CHAPTER 2
I refresh the information on the app I’m looking at. Again. It’s still telling me the same thing and jealous anger simmers right under my skin. She’s there.
Fucking there.
At Club Sin.
It’s been two weeks since Viola’s birthday dinner and the next day I set my sights on getting to the bottom of Fleur’s membership to Club Sin. I couldn’t find out much, which was infuriating in a whole new way, even though I could appreciate the secrecy. In asking about membership for myself and my brothers, I found out Gio already had one, which had me tracking him down and confronting him.
I gripped his shirt and saw the amusement swirling with controlled anger in his eyes. My voice was filled with seething fury, “Why didn’t you tell us you knew about Fleur going to Club Sin?”
He pushed me back, but I didn’t let go of him. If I wasn’t holding onto him, I wasn’t sure if I could stop myself from hitting him. It’s been a while since we’ve fought, but it’s happened in the past. Giovanni might seem like the most affable of us, but he is a scrapper through and through. He fights dirty too without even a hint of shame.
That was the way of our life, the way we were raised. Getting to the top was never without breaking some rules. The only steadfast rules were about family being held in the highest regard and that the women of our hearts should be shown they are cherished. Our father held our mother on a pedestal, one she earned, and would never allow violence to touch her. Viola was treated the same.
Beyond those two things you had to do whatever you had to do to win. It created a sense of competition amongst Leonardo, Giovanni, and me. Dante was above it in some ways, but only because, as the oldest, his place within the Guidice family was secure. He would be the only one to sit at the head of the table. Thankfully, it was a place none of the rest of us ever wanted.
I’m happy to support my family. I still hold power, not only in the organization, but within the city. It’s more than enough for me. I know my brothers feel the same way. As the youngest, I could have resented it, but I never did.
Giovanni snapped at me, my grip tightening on him, “I have been there, but I’ve never seen Fleur there.” Anger flashed across his face, overtaking the joking mask he usually wore. His voice dropped into a dangerous tone, “Do you really think I would have allowed it to continue?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, challenging him with my body language and question, “Because she’s our sister’s best friend and the Devil’s Saints princess?”
“No,” he growled. “Because she’s ours.”
I released him quickly and nodded once, happy with his answer and annoyed because he was only willing to voice it now. Now that it felt like she was almost out of our grasp. We could have made a move already, she could already be warm and safe in our home, our beds.
I shook my head, “She will fight us.” My eyes hardened as I looked at my brother. “Maybe you the most.”
He shrugged one shoulder, an act of casual aloofness that, suddenly, didn’t ring as true as it did before with the confession of his feelings for our woman. “She wasn’t ready. Neither was Leo. That doesn’t change that she’s been ours for a long fucking time.”
I nodded and then left him, sending a text to him and Leo to meet me at Club Sin the following day. When we arrived, Leonardo looked ready to beat me until he bathed in my blood. His words were barely controlled, “What are we doing here?”
I nodded toward Gio. “He already has a membership, but we had to come down to get our own.” Leo opened his mouth, and I shook my head. “We’re getting a membership. I have a plan. The next time Fleur is here, I want to be able to come in and get her.” I leaned in and lowered my voice, “Do you want some other man to put his hands on what’s ours?”
Leo stared at me for a long time, but I saw the moment he broke. “No one else will touch her,” he vowed.
After a tour of Club Sin, we were shown a few rooms which were set up with different kinks in mind. I have to say, I was impressed with how thorough they were in the way they set everything up and how they considered the clientele and their pleasure.
I was surprised when we walked into Room Eight to find it filled with corsets. The thought of dressing Fleur up, pulling the ribbons tight, and giving her curves even more shape had my cock going harder than steel. It felt like everything stopped, as I met my brother’s eyes, and I could see the same thoughts going through their minds.
We wanted to dress our woman up like a doll. Gio rubbed his hands together and I swear I could see the man fucking salivate. I could only roll my eyes even while having a hard time controlling my reaction to the room and what we wanted to do.
“Well, this will be fun,” Gio sounded fucking giddy.
Leonardo’s voice was gruff, “She’ll look so pretty wrapped up in satin and lace.” He looked around again and mused, “I wonder how tight we can cinch these up and if she’ll be able to take a full breath.”
“Fuck,” I groaned under my breath, my cock hard and needing relief.
We all moved out of the room quickly and got our membership straightened out. Well, at least two of us did. While we did that, Gio brushed off a few interested women. I didn’t even want to know if he had played with them before. They looked delighted to see him.
When we stepped back outside, Leonardo, always the planner, asked, “How will we know if she comes here?”
I smirked. “I’m going to send her an apology necklace.”
Gio sounded confused, “An apology necklace?”
I scoffed, “I thought you were the one who is good with women.” I shook my head, and he cracked a grin while shrugging one shoulder. I knew what he was thinking—he never had to try hard, and he wasn’t fucking wrong about it. “There will be a tracker in the necklace. An apology for us being assholes the other night.”
Leo barked out a laugh, something I didn’t see from my brother often, but it helped to show me this was right. We were finally on the right path. One leading straight to Fleur.
Our eyes were opened at dinner when Viola mentioned Club Sin. We had spent our lives thinking about Fleur like she’s innocent, even while seeing her grow into a beautiful woman. I’m guilty of the same even though she’s a few years older than me. That’s on us, but we’re going to make it right.
I refresh the app one more time and see that Fleur is still at Club Sin. I didn’t really think she would leave, but part of me was hoping she would. The other part of me is looking fucking forward to crashing her night.
Since we share a house, I go and pound on Leo and Gio’s doors before heading down to one of our large SUVs and slide behind the wheel. My brothers are smart men, they’ll figure it out. I almost smile when they both come running into the garage and jump into the vehicle with matching looks of determination on their faces.
The car is silent as I drive through the streets of New Orleans, but I have no doubt that our thoughts are all on the same thing. We haven’t talked about it, but like so many things we’ve been on the same page about in the past, even with how different we can be, we don’t need to.
I’ve been watching Fleur for years. This was inevitable. I don’t know if my brothers are aware of it the same way I am, but they don’t need to be. The past doesn’t matter. Only right now matters.
Anger rises in the enclosed space, and I almost crack a smile at the thought of our woman having no fucking idea what is coming for her right now. I had the necklace delivered to her, knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist the fleur-de-lis diamond pendant. I was hoping she’d put it on because I’ve learned how sentimental our woman can be over the years.
To know it worked? That she’s wearing it and imagining it nestled between her tits right now? A feeling of smug satisfaction rolls its way through me.
I can’t wait to see the surprise on her face when she sees us at Club Sin and wonders how we found out she was there. Fleur might pretend like she’s some socialite, but I know she’s smart and capable. I’ll be more surprised if she doesn’t figure it out rather quickly.
It doesn’t take us long to get to Club Sin and then the three of us storm inside like we’re ready to go into battle. Which we are because I have no doubt that our woman isn’t going to make this easy on us. Why should she?
We’ve ignored the pull between us for years. We’ve ignored her.
We might have had our reasons. And some of us might not have been aware of the way we needed her—Leonardo—but all that is behind us. My brother’s eyes are open and mine are focused on her, just like they have been for years.
Even though the plantation home which has been renovated to house the club is beautiful, I barely see it as we stalk through the rooms, intent on finding our prey. When we find her, it’s in one of the lounge areas on the first floor. Her back is to us as we enter the room, but I would know her anywhere.
“Fuck me,” Leo grunts next to me and I must agree, even though I don’t acknowledge it.
Our woman is in a fitted gold dress that hugs her curves and makes her look like she’s wrapped in abundant opulence. It’s perfect for her and I notice, quickly, we’re not the only men whose eyes are fixed on her. The entire room seems to be focused on our woman and it makes my blood simmer in my veins.
That simmer turns to a raging fucking inferno when she reaches over to the man next to her and touches his arm before the sound of her laughter rings out. My fists clench at my sides and I notice Leo’s posture goes rigid in a way that should probably make me concerned for my brother. Gio chuckles under his breath like this is all an amusing show to him.
“Seems we have some competition, brothers,” Gio’s voice is jovial, but I can hear the edge of steel underneath it. “Time for us to make some things known.” I glance at him to find him looking around the room before he adds, “Quickly.”
We stride as one across the room, our feet silent and our bodies coiled tight. The man Fleur is speaking to is looking at her with hunger in his eyes and I desperately want to punch the look off his face. He’s intent on her to the point of not recognizing the danger approaching him.
“Since I bought you your drink, I think I should introduce myself properly,” he practically purrs at our woman. “I’m Henri. It’s an honor to make your acquaintance.” Fleur giggles and I see her fingers tighten on his arm as if giving it a squeeze. “I could just call you beautiful all night, but I’d prefer to know your name,” he leads her smoothly and red clouds my vision.
“You won’t be needing her name,” Leo’s voice is gruff as we come to stand next to the couple, crowding Fleur and surrounding her.
When her blue eyes snap over to us, they widen in surprise before she can mask it with a mask of indifference that I’ve seen on her face too many times to count. She reaches up and gently grasps the fleur-de-lis pendant around her neck and fiddles with it as her eyes find me and narrow slightly. I can’t help but smirk at her, not giving a single fuck if she’s already suspicious of our presence and how we found her.
Fleur crosses her arms across her chest and gives us a haughty look; it’s sexy as fuck. “What are the three of you doing here?”
Before we can answer, Henri cuts in, “You know them?”
He eyes us like we’re his competition. Little does he know we aren’t because we’ve already won. Fleur has always been ours. Soon everyone will know it. Including her.
“Yes,” Fleur’s voice is cold as her jaw clenches and fire shoots straight out of her eyes at us.
My cock throbs in anticipation and sheer fucking joy. Taming her, claiming her, showing her the amount of pleasure she’ll find between us—it’s going to be glorious.
“We need to talk to you,” Leo insists, and Fleur rolls her eyes.
“The only way you’ll have the chance to talk to me is by taking me to a room and spending the night with me,” she flippantly replies, and my vision goes hazy with the idea of having her exactly where we want her.
I grab her hand and haul her away from the bar and against my chest. She looks up at me, a hint of wonder in her eyes and I husk, “Done.”
She breathes, “What?”
I smirk at her, and I swear Gio is practically vibrating with how excited he is. “You shouldn’t have thrown down the gauntlet, Tesoro,” he warns her, too late, with a chuckle in his voice.
“Wait,” Henri tries to take a step toward us, something flashing in his eyes, “we were going to spend the night together.”
“Not going to happen,” Leo barks at him before striding toward the stairs.
I lead Fleur behind him, knowing Gio will follow. She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to. When I glance down into her eyes, her pupils are dilated, and her cheeks are flushed with anticipation.
This is going to be fun.
Leo opens the door to Room Eight and we allow Fleur to step into the room in front of us. The small gasp she lets out has excitement sizzling through me. When she turns toward us, her eyes are wide as we step into the room. I can barely hear the click of the door behind us over the beating of my heart in my chest.
“We’ll be dressing you up in finery tonight, Fleur,” Gio’s voice has an edge of darkness I don’t normally hear from him.
She licks her lips and nods slowly, “Okay.”
That one word has my control snapping. I step toward her as Leo goes to look at the corsets on display along one wall. She has no idea what she’s unleashed, but she will soon.