Chapter 12
Twelve
Luna
“ I t’s right here.”
The club has grown quiet with all the key bearers gone home or retired to a room. Neon lights bathe the gleaming floor in greens and yellow, but I can see my way into the hallway.
All three of my lovers trail close behind me, their gazes on every move I make. Out of mistrust or desire? I wish I knew. It’s not like I’m going to run. Where would I go? Back to Ivy’s? These three spoke as if they knew the crazy thief queen. It would only be a matter of time before they showed up outside Ivy’s penthouse a few blocks from here and demanded she hand me and these diamonds over. I don’t know what made me tell them everything, but it felt good. I no longer feel like I have no options.
I roll up the cuff of my borrowed shirt and reach behind the piece of furniture I tucked the diamonds behind. I pull out the loot. I hold them out to Jasper but he pushes them toward me.
“Hold them for me. I need both my hands.” He pulls weapons out of two shoulder holsters, checks the rounds in the clips before replacing the guns in their places.
Come to find out, they had every intention of spending the night in our Society room and stowed their weapons to comply with Society rules. They didn’t know who they would spend the evening with when they booked the room, but had hopes they would find someone. Voss was quick to let me know they hoped it was me after they saw me walking into the elevator bound for the Society.
I’ve been floating on those words ever since.
Jasper ushers us toward an elevator and Shayne punches the button SB. Sub-basement. I don’t know why, but the hairs on the back of my neck just stood on end. I’m covered in nothing but Jasper’s borrowed shirt since he could grab a fresh one from his apartment a few floors below, no panties and my stilettos are feeling a little tight on my swollen toes. I have a lot of reasons as to why I might be uncomfortable, but the knots in my gut make me think it’s not because of what I’m wearing nor my shoes.
“How well do you know the buyers?”
Flashes of fear in my mind's eye tell me this is how my father must have felt going into his deals.
“They are new in the game for us, but some background digging showed they are good buyers. They pay and I didn’t find any evidence of them leaving bodies behind after a deal. That sort of shit tends to travel through the underground.”
“It’s how we found your father’s killer,” Shayne fills in and a few pieces click together on the topic.
My shoulders relax a bit, but I clutch the diamonds a little tighter.
“There’s more to a buyer than their willingness to be paid,” I remember him telling me one time. “Their personality and their customs have to be factored in.”
He was a wealth of information I never got to tap before he was taken from me.
“Breathe, Luna.”
I look up at Voss as the elevator comes to a halt and the doors open. We turn to see the vast cavern yawn before us. Nothing, not even parked cars line either side of the large underground…” What is this place?” It’s not a parking lot. That is above us. This floor is secret and I can't see any exits.
“A place where a lot of shady shit happens, miss.”
I jump at the strange voice that comes out of nowhere. The man it belongs to steps out from the shadows, a cigarette hanging from his slips. The cherry glows angrily and throws the man’s face in a stark red.
He drags on the cigarette and lets out a curl of smoke as he speaks. “You must trust the men you walked into a dead-end place with. That tells me a lot about them.”
The man with dark eyes, darker hair and a trench coat walks closer. But what really gets me are the two other men who come out of the darkness behind him.
Epic entrance. I only wish it didn’t make my knees knock.
All three walk toward us in a slow gate like they do this kind of thing all the time.
They probably do.
“I do trust them,” I answer and when I do, the truth of my words wrap around my heart and I no longer feel scared.
The stranger gives a stiff nod. “Then we are in the right place.”
I push past Jasper and come to stand in front of him. Voss wraps an arm around my middle while Shayne comes up on my other side. One sign of danger and I know these men will step between me and death. It’s in the possessive hand on my midriff. The way Jasper's shoulder brushes mine and how Shayne places his body slightly in front of me. They want to give me the chance to be a part of their deal, but also protect me.
The one in the middle turns the sides of his coat’s collar up and the other two look like they live for shady meetings in the belly of a dark cavern. All have easy gaits and the casual confidence of being the most powerful men in the room is apparent.
Around me, I get the same energy from my men. They don’t seem nervous or on edge at all. I look at each of them with a quick glance and sure enough, they are the epitome of casual.
Some would take this time to measure dicks and remind everyone of their positions on the ladder of power, but I like that my men are past that at their age and the other guys seem to care more about the color of my shoes and the lack of my pants.
“Sorry to have interrupted whatever you four had going on.”
“Don’t be, Harlon. Did you get everything in Chicago sorted?”
Jasper reaches out and takes the middle guy’s hand first and then moves to the other’s.
Harlon. That name rings a bell. I tuck it away to do more research later.
“Not quite.”
“Lovely day for a get-together.” The one with the deep tan to Harlon’s right has an easy smile as he takes in the dreary basement with cracked cement and little else. “I thought Chicago was blistering hot this time of year, but damn. Next time we do this, let’s use a roof top or something.” He curls a lip in an arrogant grin. He’s got a deep baritone that makes him sound years older than the mid-thirties he appears.
“Ignore Santi. His ass is always hot or cold.”
“You the son of Constantine?” Shayne asks.
Ah. Yes. The son of a notorious drug lord.
“Yes. Is that a problem?” His gaze is hard and challenging like he’s faced shit recently for being the son of an asshole of a mafia man who went away for life about five years back. His girlfriend at the time got a little nosy and wondered where all the millions came from. Turns out she was an undercover cop looking to take down the organization from the inside. All she managed to do was shift the power from one Constantine to another. My father went on about it for a while.
“It seems the better Constantine is running the show now,” I say and he seems to be shocked by my opinion.
“My father had a few run-ins with yours. From the way my father described their dealings, Constantine senior wasn’t a nice man.”
He takes another long puff on the cigarette before stomping it out underfoot. “I can’t contest it. Arrogance destroys a man’s judgment.”
“The same goes for women, too,” I confess. “I thought I could take on the world by myself and I forgot I could ask for help.” I look at my men and the understanding in their expressions tells me all I need to know.
“That is why we are here. There’s a war coming to Chicago. I would stay out if I were you. Take that as the helpful advice it’s meant to be. We're going to kick a big nest of killer wasps and the queen bitch who commands the tiny soldiers loves the taste for blood.”
I pucker my lips. “Dramatic much.”
“You would agree if you knew who we were talking about.”
Shayne wraps an arm around my shoulders and tucks me into his side. “Who’s the unlucky bastard catching your wrath?”
“Heard of Society 69?”
A wave of curses rolls through my men. “Yeah, we know. They’ve wanted us as the middle men in their deals for a long time. You think you can take them down?”
That is Jasper. His face hardens and the look of pure rage passes over his expression before he locks his emotions down. He doesn’t want to scare me, I realize. But he doesn’t have to protect me from the ugliness of the world. I know a lot. And what I don’t know I’m willing to learn.
“I’ve heard of them,” I offer. “The leader of the Belladonnas has had issues with them. Ivy, the leader, warned me before I did my trial interview with her about the kind of trouble we could run into on the streets. There’s a whole list of who not to steal from and I recognize the name Society 69 in parenthesis next to some powerful names.”
A light goes off in Harlon’s eyes. “We could use those names, if you have that list.”
“I’ll give it to Jasper. He can see that you get it.”
Harlon Constantine holds a hand out. I don’t know if he wants me to shake it or put the diamonds in it so I wait for one of my men to tell me.
“It’s okay, Luna. Give him what he came here for.”
“I’m sorry to part with these, but at least they are going to help clean the streets. After you get done with Chicago, maybe think about Seattle.” I look to Jasper, Shayne and then Voss. “Maybe I’m out of place in saying it, but I think these streets could use a good sweeping, too.”
“No doubt,” he says and then he opens the bag and takes out three diamonds. He drops each glittery stone into my open palm. “For the information.” With that the man and his friends glide back into the shadows he stepped out of like fucking ghosts.
“That was freaky. Let’s get out of here before something else comes out of the darkness.”
“Harlon is a lot of things and freaky is one of them. He took over Genesis back in Chicago and he’s recently opened up a branch here.”
“I’ve never heard of it.” I move the loose stones around in my palm a million ideas of what to do with them running in my head. I’ll need to get that list from Ivy for starters. I don’t have a photographic mind, but I do have sticky fingers if she can’t find a way to part with the names.
“It’s a club for bad guys is the easiest way I can describe it. But we can talk about that later.”
That is Shayne. He hasn’t let me out of his arms and from the look on his face he doesn’t have talking at all in mind.
My men take me back to the elevator and press the button that lands us a few floors below The Society.
“Where are we headed?”
“Our place. We have a lot of talking to do.”
Voss tilts my chin up and kisses me while his brother holds me to him. “But first let’s get you out of those shoes.”
Voss grips my ass and lifts me up, using the back wall of the elevator as support for my back.
“Mm, sounds nice.” I kiss him, and tap the ends of our noses. Shayne is on my left and Jasper calmly comes to my right. I’m surrounded by men my father never wanted me to know, but I have never felt safer in their presence.
I hold my hand up and unclench my fist to show the diamonds. “Quick question, do you guys know of any good fences?”
The laughter they release soothes my soul and tells me I am right where I need to be. I don’t know if it was my father who guided me to them from the other side knowing I needed help or if fate placed me in their booth tonight. Does it really matter? I learned a lesson over the past few hours.
The enemy isn’t always who you think it is. Sometimes you are your worst enemy.
It’s okay to ask for help and the biggest one of all is you can’t steal from the Ambrose brothers. They’ll get their revenge and what they take from you will always be more than you knew you had to give.
In my case, they took my heart and I don’t think I ever want it back.