Chapter 4
Chapter four
Mauro
Idon’t like people.
I’m not one for loud noises or small spaces either. In fact, the only time I truly enjoy myself is when I’m alone. Preferably home with a drink in my hand and a fire roaring as I look out over the mountains that surround my home, isolating me from everyone and everything.
It’s what makes me…content.
Which is why I’m extra irritated at the man in my clutches, struggling for air, as I waste my night in a loud, overcrowded club instead of the comfort of my own home.
My gaze sweeps the room, noting the women who walk around wearing practically nothing as they serve drinks to men who should most likely be home with their families.
One woman appears from behind a curtain, walking onto the stage in six-inch heels, her bare breasts bouncing with each step she takes, causing men to howl and drool like prepubescent teenage boys who’ve never seen a pair of tits before.
I fucking hate strip clubs.
“Johnny, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Leo drags a hand through his short hair. “And if I were you, I would choose the easy way.” He shrugs. “Just a personal preference.”
My fingers loosen their hold enough to let Johnny speak.
“I swear, I don’t know anything!” Johnny’s eyes widen like saucers, darting frantically between us.
Leo tilts his head to the side. “Are you questioning my intelligence?”
Johnny pales, and my grasp tightens. He struggles beneath my touch, his hands clawing at my own as he tries but fails to remove my hold. It’s pathetic, really.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” Leo crosses his arms over his chest. “You’re going to tell us when the Vasilievs’ shipment is expected, and then Mauro and I will be on our way home, or you can drag this out all night and suffer a slow and painful death at the hands of Mauro.
” Leo checks his watch. “But I will warn you, every minute away from my wife will only make matters worse for you.”
Johnny swallows hard as a tremble rolls through him.
I merely tip my head to the side, observing him.
Not like I can tell him what it is I’ll do to him when we leave here. But sometimes, I find it’s more enjoyable to watch them use their imagination.
He looks anxiously between us. “They’re going to kill me if I tell you,” he whispers as if one of the Vasilievs is beside us listening to his every word.
“We’re going to kill you if you don’t,” Leo deadpans.
He doesn’t hesitate when he says, “It’s arriving on Friday. Ten p.m. At the docks.”
“You’re positive?”
He nods. “The girls are coming from Europe. Some new distributor they started doing business with.”
“Well, fuck.” Leo rubs his chin, deep in thought. “And good old Governor Johnson gave the approval for all of this?”
He nods as sweat beads travel down his temple.
“And why the fuck would he think he could do that when he knows New York is ours?”
Johnny’s mouth repeatedly opens and closes like a fish out of water. “I don’t… I don’t know.”
Leo pulls out his gun, pressing it against Johnny’s temple. “Don’t lie to me.”
“Because he gets a thirty-five percent cut of the profits!” he squeals out, his chest panting erratically.
“Interesting.” Leo regards Johnny. “And why you?”
“What?”
“Why did they choose you?” Leo enjoys playing with his prey, and that’s precisely what he’s about to do to Johnny.
“You’re a smart guy. Graduated top of your class from Yale.
Engaged. You have your whole life ahead of you.
Or at least, that’s what the quick background check on you shows.
So, why did they choose you to arrange everything? ”
He steels his spine. “Because they trust me.”
“No,” Leo notes, shaking his head as he steps closer. “It’s because they know you’re weak and won’t be missed after the monsters find you.”
The barrel of Leo’s gun presses into the man’s abdomen, quickly firing a round. Thanks to the silencer and the god-awful music blaring throughout every speaker, no one hears a thing.
“Get him out of here,” Leo instructs two of the guards we brought with us.
They remove him from my hold and carry him through the hall, disappearing out the back door.
“Looks like we’ll be busy this weekend.” He glances around the room.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here. I want to go home to my wife. And you look like you need some sleep.”
I nod. Sleep is exactly what I need.
As we maneuver through the crowd, a voice echoes over the speakers. “Gentlemen, we certainly have a treat for you tonight. A stage virgin! I hear she’s a little shy, so please give a horny welcome for our newest addition, Alina!”
Leo and I stop in our tracks.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise as the lights in the room dim and a spotlight aims directly at the stage behind us.
“Did he just say…?” Leo’s words die in his throat as he looks over his shoulder.
Alina is a common name, right? It could be anyone. It doesn’t mean it’s—
“Shit.” Leo grips my shoulder, his eyes widening before he looks at me. “It’s her.”
The thundering of my heart is the only thing I hear as I turn, entirely unprepared for what I see.
Alina.
A woman who spent years living on the Alarie Estate while her father was my father’s right-hand man. A friend of my sister. And the reason why I’m standing here today.
“Stop!”
My eyes lock onto hers…
My knees connect to the ground…
Her arms wrap around me…
My heart thunders beneath my chest…
A high-pitched whistle pulls me from my thoughts as I watch her walk to the end of the stage, slightly stumbling in a pair of sparkly heels that look too high for any sane person to walk in.
My eyes drift up and over her long tan legs to the gold bikini bottom barely covering her ass, to her full breasts practically spilling out of her gold matching top.
I have to be dreaming. That’s all. This is probably just some fucked-up nightmare I can’t wake up from.
I shake my head vigorously and close my eyes, but after I open them and find her still in the same spot, immense dread washes over me.
She swallows nervously as she reaches the pole, her hand shaking as she curls her slender fingers around it.
She tries to smile, but as she gazes around at everyone, her smile falters, and her eyes glisten with unshed tears as she squints.
And her glasses, which should be on the bridge of her nose, are, instead, being used to hold back her waist-length dark brown strands of hair.
Why the fuck isn’t she wearing her glasses?
“Goddamn! Shake that sweet ass for us.” A man stands at the very end of the stage, his hands on the edge as he leans closer to yell, “Let me see that pussy, gorgeous. I’ll pay top dollar for a private ride.” He holds out a wad of bills, throwing them at her feet like she’s some whore.
Red.
All I fucking see is red.
“What do you want to do?”
Leo’s words drown out as I stride across the floor, shoving men out of my way. An upbeat song blares through the speakers, a song she’s probably expected to strip to. To bare every inch of her flawless body to these fuckers.
My heart races as my eyes remain fixed on her.
“Take it off!” men begin to chant in a demanding chorus. Whistles and hollers echo around me as I watch Alina remove her hand from the pole, allowing it to fall to her side. She looks around nervously before suddenly closing her eyes and raising her hands to the knot behind her back.
I think I’m about to have a fucking heart attack.
I push one of the assholes to the floor, making room for myself as I place my hands on the stage, gripping the edge, and haul myself up.
My feet land with a heavy thud as I stand to my full height, towering over Alina. Her eyes pop open, and panic swirls throughout her brown irises.
Brown eyes that a man could get lost in and never want to be found.
“M-Mauro,” she stutters, dropping her hands and encircling her arms around herself.
She takes a step back, tripping in the process.
I catch her before she can fall, wrapping my arm around her waist, my fingers sliding over her smooth skin.
As I pull her against me, her eyes lock with mine, her cheeks heating up with most likely embarrassment.
But maybe something more…
“Hey, asshole! Get out of the way so we can see the show!”
The words send a bucket of ice water over my head, instantly transporting me back to reality.
A security guard, probably half my size, strides down the stage toward us. I yank my gun from the back of my pants and aim it straight at him. He freezes, throwing his hands into the air as he slowly backs away.
Glancing to my side, I watch as men try to peek around me to view her. They’re trying to see everything they have no right to ever fucking see. They’re envisioning her in their minds doing fucked-up things.
And I can’t allow it.
Why? Simple.
Because none of these assholes are worthy to see, touch, or even breathe the same fucking air as her.
Without a second thought, I shove my gun into my waistband and throw her over my shoulder, placing my hand over her ass to shield her from prying eyes.
“Mauro, put me down!”
She slams a fist against my back. But I don’t stop. I just keep walking as fast as I can to get the fuck out of here before I do something I’ll regret. Like, remove the eyes from every single man who saw her like this.
“Wait!” A woman with long dark hair, wearing almost the same outfit as Alina, dodges past the crowd and rushes toward me, thrusting a bag forward. “This is Alina’s.” She presses it into my free hand, her eyes flicking between Alina and me. “I take it you two know each other?”
I nod.
“And you won’t hurt her?”
I shake my head.
“Okay, well, have fun then!”
“Some friend you are!” Alina shouts as I quickly continue my path to get the hell out of here.
“Looks like pigs are flying!” the woman says behind us, laughing.
No idea what that means.