Chapter 4
Chapter Four
“Has Colton found anything interesting about the people working for us? You went to see him this afternoon, didn’t you?
” Sage asks, running his finger up and down my spine in a way that makes goosebumps erupt on my skin.
I shiver and snuggle closer to him, throwing my leg over his, enjoying the way his body heat seeps into me.
I rub my face against his pec, not wanting to meet his eyes or answer his question.
Will he see what I did with Vienna as cheating, or will he be okay with it?
I know he expressed being okay with it in the past, but I don’t know if he will still feel the same way when faced with the reality of it.
He chuckles. “Who would have guessed Tori Russo is as cuddly as a kitten when she’s fully fucked.” We moved to his bed after the intense sex session in the shower.
I hiss at his words, which makes him pull me closer and press a kiss to the top of my head, still chuckling.
“I did go to see them this afternoon, but I kind of got sidetracked,” I admit, knowing I need to be honest about it.
His finger pauses on my spine, and I feel him inhale slightly. “Oh?” His voice is neutral, and I wince and close my eyes, not wanting to look at him when he rejects me.
“Yeah, Vienna kind of ambushed me, and we fooled around a little. When Colton returned, I forgot to ask him what he found about the trafficked women, and he didn’t offer up anything. Both of us kind of had our minds on other things.”
“Oh, and what were those other things? What did you and Vienna get up to?” His voice is still neutral, and my stomach rolls in distress.
“Oh, um, so we kind of went down on each other,” I admit, and there’s a loaded pause before he asks.
“Sixty-nine?”
“Yeah, and Colton kind of walked in and found us lying naked together.”
He squirms underneath me before groaning loudly. “Fuck, that sounds so hot. I wish I had been there.”
My eyes pop open, and I see his other hand gripping his rapidly hardening cock. “You don’t care? You’re not upset?”
He scoffs and rolls over, shuffling down the bed a little so we’re face-to-face.
“Tori, it would be hypocritical of me to be jealous when I know you watched me make out with Xavier and Tristan in the hot tub the other night. You also know I did a bit more with Tristan previous to that.” I remember watching them and thinking how good they looked, and that I’d like to be between them.
I’d also love to know how much further he and Tristan went.
In fact, I would love a play-by-play, but I’m not ready to admit that yet.
He’s looking at me with affection in his eyes and no small amount of lust. “I don’t have any problems with you fooling around with any four of them, as long as it’s only them and I have the same permissions from you.
Are you going to be upset if I fool around with Vienna? ”
An image of Sage pressed between me and Vienna fills my head. The idea of me fucking his ass while he fucks her has me squeezing my legs together. “Uh, no, can I play too?”
He smiles. “Of course, but there will be times when you aren’t there and I’m with her, or I’m not there and you’re with them. Is that going to be an issue?”
He’s insistent, so I take the moment to consider his question.
Will I be upset if he and Vienna fuck when I am otherwise occupied and can’t be involved?
There’s a small twinge of jealousy, but it’s not at the thought of the two of them being together—it’s at the thought that I would be too busy to join them.
The pressure and responsibilities of the Russo family that have fallen onto my shoulders in the wake of my father’s death and Gio’s apathy are enormous, and I resent that my life has become so complicated, but I am also proud that I have the ability to step up and make sure the Russo name stays feared.
“No, of course not. I’ll be jealous because I can’t be there playing too, but not at the two of you together. In fact, it makes me happy that if business takes me away from you for whatever reason that you will have others to keep you occupied.”
I don’t voice that who I am makes me a huge target, and I could die at any time. I’m just glad that if I am taken out that someone will be around to comfort him.
That reminds me, I need to speak to Gio about the line of succession.
Neither of us have children. I probably won’t ever have any.
I can’t imagine bringing a child into this kind of life.
Gio may want them one day, but until then, we need to make sure if anything were to happen to either of us that Sage becomes the head of the Russo family.
It doesn’t matter if he carries Russo blood or not.
Dad gave him our name, and that is enough.
“Then that’s settled. You and I are solid, and if we want to play occasionally with our new friends, neither of us are going to be upset,” Sage says, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear and giving me that gentle smile that I love so much.
It’s full of acceptance and love, and it makes me feel all warm and gooey inside. Ah hell, when did I become such a sap?
“Come on. Let’s get moving. We’ve wasted enough time.
I bet Gio will be home soon, and I can’t look at him without wanting to shove my Glock into his mouth and pull the trigger,” I say, pressing a kiss to Sage’s lush lips.
“But thank you, I needed this. It wasn’t bloodshed, but it did help a little. ”
Sage groans. “Fuck, it’s such a turn on when you get all stabby. Are you sure you don’t want to stay here and fool around a little more and take care of this?” He rubs his hard cock against my thigh, and I bite my lip as I consider attempting to give him my first blow job.
“As tempting as that is, we better not. I’m serious about running into Gio, and I’m almost certain he will bring them all back here tonight, even though I told him there are rooms for them at the Lucky Diamond. He won’t want to let Casey out of his sight when she’s had such a close call.”
I press a kiss to the middle of his chest then roll away before I cave. I slide off his bed and pad across the room, gathering the clothes he tore off me in his haste.
“I’ll meet you downstairs in fifteen?” I suggest, and he nods absently, his eyes glued to my naked ass as I open the door and walk across the hall into my own room. There’s still a smile on my face as I contemplate dressing and packing.
When I arrive downstairs after packing a bag for our trip, I find Sage in the kitchen talking to a bleary-eyed Suzy in a robe and Ben, who’s wearing a pair of sweatpants and nothing else.
“What’s going on? We didn’t wake you, did we?” I blush, thinking about how loud Sage and I were while we were fucking. I wasn’t even thinking about anyone being around. Did they hear us?
“Gio called and told us what happened. He’s heading back with those friends of his, and he wanted to make sure the rooms they stayed in last time were ready,” Ben explains, and I feel my cheeks heat even more. I look at Sage with wide-eyed panic.
He must be able to read my mind, because he just chuckles and shakes his head. “They haven’t been up there to check yet. They only just came out while I was making us coffee to go.” He points at the machine, which has my travel mug sitting under it.
I sigh with relief, and my cheeks stop flaming, but then I realize what he said, and I growl.
“One night, and then they need to leave. I arranged for them to have suites at the Lucky Diamond.”
Ben’s eyes widen at the aggression in my tone, and Suzy’s lips purse in disappointment.
“They just lost everything, Tori. Have some compassion.”
“They haven’t lost everything. They have a home they can go to but choose not to,” I snap at her, and when she flinches, I instantly feel guilty.
“Shit, Suzy, I’m sorry. It’s just that this is the only place where I can relax, and if there are strangers here, that isn’t going to be easy.
” I hate that my bad mood is causing me to lash out at my family.
The hurt in her eyes fades, and she nods.
“Yes, but Tori, maybe they don’t have to be strangers.
Being an island in the middle of a sea can get lonely.
You’re going to have to let people in eventually.
Remember, we talked about this.” She nods between me and Sage, reminding me of the previous advice she gave me.
I shake my head. “We don’t know enough about them. They seem to be everywhere, and I can’t be sure that isn’t a coincidence or something more sinister. I want to keep them at arm’s length until I can do a deep dive into their backgrounds, and I have no one I trust to do that at the moment.”
Ben nods, looking thoughtful. “She isn’t wrong, my little crepe.
” He puts his arms around his wife’s shoulders and places a kiss on top of her head.
“You always want to see the best in everybody, but you know in our line of work that can’t be how it is.
What about the Irish? Maeve’s family has no reason to lie or protect them.
Why don’t you ask if their tech wizard can dig into them a little? ” Ben suggests.
“That’s actually smart. I’ll contact Mickey and have him ask her to facilitate it for us. Do we know their last name?” I look at Sage, who frowns and shakes his head.
“No, I don’t think we do. We need that to do thorough background checks.”
“Leave that to me. I will do a little digging while they are here. I’m sure none of them will be going to school tomorrow, and I will fuss over them like a mother hen,” Suzy assures me, and Ben snorts with laughter.
“Suzy is a master manipulator and will have the information out of them before they even know they’ve been interrogated.”
“Okay, thanks, that would be great. Send me a message or an email, and I’ll make sure Mickey gets it.”
“How long will you be gone?” Suzy asks, looking at the bag at my feet with a frown. “That seems like a lot of packing for a night or two.”
I shrug. “We will head up to Seattle and make our way back down. I’m going to make discreet inquiries at all our locations, so don’t share where we are. Sage had the pilots take the jet to Cancun. As far as anyone is concerned, we’re on the beach drinking mai tais,” I instruct them.
“Even Gio?” Ben asks carefully.
“Especially Gio. He doesn’t get to know anything, and I very much doubt he will ask, but if he does, assure him everything is being handled. We have no big shipments of ammunitions or drugs due over the next couple of weeks. It’s just business as normal through the rest of our holdings.”
“Be careful, Tori. You were attacked the other night, and now Gio was targeted. It looks like someone is gunning for the Russo family again,” Ben cautions, and I frown.
“It does seem that way, and there aren’t many players left for us to point a finger at.
We took care of a lot of them just after Dad and Carla were killed.
I have a suspicious feeling that this is internal.
I was only targeted after I found out about the Kitty Kat up in San Jose.
I would place money on my attack being Lorenzo’s work.
As for tonight, I would suggest the same.
When Gio was living here, there was no way for Lorenzo to get at him, especially at night when this place locks down, but his college apartment doesn’t have those kinds of protections, and anyone could have breached it.
I’m just surprised they used the method they did instead of straight up sending an assassin to take him out in his sleep. ”
Sage leans against the counter and crosses his arms. “You know, you’re right. It seems a little random, to be honest, especially bombing both rooms like they did. You think they would have done their research first to figure out which one Gio was in.”
“So maybe Gio wasn’t the target?” Suzy suggests, and I gape at her in surprise.
She shrugs. “Well, I mean, they are family, aren’t they, and they were spread out over those two rooms. Gio rooms with Xavier and Tristan, right?
And the other three room together. I’m just saying maybe one of them was the target. ”
“Suzy isn’t wrong. We know absolutely nothing about them.
It’s why I want an independent background check ran on them.
Gio had one done back when he was originally going to room with them, but that was completed by one of the guys we disposed of after Dad died.
Turned out he was being paid on the side to leak information to a third party, which we weren’t able to get out of him.
No matter what I did to him, he took that information to his grave. ”
“That’s pretty loyal,” Ben comments offhandedly, but Sage shakes his head.
“Not really. He knew Tori was going to kill him, and she had already tortured him quite badly. It was a giant fuck you to her.” Sage grimaces, probably remembering the bloody swathe I cut through our family as I weeded out those who were loyal and those who had been turned to the dark side.
“Okay, so that is our main focus. You find out their surname, and I’ll put Mickey and Maeve on it.
It will give them something to do. I think Mickey is going stir crazy at the lake cabin.
He wants to help more, but he needs to remain comatose a little longer.
Sage and I will let you know how we get on. ”
“I booked us in small chain motels, so no one should recognize us. We’ll go to the various businesses undercover and make sure Lorenzo isn’t using the Kitty Kats as a breeding ground for his sex trafficking venture.”
“He was very unhappy when I took over the Kitty Kat clubs back when I first joined the business, but I only thought it was a bunch of sleazy asshole managers. I wonder if women were disappearing even then. I should go back through all our records. If only Carla was still around, she would know any details.” A stab of sadness ripples through me at the thought of my dearly departed pseudo aunt.
I still miss her and Dad on a visceral level, I just learned to shove it deep down.
Family men don’t show their grief in public, and I am being held to those standards despite my gender, especially because there are still people who want me to return to the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant, and submissive to a man who is in charge.
At that annoying thought, I grab my coffee off the machine, and Sage and I say our goodbyes to Suzy and Ben before escaping.