4. Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Victor
“You can’t just fucking take me. Do you realize who my husband is?”
I can’t help but laugh at the woman I’ve trained my gun on. She thinks I’ll be intimidated by the fact that her husband is Phineas Draven, but the man is my mortal enemy, and he’s been targeting the people I love. His status as the mayor’s son does nothing to scare me. I have connections far more powerful than his.
“Let’s go, Spitfire. You’re not going anywhere for a while. Last night was fun for a quick fuck, but we have more important things to discuss like whether or not your husband sent his little whore to seduce me for information about my family.”
I grab Lili’s arm and pull her towards the door. Her already shocked expression gains intensity as her eyes nearly bug out of her head.
“You have to let me put clothes on first.”
“Do I?”
I steer her to the closet and pull out my long overcoat I hung there the night before.
“Put that on and get your shoes.”
“Victor, please. I’ll go with you. Just let me take my clothes.”
I shake my head. “No can do, sweetheart.”
“For all I know your husband has air tags or other trackers in your stuff. We’ll be leaving the shoes once we get to the car.”
Her face flames, and I can tell she wants to lash out, but the gun keeps her compliant. I would never shoot a woman unless she shot first, but Lili doesn’t need to know that.
When the coat is on, I tighten the belt for her and wait for her to slip into her five-inch heels.
I must admit that marching her through the casino knowing she’s naked under that coat has my dick raging hard. Too bad she’s never going to want to sleep with me again after this. Not that I blame her, but damn we had fun last night. It’s a shame it had to be a one time thing.
In the car, I buckle her in, then reach down and take her shoes.
Her glare as I toss them out the window is enough to kill weaker men.
“Those were two-thousand-dollar shoes you fucking monster.”
“You have no idea the kind of monster I can be,” I whisper in her ear before I start the car. I feel a twinge, knowing the kind of monster her husband is and that I’m nothing like that unless provoked. Phineas seems to get off on it. But I have no idea if Liliana can be trusted or whether she’s working with him to take us down, so I’m doing what I have to do. At least that’s what I tell myself.
As I drive through Las Vegas, I put my Bluetooth headset on and dial the Sandwich Shop.
“Sin City Subs,” Gracie, one of our long-time employees, and my high school best friends, answers cheerfully.
“Butterfly, it’s Victor. I’m coming with a package, and I need you to prep suite two for me.” There was no way in hell I’ll be giving Lilliana Draven our biggest suite. Bellamy would kill me. She’ll be pissed enough as it is that I’m using up a suite on this at all. Normally we take… guests like Liliana to the warehouse. But I can’t bring myself to do that to her. Not until I know for sure that she can’t be trusted.
“The shop is open. I can’t exactly walk away.”
“Close the fucking shop, Gracie. This is important.”
Yelling at Gracie isn’t something I would typically do, but there is nothing normal about this situation.
“OK. I’m on it.” I can hear the hurt in her voice, and I squeeze the steering wheel tighter. I’m making such a fucking mess of this.
“Good girl, Mariposa,” I praise, hoping to take some of the sting out of my outburst. I’ve called her butterfly or the Spanish equivalent since the day we met, and it’s stuck all these years later.
It takes another twenty minutes to get to the sandwich shop, and Lili is mercifully quiet the entire time.
My plan is fuzzy beyond keeping her as my hostage. Matteo and the others are going to shit themselves when they find out what I’ve done, but I’m tired of playing things safe. It’s time to end this once and for all. And the gamble I’m taking feels more likely to pay off than anything else we’ve done lately.
Before I put the car in park and shut off the engine, I point my gun at Lili. “Don’t try anything stupid, or I won’t hesitate to use this.”
She scowls at me, and I almost find it amusing. “What the hell do you think I’m going to do? I’m naked and you took my shoes.”
I hop out of the car and jog around to her side and pull it open. Her eyes go wide, and a gasp escapes her lungs when I bend down and scoop her into my arms, so she doesn’t have to walk barefoot on the pavement.
The sign on the door reads closed, but I punch in my code and the lock clicks over so I can open it.
When I go through the back, there are signs that Gracie has been working on what I asked her to, which is a relief.
“What the hell is this place?” Lili asks, holding onto my neck.
“Don’t worry about it.”
We are now in the heart of The High Card, the BDSM club that is hidden by Sin City Subs—aka the sandwich shop. It’s our oasis and has been a lucrative business for the four of us since we moved to Las Vegas to escape our families’ expectations.
Lili doesn’t seem shocked by the kinky sex furniture that litters the space, but I don’t stop long enough for her to really take any of it in. Instead, I head for the long row of suites in the back, not stopping until I find the one with the giant number two on the door.
I raise my hand to knock, but before I can, the door opens and Gracie steps out.
She takes in the sight of me holding Lili and shakes her head.
“I didn’t think you would ever ask me to help you prepare for a booty call, Victor. That’s cruel even for you.”
Lili scoffs. “This is the farthest thing from a booty-call. He fucking kidnapped me.”
“Hush or I’ll gag you,” I threaten.
Gracie’s eyes get big, and I worry she’s about to cry or yell.
“Did you really kidnap her? Who is she?”
I roll my eyes heavenward as a Spanish curse falls from my lips. This is such a bad idea.
“It’s a long story, Gracie. I need you to do me a favor and keep an eye on her for a couple of hours while I inform the others. Understood?”
She bites her lip, unsure of how to respond. When the club is open and she’s wearing my pin, her only option is to say yes, Sir and do as she’s told. But this is outside of club hours, and she’s technically an employee of the sandwich shop out front. I’m asking her to do a complicated thing, and I don’t blame her hesitation. But I’m short on time and patience, so I’m an asshole instead.
“Gracie, do we need to go to my office for a talk?”
Her eyes go wide, and her lip trembles, and for a moment I’m convinced she is going to burst into tears.
Instead, she inhales through her nose and closes her eyes. “No, Master Victor. That won’t be necessary.”
“Good. Now let’s get Lili settled. Can you find her something to wear?”
Gracie nods. “There are some pajamas we provide to VIP guests who want to stay over. I’m sure we have some in her size.”
Lili has stayed quiet through this entire exchange.
“Size six,” she offers now.
“I guessed,” Gracie says with a smile at my captive.
Maybe having Gracie sit with her is a bad idea. She’s softhearted, and I worry Lili might try and manipulate her.
“I won’t be gone long,” I offer, dumping Lili on the bed. “Don’t let her escape or try to sweet talk you into letting her go. She’ll try it.”
Gracie puts her head in her hands. “I hate stuff like this. I agreed to come here if you didn’t get me involved in the illegal stuff. You’ve been good about that all these years. Why now?”
I pull her hands away from her face and tuck a finger under her chin. “I understand that I’m asking you to do something really hard, Gracie. But it’s important. This woman is married to the person who has been trying to hurt our family. We’re going to use her to stop him.”
Gracie looks back at Lili as if she doesn’t believe me about her identity, but there isn’t time to sit here and coddle her. If I’m going to get ahead of Matteo, Luke, and Owen’s anger, I have to get moving.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Owen was already aware of something going on, since he’s in charge of security at all the Novak casinos on the strip and has access to every bit of security footage that exists.
Finally, Gracie gives me a brief nod. “OK. I’ll help you.”
“Thank you, Mariposa.” I offer her a kiss on the cheek, then head to my office while praying I haven’t just made the biggest mistake of my life.