Chapter 3
Chapter Three
“ Y ou’re home late,” Cooper remarks from the couch as I enter our apartment. He’s too busy flicking through the channels on the TV to give me his undivided attention, so I drop my bag onto the dining table and head for the bathroom.
I have a pounding headache and my throat feels scratchy, not to mention the fact my panties are drenched and I still haven’t managed to regain a regular rhythm of my heartbeat.
The entire ride back from the station was spent with my head in my hands, trying to figure out why the hell I was so turned on by Axel’s intimidation.
Those techniques don’t work on me. Especially when it’s chauvinistic asses attempting to assert their dominance on me.
I’ve lived through it. I work through it on a daily basis. Why does just being near Axel make me feel like I’m about to come undone?
“Work ran late,” I rush out as I pass by him. It’s not technically a lie, but he doesn’t need to know I have to go change my underwear because I nearly came when Axel called me a good girl.
I’m still trying to process what just happened.
I went to the jail with the understanding of representing Axel Bonanno, but the man gave me nothing.
He just wasted my time, and for what ? To show he had the power to do that, to make me feel small?
I’ve never let another man treat me like he just did, and I’m not about to let him do it again, even if he just staked his claim.
Axel’s words simmer in the back of my mind as I stare at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. “You belong to The Five now.” It still sends a chill down my spine, my body visibly shuddering. Though, I don’t know if it’s the words that instill fear, or something much more salacious.
Cooper steps into the doorway, locking eyes with my reflection and evidently noticing my distant expression. A frown creeps up on his face, and I know it will only be moments before I spill.
“What’s up?” he asks, approaching me carefully from behind.
I shake my head, sighing loudly.“It’s about the Mayor.” I try not to sound so morose, but I’ve just been body slammed with a bombshell of an offer and a client to boot.
“The Mayor?” he repeats.
I nod silently, catching my bottom lip under my teeth. “Axel Bonanno wants me to represent him.”
“You’re fucking kidding me!” Cooper bellows. He buries his fingers in his blonde strands, tugging at the edges.
For someone who is usually so full of words, I’m unable to come up with any that will diffuse this situation.
“You have to say no!” he exclaims, taking a step towards me.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean, you can’t ? It’s fucking dangerous! It’s the fucking Mafia, Cass!”
If he’s trying to play the part of the protective boyfriend right now, his condescension and patronization aren’t helping. It only pushes me further away when I’m trying to wrap my head around how to handle the situation.
“You don’t say no to them, Coop,” I reply weakly, but it isn’t enough for him. Cooper storms out of the bathroom and the argument is over before it even starts.
By the time I make it to bed, I’m a bundle of nervous, horny energy.
Sleep evades me as I thought it would, the events of today replaying over and over.
I lay awake, facing the ceiling and wringing my fingers against the covers as I bury myself deep in my thoughts.
I hate that Cooper and I are arguing over something out of my control, but he doesn’t seem to understand.
The worst part is, he’s right . It is dangerous—dangerous for me to protect someone who may have murdered the Mayor, and dangerous to protect one of The Five. But it’s not like I have a choice in the matter. It’s done.
I eventually peel myself out of bed, unable to rest long enough to fall asleep.
Taking careful steps out of the bedroom, I head towards the living room.
The luminescent street lights that flicker outside light up the room like a nightclub, dousing me temporarily in a glow before snuffing out.
I’m so tired, but my mind won’t quiet enough to get any sleep.
Slumping down on the couch, I switch the television on and try to distract myself, but it’s no use. I’m still reeling through everything that happened today, from Colombo’s visit, to Bonanno’s proposition, to my fight with Cooper over the whole thing.
I pull out my phone and start to scroll through the volumes of text and images, searching for Axel Bonanno. Research is my first task when it comes to my cases. It helps me form a picture of who I’m dealing with, what to expect, and, most importantly, what to avoid.
I know there’s no point when it comes to Axel.
Either way I’m a dead man, it’s just a matter of time before my mortality is decided.
But the fact he is one of The Five means I need to keep my wits about me.
I am treading in deep water, searching for trouble when I shouldn’t be.
But I need to know, I need to manage my expectations before I walk into the lion’s den .
My eyes scan over and over through news articles, but there is nothing on the man. It’s like he’s a ghost, almost a figment of my imagination. I wish .Our interaction this evening was anything but that.
I stroke my finger over my bottom lip, the ghost of his touch still lingering—or maybe that's my sanity waning. My heart clenches tightly in my chest, and the realization of what I’m doing forces me to snap my hand away.
Sinking back into the worn cushions, I try to push all my thoughts of tonight out of my head, but it’s so damn hard when the same questions keep floating around.
Is this career suicide?
What if I say no?
There’s no answer to those questions that could possibly calm my nerves. My moral compass is all over the place, splitting in different directions. Every day I risk my career for a client, so why is this any different?
Cooper appears in the doorway, folding his arms across his chest as he leans against the doorframe, watching me intently.
“Wanna talk about it?” he steps forward to lean on the back of the couch.
“Not really,” I whisper back before turning around to give him my full attention. Tucking my knees up against my chest, I look up at him.
“Look, I know you want to help, it’s in your nature,” Cooper states with a sigh. “But it’s not safe.”
“I know,” I whisper.
Maybe it’s fear or common sense, but either way Cooper still doesn’t seem to get that I can’t say no. I’m already on The Five’s radar now and any attempt to hide from Axel will end disastrously.
“Coop?” I mumble.
“Hmm…”
“I tried to say no. I tried to walk away, but they didn’t give me a choice,” I begin to explain, but Cooper steps away from me all too quickly, shaking his head.
The coldness of his actions makes me shiver and recoil.
I haven’t even got to the part where Axel told me I belong to The Five.
I don’t even know if I want to tell him that much.
“You always have a choice, Cass,” Cooper mutters under his breath. But before I can respond, he walks out of the room, leaving me hollow and lost.
I wish he was right, but he doesn’t get it. He didn’t see the look in Axel’s eyes, the dangerous glare of man who would do anything to save his ass. I shiver at the thought all over again, remembering how he looked tonight, how he looked at me .
For the briefest moment, there was a flicker of something other than obnoxious power. For a split second, I saw something I don’t think he wanted me to see; desperation.
The more I track back over tonight, the more I resign myself from sleep. Arguments do that to me, and so does my anxiety. I avert my attention back to the television, hoping the news will remove the dooming chill that settles on my shoulders like a cold blanket.
It doesn’t. Because the Mayor's murder is everywhere .
And no matter where my thoughts take me, they always bring me back to Axel.
It’s like he’s embedded himself under my skin.
Something about him I can’t quite put my finger on is screaming out at me.
His words repeat over and over, and I know I’m being foolish thinking he meant anything else, but the glint in his eye wasn’t just threatening, it was promising.
It’s four in the morning before I finally close my eyes.
When I eventually wake up a few hours later, there’s a stiff ache in my neck from where I slept on the couch, and my wrists are showing slight bruises from Colombo’s brutishness last night.
The whole situation puts me in an instant foul mood that I can’t even wash off with a shower.
I make every effort to avoid Cooper as I get ready for work.
I need to clear up whatever is going on in my own head before trying to explain it to Cooper.
I suspect that my hopes of Axel changing his mind are just as idiotic as the idea of Cooper understanding, because no sooner have I stepped into the office building before my phone rings.
I falter, staring at my screen for far too long.
“Hello?” I answer, standing hesitantly on the stairway to the foyer.
“You’re requested,” a familiar doom and gloom voice replies.
I slump against the wall as I listen to the instructions that Colombo is dictating to me.
Exhaustion has already taken a toll over my body, and my brain is malfunctioning.
I rub my hand over my forehead tirelessly and drag my palm down my face, attempting to take in every detail that Colombo is explaining.
Axel is unhappy, apparently. He thought I’d get to work last night, trying to get his bail. But I can’t work with nothing and I sure as shit wasn’t working overtime.
“Maybe if he gave me something useful, I’d be able to help. He might be better off?—”
“Not up for discussion,” Colombo snaps. “Your car is here.”
He ends the call before I can ask what he means. But the blacked-out SUV that crawls to a halt outside answers that question immediately. Nobody gets out to greet me, but it’s the only car waiting, so it stands to reason this is the one Colombo was referring to.
I swallow the large rock lodged in my throat and push away from the wall, heading towards my fate.
There are no familiar faces when I settle inside, just the stark silence and one faceless driver.
As soon as I am belted in, the car pulls away and we travel through the endless streets of traffic until I’m back at the precinct where this whole nightmare began.
Unlike last night, the skies are a lot less morbid and a lot drier. There are still gray clouds overhead that refuse to relent, but there isn’t much more you can ask of New York weather in October.
Colombo is waiting for me on the steps of the precinct, pretty much wearing the same clothes as the day before. I don’t know why that surprises me, but I resist the snarky comment as he opens the car door and pulls me to the curb by my arm.
“Shall we try this again?” he taunts with a wide smirk as he slams the car door behind me.
“We can try,” I retort. “It depends how compliant your boss is.”
Colombo throws an angry look over his shoulder at me.
Like I’ve somehow offended him. I don’t read much more into it as I follow Colombo down the same corridor from last night.
The same echo of our footsteps sounds until we reach the same door I walked through less than twelve hours ago.
Colombo repeats his exact movements as before, pressing his hand into my back and shoving me into the room.
It’s like déjà vu. I lock eyes with Axel’s impatient gaze, his fingers thrumming against the metal table that he is so elegantly relaxing against. He’s undeniably drop-dead gorgeous, meaning anyone is bound to wind up dead after being in the vicinity of this guy.
He’s wearing the same white shirt as the night before, loosened up at the collar with a few buttons undone, showing off an array of ink.
His sleeves are rolled up, exposing his tanned arms that are also covered in tattoos, while black strands of hair fall over his face.
Tame stubble lines his jaw, framing his strong features while he focuses on me, surveying me under long dark eyelashes.
The sight makes my mouth water. For someone who’s spent two days here, he looks a damn sight more delicious than I care to admit.
“Mr. Bonanno.” I nod curtly, and Axel gestures to the seat in front of him with one quick swish of his wrist. I’m learning very quickly that in order to maintain a professional relationship with him, I need to just follow orders like a good little soldier—or a good girl.
It’s not in my nature, but after the way I felt around him, when he was too close for comfort, I need to keep my distance and avoid a situation like that again.
Playing his game is what will ensure last night doesn’t happen again .
Planting my belongings on the table in front of me, I pulI out the chair opposite. It screeches across the floor, the painful sound making me wince, but it doesn’t seem to affect Axel in the slightest.
I guess gunshots are more painful.
Suddenly he reaches forward, grabbing my hand to inspect my arm. His brows furrow when his gaze lands on the faint bruises. Though they’re really nothing, and not at all painful, I can’t ignore the look of irritation that hardens Axel’s features.
“Who did this?” he growls. His touch turns possessive as he runs his fingers over my skin, goosebumps rippling all over my body. While he radiates danger and profound confidence, there is so much hidden behind the mask.
I snatch my wrist away, clutching it to my chest. I consider telling him, just to see how he might react knowing one of his men did that to me, but I’m not into bloodshed so I just ignore the question entirely, opting to sit in silence instead.
As my eyes trail over his form, I note how exhausted he looks compared to last night and even more pissed off.
It’s hard to decipher whether that’s his natural resting expression, or if he’s really pissed about the bruises.
It shouldn’t matter. Not to me. Not to him.
But I can’t deny there was a small part of me that enjoyed that sliver of protectiveness he exuded just minutes ago.
Maybe there’s more to Axel Bonanno than I thought.