CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
J ULIAN
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I PULLED INTO TRAFFIC and headed toward the office from the Bak Boutique Hotel site, where my guys were taking care of Louis once and for all. I’d cracked the window, but that hadn’t helped.
The stench was still there, clinging to my skin and clothes. It wasn’t that I’d never seen a dead body before. But when I did, it was usually right after a kill when the people still looked like people.
Even charred bodies were easier to look at than those decaying women wrapped in tarps and dumped like garbage. That kind of shit left a mark on your mind. And the smell. Fuck! I’d seen death. I’d caused death. But I’d never tasted death until today.
I could taste that scent. It was seeping into every pore in my body. I needed to shower and brush my damn teeth. However, there were a few things I needed to take care of before that. I hit the button on my dash and called my father.
Guiliano Cattaneo answered on the second ring. “Hey, son.”
“Hey, Dad.”
“What’s wrong?”
“We had some shit go down today at the Bak Industries pour,” I stated.
“What and who?” dad asked.
I told him everything about the gravel pit, the three women in tarps that Marshall and the team uncovered. I told him about Louis's sick confession and his admission that the Clarks were behind this.
Then I told him what I’d set in motion, how I planned to send the bodies back to Clark Construction as a little special delivery. He didn’t say a word while I talked. When I finished, he let loose.
“Fucking Clarks,” he muttered. “Those stupid bastards. Are they insane? I knew they’d been making moves recently, but I didn’t think they’d pull some shit like this. In fact, I didn’t believe they had it in them.”
“Something about this feels off. Why pull something like this now?” I asked. “And why something of this scale?”
“You’re right, son. They’ve always been greedy. But this screams desperation. There’s more to this than what Louis said. You handled it well,” he added. “Smart thinking sending their problems back to them. I’ll inform the consigliere so he can prepare just in case this gets messy.”
“I’ve already handled that,” I told him.
“Look at you. I guess I truly don’t have anything to worry about with the company in your hands.”
“I’m still learning from you, Dad,” I told him.
“Nonsense. You’re ready. I trust you and your decisions. You’re level-headed when needed and ruthless when forced to be. And you have a code. That’s the most important thing. But son, there is one thing that bothers me about all of this,” he said. “Did Louis say it was Aaron Senior or Junior who hired him?”
Shit. “He didn’t say. Just said it was Aaron Clark.”
“Hmmm. We need to be careful now that we’ve set things in motion,” he told me. “I’ll have to let the don know, too. But I’m sure the consigliere has already informed him. He’s obligated to do that.”
“Let the don know that I’m handling it. I don’t need him to send help.”
When the don sent help, bodies piled up, unnecessary deaths. I only killed when it was absolutely necessary. I didn’t do it for sport. I didn’t want to end up like them .
“I’ll let him know. Be careful, son. Handle this quickly and cleanly. No loose ends.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll let Aubrey’s guard know what’s going on so he can make sure she doesn’t run off alone anywhere,” he said. “That girl is always dodging him. It’s driving me insane.”
I smiled. “I’ll call her and tell her this is serious.”
“Do that. She listens to you.” There was a pause. Then his tone shifted. “Until this blows over, do you want to come stay at the house for a few days? Be with family? Your mother sure as hell misses you. She’s been making your favorite dishes for the past week now, hoping you’d stop by.”
An ache started in my chest, and for a second, I couldn’t speak.
“Julian?”
“I’ll be okay on my own,” I told him. “Tell mom... tell mom I love her.”
“Are you avoiding home?” he asked.
My grip tightened on the steering wheel.
“Is it because I pushed you to go on blind dates? Son, I just want to see you settled down with a family. You keep insisting you don’t want kids. But how could you not want someone to continue your legacy?”
Was the Cattaneo legacy really worth continuing? I loved my family, don’t get me wrong. But we were all raised to follow in the footsteps of our fathers. Why would I do that to a child?
Why would I bring a child into this world and not allow them to live their life the way they wanted? I wasn’t doing that. My cousins could have all the kids they wanted. So could my sister, if she wanted. I’d be the fun uncle. But I didn’t want to be a father.
“Son, I won’t keep pushing you to go on blind dates with the daughters of my business acquaintances. Your mom has already chewed me out for that and told me to let you choose your own happiness. I’ll let it go for now. So you should let go of your anger and come home from time to time.”
The blind dates weren’t the reason I was avoiding home.
“Son, I...”
“Dad, I’ll update you on the Clark situation when I have more info. Love you. Bye.” I ended the call before he could ask anything else.
I pulled into the office lot, parked, and got out. Once inside, I went straight to my office, sat at my desk, and stared at the wall. My phone was still in my hand. I didn’t move. I just sat there. Thinking. Mentally planning.
My sister and mother would be protected if there was a fallout from this. That was a given. It was Stefanie and her daughter I was worried about. I’d have to put a guard on India, too, to keep an eye on her.
I’d make sure my sister understood the seriousness of this so she wouldn’t try to evade her guard. As for Stefanie.... I sighed and dragged my hand down my face. I couldn’t go to her yet. Not until I cleaned this mess up.
My father was right. The Clarks were acting reckless, desperate, and that made them dangerous. And if one of their lapdogs followed me to her, if even one of them showed up near her house or job, I’d lose my fucking mind.
And if they hurt her, I’d never forgive myself. Fuck! I no longer had to worry about her pushing me away. It was now my own bullshit keeping her out of reach. That’s what pissed me off the most about all of this.
My jaw clenched as memories of our time together filled my head. Her smile! That was probably what I missed the most. It was a smile that could light up an entire room. It lit up my entire fucking world. I loved the way her eyes lit up whenever she got excited.
She wore all of her emotions on her face. Though she may not always tell the truth about how she was feeling, all you had to do was look into her eyes, and you could see what she was going through.
Then there was the way she bit her bottom lip when she was feeling indecisive. That was fucking adorable. And her moan! Fuck ! I’d been trying my best not to cum every time she moaned my name.
Damn it, I needed this woman. Waiting to be with her was killing me, and now I had to wait even longer. I couldn’t let her forget me or think for a second that I was giving up on her. That was never going to happen.
I would continue to woo her. I just had to be more cautious than before. No more using my own credit cards to buy her gifts. No more driving past her house, hoping I’d catch her outside, going to her mailbox.
I had cameras on the light pole in front of her home. I would just have to use them to watch her from afar. And I still planned to investigate this fucking coworker of hers. But I would move in silence, not drawing attention to her.
I couldn’t let the Clarks know she was important to me. In my world, your enemies didn’t come after you first. They came after those you loved. I took a more direct approach. If the Clarks tried some shit over this, I would go directly to them.
Fuck who they loved. It was them I wanted. But those desperate cowards would always take the bitch route. I had to be prepared. I grabbed my phone and called the only man I trusted to keep an eye on her.
He’d shadowed her before, both here and during spring break. He was familiar with her habits. Having him keep an eye on her would eliminate a bit of my worries. For a second, I thought he wasn’t going to answer his phone.
“Hey, boss,” Gus said when he finally picked up.
“You in town?” I asked.
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“I need you to shadow someone for a while.”
“How long?”
Shit. I didn’t know.
“I don’t know yet. A month or two, depending on how things go.”
“I can do that. Is it the woman you had me shadow at the club?”
“Yeah. Her. I want eyes on her at all times.”
“What’s the protocol if someone approaches her? Kill or contain?”
“Kill if she’s in danger. Contain if she’s not.”
“Gotcha. I’ll get on it.”
“Thanks. By the way, how’s your boy? Is he still in town with you?”
“He’s fine. He and his mom flew back to Minnesota yesterday. I’m going to head up there to spend the summer with them in a couple of months. I won’t be back until August. Until then, I can shadow your woman.”
My woman. That had a nice ring to it.
“Thanks again.”
“No problem.”
I hung up and stared around the office. There was just one more person I needed to contact so he could keep an eye on India Adams, my sister’s roommate, the daughter of the woman I desired.
After that, I could go home to shower and rid myself of the stench of death and fucking evil. The call didn’t take long. I sent him a picture of India that I found on Stefanie’s social media, and I gave him the same instructions I’d given to Gus regarding whether to kill or contain.
The moment the call ended, I locked up my office and started the drive home. I stripped out of my clothes in the garage before entering the house. I didn’t want to bring that smell in with me.
I placed the clothing in a garbage bag and left it in the garage to get rid of in the morning. Naked, I entered my home, locked up, and activated the security system. Next stop: the shower. I scrubbed myself clean.
No matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn’t get that scent off me. It was in my nose, in my hair, under my nails. It would take a while to get that stench and the memory of how those women looked out of my head.
I’d just gotten out of the shower, body still damp, when my phone rang. I grabbed it off the nightstand, towel slung low around my waist. Aiden’s name lit the screen. I answered.
“What’s up?”
“I looped my brothers in regarding what happened with Louis and the Clarks,” he told me. “They’re pissed but keeping it quiet. For now. My youngest brother is a hothead, so I’m going to have to stay on him about not getting involved. By the way, he told me he’s messing around with a woman who works in the office at Clark Constructions.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. He told her to go in early tomorrow because he doesn’t trust the secretary not to try and cover shit up if she finds the bodies first. His girl has been instructed to walk in, see the mess, and call the cops right away to ensure the Clarks don’t have time to clean up their mess.”
Smart. Risky, but smart.
“Can he trust this woman?”
Aiden sighed. “I asked him the same thing. He said he could. But he’d already made the call before telling me about it. If it becomes a problem, I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks for the heads up. If you run into any problems, let me know.”
“Will do.”
He hung up, and I dropped the phone onto the dresser. My gaze drifted around the room of the home I’d bought last year. A mansion on the outskirts of the city where the next house was miles away.
Stefanie’s dream home. One she’d shared the listing for on social media with a caption that read: If I had a million dollars, I’d definitely buy this house. I started looking into buying it the next day. Now, I owned it... for her.
From the bed, to the dresser, even the wall colors, every piece in here had been chosen after I’d perused Stefanie’s Pinterest page. I hadn’t even known what the fuck Pinterest was until hers came up while I was social stalking her.
The site contained all of her dream ideas. Dream homes. Favorite plants. Books she loved. Reading nooks she wanted. She even had a favorite brand of candles. My sweet Stefanie liked cozy decor. Calming decor.
I didn’t get it at first. But the longer I looked at the boards she shared, the more I understood her. She wanted a home she could feel at peace in. I wanted the same thing. The world outside these walls could get as chaotic as it wanted.
But as soon as I stepped in here, I felt like I was stepping into my own personal haven. A place where I could leave the stress of my family and my job behind. I hadn’t thought the colors of your walls could help soothe your mood until I read her posts about the importance of Feng Shui while decorating your home.
This place wasn’t just for me. It was for her. There was even an office for her future use. And there was a room for India and one for Aubrey because she sometimes needed a place to go to escape our mother’s nagging.
I sat on the edge of the bed, the towel still clinging to my damp skin. I know I’d gotten ahead of myself with this purchase. I bought it before approaching her and without consulting her. But I’d known in an instant that she was the one for me.
I’d never believed in that love-at-first-sight crap until I saw Stefanie Adams. The moment I saw her, it was like everything in me shifted. My heart started beating differently. I’m convinced it now beats in sync with hers.
My mindset changed. I was no longer all about me and my family. I now had someone else who mattered just as much as my family did. And to think, I’d purchased all of this stuff before ever laying a hand on her.
Now that I’d touched her, now that she’d sat her pussy on my tastebuds, I sure as hell wouldn’t be able to let go of her. She had no idea how deep I was in already. If she knew, it would probably scare her.
And if things went sideways with the Clarks, she might never know. I wasn’t gonna let that happen. Not a fucking chance. When it came to Stefanie Adams, I was more than in love. I was fucking obsessed. And my code didn’t apply when she was involved.
Deaths I would normally deem unnecessary became necessary when she was involved. If I had to go on a killing spree just to end this shit with the Clarks so I could get back to courting Stefanie Adams, then call me Julian Cattaneo, the grim reaper.
Because I would bring death to the doorstep of the entire Clark family for my woman.