Chapter 7 #2
Chuckling, I took a sip of my drink. “I’m trying to maintain a calm exterior. Something just doesn’t feel right.”
“What about the prosecutor?” Montgomery had a sly smile on his face.
“I just don’t know yet.” Which was the truth.
“You can’t keep her, Alex. She’s not a puppy in the middle of the road.” Sinclair was already laughing.
“I know you love strays, but you don’t do well with them. You need to feed and nurture them, give them attention,” Montgomery teased.
“Are you suggesting I’m selfish?” I tossed back.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. That, and you tend to destroy anything and anyone who gets close to you.”
My brother was serious. Maybe it was true, but I had my reasons and in my mind, they were justified.
Fuck his warning. She was a problem that needed to be handled.
I’d never been known for protecting those I considered innocent.
Why now? Why her? The real question was whether there was a chance she was exactly who she’d tried to lead me to believe or a simply a pawn in a game.
With my teeth gritted, I rubbed my jaw, unable to keep my mind off her long legs and lips that I wanted to consume.
Everyone but me laughed, but Jaxon was eyeing me closely.
“Spit it out, brother,” I told him.
“You don’t think she’s working with whoever was responsible for killing Pops then setting you up for another fall. With you and Pops out of the picture, the territory would be ripe for a takeover.”
“Russo killing his own son would be brutal even for him. We have another player.” I’d already had that thought, which annoyed me since I didn’t want to believe Catherine was anything but what she appeared.
“Maybe this has everything to do with the Barishnikoff Bratva.” Sinclair eyed me carefully.
“Or the two cartels sniffing around,” Montgomery added.
“Maybe. And maybe the tooth fairy flew down from her perch. We don’t jump to any conclusions,” I said, taking a gulp of my drink, although I’d been known to do just that.
Today the smooth liquor did nothing to calm my anger.
Even though I reflected calm, my rage was blinding and bloody, deadly to anyone who crossed me.
Those who knew me well described the moment before I acted as the calm before the storm.
They were right.
The beast was about to be unleashed, which meant someone would die.
Maybe more. What had occurred with both our father’s death and today’s incident had taken planning.
What did they say about things coming in threes?
I wasn’t going to sit around and wait to see if that happened.
Everyone, every crime syndicate in the south and along the east coast, every member of law enforcement and even the general population of Louisiana were waiting to see my first steps as the new mob boss.
“We see what rolls out of the soot and debris. Then we act. As far as the woman, I’ll handle her myself. Until I decide otherwise, she’s not to be touched under any circumstances. Understood?”
Sinclair was grinning like this was a date. It was far from it. I was furious and would discover everything she had to tell me one way or another.
“Fine, brother. Just be careful that she doesn’t take more of your attention than necessary. This is a perfect situation for our uncle to use to try and gain loyalty from your father’s Capos. Some are old school and believe he should be the rightful leader.”
“Was that something you heard from our Consigliere, Sinclair?” It sounded exactly like something Jacques Cornwell would say. He knew the Capos much better than I did, although the two closest to my father had been around the family for years. They’d seen all the children growing up.
“He might have mentioned it. You should talk with him. He might prove helpful in ensuring Armand won’t pull a coup.”
Now I laughed. “Let him try. And I plan on talking to him. He must know who our father met with.”
“We’ve had soldiers scouring the street,” Sinclair added. “There’s nothing out there. You’d think there would be given Lorenzo’s death.”
Footsteps drew my attention, Jarvis walking in a few seconds later, eyeing me cautiously.
“What is it?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” he said and I’ll be damned if he wasn’t grinning.
“What?”
“Your… guest managed to escape.”
My jaw went slack. How in the hell had she managed to get out of the room? The only operating windows in the room were in the loft and unreachable without a ladder. Even then, she’d need to scale the building. Doable, but tough in heels and a skirt.
“How?” My entire body tensed. That wasn’t possible. What was I saying? With her it seemed everything was a possibility.
“The doors were locked, but one of the men noticed her racing from the backyard.” Jarvis was enjoying himself at my expense.
Tolerating disrespect was something I couldn’t endure.
Yet he was a friend, someone who’d stayed by my side when I’d decided to venture out on my own.
That didn’t mean his insolence didn’t piss me off more than usual. Why?
Because I’d managed even in my carefulness to allow a beautiful woman to get to me. In the brief time I’d known her, she’d found an unfathomable way of prickling my conscience, something not even my parents had caused me to do.
“Looks like you have your hands full.” Sinclair was also highly amused. It would appear everyone was enjoying my hardship at the hands of a woman.
“Find out what you can about Catherine Devereaux. I need to know what she’s made of.” I headed for the door. “And find out what our associates have to say about my arrest and our father’s murder.”
Orders had been given. Before I made it out the door, they were already preparing to leave.
I’d know many women in my life, but Catherine took the cake.
My warning hadn’t been powerful enough. She needed a stronger version of the sense of consequences.
“I’ll handle it.” After thumping down my drink, I yanked off my jacket, loosened my tie, and rolled up my sleeves.
If she wanted to play games, then we’d play.
I never lost.
“Before you go.” Jarvis stopped me. “You should know something else.”
“Be quick with whatever the hell it is.”
“Remember Randy?”
“The little thief. Yeah, what about him?”
Jarvis lifted a single eyebrow. “He found Bobby for us.” He took out his cellphone, pulling up a picture. “Take a look at this.”
While the photograph had been taken in a dingy shithole with nothing but a fluorescent bulb stuck in the ceiling, I could still make out the needle stuck in his arm.
“Goddamn drugs.”
“Take a close look.”
“Need I remind you that there’s a woman I just kidnapped seeking assistance in trying to convict my ass all the way to the electric chair.”
“Testy today,” he teased. “Take another look. I know a staged event when I see one. Besides, if what Randy says is true, Bobby came from the right side of the tracks.”
He was right in that the scene appeared a little too perfect, as if preparing for a scene in a movie. “Kids OD.”
“I’m just saying it’s another coincidence.”
“Maybe so. Right now, it’s last on my list.” Although it would stick in the back of my mind. If the Russos knew the kid had said anything, they’d ensure he didn’t talk again.
I rushed into the library with Jarvis and two other men following me.
She hadn’t broken a window, nor had she managed to unlock the set of doors leading out to the patio.
The glass was bullet- and tamper-proof in panes of the French doors, the lock impenetrable as the majority of the house was given the recent renovations.
But not all.
I’d yet to tackle windows that would have nearly impossible ingress and egress possibilities.
I took the spiral steps two at a time, eyeing the loft space before my eyes settled on how she’d accomplished the feat.
She’d moved the table toward one of the windows, obviously crawling on top.
Given she wasn’t very tall, her fingers would have barely touched the windowsill.
That meant she’d needed to climb to the ledge, crawling outside from there.
The evidence was clear with the window still being open. Who the hell was this woman? A gymnast on top of being a world class prosecutor?
“Jesus, boss. That took agility,” Jarvis said as he peered up at the open space.
“And guts. Have the men go through the property. If you find her, let me know. I’ll handle her from there.” I was pissed, but I also admired her spunk. Her defiance made my balls tighten just thinking about her refusal to obey my command.
Jarvis laughed. “You have neighbors.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” My neighbors knew who I was. They’d offered sympathy after my father’s death, a few women even bringing casseroles and plates of cookies before the funeral. While they’d been gracious in their offers, they’d looked at me warily.
The bad boy turned powerful mafia honcho, they were fearful of what I could do. Or maybe they’d simply wanted to get a look at a ruthless man who’d been shaken by the power of a gun.
They’d be wary of a woman professing herself to be a prisoner of a very bad man, perhaps even refusing to unlock their doors.
I planned on using that to my advantage.
As I walked from the room, I thought about her in more vivid detail. Did the woman have any idea what she did to me? Did she not understand what provoking a beast would do?
As thoughts of her continued ravaging my mind, I accepted that returning the beautiful attorney to her normal life, pretending as if we hadn’t met and we both didn’t crave a taste of the darkness was no longer feasible.
Catherine was right.
As of now, she was my prisoner. Any and all freedoms would be earned.
And all discrepancies punished.
To the full extent of the law.
My law.