Chapter 9
As I walk through the front door of Casa Moretti, with my shoulders back and my head held high, the aroma of garlic and tomatoes instantly fills the air.
This is one of the finest Italian restaurants in Ravens Hollow and as good a place as any to get this over with.
I’m not letting this motherfucker get to me.
He might have manipulated me into bed, but I’m Sloane Stryker, and he’s about to find out what that really means.
Ricky was kind enough to have my new meds all sorted for me when I dropped in to see him and Harley this afternoon.
Their apartment is just two doors up from mine.
He wasn’t, however, able to enlighten me any further about what exactly Romeo wants with my club.
Jagger says I have to meet with him tonight to sort it out before his demands get out of hand.
After last night, it’s the last thing I want to do.
Negotiate with the man who stole my virginity, knowing all too well he was about to screw me over.
What did he think, we would fuck then he would tell me we were business partners, and we ride happily off into the sunset together?
I’m not going to stand by and let him take over what I have worked so hard to build either.
Romeo had demanded I meet him at the Moretti boys’ mansion, but fat fucking chance I’m going to do anything he says, so here we are at the Moretti boys’ family restaurant instead.
Me in killer heels and a red velvet mini dress with long sleeves, my hair in a high ponytail and my make-up painted to perfection.
And him waiting for me at a table in the center of the room, in an expensive navy-blue suit that makes him look like an Italian catalog model.
His wavy hair is tousled just so, in a way that makes my fresh hatred toward him melt a little.
Shit. Tonight is going to be tougher than I had imagined.
He stands as I approach the table.
“You’re late,” he comments, unimpressed.
“And you’re an asshole, so I guess we’re even.” I smirk, as bitchy as I can be.
Fuck him. I’m late because I had to find the most torturous outfit possible.
I need him to be squirming in his seat tonight if I’m going to walk out of here with my business in one piece.
He leans in and kisses my cheek, his lips brushing my earlobe in a way that sends a shiver down my spine and butterflies taking off inside my stomach at the same time.
“Don’t make a habit of keeping me waiting, doll face. You won’t like the consequences.”
I take a step back from him, my heart already racing erratically.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t give a fuck about your consequences. I don’t answer to manipulative motherfuckers like you in any way. I do what I want, when I want, and that won’t change for some cocky asshole in an expensive suit.”
His grin broadens, and he takes me in with a fresh twinkle in his eyes.
“I’m going to have so much fun proving you wrong.”
“Waste your time with some other girl who wants to play your fucked-up games. I’m not interested,” I snap back, my voice sharp, his infuriating attitude pushing me to the edge.
“Take a seat, Miss Stryker, we have a lot to discuss,” he says a little more seriously, but there is still a stupid grin on his face that tells me he thinks this is all some big joke.
He pulls my seat out for me like the perfect gentleman we both know he’s not .
Reluctantly I sit, knowing I can’t storm out of here yet.
Not until I know exactly what he wants.
On the table is a bottle of red, a glass in front of me already filled.
I collect the glass and take a sip.
The rich aromatic flavor warms my insides.
“I took the liberty of ordering for you, as you were fashionably late.”
I have a little more of my wine, trying not to bite back.
It’s what he wants. He’s trying to prove he has some control over me.
“Thank you,” I say instead, my fake-ass smile not reaching my eyes.
They burn with flames of fury directed at him.
“Are you feeling better?” he asks, some concern in his voice that actually sounds genuine.
It shouldn’t when he’s the one who caused me to pass out from shock.
“Just perfect.” I smile tightly.
“You looked very unwell this morning. I hope my cousin was able to help get to the bottom of what is going on with you.”
“My medical concerns are none of your business.” I glare back at him.
Is he actually kidding me?
A server arrives with our meals, placing the eggplant parmigiana down in front of me and a porter house steak in front of him.
The smell of fresh basil and parmesan fills my nostrils and makes my stomach grumble.
I thank him and glance back to Romeo, wondering why he picked this for me.
I didn’t tell him I was a vegetarian last night, and since he got himself the steak, I feel like this was done on purpose.
“Something wrong with your meal, doll face?” He wastes no time in slicing into his steak.
“How did you know I was a vegetarian?” I snap, thrown off balance.
He shrugs. “Just a hunch.” His eyes roam over me like it’s obvious, but we both know it’s not .
Bullshit. Something in the way he looks at me as he says it makes me really uneasy.
I feel like he’s playing me.
Like he knows way too much about me, when I know very little about him, and I don’t like it.
“Why am I here?” I growl.
“Eat your meal, Sloane, we can discuss the details later.”
“I want to know what the fuck is going on now. No more messing around. Last night you tricked me, manipulated me into sleeping with you.” I say the last part more quietly so the couple next to us can’t hear me.
“I want to know what exactly you want from me.”
He leans forward, watching me with interest. “Eat your meal. You already fainted once today. I don’t want it to happen again when we start discussing business.”
Oh, the fucker.
I want to toss the knife I’m holding across the table at him.
God, it would feel good to knock that smug-as-shit smile off his face.
I grip it tightly in my hand, stroking my thumb over the shiny handle.
“Stop having evil thoughts about what you want to do to me with your knife, Sloane, and eat up. The sooner you do, the sooner we can get down to business.”
I pick up my fork, sinking it into the roasted eggplant, slicing my knife through its flesh.
The parmigiana’s smoky aroma fills my nostrils as I lift a generous portion to my mouth.
Chewing, it’s delicious, and I wish I could enjoy it more, but the man watching me from the opposite side of the table has left such a bitter taste in my mouth, I just can’t.
“How about we place a wager on this evening.” He smirks cheekily.
“I’m not playing games, I already told you.”
“You give me what I want without any fuss, and I will let you come home with me tonight,” he continues as if I didn’t speak .
The cocky asshole. I blink back at him in total shock.
Who the hell does he think I am?
I place my knife and fork on my plate and collect my glass of wine, polishing off the remainder of the glass.
“What in my attitude toward you makes you believe I want to come home with you ever?”
His eyes light up, and I feel like I just took the bait he was dangling for me.
“Everything about you.” His shoe brushes up against the inside of my foot, in a deliberate move to touch me, sending a trail of goosebumps in its wake.
He swiftly knocks my leg out to the side, followed by the other one so he can run his shoe up the inside of my leg.
I sit up a little straighter, trying to close my legs, crossing one ankle over the other to force him out.
Fuck him for thinking I would let him toy with me again.
“We might have only had one night together, but I can read you like a book, Sloane. Every little desperate inhale as you try to get your racing heart under control. Every subtle glance my way. Every time you moisten your lips, I know you’re imagining what it felt like to have my mouth on yours. Even the way you smell, I know I turn you the fuck on. One night wasn’t enough for you.”
My heart races, knowing how true his words are, even if I don’t want them to be.
I thought last night was something different to what it was, and my needy body got her first taste of how good sex can be.
I want more, but I won’t let him in like that again, not now that I know he has an agenda.
Once was a mistake, twice…
twice isn’t an option.
“You’re wrong,” I whisper, the words getting caught in my throat.
“I’m not. I have studied you for long enough to know every little detail about you.”
I stare back at him, the silence heavy between us.
Does he mean last night?
The sinking feeling in my stomach tells me he doesn’t.
He was watching me before yesterday.
Last night was all some elaborate set-up.
I straighten my shoulders, feeling a surge of confidence.
“You have five minutes to tell me exactly what you want with me or I’m leaving.”
“I want to offer you a partnership deal.”
My eyes lock with his.
“Excuse me?”
“I will allow you to run The Raven’s Nest alongside me.”
“Alongside you? What in the fresh hell are you on about? I own that club, I have since Syd left this planet. I run it alone. It’s mine, and you won’t take any of it from me.”
He runs a hand through his stubble, assessing me.
“Your father secretly used your club as collateral to pay off his rather large debt to my papa. Unlike yours, his club was a piece of shit that my family didn’t see as worth anything until earlier this year when I was tasked with cleaning up all of his acquisitions. The impressive growth of your club is evident in the significant profits you’ve made in recent years, a testament to your hard work and shrewd management. Your success also means I now have an interest in what I’m entitled to. I will be claiming part ownership. Our parents’ deal was forty percent your way, sixty mine.”
I stand in a rush, my heart feeling like it’s going to pound right out of my chest. He has to be kidding me.
“Even if this bullshit is true, you were entitled to sixty percent of the shithole the club used to be when Syd owned it, not sixty percent of what it is now,” I shriek.
“Sit down, Sloane, so we can talk about this without causing a scene.” He nods toward the older couple to my side, making it look like I’m the one being unreasonable here, when really it’s him.
He can’t just come in here and demand this from me.
I have spent years building that club up to be what it is now.
“Fucking Alex,” I snap.
He must have known something about this, it’s why he let him into my party .
“Alex wasn’t privy to this information, none of the Moretti brothers were. Enzo did a real number on the family and all ties were severed with Italy. If you want anyone to blame, you need to look closer to home.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you wonder why your beloved brothers let me get close enough to go off with you at your party?”
I had wondered why after years of their overprotectiveness they let this one slide.
But I didn’t consider what it really meant.
I had just hoped all my years of persistent nagging at them to trust me to take care of myself had finally paid off.
Turns out they would have been right anyway.
Romeo was just trying to use me.
And I fell straight into his trap.
My heart races like crazy as I try to consider what to do.
My body tells me to run, but my brain says I have to stay and fight for what is mine.
My head spins, and I take hold of the table for support.
My eyes are all splotchy, and I feel like I’m about to go down again like I did earlier today.
Strong hands come to my arms, stabilizing me.
“You need to sit down; I’ll get you some water.” Romeo’s voice comes over me like a warm blanket.
He actually sounds like he gives a shit, and for a second, I let my mind drift back to last night, the man I thought he was, so sweet and caring.
But it was all a lie.
I suck in deep breaths and find my balance, taking a step away from him.
I don’t want his treacherous hands on me.
Before I know it, Onyx appears silently by my side.
His dark eyes, intense and questioning, bore into mine, asking if I’m alright before he glares at Romeo to back the hell off.
Romeo watches us together.
“I have this under control,” he tells Onyx, his tone unimpressed .
I shake my head in Onyx’s direction, a wave of dizziness washing over me.
Onyx wraps an arm around my waist, his touch warm and reassuring, protectively shielding me from the truth I can’t tolerate.
“You will hear from my lawyer,” I throw over my shoulder at Romeo as I let Onyx guide me out of the restaurant and toward my Porshe.
Once I’m safely inside, he slams the car into drive, the engine roaring as we speed up the road.
My hands shake uncontrollably as I stare down at them, a cold sweat slicking my palms. Everything I worked so fucking hard for and he’s going to own it.
All because of my fucking stupid sperm donor.
“What the fuck did you know about all of this?” I yell at the top of my lungs as I stride into the apartment I share with Jagger, my body vibrating with pent-up anger and adrenaline.
I have had the entire car ride to get more and more worked up.
Onyx follows closely behind me, locking the door.
He moves into the kitchen, pouring a couple of drinks, one for himself, the other for me.
To my disappointment, he hands me a glass of water.
I take a sip then place it down on the coffee table when I see Jagger strolling into the room.
He looks half asleep in just some low-slung sweatpants, his hair going in every direction.
I hope I woke him up.
He must be tired as shit after last night.
That’s what he gets for spending the night on the floor of my club, too drunk to move.
“I take it the date didn’t go so well.” He checks his watch for the time.
My hands move to my hips to stop from finding anything around to throw at him, because right now, I want to hurt someone, and he might just be it.
“It wasn’t a fucking date, and you know it. That asshole is demanding I work alongside him, he says he owns sixty percent of my club. We both know that can’t be true, you signed it over to me after you dealt with Syd.”
My brother moves closer to me cautiously, one hand resting on my shoulder as his eyes meet mine.
“Sloane, we both know Syd was a slimy cunt. Who knows what kind of dodgy deals he had going with the Morettis, and any other fucker for that matter.”
“What I want to know is what you knew about this. Don’t use your words to manipulate me like you do every other dumb person around, Jagger Stryker, I know you too well. Tell me the damn truth, it’s what I deserve.”
He runs a hand through his hair, stress lines appearing on his forehead, and I know I’m not going to want to hear what he has to say.
“Syd got into a bit of trouble with the Italian Morettis, and he was going to lose the club. Like they were about to burn the fucking place to the ground with him inside. Romeo’s papa and Syd were tight. He made him a deal to keep the place running, but it meant Syd had to sell him a larger share, so technically, the Morettis owned the club. After Syd was eliminated, nothing was ever said of the deal again, so we all assumed it was forgotten about. Not important enough for Romeo’s papa to try and claim his part. The club was a piece of shit no respectable businessman would want to admit being involved in.”
“Until I turned it around.”
He nods sadly.
“Romeo contacted me last week and said he wanted to talk about what you had created. That was the first I knew he was even interested in making a claim. I swear, Sloane. I didn’t think this would come back on you.”
I shake my head, a fresh wave of anger coursing through me.
“That’s just it, isn’t it. You never think, and it’s me who is left to clean up the shitstorm you all create for me. ”
“I’m sorry, Sis, I know what that place means to you.” His voice, thick with unspoken grief, holds a heaviness that reflects the weight in my own heart, and I know this is killing him.
He’s been my rock, always beside me, his unwavering support a constant presence all throughout my life.
I have this club because of him.
Despite being furious, I can’t shake the feeling that he would never have willingly assisted Romeo.
“Why didn’t you come to me last week, so I was prepared? You all let me go off with him last night, and you knew who he was and what he was trying to do.” I can’t admit to my brother how stupid I was, but I’m sure he can imagine.
His head drops and he stares at his feet.
“He said he needed time to talk to you alone. I was hoping the two of you could work out an arrangement to make this all work. He’s a shrewd businessman worth millions. This is what he does.” He takes my hand in his, looking down at me.
“Sloane, I’ve already contacted our lawyer. Their agreement was tight. There is nothing you or I can do about this. Romeo Moretti owns more than half of your business, and you will either have to sell him your share or work out how to get along and run that club with him. It’s a fucked-up mess, but there is nothing I can do this time.”
I pull my hair out of the ponytail it’s in and massage my scalp, not sure what to do next.
“Fucking Syd is still screwing me over, even from the grave.”
“You knew that cunt wouldn’t just lie down and die.”
I glance back at my brother.
We both hated the man equally.
I’m sure it was him who killed him in the end, but no one has ever admitted as much to me.
“Romeo’s not so bad, Sloane, and he seems to genuinely have a hard-on for you. Use it to your advantage. ”
I stop massaging my scalp and stare back at him in shock.
Is he saying what I think he is?
“All my life you have been the one out there protecting me, making sure the scum of the earth doesn’t come anywhere near your precious little sister, and now what, you think I should just pimp myself out to make this arrangement a smooth one? What the fuck, Jagger!”
His face contorts in anger.
“Don’t twist my words because you’re pissed about this. All I’m saying is it wouldn’t hurt to get along with him. The two of you are going to be working closely together whether you like it or not, so make it easy on yourself.” He looks me over, and I see his protective big-brother instincts are still there.
“Maybe it’s time we all accept that you’re not a little girl anymore and you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself.”
I have fought so fiercely for my independence over the years, I can hardly believe the words coming from his mouth.
In fact, I don’t believe them.
“What did he offer you? When he called you last week to discuss my business, what the fuck did he offer you so he could have access to me?” I spit back at him, my anger flaring up again.
How dumb does he think I am?
He rolls his lips, and I know I’m on to something.
“He’s a dangerous man, Sloane. He and his family hold an awful lot of power, and he’s come prepared. He’s spent months researching everything there is to know about our family and you. And he’s not afraid to use the information to get what he wants.”
I glance at Onyx, wondering what the hell he’s making of this shit.
His face doesn’t give a lot away, but I know he’s taking in every detail and has an opinion.
“The motherfucker is blackmailing you? How the fuck did that go? Give me access to your sister without her bodyguard around and I won’t rat you and your brothers out to the authorities for all the shit you’re involved in? That sounds like some primary school shit right there.”
“You hit the nail on the head, though. He wanted one night with you, in exchange for his silence. You know I had no choice, Sloane.”
That fucker.
Irritation slithers down my spine.
What the hell does he want with me?
My club and my body?
It doesn’t make sense.
“You had a choice. You could have come to me and I would have worked this out. I wouldn’t have…” I stare back at my brother, the man who practically raised me, knowing there is no way in hell I’m going to admit how badly I actually let Romeo manipulate me.
I feel so stupid. So dirty.
He was just using me.
I still don’t understand why he needed to fuck me.
He already had his share sorted out and enough intel on my family to fuck us over if he needed to.
Why spend the night with me at all?
He could have just come down here and demanded we give him what he wanted, and we would have had no choice.
“We’re doing everything we can. Malachi is searching for any information he can on Romeo and his family. But I think he wants more than just the club when it comes to you, Sloane,” Jagger says as if he has just read my thoughts.
“Why?” He’s the guy who could have any girl he wanted.
He’s wealthy as hell, good-looking, smart.
None of those things I would admit to him out loud, but they are all true.
Why blackmail my brothers for a night with me?
Why spend months researching my family just so he can do it?
“That you will have to ask him.”
I’m suddenly so exhausted I can’t see straight anymore.
Jagger is no help. If anything, he’s just made this situation worse because he’s confirmed my suspicion that Romeo has been spying on me like a damn creeper and that’s why he knows so much about me.
It’s unnerving. “Any information he finds come straight to me. Don’t keep shit from me again.”
He glares back at me, matching my intensity.
He knows I’m serious.
“I will fix this,” he says, but we both know he can’t now.
I stalk from the room, slamming my bedroom door for emphasis.
In a huff, I shimmy out of my dress, folding it over the armchair in the corner of my room.
I take my silk pajamas and slip them on, then climb into bed and turn off the light.
I try to close my eyes, but even through my exhaustion, thoughts keep stabbing at my brain.
How long was he watching my family for?
What exactly does he have on us, and how does he intend to use the information?
Why charm me into bed only to fuck me over the next morning?
None of it makes any sense.
When I have tossed and turned for what feels like forever, I hear my door slowly creak open and then closed.
Onyx’s shadowy figure moves across the room and comes to lie at my side like he has done a million times before when he knows I’m upset.
He pulls me into his big strong arms, cradling me carefully, as if he might break me.
I inhale his masculine scent.
He feels like home to me.
And why wouldn’t he?
I have known him forever.
I snuggle into him and close my eyes, playing with the delicate bracelet he gave me earlier today.
“Sleep now, my beautiful girl,” he whispers so quietly I nearly don’t hear him.
A silent sob wracks through me.
The control I desperately need over every aspect of my life is slipping away.
No, scrap that, some asshole is trying to steal it from me.
Last night was the biggest mistake of my life, and I’m going to pay dearly for it.
Is this what Onyx was talking about when he said I had started something I wasn’t going to be able to stop?
Initially, I thought he was referring to us, but now I'm afraid he was actually talking about Romeo.