Chapter 6
Matt
I watch the feed the twins hacked for me with a broken heart.
“And you say this is being broadcast across all of Javier’s holdings?”
The twins nod in unison. “Every night. Looks like they’re giving the whole Empire a show.” Holly shrugs. “I dunno. Maybe they don’t know they’re being filmed? They can hide cameras in just about anything these days.”
Aron knows. If there’s anyone who can spot a hidden microphone or camera, it’s him.
Jules clears his throat next to me. “Um, Don Matteo … Should we even care? It’s just that traitor Aron fucking his wife. What’s the big deal?”
That’s right. I can’t make this a big deal.
I have to just watch it and pretend like it’s not tearing me apart to see this.
“You’re right, Jules.” I straighten my shoulders and contemplate my next move.
“But maybe the traitor doesn’t deserve to have that kind of pleasure in life.
He left the Syndicate, chose Javier over us, and we need to demonstrate that this type of behavior isn’t tolerated. ”
“If you wanna hit ‘em hard,” Holly says, reaching past her twin brother’s arm to point at a map on the table, “hit ‘em here. This is the dock where Javier’s cocaine comes in. It’s like fucking clockwork. Every night at midnight.”
“Then we hit tomorrow night. Jules, get the men ready. I want twenty—no, thirty of our top men armed and in place by eleven.”
“You got it, Don.”
My people scatter to prepare, leaving me alone with Cinder, my fake girlfriend, and Gia, her guard and lover.
“I don’t like it,” Cinder says, tapping her lip with a finger. “Aron is just as good as Gia at finding bugs, maybe even better, so he had to have known they were recording him. Why would he go along with it?”
“There’s an easy answer for that,” Gia says. “They’ve got his daughter, for fuck’s sake.”
That’s true, but … couldn’t he have let us rescue him first? We could have worked together to extract the baby without her getting hurt. Aron didn’t need to—He didn’t need to perform like that.
He didn’t need to betray me.
Before the melancholy truly sets in, I excuse myself and head to the mansion’s gym. I need to burn off some steam.
Rico, another one of my regular guards, catches me stalking the halls alone, and he falls into step without a single word spoken. A valuable trait for a guard to have, but inconvenient at the moment. I plan on working the punching bags as hard as possible, and I’d rather no one see my distress.
While I change and wrap my hands, Rico stands silently by, ready in case someone gets this far inside the mansion. It’s an unlikely event, but then again, Javier got to my father in his own penthouse suite.
Someone got to Aron here.
I’ve been avoiding that poisonous thought for days, fearful that it would turn into full-blown paranoia.
What if someone I trust got to Aron?
It could’ve been nearly anyone. Jules. The twins.
Rico, even. I eye him suspiciously, but he stands a respectable distance away, near enough for aid if I need it, but far enough to allow me a modicum of privacy, his gaze sweeping the gym for trouble while avoiding directly landing on me.
If he’s the mole, he’s acting normal enough to hide it.
Is it acting, though, or is he just doing his job?
Great. I’m already paranoid.
“Hey! Rico!” He looks over at me, and I nod in the direction of the lockers across the room, where everyone in the mansion has their personal gym gear stored. “Gear up and wrap your hands. We’re having an impromptu boxing match.”
“Now, boss? But who will watch you if we’re fighting?”
“Are you disobeying a direct order, Rico?”
“No, boss.” He trots over to his locker and opens it, changing right there in front of me rather than going to one of the changing rooms.
Jock strap and all.
Rico’s an attractive enough man—rugged good looks, blonde and fit—but I always thought his tendencies were more to the female side of things.
I’ve seen him date several women, some relationships lasting quite a long time.
He’s never shown a single indication that he might be anything other than straight.
I shake my head a bit to clear it. I must be losing my mind. Just because Rico wasn’t comfortable leaving me without a guard for even that short time doesn’t mean he’s gay. It doesn’t mean he’s trying to show off … He’s just doing his job.
As we square up on the mat, Rico smooths his hair down and throws a few test punches. “What are the terms of the fight, boss?”
“No rules, no restrictions,” I say, tossing out a few aimless hits of my own. “No holds barred.”
Rico pauses, his handsome face screwed up with confusion. “I could hurt you.”
“And I could hurt you. Remember the fight with Grady?” He nods. Of course he remembers. I’ve still got plenty of bruises from it. “Then don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself.”
“Roger that.”
Without any further words, Rico bounds close and takes a swing at my head. I dodge and hit back, my fist landing on his jaw. Something cracks, but Rico doesn’t stop. Back and forth we go, trading hits and even grappling at some points, getting closer and closer.
Before I realize what’s happening, Rico sweeps my leg and knocks me to the mat, following close after to pin me. I can’t move, and his face is inches from mine. We lie there, tangled, panting for air, when—
“Rico, what the fuck?” I shout, breaking his hold and rushing to the other side of the mat.
“What, boss?” He wipes his mouth, which was just on mine, looking perplexed. “I thought you liked that, Don Matteo … I thought—”
I pace back and forth, mind racing.
He kissed me. Rico kissed me. Not a little smooch, not a peck, but a real, deep, passionate kiss.
Fuck.
I was not expecting that. I didn’t want that. Not from him.
“Don, I—”
“That’s enough for today.” I rip the wraps off my hands and storm over to my locker. “Session over.”
“But—”
I lock the door to the changing room behind me, ignoring any pleas Rico might have.
Is this what I need to expect from my men? Loyalty to the degree that they’d do something like this for my sake? Is that what I want from my men? I wanted it from Aron, sure, but only because I’m in love with him. I respect Rico, I appreciate his dedication to the Syndicate, but this?
It’s too much.
I have to draw a line. Damnit, not only that, but it has to be a public line. I have to make sure that my men know in no uncertain terms that I neither expect nor desire this kind of display. How can I do that, though, without letting on the real reason I wanted Aron back?