15. Chapter 15
Dario
“You brought me to a sex club?” Jasmine hisses, and I can’t hide the humor on my face.
I bite my lip as her eyes frantically dart around the room, taking in the bed again.
What I would give for her to allow me the opportunity to restrain her and see how many times I can wring an orgasm from her.
Something tells me this woman, who exudes strength, would bask in the freedom of being submissive.
Jasmine meets my gaze with tight, narrowed eyes, her nostrils flaring as she breathes heavily. I realize the chances of my fantasy coming true, at least tonight, are null and void. I’ve well and truly pissed her off, and now mio toro stands here, hooves dug in and head reared back, ready to charge.
“Inferno is what you make of it. When you first entered, you thought it was simply a nightclub, and it could be that,” I answer her with a shrug.
“But, it can also be so much more.” My head cocks.
“It’s a place of freedom. You’re allowed to feel the way you do and explore your darkest desires without judgment. ”
Jasmine looks around the room again, her eyebrows still furrowed and jaw locked. When she turns back to me, she grits out her demand through clenched teeth. “Get me the hell out of here.”
I won’t say I’m disappointed our time in this room is ending without an orgasm for either one of us, but it’s to be expected.
I knew Jasmine would be pissed once she realized where I had brought her, but at least I witnessed the pique in her regard when her lithe fingers trailed over the long, leather tails of the flogger.
She bit her plush bottom lip as her hand skated over the thick, wooden paddle.
The hitch in her breath didn’t escape me when she felt the fibers of the rope that would look so gorgeous against her soft skin.
My little bull is curious.
“Are you sure I can’t persuade you to stay? You seem tense. Perhaps one of these toys here could help relax you?”
My teasing only further frustrates her, and Jasmine pushes past me with a huff, wrenching open the door and striding out of the room.
My long legs keep up with hers as she races down the corridor, passing patrons in various states of undress she missed earlier.
I mean, that girl has been sucking that guy’s dick for ten minutes, and I have no idea how Jasmine didn’t notice.
When we reach the part she referred to as the nightclub, I nod at Vinny behind the bar, who fires a cheeky grin my way. Once Jasmine arrives at the elevator, she frantically searches for a button that doesn’t exist.
“How the hell do I escape this place?” she huffs, her hands balled into fists and a bead of sweat now glistening above her brow.
I flick the key card out of my pocket and wave it in front of the scanner. “Our members have to use a special key card to access the single elevator that will bring you here.”
“Members? As in your…” Her voice trails off, and she glances at my crotch, which is surprisingly not as hard as it was moments ago.
I snort. “Members, as in the exclusive patrons who have been permitted to visit Inferno. We have a special selection committee, and not just anyone can gain entrance.”
“So then why am I here?”
I shrug my shoulders. “You’re with me.”
The doors to the elevator open, and Jasmine storms inside with a roll of her eyes. “I am not with you. I have made that very clear.”
“My apologies,” I say professionally, though I am not sorry. “I meant to say that you were accompanying me. It’s my club, so of course I have access, and I’m allowed to bring anyone I’d like with me.”
Jasmine scoffs. “Do you bring all of your attorneys here? Is this place the reason Megan is on maternity leave right now?”
I’m unable to stop the smile from spreading across my face.
If I didn’t know better, it sounded like there was a touch of jealousy in her accusation.
“You would be the first member of my legal counsel to be here with me, but I can’t guarantee that no employees of Jorgensen & Munson have memberships. ”
Jasmine narrows her eyes at me, and I simply shrug. I’m not in charge of who gains access here, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some of her colleagues have the finances and clean background checks to have been granted membership.
We stand there, her glaring at me, and me taking in her beautiful, round features. Finally, she huffs. “Why aren’t we moving?”
“Ah,” I say with a smirk, motioning around the space. “These things aren’t magic. You have to tell them where to go.”
Jasmine crosses her arms, clearly annoyed with me. I don’t understand why. I’m the epitome of charming. I scan my card once more, and we begin to ascend.
As we step into the lobby where she can make her escape from me, I expect Jasmine to move at full speed toward the exit. What I don’t expect is for her to whip around on me in the middle of the lobby, her finger in my face, and her blonde curls bouncing wildly.
“You have crossed too many lines. I have made it emphatically clear that you are my client and I am your attorney. There is no reason for me to be accompanying you anywhere but to the courtroom, which I can honestly say I am surprised we haven’t visited yet.”
I gasp with a hand to my chest and go to speak, but she’s not having it.
“I’m not finished, and you will listen to what I have to say.
There will be no more surprise visits to my office.
You will stop asking me to go with you anywhere, as that can be seen as a date.
I have already addressed the fact that I do not date my clients, and more aptly, I would never date you.
And I can’t believe I even have to say this, but there will be no more taking me to fucking sex clubs. ”
Her voice has heightened as she makes each of her points, and a small crowd has turned to watch my ridicule. I look around sheepishly, groaning as I see my eldest brother approach.
Gio tugs at his cuffs when he reaches us, extending a hand to Jasmine. She stares at his hand, then him, and a part of me lights up when she refuses to make contact.
He clears his throat. “While I take great pleasure in you taking my brother down a few notches for what I am sure he most certainly deserves, I do have to ask that you stop making a scene in the middle of my establishment.”
Jasmine blinks at Gio, then looks at me before she takes in the strangers surrounding us. She groans, then reaches into her pocket before she flashes frantic eyes my way. “My phone. It’s still downstairs.”
I pull my own out and send a message to Valentina. The nosy crowd has dispersed by the time she makes it upstairs with Jasmine’s belongings. “It was a pleasure meeting you,” she says cordially. “I hope you plan to join us again soon.”
“Definitely not,” Jasmine grits out, and Gio chuckles. When she looks at him, he rolls his shoulders.
“If you decide to change your mind…” He hands her a business card he had tucked inside his jacket pocket. “Message this number, and we’ll make sure you’re accepted.”
Jasmine stares up at Gio before blinking a few times, then turning to look at me. She rolls her eyes so hard I almost demand I escort her to the gift shop for some painkillers, but she’s too quick to turn around and approach the sliding glass doors.
“I’ll see you next week,” I holler behind her.
“No, you won’t,” Jasmine shouts back.
“It’s a date!” I watch her beautiful backside escape from the hotel-casino owned by my brothers, a smile on my face, regardless of the beatdown she gave me.
When I turn back to Gio, he shakes his head and walks off.
“Who’s the girl?” Gio asks as I make my way into his office, noting that Luca, per usual, is already here.
“Jasmine Baker, our new legal counsel.”
“I like her.” Gio gives me a smug smile.
I glare at him, my shoulders tensing and fists forming. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
Gio’s smile grows. It’s fucking scary as hell.
Luca snorts, and I look over at his smug face, shaking out my hands. “Oh, shut up.”
I turn back to Gio, who’s laughing as he pulls his favorite bottle of bourbon from the bottom drawer of his desk. “Look at you all smitten.”
“I’m not smitten. I’m simply curious,” I insist, but I can tell by the looks my brothers are giving me that they’re not buying it. “I am!”
Gio takes a sip of the amber liquor, then holds up the bottle to ask if I want any. When I shake my head, he places it back inside the drawer. “It seems your curiosity isn’t reciprocated.”
“Oh, it’s there,” I say with a smile, remembering how curious she was at the things she found behind the door of room three downstairs.
“Regardless, do you really think it’s in our best interest for you to pursue anything with our attorney?”
I shake my head. “It wouldn’t matter. She’s bullheaded, and since we’re clients of hers, that means I am strictly off-limits.”
“Probably for the best,” Gio says with a sigh. “Especially with the shit we’ve found ourselves in this morning.”
My eyebrows narrow in question, and Gio tosses photographs on the desk. The grainy images show men lying in their own blood inside a warehouse. Our men.
“What the fuck is this?”
Gio runs a hand through his graying hair—this past year has truly aged him.
My father may not be completely out of the game, but when he stepped down from most of his duties last year, Gio stepped up, and the mafia life isn’t too kind.
“It’s the reason I’ve been visiting families all morning and giving my condolences to new widows and orphans.
Fuck, guys, I don’t know what has been going on or how whoever it is that’s after us is always a step ahead, but we have to fucking do something. ”
“We have no leads? Surely you got something out of Matty’s girl.” I look over at Luca, who somehow manages to frown even deeper than usual.
“Just bullshit,” he mutters, and I look back to Gio for an elaboration.
Gio takes another swig of his drink. “She squealed like a fucking pig, giving us everything we could ever want on the Matarazzos, only for it to all be fucking lies. She fed us misinformation, and we looked like fools following her leads. Fucking Matty is probably lounging on one of his mattresses he can’t fucking sell, laughing at us. ”
“Where is she now?” I ask Luca.
“I let her go.”
I blink at my brother, surprised at the news. “Someone crossed us, and you just let her go.”
He hangs his head. “I’m not a monster.”
Gio and I glance at each other with knowing looks. After a moment passes, I blow out a breath. “So, what do we do?”
“We watch our backs. We don’t go anywhere without telling each other. And we pick up every last member of the Matarazzo’s crew until this shit stops happening.”
I nod in agreement, but Gio isn’t finished.
“And Dario,” he says, and I look up at him. “We stop fucking with our attorney.”