Chapter 7
Cipriana
Waking up the next morning in a stranger’s house makes me panic for a second. Then when I remember whose it is, I freak out more that there’s a drool strain on his pillow.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
While running into the bathroom to wet a tissue and dab it, I recall last night.
He didn’t even flinch about giving me his room – said he’d need to keep watch at the front door in case there’s any trouble.
I haven’t felt a sense of warmth like that…
well… ever. Before bed, he assured me the bodies were moved successfully, and that Dad is okay somewhere far out of reach.
Everything thereafter was business call after business call.
Not only does this guy not sleep, but he owns strip clubs?
God, I wish sound didn’t carry so well in here.
After I take some time freshening up, I’m careful to tiptoe out of my room. I mean, his room. Being in the same clothes as yesterday ensures I’ll keep my distance from Trino, because, you know, smell . But I still need to know what happens next.
Am I a prisoner here until further notice? Or do I get transported out of state?
When I get to the balcony at the top of the stairs, my breath catches in my chest. He’s lying flat on the couch with his legs crossed – six pack abs out in the open, framed by all sorts of dark tattoos.
Skulls, dragons, knives. You name it, it’s on him.
The way his neck muscles remain flexed even when he’s relaxed shows how much strength he’s packing.
My eyes linger toward his boxer-briefs, confirming everything I thought about that bulge yesterday.
A part of me wishes I hadn’t stopped him. What would it be like to sleep with a man as hot as that? Maybe I’d actually finish for once.
Heat starts to rush between my legs.
It’s too early for this.
I carefully tiptoe down the stairs, realizing the TV is on – Gladiator with Russell Crowe. Great movie. Oh God, is he awake?
“Did you sleep well?” his deep voice makes me nearly slip on the stairs.
I grab onto the cast iron banister tight, which makes a thrum through the house.
“Told you those steps can be slippery.”
“Good morning,” my voice is a raspy mess. “And yes, I slept surprisingly well. Thanks for changing the sheets.”
“I’ll be changing them again, too.”
I gasp, and I think I catch a smirk he’s trying hard to hide. “You think I’m dirty like one of your—” I restrain myself, remembering how sensitive of a murderer he is.
“It’s not you, it’s me. Everything must stay clean in my house.”
“Yes, führer.” I stand at attention on the steps like I’m a German soldier.
He sits up, which makes me blush again. Every muscle in his arm is gigantic – those small flexes showing me what a specimen he is. “Ready for work?”
“Excuse me? I am not stripping.”
He laughs at me, finally . Been pulling double duty to get more than a grunt out of him.
“Now that would be a sight.”
Shit. I’m blushing again .
He gets up and scratches his hair. How the hell does it stay perfectly messy like that? It’s like he doesn’t even have to try to be an evil Greek god. What’s he reaching for? My brow furrows when he picks up a pantsuit in a dry-cleaner bag and presents it to me.
“You’re a lawyer, right? Don’t you work all weekend?”
“Um, yeah? But I kind of thought I was calling out sick for the foreseeable future.”
“Nope . Business as usual. You’ll just have a driver for a little while.”
“But—”
“Something you should know about the Cosa Nostra , they usually don’t take innocent hostages to get back at their target.
We operate in the dark, with those who dare participate.
It’s our family – the Valentinos – who used to skate on the edge of that when Don Gio was in charge.
But not anymore since the Stallion took over. ”
“Led by a horse. Great.”
“You wouldn’t be making jokes if you saw him.” He points at me, then tosses the pantsuit my way. “The Lucrazis and Barones – who undoubtedly will be looking for your father – won’t use you to get to him. However, there are some loose guns these days… so better safe than sorry.”
“So convincing.” I narrow my eyes. “Wait, I think I get it. They’ll be looking for you, not me, right?”
“’Atta girl. Now you see why I’m getting rid of you for the day.”
“Are you in danger?” I hug the pantsuit tight. It smells so fresh, like steam.
“Don’t know yet. My crew all have their ears to the ground. Whispers are starting to travel since Sonny and Groundhog are missing. It’s just a matter of time before they start sending scouts. Now go get dressed.”
One look at the clock makes me hurry back up the stairs. I haven’t been late ever , and don’t plan to start now.
God, this is weird. I hold up the outfit I wouldn’t wear in a thousand years.
It’s more like a designer jumper than it is a suit.
Better than what I’m wearing, I guess. After a quick shower to rinse off my body that does wonders to calm some of my surface nerves, I slip into the suit.
Nothing I can do about the day-old panties, but at least I won’t have to wear short-shorts to the office.
He even remembered shoes, expensive heels going by the label.
Whoa, perfect fit. How?
Did he take my measurements while I was sleeping? Creep!
Knock! Knock!
“Time to go,” he growls.
“Coming.” I rush to the mirror and make sure my foundation from yesterday is still intact. I was careful not to get my face wet and the steam did a good enough job to rehydrate my skin. But oof… I’m definitely going to break out going another full day with it on.
I open the door to him in a fresh tank top. He pushes past me lightly, giving me a whiff of his perfect scent. The cologne lingers on him from the day before, and his own manly musk takes over just a little bit more.
Snap out of it, Capri.
He shoves his toothbrush in his mouth and starts brushing furiously, which makes me glance at my phone for the time.
“Work starts at nine.” I bite my lip.
“Don’t you worry about that.” He spits and washes his mouth, then pushes past me on his way out. “C’mon.”
“I’m very worried. I have a goody-goody reputation to keep, remember?”
He ignores me as I follow him down the stairs and out of the living area. He opens another door which is heavier than the wood design leads on. Uh oh – another flight of stairs. A dungeon where he undoubtedly keeps his hoes chained up or something.
“Should I hold my breath?” I ask.
“The hell are you saying?” He opens the door at the bottom, flicks on the lights, and holds it for me to go first.
I duck like I’m about to enter a warzone, only to see a silver Toyota Supra with near-black windows inside an attached garage.
“A two-seater. How could you, Trino? How could you spend money so senselessly when we have twins on the way?” I hold my belly, and he turns away giving me his back, because I know he wants to laugh. “Aren’t you tired? I mean, you were up all night on calls.”
“Shh. Too much talking, too early in the morning.” He gets into the car and waits for me to sit in the passenger’s seat.
Our eyes are locked as I shut the door, the garage churning open to let in rays of morning sunlight. He’s so annoyed, but behind it, there’s amusement. He’s judging me. And I, him.
Slowly, I put my seatbelt on and brace against the panels for him to pull out like a crazy person.
He scoffs and pulls out as expected.
Twenty minutes pass, and in two days, my heartrate probably exceeded one-seventy for the first time ever. I thought being trapped in oversized scuba equipment was the epitome of fear, but now I know… it’s in the presence of this man.
He swerves between cars even when it’s not necessary. Is he trying to impress me? Or maybe scare me for his own amusement? Sick bastard.
I slap his arm at every red light, and he keeps quipping back that he told me not to worry about being late.
We pull up to J. Witt at eight-fifty, ten minutes early, and as soon as I exit his car on the outskirts of the parking lot, I suddenly feel exposed. What if the Lucrazis are waiting inside to put a bag over my head and torture me?
Trino must see the fear in my eyes since he leans over to my side before I shut the door. “Yo. Relax, bug. Just do your job and have a good day. It’ll be fine.”
Something about the curtness in his voice makes me believe him. He’s an authority figure like my father was never able to be. Instead of long-winded arguments and quips, Trino is a straight freakin’ arrow.
“Thanks for everything, Toretto.”
“I wonder what name you’ll have for me later. What time should I pick you up?”
“I’ll text you.”
“Switching numbers today. I’ll text you .”
I shut the door and watch him pull away.
While walking toward the giant thirty story building of J.
Witt, I can’t help but wonder where my dad is.
New York? No. Pennsylvania? Yeah, probably out of the tri-state.
Hope Stanzo isn’t messing with him too much.
Then again, why would he? I’m keeping my end of the bargain and staying with a strip-club-owning psycho murderer.
We’ll leave out that he’s ten out of ten volcanic hot with a venomous snake slithering in his pants.
Focus on work, Capri.
After greeting the stubbly security guard at the front desk, taking the stairs to the basement makes me remember how shitty this case I’m working on is.
Dad always says this is paying my dues, though.
Luckily, I have a good crew. When I get there, Jacky is already sitting at our four-person desk, face down with her forehead stuck to an open binder. Maybe she never left?
“Dude!” I slap the desk.
“Ahh! Stinnel Pipeline is the devil! What?” Jacky looks around frantically. “Oh God, you scared the shit out of me.”
“Payback for last time.” I chuckle. “But seriously, Jacky, go home.” I grab at my binders, which are right where I left them on Friday night.
“Nuh uh. I go home, brother sees how hungover I am, tells Mom. Whole thing.” She waves her hands.
“You’re speaking like a cavewoman. I’ll pick up your slack today.”
“No. I’m fine, really. Sunday fun-day, am I right?” Jacky grits her teeth at the sweat-stain left by her forehead. “Guess I’m reprinting that one. Wait.” She throws her hands up, looking at me through two bloodshot eyes, holding a wry smirk. “How was your scuba date with Gil?”
I look around to make sure no one else is in the room.
Jacky gasps. “You fucked him, didn’t you! Underwater, starfish mermaid fuck-time. Tell me everything. Do dicks looked curved underwater? When you’re sucking it under there, is it salty like the sea?”
“Someone’s awake now.” My eyes widen as they stare at the page, hoping she’ll magically fall back to sleep. “No, I didn’t fuck him, Jacky.”
“Boo! No fun.” She deflates with a puckered frown. “You should’ve seen me at the Guetta concert Friday night. Found this headband-wearing hottie when I pushed my way to the front rows and started dancing on him.”
I take a good look at her – the messy golden-red bun, loads of freckles, braless green top, and crusty eyes from sleeping at a desk. She’s beautiful regardless, in her own way. Probably an easy target for the hottie she found.
“Let me guess, you were wearing a few strings as your outfit.”
“That’s the getup for these things! Anyway, I’d be lying if something didn’t find its way into me as we were dancing. Too crowded to say for sure, but both his hands were wrapped around my waist, so…”
“How do you ‘ not know for sure’?”
“Lots of Molly. Everything feels like an orgasm on it.”
Hm. Maybe I could use some. But I’ll keep that to myself.
I shake my head at her. She’s the literal opposite of me. Maybe she would be good for Trino. God. Imagine if she knew about my weekend? It was actually crazier than hers, and I’m not allowed to say a thing about it.
If you can imagine it, I found a hottie too. And we even almost kissed! I wish I could blurt.
“So… Gil. Is it going to be awkward when he gets here?” Jacky grimaces.
“ No . I was at his lesson for all of five minutes—”
“That’s all he lasted, huh?” Jacky snaps her tongue. “A damn shame. You are a fiery ten, though, in his defense—”
“Jacky!”
We both laugh it up until we hear a set of footsteps descending the stairs.
It’s no one from our team. We wave at the guy with a man-bun and fire-engine-red suspenders, and continue our gossip. Another fifteen minutes of Jacky’s shenanigans go by while we edit agreements mindlessly, until Charlie heads down the stairs.
He has light grey eyes, dark wavy hair down to his shoulders, and the smoothest skin a man ever did have. Oh, and you’d never know he’s as gay as the pride flag unless you were good friends with him.
“Charlie!” we both cheer, then put our hands up in apology to the guy in the red suspenders.
“Ladies,” he greets us, looking prim as ever. “At least one of you looks showered.”
“ Hey!” Jacky slaps her binder.
He kisses her on the cheek hello to say he’s just kidding, then grabs both my hands as he sits down. “Capri. Is everything okay?”
I wrinkle my nose. “Yeah, why?”
“Uhm. Your dad is all over the news.”
I chuckle nervously, then shrug. “Yeah. I try not to get involved in all that.”
And the biggest-lie-of-the-century award goes to me.
“But yes, Dad is pretty stressed about it. His reputation is ruined.”
“Nah.” Charlie takes a printed agreement and stacks it perfectly against the table. “Anyone with half-a-brain knows that Esko Lucrazi was done for with that bombshell evidence. But either way, I’m glad there’s no turbulence with his… clientele.”
Charlie is the only one who has the balls to talk openly about Dad’s dealings. Jacky cowers like the little mermaid she is, but all the conversation halts when Gil starts down the stairs. He smiles wide at me like I didn’t screw him over on Saturday morning, and I appreciate that, so I smile back.
He immediately starts talking about the customer he had after me. The dude really does have a passion for this stuff. More importantly, he’s keeping up the no-questions-asked policy about calling the cops yesterday. Two points for Gil.
Eventually, stories die down and work kicks up. We have so many old documents to go through to ensure our current proposed dissertations against the Stinnel Pipeline is ironclad.
Hours go by. I’m glad no one asked me about my new suit. I guess taking the blazer off and being seated most of the day makes the outfit appear close enough to what I normally wear. I check my phone here and there – no text from Trino. Makes me a little nervous, knowing what’s out there after him.
Late afternoon approaches. We usually call it at a normal hour on Sunday. So I wonder where that’s going to leave me if I don’t hear from Trino soon.
“Hey, you have to sign in. Hey!”
I feel the blood drain from my face when the security guard starts raising his voice on the floor above us.
Oh my God.
The Lucrazis.