3. Zeno
CHAPTER 3
ZENO
I shouldn’t still be thinking about bending Lily over the couch in my room and fucking her senseless.
I roll over onto my side and smash the pillow against my face, letting out a frustrated yell. I should be thinking about a lot of things right now, primarily, how to stay alive since I just took out a few soldiers of a very powerful family enemy. I should be worried about backlash and how to deflect it. I should be worried about them finding me here in Vegas and enacting some elaborate revenge plan.
But instead, I tossed and turned for the better part of the night, my balls so blue, I finally had to rub one out before my body would succumb to a sleep splintered with memories of Lily rubbing her perfect pussy against my cock.
She was so wet and tight, writhing on top of me like that. I wanted so badly to lay her back on that couch and fuck her senseless…after I spanked her for wearing that sexy as hell outfit, looking every bit like the bad girl I know deep down she wants to be.
She never would have climbed into my lap otherwise.
She never would have let me kiss her like that.
And she definitely never would have let me touch her like that.
Lily has a lot of layers, ones I’d very much like to peel back and spend a lot of time savoring.
But, much as I’d have loved nothing more than to feel her tight pussy clenched around my dick, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m on borrowed time right now.
At least, until I hear otherwise from the Severinovs. I’m putting a fuckload of trust into people whom I barely know, but Papa insists that they’re solid allies. The whole purpose of the Red Ladro syndicate is to pool the strengths and networks of the families involved. We’re not there yet but Matteo is willing to back us if I can win over his associates. I’ve already taken care of one threat as part of my initiation – a hit on behalf of a New Jersey boss named Joe Salesi.
Papa jumped at the chance to expand our business interests to America and work with his brother’s family, and Matteo, my uncle’s underboss, seconded the decision.
Welcome to Sin City, Villani family.
The Salesi family has ties to the Severinovs and they run a pretty large territory along the East Coast, including all of the casinos from New York to Florida. They have a pretty extensive network of drug pipelines, restaurants, and strip clubs, in addition to owning a pretty prominent real estate investment company. They have money and connections, and this syndicate needs both. But Joe Salesi, the head of the family, still hasn’t signed on the dotted line just yet. He evidently has some trust issues and needed some reassurance that our branch of the Villani family…or the syndicate as a whole…is worthy of partnership.
That’s how I got roped into doing that hit for him. I was more than happy to inflict torture on Domenico Messina’s guys, don’t get me wrong. But I felt like there was more to the hit than I knew, and that doesn’t sit well with me. If this is all about establishing trust, then knowing why I was sent to pull the trigger should be a given.
Papa didn’t give a damn about the ‘why’, though. He was just so anxious to get this guy Salesi’s approval that he offered me up on the spot. He picked me for the job because I’m the best at what I do…maiming and killing.
It’s my claim to fame in the Italian underworld.
And now that I’ve carried out the hit and taken care of the Messina threat, Salesi is planning a trip out here to discuss how we can work together.
Plans started with hotels and casinos. Matteo has joint ownership with the Marcones of a hotel called the Excelsior. The Severinovs have been operating their primary hotel, the Montepremi, for years. And as new members are invited into the syndicate, like us and the Salesis, we will continue to build our empire and amass more and more control over the city and around the country.
At least, that’s what I’ve been told.
It’s a good story, if our collective enemies don’t blow the grand plans to shit once they get wind of them. That’s always the risk when you create this kind of power player group. Unrest with the other criminals of the world who are vying for the same control we are, criminals who don’t like to be left sitting on the sidelines, while others get to play in the big game.
The phone on the nightstand rings, the blaring sound reverberating between my ears. I groan and reach for it, holding it to my ear as I croak out a “Hello?”
“Zeno, it’s Alek. I have someone waiting outside of your room. Get dressed and he’ll bring you to my office. We have something important to discuss,” he growls.
I rub a hand down the front of my face, collapsing onto my back. “Okay,” I say with a yawn. “Give me twenty minutes.”
“Make it ten.” And then he hangs up the phone.
Jesus. Where’s the fucking welcome wagon? No, “Hey, Zeno, did you sleep well? Are you hungry? You need an espresso?”
Instead, it’s “Hey, Zeno, I know you just risked your neck for my organization, but hurry up and get the fuck down to my office.”
I seriously hope the hotel concierge didn’t take any job training lessons from Alek Severinov.
I hang up the phone and stagger to my feet, raking a hand through my hair. I brush my teeth, put on deodorant, pull on a t-shirt and jeans, and within a few minutes, I’m pulling open the door of my room. Another tall mountain of a man is waiting for me, just as Alek said. He glares at me, nodding toward the elevator.
“Good morning to you, too,” I grunt under my breath as I trudge down the hallway. I take the elevator to the lobby, and then the security guard winds around the casino to another private elevator bank. Slot machines cling and clang, the bright lights way too much for my tired eyes. I blink fast to clear the cobwebs as I follow the guard into another elevator. We ride in silence and when we arrive on the thirteenth floor, my gut tightens.
I can’t shake the bad feeling snaking through my insides.
I follow the security guard around a corner and he stops just outside of a door, waving me inside. I push open the door, and before I’ve had even a second to see who’s inside, a powerful right hook sends me into the door frame.
“Fuck!” I groan, holding a hand to my flaming hot jaw, pain shooting upward into my brain from the blow.
I turn my head toward the direction of the punch and see one of the girls from the club last night glaring at me, her hands on her hips. In this second, I can’t even remember my own name, much less hers.
“Okay, Kat, back off,” Alek says, sitting behind his desk.
She narrows her eyes at me and flips me off before flouncing over to a chair and sinking into it.
“Can I ask what the fuck that was for?” I thunder.
“Sit down,” Alek orders.
“No, I’m not sitting down!” I shout. “Tell me what the hell is going on and then I’ll decide if I want to sit!”
The door opens again and Kazimir struts in, holding a cup of coffee. “What the hell is up, Alek? Why’re you dragging my ass outta bed so early?”
“Shut the fucking door,” Alex hisses, flipping a monitor around so we can all see a gallery of security feeds blinking on the large screen. “Do you see this?” he says to me.
“Yeah…” I squint at the small tiles. “So what? You’ve got surveillance over your hotel. Great.”
“Not great,” he growls, pointing at one of the tiles. “Do you see that?”
I lean closer, recognizing Lily in the frame. She’s grinding her hips against me as I attack her neck with my lips. “Oh. Well, shit. Looks like I’m a movie star.”
Kat jumps out of her chair and grabs me by the shirt. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“What’s the problem?” I yell. “Kazimir told me to fuck a cocktail waitress, for Christ’s sake!”
“She’s not a cocktail waitress!” Kat shrieks.
“Look, I’m sorry if I did anything to offend your friend, but it was nothing. Just a little fun.” I shrug, reclining in the chair once Kat lets go of my shirt.
“You were told to fuck a cocktail waitress, not the only daughter of Joe Salesi,” Alek seethes. “As in the Salesi crime family. As in the Salesis who are considering becoming part of this syndicate! Do you realize that what you did could completely fuck up our plans to bring him in? And your own plans, for that matter?”
I push back my hair. “Listen, we messed around a little bit. It was nothing. Don’t get your dick in a twist.”
Alek gets up and walks around to face me. “Listen, asshole. I worked very hard to get Salesi on board. He needed a lot of fucking convincing. When you took care of that hit for him, it was supposed to be an assurance that you could work together. We need his money and influence. If he finds out what the hell happened between you two, him pulling out of the syndicate will be the least of your concerns. His daughter is off limits, do you understand? You don’t look at her, you don’t think about her, and you don’t jerk off to her. You’re here to do a job, and in that description, there’s nothing written about pleasure, you got that? Pussy isn’t one of the fringe benefits.”
“She’s a big girl,” I say. “I think she can make her own decisions about who she wants to screw around with.”
Kat lets out a frustrated yell. “You really are dumber than you look! Joe Salesi doesn’t want Lily anywhere close to his organization or this life! She’s smart and has her whole life ahead of her. The last thing he wants is for her to be fingered by some fucking thug, exactly the type of guy he’s trying to protect her from! I thought you could be trusted.” She turns and glares at Kaz. “I guess I was wrong.”
“Hey, I barely know the fucking guy!” Kaz exclaims. “How is this my fault?”
I stand up from the chair. “You know, you’ve got a lot of fucking nerve dragging me down here for this bullshit. I didn’t know who she was, and if he’s gonna turn his back on you because I hooked up with his daughter, then pull the plug on us joining your little club!” I turn around to Kazimir. “If you wanted me to stay away from her, you should’ve sent a hooker to my fucking room to keep me occupied!”
Alek’s face darkens. “We’ll do whatever damage control we need to do. In the meantime, you’re free to go. I got word that Domenico Messina landed in Sicily eight hours ago. Looks like you’re safe to move on to your own hotel.”
I let out a sarcastic laugh as I turn toward the door. “Oh, and thanks for the fucking hospitality. It was an experience I’ll never forget.”
Alek narrows his blue eyes to slits. “Remember what I said, or else you won’t be safe anywhere. Or from anyone.”
“Come on, Alek,” I grumble. “You think I’m ever gonna be safe again?”