Chapter 6 – Elias
“ I will be taking you home,” I say, removing the condom and tossing it in the trash.
Sage scoffs while adjusting her dress and fixing her hair.
I’d much rather she leaves here disheveled, so everyone sees how well I fucked her, but Sage doesn’t like to take orders and when she does, she fights every step of the way.
And I love the fight.
“Absolutely fucking not. I’m taking a cab.”
“Do you think I will allow you to step inside a stranger’s car?”
“Allow?”
Shit. That was the wrong thing to say.
“I do whatever the fuck I want and that includes taking a cab, which I do all the time. Just because you’ve had your dick inside me twice—”
“—it’s far more than twice now.”
“Doesn’t mean you have claim over me. You’re not my boss.”
I bristle at the words. I’m not her boss, but she sure likes to call me Boss.
She picks her purse up off the floor and retrieves lipstick before applying it to her puffy lips. I stifle the urge to crush my mouth to hers and smear it all over again.
“This isn’t up for debate. I will take you home.”
“So you can stalk me? No. No way.”
Another round of banging on the door cuts off my argument.
I snarl and turn away from Sage to unlock the deadbolt.
“What?” I growl.
It’s Jax, my head of security. He’s been staking out the lobby while I was inside the party, ready to move in if I needed backup.
“Lenetti found out you’re here. Time to go.”
I’m surprised it took this long. It’s clear the soldiers checking invitations didn’t run off to tell Gio I had arrived.
Rumors have swirled for years that there’s a mole in the Empire crew.
A handful of his men can’t stand him. That’s the only explanation as to why I was let in.
Which also makes me wonder if Lenetti didn’t know I was here, who sent me the invite?
I open the door wider to scan the lobby, and Sage uses my distraction to push past me .
That’s when two of Lenetti’s men spot me. They’re on the move in our direction, hands at their hips ready to grab their weapons, but me and my men are already heading for the exit.
I catch up to Sage, who’s waiting with others to hail a taxi—the minx nearly got away again. I grab her wrist, pulling her flush against me.
I inhale her sweet strawberry and vanilla scent. My body has become obsessed with it—addicted—as my cock jerks with need despite blowing my load minutes ago.
“Please. Let me take you home.”
She searches my eyes, and her defiant mask drops slightly to show me a hint of apprehension.
“No. I can’t. Elias, please don’t make me.”
Please don’t make me?
What the hell? Who makes her do things she doesn’t want to do? I mean, sure, I dragged her into the bathroom and fucked her in front of the mirror, but I wouldn’t have if she told me no.
I want to pull her into my arms and hold her. Protect her. She must see that I won’t be that man.
It’s the only explanation.
A man forced her to do things she didn’t want to do.
Whoever he may be, I will find and kill him.
I release her because of course she doesn’t see I’m not that man. She doesn’t know me. We’ve fucked, but I’m still just a stranger. She’s a stranger .
And she’s running from me again, stepping away to flag a taxi.
“Your number then. I can’t lose you this time.”
Her brows furrow, and she chews on her bottom lip. My hand moves before I’m able to stop it, and I pull the plump kissable lip from her teeth and palm her cheek. Her breath hitches, and she closes her eyes.
Then she smacks my hand away, failing to hold back her smile.
“You know you could find me through Noah.”
“And you know she wouldn’t willingly give me your information.”
She huffs and rolls her eyes.
“Fine.” She holds out her hand, and I quickly retrieve my phone from my pocket. “Don’t make me regret this, Elias. I will block your ass if you keep being this clingy.”
She aggressively taps at the screen.
“Clingy, huh?”
“Yeah. Right now, you’re at Level 10 Clinger status.”
She hands my phone back, and I call the number. Her phone lights up, and she waves it at me, proving she entered her actual number.
Sage walks to the cab that just pulled up, and I swoop in to open the door for her.
“Let me be clear, Reine,” I say, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “You keep fighting me, but that pussy of yours didn’t get the message. She loves my cock. Level 20 Clinger.”
She sucks in a sharp breath, and I place a soft kiss on her cheek.
“Text me when you are home safe,” I say and let my queen go.
I considered following Sage or sending one of my men to watch over her, but I just got her back, and I don’t want to scare her away with my Level 10 Clinger behavior.
At least I have her number now. I send it to my tech guy, hoping to get an address with it. Or any information at all.
What are you hiding, Sage?
My phone vibrates with a text, as if my thoughts of her conjured it.
Reine
Home
It’s been less than fifteen minutes since she left Lenetti’s party, which means she lives somewhere in Manhattan, somewhere close to Midtown.
I ignore the middle finger emoji that accompanies the text and start typing out a reply, promising punishment for virtually flipping me off, when my phone rings. My heart lurches in my chest, hopeful that it’s Sage, before I see my uncle’s name.
“What?” I growl upon answering.
“Got a tip about a shipment. Three a.m. Red Hook,” he says, ignoring my moody behavior.
I glance at my watch. It’s not even midnight.
Good. We need time to prepare.
“Send in a team to secure the place. I need to go home and change. I’ll meet you at the port at two.” I scrub my palm over my face and sigh. “Is this Moonlight?”
It’s the dumbest fucking name. A name that got on my radar a month ago when I received a tip about a shipping container full of women and young girls at a port in Newark. Goddamn human traffickers. I will kill every last one of them including this asshole with the cheesy fucking name.
My tech guy has been tracking their movements. They’ve been making their way up the East Coast and now they’re in Brooklyn.
“That’s what I’m hearing, but we won’t know for sure until we intercept the shipment and question the girls.”
I clench my free hand into a fist. Anger rolls throughout my body. I’m really going to enjoy torturing this fucker.
“Call the mayor. Tell him to get apartments ready. He needs to send buses, counselors, clothes, and supplies.”
It took me over a decade to work my way into New York City’s political scene.
The mayor is someone who owed me a favor.
The DA is also in my grip. And now I’m slowly working my way through the NYPD.
The department’s been corrupt for years, but when you head a mafia and own a lot of elite night clubs where the rich and famous go to be discreet, you learn secrets, and secrets can be turned into blackmailing.
Lance is my enforcer. He’s taken down dozens of high-profile businessmen and politicians for me, allowing me to replace their positions with people who owe me favors.
The newly elected mayor is a man with a strong political and community background.
He came to me for help when his father became indebted to the Lords of Staten Island.
I worked out a deal with Finn O’Connor to release the mayor’s father into my authority.
All it cost me was a few business connections that Finn used to start an underground gambling ring.
What O’Connor doesn’t know is that I’ve had eyes on that gambling ring, keeping track of every transaction, every illegal misdeed. I plan to use it to take him down at some point.
Now’s not the time. Lance and I are close to pinning Lenetti for our mother’s murder.
And now I have to deal with this new human trafficker.
“Did your source have a number?”
“At least a dozen. ”
I clench the phone tighter and curse. At least? I will burn this city down trying to find Moonlight if there’s more than a dozen young women in that shipping container.
“Should I call Lance?” Martin asks during my raging silence.
“No. He’s useless to me tonight.”
Martin chuckles. “I heard about his little stunt at Lenetti’s Christmas party.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure he’s dealing with the aftermath of that. I’ll worry about him later. I need to focus on this raid. Make sure there’s enough soldiers planted around the terminal. Call Alex and put him on standby.”
Alex is my backup enforcer. He’s good, but not as good as my brother.
I hang up and lean my head back on the car seat. All I want to do is call Sage and beg her to let me come over so we can cuddle.
Is that too much to ask?
I open her text message and start typing.
Miss you already
The corner of my mouth turns up when I see the three little dots dance. They disappear... then pop up again.
After at least a minute, her response comes through.
Reine
Level 100 Clinger