Chapter 6 Lorenzo
LORENZO
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I headed toward my car instead of rejoining the party. I was rattled and unsteady, in no shape to play Dimitri’s games. I wasn’t even sure how I’d managed to get dressed and get out of Nikolai’s room.
I’d gone to find him, intending to fuck him ruthlessly, then get the hell out.
This was supposed to be about me being reckless, doing something forbidden, and scoring off Dimitri, even if he didn’t know about it.
Once I’d kissed Nikolai—Niko—the evening had become something else.
I wanted him even more now. I was fucking obsessed with his beauty, the way he smelled, the sounds he made.
Mine.
No, he couldn’t be.
Is that really your decision to make?
I’d sure as hell thought it was.
You couldn’t help yourself last time. You really think it’s going to be different now.
It wasn’t the same. He needed to be rescued. Ivanov would destroy him.
Yes, but won’t you too?
I thought of Niko beneath me, begging for more, arching into me, ready to take my cock in his virgin ass.
An ass Ivanov wanted to possess. If I hadn’t heard someone in the hallway, I might be balls-deep in him right now, giving him pleasure he’d never imagined.
There would be no pleasure with Ivanov, only pain and then… death, torment, insanity?
I growled. No. I wouldn’t let that happen.
Will you risk your brothers’ lives for him?
“Fuck.” I kicked a potted plant on the side of the path, shattering the pot and sending dirt flying.
If I hadn’t been trained to always be on alert, no matter how distracted, and those men had been coming for me or Nikolai, they’d be dead, and any hope of continued alliance with Dimitri would be over.
Remington might kill me for that, but if I started a war, Dimitri would go after my brothers.
All because I’d been too weak to resist a beautiful man.
I could have a hot piece of ass anytime I wanted it.
It didn’t have to be Nikolai. Sure he turned me on, sure something about him called to me, but I was a grown-ass man with self-control.
Not so much around him.
God, it was true. I’ve gone in there to toy with him, tease him, maybe put him on his knees and have him suck me off, but Jesus, when he told me he’d never been fucked before and then begged me to be his first, there was no way in hell I could resist. I’d thought he would fight me, that I’d have to push him to submit, but he was the one convincing me in the end.
Pulling out of Niko had nearly killed me. I’d already been fighting with myself to go slow enough for him, but stopping, then getting him off without coming myself, was hell.
I needed to get out of there. I couldn’t take any more risks. If it were only my life on the line, maybe. But that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t see him again. I would do my best to stop his marriage, but Remington would have to get someone else to negotiate with Dimitri.
I should never have sought him out, but the way his cheeks had reddened and he’d looked me up and down after I congratulated him tempted me too much.
I’d needed a conquest, and all I’d gotten were blue balls and confusion.
He wasn’t supposed to get below the armor I’d made around myself.
When I’d shut my feelings off after my arrest, they were supposed to stay that way.
Tears burned at the back of my eyes. What the fuck was wrong with me? I hadn’t cried since that hellish night when I fucked up so badly I had no hope of fixing it. Now, here I was, fucking up again, but this time, I could stop—I would stop—before someone died.
Niko will die in Ivanov’s hands if you don’t save him.
No. That could not happen. He didn’t deserve the way he was being treated.
I had wanted my position in the family. I’d willingly done all the things my father asked because I was determined to keep our empire going.
Nikolai didn’t want any part of what his dad was involved in, and he sure as hell didn’t deserve Ivanov.
How could I rescue him and keep my family safe? They had to be my first priority. I owed my brothers everything. I’d sworn to protect them when our parents died. This was it. I’d taken enough risks.
“Lorenzo, I’ve been looking for you.”
I forced a smile onto my face and turned to face Dimitri.
He gestured toward the broken pot. “What happened here?”
I shrugged. “Probably someone was drunk and fell.”
His smile widened. “Right. You aren’t leaving, are you? Our business is unfinished.”
I wasn’t in any shape to negotiate. “It’s a party. Business can wait.”
“No, you were right. We need our little matter settled tonight. Besides, I included you on the guest list so we would have time to talk.”
Of course I’d known that was the only reason I’d come. Remington had made sure to set it up that way.
“Walk with me.” Dimitri slung an arm across my shoulder and gestured into the rose garden.
I surveyed the area, keeping myself on high alert. We needed privacy for our discussion, so he probably did want to talk, but I never knew what might be going on in a sick mind like Dimitri’s, and I couldn’t be one hundred percent certain I hadn’t been seen leaving Niko’s room.
The beautiful flowers were such a contrast to the bland furniture around the pool and in the house. “You have lovely roses. I’m surprised they do so well in the humidity.”
Dimitri snorted. “Niko and his mother planted them. I’ve considered having them torn out, but it’s not been a priority.”
This man really needed to die.
We sat on a bench in the garden. It was suffocatingly hot and absurd for us to be out here. Was he hoping I would agree to anything he said just to get out of the heat? He was a fool if he thought I was that weak. I’d spend my whole life in South Louisiana; the heat was part of me.
While I waited for him to start the business conversation, I clasped my hands together and ran my thumb over my still-sticky skin. What would he say if he knew his son’s cum was decorating my hand?
He’d try to kill you.
He wouldn’t succeed.
“You want the weapons we have, but you’ve yet to name a fair price.”
I raised my brows. “I stand by my offer. It’s solid. You’re overly optimistic in what you expect to receive.”
“Your cousin won’t get these weapons from anyone else.”
I shrugged. “I can think of several men who could supply me.”
“Not at the volume we can. Or as quickly.”
That was unfortunately true. “I’m not prepared to raise my offer.”
“Then I suppose you’ll walk away empty-handed. Unless…”
“Unless what?” My expression remained neutral as I held his gaze, but my heart was pounding. What the fuck was he going to ask for now?
“My wife doesn’t know it yet, but things are over between us,” he said. “I’m filing for divorce.”
That was hardly a surprise. They hadn’t lived together in years. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You have a lovely cousin, Teresa Anne. If you bring her to me and arrange for our marriage, you can have the weapons you require and more in the future.”
Rage burned through me. He thought I was going to sell my cousin for some fucking explosives? He was out of his mind. I flexed my hand, fighting the need to punch him.
“Never make a proposal like that again. I take it as a personal insult to my extended family. The women in my family are not for sale.” Tessa was younger than Nikolai. She’d only turned eighteen last month, but no matter how old she was, I would never let this man put his hands on her.
“It’s a shame that you feel that way. I thought you actually wanted to bargain.”
“I wanted to negotiate a sale.”
He sighed. “Surely you’re not na?ve enough to think money is the only currency.”
“It’s the only currency I’m offering you.”
“If you understood the connections I’m making, you wouldn’t feel that way.”
He was blustering. I had connections throughout the underworld in southern Louisiana, and my cousin Remington was the undisputed king of New Orleans crime.
Nothing happened without him knowing about it.
Dimitri was an arrogant fool, and it was going to get him killed.
He’d be lucky if I wasn’t the one to do the job.
He must have realized I was unimpressed by his bragging because he began the negotiations like I’d expected. “I’ll give you half of what you asked for the price you’re offering.”
According to Remington, Dimitri needed this deal. He was hurting for cash, and what Niko had said about him needing money corroborated that. I wasn’t going to agree to anything so low. “Ninety percent.”
He huffed. “Eighty percent, but that is an outrage.”
“Done.”
He held out his hand for me to shake, and it was all I could do not to laugh. I’d infiltrated his house, fucked his son, and now he was shaking my cum-covered hand.
“Come back in for a drink.” Dimitri didn’t mean it as a suggestion, but I refused anyway.
“No, it’s time for me to leave.” I’d gotten what I’d come here for: information, more weapons than I expected for the price, and Niko as a bonus. Somehow, though, I didn’t feel as triumphant as I should.
“Good evening, then. You’ve got three days to deliver the money.”
“I’ll contact you.” I walked away. I didn’t like turning my back to him, but I had no intention of letting him know that.