Chapter 12
I rolledup my sleeves as I walked into the warehouse. Dimitris was in mid-swing when he saw me.
“Has he talked yet?” I asked, my eyes raking over the guy sitting in the chair. I’d never seen him around before. In my world, that didn’t mean much. Turnover could be a real issue.
“Not yet.”
Dimitris walked to his jacket which was slung over a chair, pulled a cigarette out, and lit it. “I figured you’d want to persuade him.”
“You figured right.” I took a swing, and I didn’t stop until I was sure he’d been properly tenderized. My knuckles were battered and bruised from repeated contact with bones and teeth.
Folding my arms over my chest, I stared at him and waited. I didn’t have to say anything. He knew what I wanted.
The only sound was my brother”s inhaling and exhaling, his smoking punctuated by heavy breathing from the guy I had worked over. He began squirming, tugging on the restraints that kept him tied to the chair. He was grunting, groaning, and straining.
“I’m not talking.” He panted. “There are people scarier than you’ll ever be.”
“That’s one hell of a hasty judgment to make when you haven’t been here all that long.” I shot back. The guy didn’t realize I was ambidextrous and I didn’t mind having matching knuckles.
I walked to the chair where Dimitris had his coat, grabbed the one next to it, and spun it around so that I was sitting with my arms over the back. “You have my word that if you talk, I’ll let you go.”
He curled his split lip. “Yeah, and then Smokey Joe over there sinks one in my back as I’m leaving.”
“No, he won’t. You’ll walk out of here.”
I paused, giving him a minute to think. He shook his head and then mumbled something inaudible.
“Who.” I barked.
The guy shook his head again. “He’ll kill me.”
“You’re right. Which means you’re dead either way, so you might as well tell me.”
We just sat there in silence, letting him stew. I had time and patience. Well, more time than patience, but I wanted to know who tried to take Claire. I could protect her better if I knew who it was.
He grunted. “Moretti. Says Franklin screwed him over, and he’s taking what was promised.”
“Is the girl all that was promised?” I wondered if Franklin was pitting us against the Italians. They had a bigger family and a cavalry if they needed it, provided by other families.
“Something about a fund or something. I don’t know. I was just told to grab the girl while her daddy was away.”
“Franklin was set up?”
He shrugged and looked away, but the answer was clear. That was why he flew to New York at the last minute. The guy swung his head and looked at me. “They know it’s you.”
“They know it’s me… what?”
“Don’t be stupid with me. You’re the one hitting the families.” He narrowed his eyes. “You might as well kill me. There’s no telling what Marco Moretti will do to me.”
“Why do you think I was going to let you walk out of here?”
“You said you were going to.”
“Yeah, because I knew he’d take care of you for me.” I smiled.
His eyes were wide with realization. “No. Listen. I’ll do anything. Marco and Franklin were supposed to be forming an alliance, but something happened. Something with Emil.” He talked faster. “Next thing I know, Emil is dead, and Marco is out for Franklin’s blood. That’s everything. All I know.”
I sat back, thoroughly confused. This was a chessboard that’d been knocked over, and I was trying to figure out where the pieces were. “Untie him and let him go.”
“No.” The guy fought against the restraints again.
Thea caught my eye from the edge of the entrance to the warehouse. I gave a slight nod. I was doing the kindest thing I could for Antonio because he was right. If Marco got him, he could drag his death out who knew how long. Thea would make it quick and painless. I knew I said I’d let him go, but he was a dead man walking, and this was a mercy killing.
Dimitris pulled out his knife, slashed the ropes, and yanked Antonio up. “Get out.”
He looked around, panted a few times, and then took off. I stood up and walked to the table just as a loud pop sounded outside.
“This isn’t good, Lucas. They know it’s us.”
“They know it’s us, and something’s going on between Benoit and Moretti.” I crossed my arms over my chest and lowered my eyes to the concrete. “The only thing I can put together is Franklin promised Marco Claire’s trust fund and then didn’t trust Marco to sign over what they agreed to. Then he came to me.”
“Think he was trying to get Marco to come after you?”
“Or me to go after him.”
Dimitris grabbed another cigarette and lit it, taking a long draw. “We gotta do something. Meet with one of the other families. We can’t keep going like this, or they’re going to wipe us out. Then who’s going to keep Momma’s promises?”
What my brother didn’t know was that I’d been considering that for a while now. I’d kept it to myself because it put us at risk, but if the families knew—we were already at risk.
When I got home,it was late, and I was strung out and exhausted. Dimitris, Ari, Alexander, and Thea had decided we were going to reach out to the Georgiou family. I wasn’t keen on aligning with anyone, but if we were going to seek that route, Jason Georgiou was the least offensive choice.
I wasn’t thrilled they had strip clubs, but that was better than selling women. We had been in that world for longer than we had been out, and I knew for a fact that his clubs were safe. His family took care of the women, and they didn’t involve underage girls.
The way Ari and Thea put it, we were doing what we had to do, not what we wanted to do. My brother also thought Jason was leaning more toward our way of doing things. That made the decision a little less repulsive.
I dragged myself to my bedroom and stopped at the foot of my bed. What a sight for my tired eyes.
Claire curled up in my bed, hugging one of my shirts, was about the sexiest thing I had ever seen. She had showered, and I knew she had because she had used my soap. I wasn’t a fan of her smelling like me, but it almost felt like she had wrapped me around her with what she had on hand. The blood drained from my brain and pooled in the lower areas of my body.
The little silky shorts weren’t helping my situation at all. Then her shirt… it’d ridden up giving a peek at the smooth planes of her stomach. For such a small woman, she had a lot of skin that I wanted to devour.
What I found most alluring was her hair. I needed to get cleaned up. I shouldn’t have sat on the edge of the bed and run my fingers from my undamaged hand through her hair, but I couldn’t stop myself from doing it. It was long enough to touch her waist and silky smooth.
Man, she was beautiful, and she was mine. Moretti wanted to take her from me. For that, I wanted to burn his empire to the ground. I wanted to grind the Moretti name from existence. He would have hurt her. My sweet little Rapunzel would have been a broken, battered princess if he had gotten his hands on her, and the thought of that sent me into a blind rage.
Claire gave a soft sigh and turned, facing me. I was still furious, but that little pouty smile was replacing all that anger with need. I bent, placed a light kiss on her temple, and stood. I wanted to lie next to her, but I couldn’t do that while I had another man’s blood caked on the knuckles of my right hand and smelled like a sewer.
I went to the bathroom to shower, and the bench looked too inviting. I took a seat and leaned my back against the wall with my eyes shut. I heard bare feet, rolled my head, opened my eyes, and found Claire standing at the door.
“Hi,” she said. “I hope it’s okay that I fell asleep in your bed. I didn’t mean to. I was… missing you and wanted to be close.”
Why did that soothe me so much? “You missed me, huh?”
Her lips curved up, and I was ready for whatever smart comeback she had. “Yes, I did.” Her eyes skated over my face as she walked to me. I took a breath. Now that I was sitting, I didn’t want to move.
Her fingers slid through my hair, over my ear, and came to rest on the side of my face. “You’re tired.” That same hand trailed down my face, over my chest, and down to my damaged hand. “And you’re hurt.”
“I’ve had worse.” I smiled. “A good shower will take care of most of it.”
Claire held my hand, studying it for beat after beat. Her eyes found mine again, and I could swear there were tears. “Are you hungry?”
This woman was doing things to me that could be classified as torture. I kept my cool, though, but barely. “I could eat.”
“Hot or cold?”
I shrugged. “Honestly, I’m so tired I don’t care.”
“Okay. I’ll see what you have and go from there.”
She turned, and I grabbed her hand, spinning her back to me and pulling her into my lap. Her lips met mine, and man, I could get used to coming home to this. No tongue, just soft kisses. I didn’t know what it was about her, but this intimacy, this kind of connection, had never appealed to me before. I had had sex a multitude of times with a multitude of women, but I had never had this. This precious thing that we shared was only ours. With her, it was all I wanted.
I reeked. I knew I did, and it was completely unfair to her to subject her to it, but I just wanted to hold her, kiss her, and keep her as close as possible. I shouldn’t have wanted her. I didn’t even know where her loyalties lay, but she was under my skin, in my head, and I couldn’t seem to stay away.
As we continued those soft kisses, she said, “May I ask you a question?”
Taking a pause, I looked at her. “Ask, and I’ll let you know if I can answer it.”
“How did you manage the grief of losing your sister, dad, and mom? It’s been six months, and I’m struggling to cope. I can’t imagine the heartbreak of what you went through.”
I expected something silly or insignificant. Not that. Not a question that felt like an examination of my heart. No one had asked me this before. “I don’t know. I was the oldest. The only choice I had was to keep it together.”
Biting her lip, she lowered her gaze. “I bet you did feel like that.” Her eyes met mine again, and they shimmered with unshed tears. It’d only been six months since she lost her mom. It’d been three years for me, and there were times I felt like my heart was being ripped out all over again.
Her eyes searched mine. “Maybe we can learn to be friends and grieve together.” The words were filled with vulnerability and hope.
I buried my hand in her hair and touched her forehead to mine. God, it felt like I had been wandering around in the desert, and this woman was the water I didn’t know I needed. I wanted to drown in her. “I don’t know how good I’ll be at friendship.”
“Me either.” She gave a cute little laugh. “I hear doing our nails can be a bonding experience.”
I pulled back, and she had this thousand-watt smile with her eyes glittering in the soft bathroom light. I guessed it was a coating of unshed tears that made them glisten. “You think you’re funny, but you aren’t.”
“Yes, I am.” That smart mouth.
I kissed her one more time because I couldn’t resist and set her on her feet as I stood. She sashayed to the door, looked over her shoulder and winked.
That hot shower I’d dreamed about for the last few hours would be frigid.
Two days later,I sat in the back booth of the restaurant, nursing a Scotch as I waited for Ari. He’d managed to get me a meeting with Jason Georgiou much quicker than I had anticipated. I’d hoped he would be receptive. I knew his family had suffered hard times, too, so that was a point in my corner.
I was still trying to digest and figure out Franklin Benoit. Remy had told him what happened. Moretti attacked his home, and he continued with a business trip? It wasn’t believable. I just couldn’t put together what he had planned.
The only thing I knew for certain was that Claire wasn’t involved. I saw the look on her face after I got her in the car. That wasn’t someone used to the violence and chaos of my world. She was in shock. Horrified. She’d actually felt sorry for that scumbag who would have delivered her to Moretti without a second thought.
When the door to the restaurant opened, the rest of my thoughts were put on hold. A lot riding on this meeting. Ari and Jason reached the booth, I stood to greet them.
Jason wore an expensive suit and had a stern expression on his face. If I was reading him right, he felt the same way I did. This had the potential to strengthen both families. We shook hands.
“Jason.” I looked around, and just as I was about to ask whether his second would be attending, Thomas entered and took long strides until he was next to Jason.
“Lucas,” Jason said, never breaking eye contact. “Long time no see.”
“How’ve you been?”
He shrugged. “Business is good, so same as usual.”
I smiled. “Good to know. Whiskey still your flavor?”
“The cheapest stuff you got.” He laughed.
I shook my head. How he stomached that rotgut was beyond me. Jason and I were taking our seats when Ari arrived with glasses and bottom-shelf whiskey. “Have a seat, fellas.”
When our glasses were filled, I raised mine aloft. “Salut!”
The trio repeated it back to me, and it was time for business.
“So, Ari says you’ve got something important to discuss,” Jason said as he poured himself another drink.
“What do you know of Franklin Benoit?” I asked.
Jason swirled the amber in his glass. “I don’t worry about the French or the Italian as long as they stay out of my area. That said, he’s a cockroach.”
I grunted. “What else?”
“I’ve got some friends of friends that I trust. I’m told he screwed over Marco Moretti. I don’t know the details, but I can’t see Marco letting it go.”
“I’ve heard the same.”
Jason studied me for a minute. “I’ve also heard he’s got an alliance with you. Something about marrying his daughter.”
“It’s something.”
“Why am I here?” asked Jason.
“This thing with Marco could bleed out to the rest of us. I want to know if someone’s got my back if I need it and offer the same to them. Someone I can trust.”
“I see.” Jason threw back the drink. “I guess that’ll depend on what you know about Benoit.”
“He killed Gianna and Dad.” I held his gaze as it registered what I just said.
He exhaled. “Gianna?”
“Yeah, we don’t have proof, but we followed a lead at the time, and it led back to him. I think the French are due for a leadership change.”
“What about your alliance with him?” Jason asked.
Ari cut me a glance.
My brother and I stared at each other. I was going to lay my cards on the table. I wouldn’t let him in on what we were doing as far as our hobbies went, but I was going with my gut regarding Franklin. “I think he’s trying to strike us before we can strike him.”
“So you think the alliance he’s suggested is a ruse?”
I nodded. “I think he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, so he was planning to set me up against Moretti, but something went wrong.”
That was it. Had to be. That was why Emil was killed. He knew. I glanced at Ari, and there was a silent understanding. He was on the same page as I was.
Thomas spoke up this time. “But you’re marrying the daughter?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Is that a problem?”
Thomas held my gaze. “As long as she’s not a daddy’s girl.”
“His daughter thinks cockroach isn’t low enough, and she’s not involved.” My voice was clipped. “Again, is that a problem?”
Shaking his head, Jason replied, “No. That does beg the question, though. How do we fortify our union when there’s no blood involved?”
“Is Anna married?” I knew the answer before I asked. Anna was Jason’s sister. Talk about oil and water. Thea couldn’t stand the girl, but that was my sister’s issue. Anna was all right, and if things were different, I’d be offering myself for the marriage.
“No. Do you have someone in mind?”
“Me,” Ari responded. “I’m only a few years older than Anna, and I’m Lucas’s second. I’m the logical choice.” I hadn’t discussed it with Ari, but I would have if he hadn’t volunteered. That showed initiative, and that was admirable.
I sat back. “Would Anna be on board?”
“She’ll do what she’s told.” Jason looked at Ari. “There might be kicking and biting, but I’m told some like that sort of thing.”
I ducked my head, hiding a smile. Maybe Dimitris would be better for this.
Grumbling, Ari replied, “It’ll be fine. As long she knows her place.”
Jason poured everyone another drink and lifted his glass. “To family.”
Yeah, to family.