but stayed firmly in the leather booth.
