Chapter 13
It’s four forty-five, and I’m back to pacing the Persian rug in my office, freaking the actual fuck out.
I avoided Romeo the rest of the day, working in other sections of the club so I didn’t have to deal with him.
But now I’m running out of time.
“Why haven’t I heard anything from Alex yet?” I ask Sally and Onyx.
“He’s a man of his word, you will hear from him in time,” Sally says nervously, and I’m not sure she even believes her words, but she’s trying to keep me calm.
“I hope so, for all of our sakes.”
“Is Romeo going to sit out there all day? It’s awkward trying to manage the place around him. He keeps watching me.”
“He’s probably waiting for his moment of glory where he gets to come in here and take over my office.”
I hear an email notification ping on my phone, and I move quickly to check my computer, praying to anyone who will listen that it’s from Alex and not Romeo.
Sure enough, there is something from Alex.
I open the attachment, with both Onyx and Sally reading over my shoulder.
Attached is a contract between Emilio Moretti and Syd Stryker, outlining that Syd has transferred sixty percent of ownership of his business Nest of Sin to Emilio Moretti.
Evidence it’s actually true.
Emilio must be Romeo’s papa.
My blood boils with irritation as I close the attachment and open the next one.
The next is a hit contract, signed by Emilio Moretti, approving the hit on Katrina Stryker.
The date is two days before my mother was raped and killed.
My skin goes all prickly, and I have to take hold of my desk so I don’t go over.
What the actual fuck.
Romeo’s papa was the one who ordered the hit on my mother?
This is fucking awful, but it’s also exactly what I need to have something over him.
I have no idea how Alex got his hands on this contract, but I’m thankful.
I hit print and wait, feeling like steam is ready to pour from my ears.
As soon as the document prints, I delete the email from Alex so there is no paper trail.
Then I march out into the bar and find the table where Romeo is sitting typing away at his laptop.
“Did you fucking know?” I snap, my voice filled with venom.
How could he have known and still come to my party, charming me?
Spending the night with me?
His papa ordered my mom dead.
He raises a curious brow, looking way too pleased to see me.
“Know what, doll face?”
With shaky hands, I forcefully place the piece of paper in front of him.
He picks it up and runs his eyes over it.
I see the creases form at the corner of his eyes as he takes in what is in front of him.
“Where did you get this?” he demands, his voice hardening as his expression darkens.
And I know I did good, he’s furious.
“Answer me,” I seethe, not giving anything away.
He pushes out of his seat, towering above me all powerful and domineering.
Taking my hand in his, he forcefully pulls me along with him in the direction of my office.
I try to snap my hand back, I don’t want him to touch me, but I can’t.
He’s so damn strong when he’s pissed.
And right now, I may have just pushed him too far.
Well, good, because I have reached my limit, and this shit needs to end tonight.
Hopefully with him leaving with his tail between his legs.
Onyx appears at my side.
“Take your hands off her.”
“It’s okay, Onyx,” I say, not needing him to step in.
I’m not scared of Romeo, not one little bit.
He should be scared of me, right now.
“Swipe us in,” Romeo demands.
“Don’t push me, Sloane. You and I both know we can’t discuss this out here.”
I know he’s right, the club is starting to fill up with the regulars.
With a flick of my free hand, I swipe us in, with Onyx following closely behind.
This time, though, I don’t let him in my office with us.
I give him a look, and he knows he has to stay outside, as much as I know it will kill him when he’s already feeling overprotective of me around Romeo.
But right now, I need to have it out with Romeo alone.
As soon as the door is closed, Romeo pounces on me.
“What the fuck are you playing at shoving this in my face?”
I point to my chest, my eyes going wide.
“Me? What the fuck are you playing at? You came in here the night of my party with one thing on your mind only, fucking me over. After you fucked me. You knew everything about me.” My voice trembles, I’m so fucking fuming.
“Including what happened to me that night, what I lost. You tried to act all fucking sweet and caring, when really you were just manipulating me into spending the night with you, all along knowing the damage your fucking papa had caused my family. What he did to my mom.” Tears choke up my throat, but I won’t let them free.
I don’t fucking cry over anyone, and I won’t cry over this asshole.
He meets my intensity.
“The only one to blame for what happened to your mom is your father.”
“I don’t have a fucking father,” I screech back at him, knowing how crazy I sound, but right now, I don’t give a fuck .
He moves toward me, caging me in so my back is up against the door and his large frame is everywhere.
My heart races out of control.
“Syd Stryker fucked over the Morettis; your mother lost her life because of what he did.” His voice is harsher now, a bitterness that carries pain and hate with it.
I glare daggers up at him, not letting him have any power over me, even if he’s so much bigger.
“If what he had done was so terrible, why kill an innocent woman? Why not kill the piece of shit who did it?” That question has been in my head for nine years.
Why did she have to pay for his sins?
She was a beautiful, innocent woman who never would have hurt a fly.
“He needed to pay off his fucking debt. Trust me when I tell you this, what happened to your mother that night is nothing compared to what would have happened if my papa took her back home with him. Your father might have been a slimy piece of shit, but my papa is pure evil.”
I stare back at him, my heart racing out of control, my breathing ragged.
I can’t believe I ever had a thing for him.
I can’t believe I let him spend the night with me.
“Either you back the fuck off and let me run my business as I see fit or I will expose you and your family for the criminals they are,” I bite back, having no idea how I will really do it, but I’m sure I can work it out.
If Alex could come up with this in just a few hours, imagine what else they are hiding.
“What, with this bit of evidence?” He shakes the paper.
“You’re going to need more than that to bring down my family. Besides, my papa isn’t even in the country. All of this rests on his shoulders, not mine.”
“But you are in this country, and right now, you’re the one in here demanding I let you take over what I have created. I won’t stop until I have everything I need on you. If you push me, I will make you pay.” I glare back at him with determination.
I’m not like other women he would have come across.
I’m bitter and twisted as fuck, and I will do whatever it takes to destroy him.
He scowls back at me, just as furious, neither of us backing down.
“I’m not walking away from this opportunity,” he finally says.
“Your father signed this business over to us; you know I have you there.”
I know he’s right, but there has to be a compromise that works better for me.
I rack my angry brain, trying to work out how I get around all of this.
“I’m not walking away, Sloane. You try and fuck me over, I will come back at you just as hard. I have things on your brothers that could destroy their lives. And we both know what they mean to you.” I don’t flinch.
I keep staring back at him, ice in my eyes.
“Or is it Onyx who is your weak spot?” His head tilts to the side as he takes me in.
“Yeah, that’s the one. Your bodyguard holds a special place in your heart, doesn’t he?” His hand trails along the side of my face, and I recoil from him, not wanting his hands on me.
“I know what he did for you that night. The two men he killed to save you. You never should have gotten out of here alive, should you, but Onyx made sure you did. I guess you owe him your life. Wouldn’t want to fuck him over just to keep me out of this place now, would we, doll face.”
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. I hate this man right now with everything in my being, but I know he’s right.
I will never do anything to fuck over Onyx.
He means too much to me.
“Compromise,” I say the word with a strength I don’t have right now.
Now I have his interest piqued.
“What kind of compromise?”
I purse my lips together, trying to think it over.
“You let me keep running this place just like I am, but I will help you to expand, help you set up other clubs like this and show you what I have been doing and how I make it profitable for me and the staff who work for me. You said you like my blueprint, so let me help you have some clubs of your own.”
His eyes flash with something, intrigue maybe.
“I want sixty percent of all the profits made here as well.”
My stomach sinks.
I have no fucking clue how I’m going to swing it myself, when my profit margin was already tight, just making sure everyone else got paid before me, but it’s better than him taking a cut from the girls.
I’ll go without so they don’t have to.
“Done. But next door, Nestled Serenity Spa, is out of the deal. I set that business up alone, it has nothing to do with the club.” I glare back at him.
“I have no interest in your day spa.”
“Then we have an agreement as long as you remain a silent partner here, letting me make the big decisions and looking after my staff.”
His lips twist up at the sides but it’s not in a smile; he’s trying to contain his frustration toward me.
“I want to be involved in the decisions, Sloane. I have new ideas I want to implement, ones that will see you also benefiting.” His hand trails down along my side, sending a shiver down my spine.
“We can make a lot of money together; I want you to benefit from this partnership as well.” The way he says it makes me think he wants more than a business partnership from me.
He’s trying to stay involved here because he wants to work closely with me.
“I don’t care about the money. I have the final say.” Knowing I can’t work alongside him every day, it will be impossible with the tension between us.
A flash of surprise comes over him.
He’s probably never had anyone in his life who didn’t care about the money as a top priority.
His face softens, and I feel his hand settle on my waist. “I can work with that compromise on one condition. You go on a date with me tonight.”
I blink back at him, so shocked I don’t know what to say.
He has to be kidding me after the fucking stunt he pulled.
After me finding out about the monster he’s related to.
But either way, he is trying desperately to get some control over me.
“Not if you were the last man on earth,” I seethe back, a bitter smile etching onto my face.
His lips twitch up at the sides in a cruel smirk.
“Then I guess I will have the final say.” His other hand comes to the other side of my waist, his fingers digging into my flesh as he holds me in place against the door, a blatant assertion of power.
“Why are you trying to control me? What do you really want with me?”
“Everything.” His eyes run over my face in a psychotic way that for the first time scares me.
Not because I think he would harm me, but because I know how serious he is.
He collects a piece of my hair that’s fallen and feels the silky strands, tucking it behind my ear when he’s done.
“I’m obsessed with you. From the first moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew I had to make you mine.”
My heart kicks up a beat, staring back at him, knowing it’s true.
“You know how crazy that sounds, right?”
He chuckles darkly.
“You’re starting to work me out.”
I purse my lips, my heart thumping a frantic rhythm against my ribs, knowing this is a mistake but paralyzed by a lack of alternatives.
I won’t let him have all the control around here, there are too many people relying on me to keep them safe.
But I know he’s not going to walk away easily either.
“I can’t tonight, I’m busy. But tomorrow I’m all yours.” I sigh heavily, knowing it’s a mistake already.
But how bad can one night alone with him be?
“Tomorrow it is.” His face breaks out into an all-out smile, like he just won big, and it makes him look even more crazy.
“Dinner, that’s it,” I add, making sure we are being perfectly clear on my intentions going forward.
I hold out my hand for him to shake on it.
He gently removes his hand from my waist, then takes mine in his, our fingers intertwining as we shake.
He brings my hand to his mouth, the soft pressure of his lips a tender caress on the back of my hand.
His eyes meet mine in a way that makes a flutter run through me.
Oh, dear God, what is wrong with me?
“Dinner, then we will see where the night takes us. You will come to the Moretti mansion, where I’m staying.” His expression is way too smug for my liking.
He doesn’t know me half as well as he thinks he does.
I surprised him today by doing my own research.
And I will surprise him again tomorrow, leaving him right after we finish our meal.
“Dinner,” I reiterate.
“Dinner,” he agrees, but his eyes tell me he wants so much more.
“What are you doing tonight?”
Now it’s my turn to smile smugly.
I wasn’t so sure if I was going to go or not, I’m dog tired, but now I have an excellent reason.
One that’s even better than the man being extremely hot to look at.
“I have a date with the charming Detective Reef Wilder.”
“Like fuck you do.” His eyes flare with fresh anger.
But I don’t give a shit.
I push out of his tight grip on me and move around to the other side of my desk, pouring myself a drink, trying to take a little control back.
“Sloane, I’m serious. I forbid you from seeing him,” he says, his voice rising.
I sigh heavily, having a nice big swig of my whiskey.
“Lucky for me you have no say in what I do in my personal life, Romeo. And if you want this very fresh business deal to run smoothly, you will remember that.”