Chapter 19
MATTEO
DOMINIC’S GONE, AND so are the two men who were closest to him. I keep my hand at Amalia’s waist and turn us both as if I’m enjoying the music, but I’m watching everything carefully. Whatever the bad news was, Dominic isn’t dealing with it out here in front of everyone.
“He went left,” Amalia says against my shoulder. “Past the bar.”
There’s a set of doors over that the waiters go through. Service area, probably, or some hallway that leads to private rooms.
“We should get closer,” she says.
I want to do exactly that, but Dominic left a few guys posted near the dance floor, and they pretend to chat while watching the room. If we head for the doors looking too eager, someone will notice.
“Let me get us drinks,” I say.
She steps back from me with a smile that would convince anyone watching that I just said something charming. “Get me more champagne.”
A waiter passes and I grab two flutes off his tray, then I steer Amalia along the edge of the room as if we’re just looking for somewhere quieter to talk.
There’s a couple making out near a pillar, and an older man telling a story to people who clearly want him to stop.
Nobody’s paying attention to us, which is exactly what I want.
The doors are closer now. One of them is propped open a few inches, and there’s a hallway behind it with dimmer lighting and none of the gala noise. I hand Amalia her glass and lean in toward her as if I’m whispering something intimate.
“Through there?” she breathes.
“If we can get past whoever’s watching it.”
But when I glance over, the guy who was by the doors has wandered off toward the bar. Probably bored, or somebody called him. The gap’s open now, and I’m not about to waste it.
I tip my head toward the doors, and we slide through together.
The hallway’s long, with a few closed doors along one side and what looks like a coatroom at the far end.
The carpet’s thick enough to muffle sounds, which is good for us but also good for anyone trying to sneak up on us, so I glance back every few feet.
“Voices,” Amalia whispers, gripping my sleeve.
I hear them now too. They’re coming from one of the rooms ahead. We move forward, keeping close to the wall, and stop just short of the door that’s open a crack. I can’t see Dominic, but I bet he’s in there.
“...don’t care how it happened,” someone says. It’s not Dominic. “Somebody’s been talking. The buyer knew details he had no business knowing. Times, routes... All of it.”
A mole? I glance at Amalia, and she meets my eyes, her brows lifting. It looks like one of Dominic’s men babbled too much, and now Dominic is aware of it.
“Then we find out who,” Dominic says. “But I don’t want anyone to know about this. Pull everyone who handled the last two shipments.”
This is better than anything we could’ve planned for. A mole inside Dominic’s circle is exactly what we need, and if we can find them before he does, we’ve got something. A way in, or a piece to trade. Amalia tugs my sleeve again and nods down the hallway.
We quickly round the corner and press ourselves against the wall. I take a peek around. A man stops in front of a door that’s cracked open and closes it.
“Anyone in there?” another voice calls from somewhere I can’t see.
“No, it’s clear,” the guy says.
Wait a second. He didn’t check. He pulled the door shut and answered before he could’ve looked inside. Who would be able to check a room just by taking a glance through the crack in the door? No one.
Amalia’s fingers tighten on my arm.
If a guy says a room’s clear without checking it, either he’s lazy or he’s covering for whoever’s in there.
And with Dominic hunting for a mole, lazy isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.
Maybe there’s a second one. Maybe this guy and whoever’s in that room are working together, and the mole isn’t one person but two.
Or maybe I’m reaching, and the guy just glanced in earlier and didn’t bother again. But I don’t think so.
The problem is I can’t see his face from here. If we’re going to use him, I need to know who he is.
Amalia leans in, so her mouth is near my ear. “We need to find out who he is.”
“Working on it,” I whisper back.
We can’t follow him out, because someone would notice that and we’d have no explanation. But if I’m the one who looks lost...
“Stay here,” I whisper.
Amalia frowns, but before she can ask anything, I head down the hallway toward the guy, swaying on my feet a little. I’m just a drunk guest who took a wrong turn looking for the men’s room.
“Hey,” I say, loud enough that he turns around. “Sorry, is the restroom back this way? Some woman sent me down here and I think she was messing with me.”
He turns toward me, and I fight the urge to smile. “Wrong way. This area’s private.”
“Oh.” I blink at him. “My bad. They should really put up a sign or something.”
“I’ll show you.” He steps toward me.
“No, no, I got it.” I lift my hands and back off, giving him my dumbest smile. “Thanks, man.”
I feel his stare on me the whole way until I’m through the doors and back in the noise. Amalia slips out a few seconds behind me, and we mingle with the crowd as if we never left.
“Well?” she asks once we’re near the dance floor again.
“I’ll recognize him if I see him again. But he didn’t check that room, probably on purpose.”
“Who might be in there?”
“Maybe the mole, or no one. Someone could’ve left something there, like evidence.”
“Then we should go before he comes back.”
We’ve got what we came for, even if it isn’t what we expected. I spot one of Dominic’s other men, but he’s not looking our way, so it’s a good time to leave.
“Let’s say our goodbyes and get out,” I say.
WHEN WE GET BACK HOME, I take the chair at the desk and pull the laptop to me while Amalia kicks off her heels with a groan and pads over to me. She’s still in her dress, and I make myself look at the screen instead.
“Do you really think you can find him?” she asks, leaning over the back of my chair.
“We’ve got files on most of Dominic’s people. Your guys have been collecting info for months.” I open the folder and start scrolling. “If this guy’s been around long enough to be trusted near a meeting like that, he’s in here somewhere.”
The files are a mess because there’s a bunch of photos, and some of them are grainy. I scroll past familiar faces, looking for the guy with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Amalia’s proximity and her perfume keep distracting me, but I do my best to focus on my task.
After a whole lot of scrolling, I finally spot him.
“That’s him,” I say. “Elio. He’s been with Dominic for years. Handles logistics for the shipments.” I let out a low whistle. “Logistics? So he’d have access to times and routes.”
“So he could definitely be a mole too,” Amalia says.
If Elio handles logistics and he just lied about a room being clear, then either he’s the mole himself or he’s protecting whoever is, or both. And a guy with that kind of access, who’s scared enough to lie to his own people, is a guy who can be useful.
“He’s nervous,” I say. “You don’t cover for someone unless you’ve got something to lose.”
“Or unless you’re the one who’ll go down if they get caught.” Amalia straightens up and crosses her arms, frowning at the screen. “If Dominic’s pulling everyone who touched the last two shipments, Elio’s name is on that list. He knows they’re coming for him.”
“Which makes him useful to us.” I lean back and look up at her. “A scared man with access. We get to him before Dominic does, and either turn him into our source, or we hand him over and buy our way into Dominic’s good graces.”
She nods, still frowning at the screen. “We’d have to be careful about it. If we spook him or play it wrong, he’ll run to Dominic and tell him about us, and then we’ll have a problem.”
I want to say something, but Amalia bends toward me and presses her lips against mine.
All my thoughts scatter, and I reach up and slide a hand into her hair, kissing her back before she can decide she made a mistake.
She makes a small sound against my mouth and grips the front of my shirt. The chair creaks as I shift toward her.
Amalia deepens the kiss, her tongue sliding against mine with a hunger that matches my own. The little desperate sound she makes in the back of her throat goes straight to my cock.
I grip her hair tighter, tugging just enough to tilt her head how I want it, and devour her mouth. My free hand finds the back of her thigh, sliding up under the hem of her dress, my fingers digging into her skin.
“Come here,” I growl against her lips and pull her to me.
She climbs on top of me, straddling me in the chair. The dress rides up her thighs, bunching around her waist.
Fuck. Her mouth is on mine as I catch her panties and tug them hard, ripping them to shreds. She gasps as I throw the material away.
But then our lips connect again, and I hiss as she grinds down against me, rolling her hips. My cock is already rock hard, and I don’t think I’d be able to stop even if I wanted to.
I just need her. All of her.
Her hands fumble with my belt and zipper, yanking my pants open. I roughly pull the neckline of her dress down, freeing her breasts. I latch onto her tight nipple immediately, sucking hard, my tongue flicking over her hard bud while my fingers pinch the other.
Amalia lets out a loud moan, pushing her tit deeper into my mouth. When her fingers finally free my cock, she wraps her hand around me and I groan as she strokes me.
Then she rises up and guides me into her slickness. We both groan as she stretches around me. For a second, she doesn’t move, just stares into my eyes, my cock buried deep inside her.
As she starts rocking her hips, she tips her head back, and I kiss her neck. I grip her ass with both hands, spreading her wider and helping her fuck herself on my cock. Our movements become faster and harder, little gasps of pleasure escaping our throats.
“Harder,” I demand, my voice rough, as I thrust up to meet her, driving deeper, which makes her cry out.
She braces one hand on my shoulder, the other on the back of the chair, riding me like she’s trying to break us both. Her pussy squeezes me tighter with every stroke, and I don’t know how much longer I can last, but I’ll never forgive myself if I come first.
“Look at me,” I growl.
Her eyes lock onto mine as I thrust up hard at the same time. She lets out a loud cry, her whole body trembling as she clenches and spasms around me.
I keep fucking her through it, slamming up into her as her moans echo through the room. Then I bury myself deep and come hard, my mouth latching onto her neck as she collapses against my chest.
I stroke her back as we both pant for breath. Will she have regrets tomorrow? Will I? As she pulls back and stares deep into my eyes, I grab her neck and press my lips against hers once again.