Chapter 21 Zach
ZACH
Rafe’s driver didn’t speak to me as he drove me home. He knew exactly where to go. I must have been right about Rafe sending men to follow me home the night we first kissed, but it was still unsettling. I thanked the man and received only a nod in response.
As soon as I’d secured the door of my apartment, I started undressing and headed for the shower. I could smell Rafe on me, and I was sticky and gross. My shoulders were bruised, and my dick was sore. I wanted everything all over again, including sucking his dick.
I wanted to fuck him, to hear him whimper and beg. I want to dream up stuff I’d never even considered before and do it to him.
But it was just sex, wasn’t it? Just desire for a hot man. So maybe I had to accept I wasn’t straight, but the only thing real between me and Rafe was the need to make each other come. It couldn’t be anything else. That wasn’t an option.
So why was it that when I lay down, exhausted, having been up for over twenty-four hours, I couldn’t fall asleep because I kept replaying every moment of the night, not only the sex, but the moment when Rafe ran toward the burning car, the moment when I forced his hand under the running water.
The scared, vulnerable look on his face as he processed what had happened.
Hours passed before I was able to sleep.
I was used to getting very little sleep and napping whenever I could, but apparently, two near death experiences and the hottest sex I’d ever had were an incredible sleep aid.
Once my brain slowed down enough to let me rest, I was out.
I’d set an alarm to wake me in plenty of time to meet Rafe, but I’d slept through it.
Now I needed to hurry if I was going to make it to our meeting on time.
I showered again, feeling like I could still smell Rafe’s scent on me, even though I’d scrubbed myself thoroughly the night before. Was I hallucinating? Was I so desperate for more of him that my mind pretended he was here?
Fuck. That was messed up. I dressed in a suit, assuming that was the only appropriate attire for meeting with a mobster who ran a casino once your cover was blown.
I’d planned to use a ride share app, but when I looked outside, the same man who’d picked me up the night before was parked outside my apartment.
My phone buzzed.
Your ride is waiting.
Damn, was this what it would be like to date a mobster?
Date? What the fuck? Why would I even think about that?
I considered calling a car for myself anyway, but that could make me late, so I accepted the ride.
When we turned into the casino’s parking lot, I was surprised to see how full it was.
I knew they did business twenty-four seven, but I didn’t think that many people were gambling in the middle of the workday.
Rafael must be doing everything right to pull in this kind of business. Why did that make me smile?
I took a deep breath before I walked through the doors.
Once inside, I headed straight to the door that led to the private rooms and offices.
I didn’t have to say a thing to the guards there.
They simply opened the door and ushered me through.
I supposed none of them would dare contradict an order from a Theriot.
Another security guard appeared before I’d taken more than a few steps. He was about eight feet tall and four hundred pounds of pure muscle, but surely, there was no need to panic. “Good evening. I’m here to escort you to Mr. Theriot’s office.”
I nodded. Obviously, Rafe didn’t want me loose in the private areas of the casino. Who knew what I might stumble into?
When we reached his office, the guard knocked, and Rafe called for us to come in. When the guard opened the door, I saw that Rafe wasn’t alone in there.
There was a young woman in a skintight dress sitting on the edge of his desk.
She was holding a tablet and tapping on it with a stylus, which indicated this was a business meeting, but if that were true, why the hell was she perched up there like she was hoping they’d use the desk the way I wanted to?
“Will there be anything else, Mr. Theriot?” The tone of her voice let me know she truly meant anything.
I didn’t like that at all. “He’s meeting with me now, so you can leave.” She turned to me, eyes wide, and then she hopped off the desk and looked back at Rafael.
He nodded. “That’s all, Melinda. I apologize. My guest is not known for his manners.”
She gave me a sideways glance before focusing on Rafe again. “Let me know if any other problems come up, sir.” She clasped the tablet to her in a way that pushed her already perky cleavage up more. I wanted to escort her out of the room myself. Was I actually fucking jealous?
Yes. I was. I didn’t want anyone near Rafe. I didn’t want anyone else touching him, even though that made no sense at all.
In any other scenario, I would’ve been focused on Melinda, wondering if she wanted to hook up with me tonight if she wasn’t going to be busy with Rafael, but he was the only person I was interested in now. I did not want to analyze that further.
Rafe cleared his throat, and I turned to look at him. I’d been distracted making sure Melinda left and the guard closed the door tightly.
“I see you showed up,” Rafe said. “And apparently, you don’t think much of Melinda.”
“I don’t think much of you having someone in here flirting with you when you’re meeting with me.”
He grinned. “You get possessive fast.”
“No. I don’t want to play games.”
“So we’re going to ignore what happened last night?”
I slammed my hands down on his desk and leaned down until my face was inches from his. “You’re going to start talking. You’re going to tell me what you know about Ivanov, and we’re going to figure out how to find his spy and then kill the fucking bastard.”
Rafe smiled. “Damn, I thought maybe you’d put me over the desk first. I mean, I could’ve taken a lot more last night.”
Just like that, my cock was hard, and that was all I wanted to do. The need to make plans, my anger that he’d been flirting, all of it was gone in a haze of lust.
“You really are fucking easy. Maybe you’re as big of a slut as I am.”
I was not about to address that. “Tell me what you’re up to here.” I tapped the files on his desk.
He sighed. “Going through employee information.”
“On paper?”
“I’m tired of looking at the fucking screen. I’ve been at this since I sent you home.”
I frowned. “You didn’t go to sleep?”
He shook his head. “I don’t sleep a lot.”
I wanted to chastise him and order him to take better care of himself, but that was none of my business. I wasn’t here to worry about his self-care routine.
“Don’t you have people to go through things and analyze them for you? I thought you were just the hot playboy front man for this place.”
Rafe scowled at me as he threw a file down on the desk. Apparently, I’d hit a nerve. “I am way more than people give me credit for.”
I held up my hands. “I figured that out last night.”
He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You’ll find out a hell of a lot more if you cross me.”
“I’m here because I want to work together, because we’re going to bring down Ivanov and what’s left of his fucking organization.”
Rafe nodded. “Fuck right we are. I can’t use the people I normally would because I would have to tell my family I’m working with a fucking G-man, and I only know his first name.”
“You don’t need to know any more.”
“So you know me, my family history, every crime we’ve been accused of, but I get nothing.”
“You already know enough to put me in danger.”
“You were in danger the moment you stepped foot in my casino with these plans in your head.”
“I know. I’ve taken a big risk and ignored advice, and you’ve done the same now. We’re in this together. So what have you got?” I moved around his desk and flipped one of the files open.
Anger sparked in his eyes, and he snatched it from me. “We need to establish how this is going to work.”
“We’re going to find a suspect, and we’re going to interrogate them, maybe use a little torture, maybe kill them afterwards. Isn’t that the usual MO?”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “This isn’t a fucking movie.”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
He huffed. “I’ve got a list of employees. I need to look into more. But the details are mine to know. You get names and assignments, that’s all.”
“You don’t want me looking into the casino’s finances?”
He huffed. “I don’t want you here at all.”
“Really. You seem to enjoy having me there last night.”
“If this mission wasn’t hanging over my head, I would’ve spent the rest of the night using you up, then spitting you out, and sending you on your way.”
“Is that what you do with all your hookups? Is that why you’re rarely with anyone twice?”
“That’s none of your fucking business.”
“The back of your throat was my business.”
Rafe came after me, wrapped a hand around my throat, and pushed my head against the chair. “Shut the fuck up. Either we’re working on this together, or you’re a dead man.”
“We can’t part ways amicably?”
“You knew better than that before you suggested this. Once you’re in, you’re in. And if you fuck up, you’re dead.”
“I could say the same goes for you.”
He shook his head. “You know that’s not how it works.”
“Yeah, yeah. Your family will run to your rescue. They’ll kill me, and it won’t matter.”
“Exactly.”
I smiled. “At least you’re not denying it.”
“So if you know the stakes, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“Ivanov took one of my informants. He… hurt him, then killed him afterward. He threw the body in an alley where I used to meet him. This is personal for me too.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry.”
I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head. “It’s… just don’t push me out.”