Chapter 7
Vincenzo
The hot water of the shower pelts against my back as my hand moves against my skin.
I stroke, long soapy strokes that cause my cock to throb and balls to ache, readying for an explosion already coming fast. Every fucking time I think about Anna and what she looked like with her legs spread, obeying my instruction to stay parted for me without one moment of hesitation, it’s like this but having her so close that I could smell her arousal, thinking about her in my lower-level playroom, it’s even worse.
No matter that I didn’t restrain her, I asked her not to move, and Anna obeyed so perfectly it was like she’d been playing in clubs for years, not just her very first time submitting to a man who admittedly likes to be in control, in all things.
She grasped the bedding to ward off her pleasure instead of moving an inch while I licked her pussy until she was creaming all over my face.
I close my eyes as white lightening hits behind my eyes and strand after strand of desire for my beautiful captive streams onto the shower floor and my body trembles through the release.
I lean my head against the coolness of the marble shower, watching as the evidence of my need for Anna mixes with the running water, swirls in a circle, and slowly slides down the drain.
Damn that angel’s power over me all to hell.
I shouldn’t have let her goad me. Never do I show opponents my weaknesses, but I did with her. Now she knows she can get the upper hand in a moment of red-hot desire.
If I were her, a mafia princess who has been trained well, I would use it to my advantage… And I know that she will try.
I smile, slowly washing my hair and rinsing, contemplating what I would do if in her position. Running scenarios she may try around in my head. A small chuckle bubbles in my chest. Oh, princessa, you have met your match with me.
This could be amusing, and Anna can bet on the fact that I’ll be ready for her games. Especially since I’ve ensured we have no staff in the quarters and delivering her meals myself could be quite interesting. As long as she doesn’t decide to practice her batting skills on me again, or worse.
A grin spreads across my face. I suddenly find myself looking forward to lunch in a way that I’ve never done before. Nicolo is right, this woman is getting to me, but that doesn’t stop me from envisioning all the ways I’m going to torture my princessa in this power game we play.
Making the rounds on the casino floor is usually quick.
Nicolo and Agosto ensure that I know exactly who the high rollers in the house are each day, or people that I need to accidentally bump into.
Those who may have mutually beneficial opportunities.
I make sure to shake hands and socialize with each and every one of them.
It’s a successfully proven tactic and has been for years.
Everyone likes to shake hands personally with someone they’re doing business with, look you right in the eyes, and make sure you’re telling the fucking truth.
Can’t do that on the phone, no matter what people say.
And once they know you, and you know their intimate habits like gambling to excess, fetishes that can be paid for in the lower-level, and they trust you with their secrets, lifetime alliances and partnerships are formed. It’s worth its weight in gold.
The minute I’m done mingling, I take a trip to the lower level to find Mistress Valentina.
She’s been as uptight as they come since we told her that Anna was taken by a rival crime family, and I had her friend delivered back to her home in Jersey after my soldiers gave her the third degree and learned nothing.
Valentina should know we’re going to protect her friend.
I told her that very thing but still she seems distant ever since that night.
Her friend Addie, smart fucking cookie that one.
Great friend of Valentina’s and best friend to Anna and an attorney by trade, she set her phone back to factory setting before we got to her and eliminated the possibility of us reading her messages to Anna or vice versa, and probably cost us a lost opportunity to get the scoop on one of the toughest kingpins around.
As second chair on a defense for him, she was bound to have some pieces of information someone, even the DeLucas, would find newsworthy. No one is going to hurt Addie. If we ever need a favor repaid for delivering her home safely, we know where to go and how to collect.
I spot Valentina speaking with one of the dancers from upstairs in the shadowed corner of the club.
She looks up catching sight of me and begins walking toward me wearing a short skirt, tucked in crisp white blouse that’s unbuttoned halfway to her navel, and her signature lace-up black boots.
“Vincenzo.” She keeps her voice low as she reaches me, pushing a piece of her long black hair back from her face “Have you found any leads on Anna? Her friend Addie texts me multiple times a day and I simply don’t know what to say. ”
“Walk with me.” Addie knows exactly who has Anna and fully understands why. It may have taken some convincing at first, but she’s as sharp as they come and knows damn well that Massimo will be under attack by the Gallinis and that Anna is safer anywhere that’s not under his roof.
Valentina falls into step, but even with her long legs and signature heels I find myself slowing my step to let her sync with my stride. The minute we’re in her office, I gesture to the chair behind her desk. “Take a seat.”
I close the door and settle into the chair across from her where no doubt more than one employee has felt the ire of our formidable DeLuca X Club manager.
She demands perfection in everything she does and also from the employees fortunate enough to be selected for jobs on this floor of the club.
Attention to detail, superb customer service, and assurance of privacy are all necessities to work with our most elite and decerning patrons.
Seldom does she let her mask slip, but I know the real story and why she puts on such a tough girl act for everyone else.
I hate keeping the truth about Anna from Valentina, but as much as I trust her, the enemy could snatch and torture her until she gave up my secret, and then Anna’s cover would be blown.
I won’t risk either of them. I make a mental note to have more guards put not only on my family but on Valentina as well.
I keep that to myself needing no more pushback than I’ve already got on my hands from her.
“You said that Addie, your attorney friend can be trusted?”
She nods. “Absolutely, Vincenzo. I mean, she works primarily the last few years for the defense of the families, aside from the fact that she and Anna are best friends. She’s worried sick.
Do you have any clue who the bastards are that took her?
I’d like to blow their fucking brains out myself,” she huffs.
It’s hard not to smile. Valentina has a tough girl act, but underneath she’s as soft as a kitten with a heart of gold.
But with her tough act, she certainly does make the perfect mistress and manager for the DeLuca X Club, that’s for damn sure.
A close friend of the families from little on, she grew up with all of us and is like having another sister.
Although I better never find my little sister Lanah in this club.
At least if she knows what’s good for the man she’s with.
“We know that Anna was taken, not by who or why yet. We’re working on it, Valentina.
What I need you to do though, is reach out to Addie and get a secure line.
She’ll have one to give you. She’s used to working with the families in a confidential manner.
Once connected through that, I want you to find out what Anna told her about in the last six months, about anyone who may have been looking for her, anything she can recall that will help Anna now. ”
Valentina’s lips purse. “She’s going to want to know why I’m asking, Vincenzo. She’s very smart.”
“We have faith in you. The family needs the information. Capisce?”
She nods as I stand to leave. “I’ll give her a call.” Valentina shakes her head. “She’s going to give me the third degree. I swear I’d hate to be on the stand with that woman.”
It’s hard not to smile. “You can handle it. Call me with any information.”
I take the stairs two at a time to the second level of the club with no time for the private entrance. It’s barely after breakfast but it’s still bustling with activity. Mostly staff preparing the space for the activities of the afternoon, evening, and well into the night.
I walk with purpose to the back of the club and rap on the closed office door.
Len opens the door with a cigar hanging from his lips.
I swear between him and my little brother Gianni they could keep the cigar companies in business.
He gestures for me to come in with a wave of his hand and points to the phone at his ear.
He sets the cell on the desk and hits the speaker button as soon as the door is closed. He slides back into his chair, and I fold myself into the one directly across from him to listen. “I’m back, Benny. What do you have on the information we requested?”
Benny clears his throat. “Bastian Gallini is a bastardo. They say his brother was ruthless, and a brutal son of a bitch. They also say Bastian is worse. Apparently, he has a hard on for Anna Cassone. He blames her for the death of his brother and went as far as putting a billion-dollar bounty on her head before Massimo Roselli announced his sister-in-law was dead.”
My jaw tightens with irritation. All of this I know.
What a waste of fucking time. How Nicolo has the patience to deal with this type of shit day after day, but he does and he’s fucking good at getting to the bottom of anything we need, too.
Unlike my impatient ass who would rather use a gun and get the information in a minute or under.
But yet, Len has his ways and has come through time and time again.
I clench my jaw together in an effort to bide the time, cursing my agreement to take this meeting for Nicolo.
Len flicks some almost falling ash into the ashtray. “Benny, if I wanted a fucking summary of what I already fucking know I’d read my goddamn notes. Give me something worth the green that we’re giving you. Capisce?”
“Yeah, yeah. Cool your fucking jets, Len. I’ve got something for your ass. Bastian Gallini is in Jersey City right now meeting with one of the Sarone brothers.”
Len inhales a deep breath. “Aren’t too many of the assholes left after we stopped them in their tracks. Lousy fuckers think they can try hitting one of our clubs? They didn’t even make it across the street. Pansy fucks. Who’s Gallini meetin’ with?”
Now we’re getting somewhere. Len may be older, but he’s one of our most loyal employees. Works the documents, keeps track of the casino accounts for us, and can always be counted on to get the scoop from outside sources when we need info on the down-low.
His source is quiet for a moment, a longer than normal pause.
My eyebrow arches.
Len holds up a couple fingers and rubs them together.
More fucking money. He knows he doesn’t need my approval to cut a deal to get info we need, unless it goes outside the norm, but it’s a sign of respect since he’s sitting in the same room with the boss.
I give him a nod.
His father, same fucking loyalty to my own. That’s why Len’s living out his later years in a nice office with a cushy job in our most exclusive club.
He clears his throat. “Look, let’s save ourselves some time. You push up the cost, I try to rein you in? I got no fucking time for that shit. How about another ten k on top of what we said?”
“You got yourself a deal.”
“Let’s have it then,” Len says, taking a long draw on his cigar letting smoke drift into the air. I swear who needs a fucking bullet with him and Gianni around, we’re all going to die of secondhand smoke. Fucking joke, it’s not.
Now that Benny has the money he’s looking for, he’s all open mouth. “Gallini and Enzo Sarone are planning a meetup tomorrow night. Down in your neck of the woods. Word in the back alleys is that Gallini wants the Sarones to join forces with them.”
Now he’s got my fucking attention.
Another short grey ash gets dumped in the ashtray. “You know what the long game is?” Len asks.
I nod, because this is where we want the conversation to go, that’s what we want to know.
There’s some rustling of papers and a pause.
My jaw tightens as the pause draws out. Len taps his cigar ashes into the ashtray.
A long-time habit because he hasn’t even taken a drag since the last time and it sure as hell hasn’t burned that fast. “You’re topped out, Benny.
Give me what I need, or you know I go somewhere else and you become invaluable.
And you know what happens to invaluable people who know too fucking much? ”
My eyebrow raises.
Benny clearly knows. “Fucking fine. Apparently the Gallinis are going after the Rosellis in Jersey City. Someone in one of your clubs whispered sweet nothings in the ear of a Gallini ally. Told them a story about a pretty little Cassone daughter being alive and well, instead of dead as hell. Gallini is out for blood. Says the Rosellis are responsible for the death of his brother, and that Anna is the reason for it all. He wants them dead and plans to take her as his wife.”