CHAPTER NINETEEN
J ULIAN
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T HAT NIGHT, I FELL asleep with Stefanie on my brain. It’s no surprise that I ended up dreaming about her. Filthy dreams. Erotic dreams. Dreams that left me shaken even after I woke up drenched in sweat, chest heaving.
My cock was rock fucking hard, and my heart was pounding like I had just gone round after round with the woman I craved. I lay there, staring at the ceiling, frustrated because what I dreamed hadn’t been real.
It had sure as hell felt real, though. In my dream, I’d felt her breath on my skin, her nails in my back, her mouth around my cock. Her moans had echoed through my room as I’d pleasured her in this house, in this bed, our house, our bed.
“Fuck.”
I looked down. My dick strained against my boxers like it was trying to rip through them. I slid my hand into the slit of my boxers, wrapping my fingers around my cock. Fuck! The tip was already wet, leaking precum, all thanks to Dream-Stefanie.
Though, I’d rather have the real deal, tonight, my hand would have to do. Closing my eyes, I worked my length slowly while thinking of my Spring Break with Stefanie. I could still hear her in my head.
I could still picture the look on her face when she released that first breathless moan as I pushed inside her, going deep. I remembered everything about those nights. Her gasps. Her groans. The way she whimpered my name.
The way her pussy clutched me like it never wanted to let me go. Shit! I needed her. I gripped my cock tighter and pumped it faster, matching the rhythm I’d moved in when I fucked her that night.
“Stefanie...” I groaned.
My hips jerked off the bed, chasing that same pleasure, already knowing it wouldn’t be the exact same but desperately wanting it to be. I wanted to come inside her. I wanted to feel it spill out as I soaked in her juices.
My body bucked, my breath coming in harsh pants as I fucked my palm. I imagined her mouth on my cock instead of my hand. I pictured myself gripping her hair as I fucked her throat until she gagged on my cum.
And even then, my sweet Stefanie would crave more and swallow it all with no complaint. Tension coiled through my body as my jaw clenched tight and the muscles in my abdomen locked down.
I was about to come. Hard . I rocked into my palm, my body shuddering as my orgasm slammed into me.
“Fuck,” I hissed, spilling onto my hand, making a mess, just like I’d made a mess in Stefanie’s mouth and pussy.
My body jerked as I continued stroking myself until I’d wrung every drop from me. Catching my breath, I lay there, staring up at the ceiling. My cock twitched like it wanted more. But more of my palm wasn’t what I needed.
I needed her . This shit with the Clarks had to end fast. I needed to be free of it all so I could go to her. Be with her. Touch her. Cherish her. Because I didn’t know how many more nights of this I could take.
Once I finally caught my breath, I climbed out of my bed and cleaned up the mess I’d made. I changed my boxers and headed to the living room to watch some television. The couch was where I fell asleep, only to dream about Stefanie again.
My mind, heart, and body were trying to tell me something. But it wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. I needed Stefanie Adams. She was my addiction. And if I didn’t have her soon, I’d go through withdrawals.
I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be good for anyone.
***
T HE NEXT MORNING, I went to the office early, determined to get some work done and catch up on all the paperwork I didn’t get to yesterday. I clicked my pen and started going through them, one sheet at a time, while also checking their digital copies.
My focus was trash, though. I kept thinking about her. Wondering what she was doing. Wondering if she was thinking about me, too. Had she sniffed the flowers I sent her as she sipped her coffee this morning?
Thoughts like that had me sitting at my desk for over an hour, staring at the wall, not getting any work done. My phone buzzed, pulling me out of my head. I checked my phone to find a text from my father that read: Are you watching the news?
Shit, it had to be something to do with the Clarks. I’d been wondering when we’d hear something. It was almost ten a.m. now. Their offices opened at eight-thirty. I started looking around me frantically, searching for the remote to the flat-screen television mounted in the corner of my office. I checked my desk drawers and found it in the second drawer.
I hurriedly clicked on the TV and flicked to the news. I turned the volume up. There it was in big-ass letters on the screen: Worked to Death or Murdered and Planted There? Whoever wrote that headline had a way with words. The anchor’s voice cut through.
“Police were called early this morning to Clark Construction after three decomposing bodies were discovered by staff. The company has not made a public statement yet, but police sources confirm an investigation is underway.”
I leaned back in my chair, arms crossed, jaw tight. The bodies had been discovered before the Clarks could cover it up. Now, it was time to get ready for whatever came next. My phone rang. Aiden .
“Yeah,” I answered, still watching the footage of Clark Construction employees being escorted out of the building, wide-eyed and shaky.
“The identities of the bodies have not been released yet,” the anchor continued. “This story is ongoing, and we’ll update the public with details as we learn them.”
“Are you watching the news?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah. Just turned it on. It seems your brother’s girlfriend did her job well.”
“Yeah, she did. He took it a step further, though. He had her plant a bug in both Clark offices, Senior’s and Junior’s. We’ve been listening in for the past few hours.”
“And?”
“The news is just now reporting things, but those bastards have been busy for a couple of hours trying to cover their asses. Here’s what we’ve picked up so far from conversations between Senior, his lawyer, and his right-hand man.”
I didn’t interrupt. I let him talk.
“This is all on Junior.”
I’d figured that.
“Junior fucked up big time about a month ago. He called his old man around three a.m. crying like a little bitch. He said he messed up badly. At the time, he had a room in one of my resorts. He was there to get a feel of the place, take pics of the décor and try to find out whether he could convince our chef to come work for them. But instead of doing his job, he did the usual, fucked and got drunk. After the call, Senior shows up at the hotel and finds Junior high out of his mind, blackout drunk, with three women dead in the room. Two hookers. One hotel employee from Bak Resorts.”
“Damn. One of those women was one of your employees?”
“Yeah. Which means I’m going to have to be careful about how I handle this. I can’t say anything until they identify the bodies.”
“Right. How did your staffer get involved?”
“Apparently, she was working that night, and the front desk kept getting noise complaint calls. She went to his room to tell him about the complaints and ask him to keep it down. Junior dragged her inside, violated her, and forced her to take drugs that killed her. I only know this because Senior told his right-hand man to make sure Junior hadn’t kept any of her personal items, like her badge. Apparently, he likes keeping items that belong to the women he kills.”
I clenched my jaw. There were so many sick motherfuckers in this world. And my dad wondered why I didn’t want to be a parent.
“I can’t risk asking the guy who worked with her that night about it because it’ll show that I know something. I have to wait until the bodies are identified. But no one has reported her missing. She’s listed as fired in our records.”
“Which means someone on your side is in with the Clarks.”
“Yeah. And when I find out who, I’m going to fuck up their entire world.”
“Did you hear anything else? Does the police suspect Junior?”
“Oh, there’s more to the story. After arriving at the room and seeing the scene, Senior panicked,” Aiden continued. “He didn’t want to call any of his own people because he didn’t want them seen coming in and out of the hotel. So, he called Louis, who had apparently been working for them for a while. Senior told him to get rid of the bodies. Louis agreed, then Senior stopped him and told him that this was their chance to take out the hotel competition and construction competition. He told Louis to hide the bodies on one of our Bak job sites. Louis said he couldn’t, stating it was too risky. So Senior threatened to kill Louis’s family if he didn’t dump them at one of our job sites.”
“But he didn’t do it right away. The sick fuck kept the bodies.”
“Right, and when Senior didn’t get a visual confirmation of the job being done, he roughed Louis up. Louis finally tried to get rid of the bodies. And that led us to our current situation. Your guys did a great job positioning the bodies at the Clark office. According to the secretary, there had been one in her seat, one in Senior’s office and the last one in Junior’s. The secretary freaked out and called Senior. He told her not to call the cops. She said it was too late, another employee had already called them.”
“Yeah, your brother was definitely right to get his girl involved.”
“Yeah, but now he’s going to have to protect her from the Clarks.”
“Does he care about her?”
“I think he does. He’s still childish as hell. But he seemed genuinely worried about her today. He had her come to him, and now they’ve gone to his house out in the country. It looks like he cares for her to me.”
I wish I could bring Stefanie to me so I could keep her safe. But she’d consider that kidnapping. Hmm... kidnapping . That wasn’t such a bad idea.
“At least she’s safe. What happened after the cops came?” I asked.
“They picked up father and son for questioning after taking witness statements. Junior wasn’t at the office. They had to go to his home to find him. My sources tell me they found him high as fuck, and he started telling the cops everything before his lawyer even showed.”
I shook my head. “Fucking idiot.”
“Yeah, he’s always been an idiot.”
“So now we just have to wait and see if Aaron Clark retaliates.”
“He’ll be going down too. When the police come here to ask questions about the staffer who was killed by Junior, I’ll review the footage with them of her last day on the job. I’m sure we’ve got Senior on camera entering our facilities. That’ll prove that he helped Junior cover it up. And since Louis is a no-show this morning, I’m sure I can help the cops figure out his connection to it all and make it seem like the bastard ran off with some money to escape the Clarks.”
“It looks like this may be wrapped up nicely. But we both know things never go as planned.”
“True. So, be careful. I’ll call you if the recording picks up anything you should know.”
“Thanks, Aiden.”
I ended the call and relaxed in my seat. I couldn’t call off the guards who were watching Stefanie and India until I was sure this was over. For now, I’d continue to treat it like there was danger lurking around the corner.
At least there was a chance that both Clarks would go down for this. I stared at the papers in front of me and sighed. The sooner I got through with this, the sooner I could start my next step in wooing Stefanie.
I went back to work, signing print copies and digital copies after reviewing them. This would be the last time I double-worked. My dad’s way took too long. Paper copies were a thing of the past. And it was time to leave the past behind.
It was around lunchtime when I stood and stretched, finally done reviewing papers, signing them, and then reviewing our budget report for the first quarter. I was just about to step out to get something to eat when my phone buzzed.
Aiden.
Shit. What now?
“What happened?” I answered, sitting back down behind my desk.
Aiden sighed. “The bug has picked up on something you need to know.”
“What is it?”
“Aaron Clark has another son.”
I swiped my hand over my face, frustrated. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah. It’s a bastard kid who usually handles his dad’s grunt work. Work that required him to get his hands dirty so that Junior wouldn’t have to. He’s a year older than Junior. His mother was the family’s maid, so the Clarks kept his identity a secret and hired him on as a guard. His name is Scott Pollard. Looks like he sees this as his chance to make a move. Though Clark Construction isn’t open for business, he was in his father’s office, making calls, trying to convince some of his father’s business partners that he would be the one taking over the family business.”
“Did he think it would be that easy to convince them?”
“He quickly learned that it wasn’t. Since asking nicely didn’t help, he decided to use force. He wants to go after his old man’s enemies to prove he’s really the one in charge.”
“Let me guess. He’s starting with me,” I stated.
“Cattaneo Concrete Solutions is first on his list.”
My grip on the phone tightened. This was some BS. I didn’t ask for much. I just wanted to work, take care of my family, and be with the woman I craved. But motherfuckers kept getting in the way of my happiness.
I tried to keep the darker side of me locked up. I tried not to give in to my Cattaneo instincts. I wanted to be better than my older cousins, the don and Patrick Cattaneo. But the world wouldn’t let me.
“He’s bold,” Aiden added. “He’s not as smart or conniving as his father, but he also isn’t as reckless as Junior. I don’t know him personally. However, after listening to him talk, it seems this is something he’s wanted to do for a long time to show his father he’s better than Junior, that he should be the one who inherited the company. He’s holding a grudge and carrying years of pent-up rage. He’s like a ticking time bomb. That makes him dangerous.”
That makes him a dead man walking.
“I’ll deal with him. Alone. You work on making sure Aaron Clark and his son go down for what they’ve done. I’ll make sure the bastard doesn’t get a chance to prove anything to his father.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll handle him.”
I had to take care of this on my own. It was my decision to put the bodies in their office so they couldn’t cover this up. So, it was on me to make sure my family and Stefanie didn’t get caught in the crosshairs.
“Thanks for the update,” I told Aiden. “Let me know if anything else comes up.”
“Will do. You know I can help you take care of this.”
“I know. And thanks. But I’ll handle it.”
“Alright.”
I ended the call and sat there for a second, quiet as I replayed everything I’d learned today. There was Junior’s insatiable need to hurt people, Senior’s inability to cover his son's fuck ups properly, and now this Scott bastard trying to step into a role he wasn’t built for.
And there was one thing they all had in common. Me . They all wanted to come after me and mine. Fine . Let them come. I was going to show them what happened when you played games with a man who’d rather go to war.