Dancing with the Mob: A Dark Mafia Romance Two-Book Collection

by Suzanne Hart

  I knew that wasn’t true either. I lifted my eyes to meet his, willing myself to only say the bare minimum. “Yes,” I murmured. “It’s true. I have been with Mikey Leone.”

  I heard his sharp intake of breath. His controlled nodding and puckering of his frowning face as he prepared himself to confront the truth about his daughter. “Did you know anything about the attack on Nathan, about the planned hit on him in the hospital?”

  I felt my own brow crossing, confused. I shook my head, frantically trying to hold back the words backing up in my throat, itching to be shouted out. “No, Papa. I did not; I knew nothing of that until seeing it on the news. The nurse, she’s going to be alright.”

  He looked relieved by a degree. He believed me on that one point, which was mostly true anyway. I had no idea Mikey was ordered to do anything against Nathan, or any of us.

  “I believe you, Natalia. I do.”

  He looked incredibly sad all of a sudden, shifting in his seat, trying to relieve some of his turmoil.

  “I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you on the phone. I was so angry when I suspected things. Then when I found out your mother had helped you to leave us, I felt betrayed. I’m glad you have come home to us.”

  Dragged here against my will? Yeah sure! Welcome home!

  “Papa, I came back to see Nathan to make sure he was alright. Mikey…” His eyes darkened at the mention of the name, as quickly as I had regretted saying it. “The Leone, he didn’t know what he was doing. He was set up to be the fall guy by his own family, they have disowned him! His allegiance is to no one anymore. I want you to know that, Papa, his allegiance is to…”

  “Natalia!” He cut me off. “I have heard you. I don’t want to hear you defending him like that. It’s unpleasant, not in my house. Please.”

  He was working hard to remain collected, and I could see he was thinking again, weighing one thing against another in his mind. His ultimate goal? I had no idea. I told myself to just sit tight, to get through the talk and hopefully be back on a plane in a few hours, god-willing.

  “I can’t allow you to see him, Natalia. You must understand that. If it became known, the name Bernardi would be a laughing stock. As it is, we are already being targeted by the Leone’s without any reprisals… so far. I have to act against what they have done. They have to pay. I can’t have you running around the country when the bullets start flying. I nearly lost a son this week; I couldn’t lose my only daughter. You have to understand this, Natalia!”

  We sat in silence. I didn’t say anything or even look at him. I was shuffling the cards in my mind, they all looked like jokers. Then it occurred to me, I could tell him a little bit of each dilemma, without revealing my whole problem or plans. Just as he had said, he didn’t want all the details.

  “Papa, listen. The Leone boy, he could be useful to us. He has already told me his own family have disowned him. They can’t control him, but he does have intimate contact with his sister, the Mia Bella magnate. He has access to inside knowledge which would be useful to you, to us!”

  He was looking past me, frowning again. To hear such talk was blasphemous, to hear it from his daughter, a woman; it was worse. It was a real heresy in the Bernardi house.

  “What would you have me do, Natalia? Have this man in my home? Treat him like a guest? The sworn enemy of this family, to be included in conversation? I can’t do it, I won’t!” He caught his temper. I saw his eyes get dark, then grow a little brighter again, as he told himself how ridiculous it all was.

  “I don’t know the details, Papa. But he said he has been offered money, a lot of money; to reveal his family’s offshore accounting details to an outside party…” I watched my father’s brow rise on one side.

  “Who?” he said, feigning disinterest. “Who would ask that and exactly how much?”

  “I don’t know, Papa. I only overheard his phone call,” I lied. “I think it was a hundred million though, maybe two.” I could see he was interested. I had to play dumb and he had to play disinterested.

  He leaned back in his chair, spreading both his hands wide in front of him, gripping the table’s edge. He was hiding a smile in a strange, puffed-up frown. He was interested.

  “How close are you and this… Mikey Leone?” he asked suddenly, in a very friendly tone. His eyes had started to shine, a good indicator he was telling himself a new and better plan was afoot.

  “I think he might trust me,” I lied, for the second time in as many minutes.

  I hoped the flush I felt didn’t show. The mere mention of Mikey in front of my father had me recalling him inside me, his groin against mine as he thrust himself up to the hilt, drawing those incredible climaxes that just went on and on….

  My father’s eyes narrowed, he seemed to scan me from head to toe. “Very well!” he announced, suddenly jumping up. “Go back to wherever it is you were, and keep doing whatever it was you were doing. I will await further information from you.”

  I sat there, my jaw hanging open. He was letting me out of it, just like that. I didn’t believe it. I smelt a rat, but I couldn’t give up the chance at being able to leave, knowing I was at least back on speaking terms with him. Knowing that I wasn’t going to be executed was a major relief.

  He hugged me quickly, ushering me to the huge doors he had slammed in a rage not too long ago, before trying to strangle me. His eyes were gleaming with energy, excitement even. It unnerved me to think what he might actually be planning, but I knew the chance was there to go, so I took it.

  Nicholas was entering just as I was leaving. He had been standing at the door, listening. I could tell. He ignored me, whispering something to my father before the pair of them moved over to his desk. Papa ushered me to close the door on the way out. He was instantly dismissive of me, not bothered at all. It didn’t make any sense.

  Pulling the large doors closed, I began to walk down the same hall I had taken last time I left. I heard my heels clacking on the frozen marble. After a few paces, I stopped, slipped off my heels and quickly darted back to the door, craning my neck to hear what they were saying.

  I could only hear muffled sounds, but then my father’s voice was rising, I could hear it more clearly. “It’s true! Just as you had suspected, Nicholas. She’s been with that Leone boy. It breaks my heart, it truly does! I let her go, yes. But there is a chance she can get us the Leone boy all to ourselves. I can use her to get to him. Once I have a Leone in my hand, doing whatever I want; things will change, you’ll see. If it costs me a daughter?”

  He was silent.

  Thirty

  Mikey

  I realized pretty quickly how few friends I had, how few people I could count on when I needed them. The Claridge clock was ticking, and I wanted my money. I also had a constant hard-on for the forbidden fruit that was Natalia Bernardi. Not the best place to be looking to bury my wick given the situation on my own family front.

  I’d called the only person I could think of, Gray, to try and get some sort of update on what was happening inside the Leone house after the botched hit I was supposed to make. It wasn’t the phone call I had expected. He was in hospital himself, a friendly reminder courtesy of my father; what happens when you don’t watch his son like he asked you to. Somehow he’d found out about my female visitor, Natalia, who Gray had let in for money.

  He wasn’t really in the mood for talking, no surprises there, but I sweet talked him into giving me just a few minutes to tell him what I had planned, to bring him back into the Leone fold as a repentant assistant to yours truly.

  “I dunno Mikey; I ended up in here because I messed up on your father’s orders. I don’t want to do anything else to upset him. As it is, I’m lucky. He’s paying my medical bills and offered me a job driving a delivery van for the warehouse, if I can use my leg again.” It was the typical loyalty I’d seen a dozen times. These men would literally die for the likes of my father, even though they were just being used like cattle.

  “I know, I know, Mr.
Gray. I understand that. I just need you to make some phone calls, to get a general idea of what’s happened since the hit that went wrong yesterday.” I was trying to make it sound tempting, but I really had nothing to offer. “I could let my father know it was all my fault, not yours. I’ll take full responsibility for what happened.”

  Gray laughed a dry cough. I held the phone away as he brought something up and spat loudly. “The hit? I heard all about it! What do you want to know?” His tone had changed. I suddenly felt I was losing traction, like I wouldn’t get shit from Gray.

  “I just need to know how upset my father is. I need to speak to him but might wait if he’s too…”

  “Look, Mikey. Mr. Leone. Your father has told everyone to be on the lookout for you, to scrape you off the street whenever or wherever they find you as a result of your next bender. He ain’t mad, well, not as mad as he was. He just wants you back at the house. Well, I didn’t hear that from him. He’s got this Doctor now, Rollins. He’s barking at everybody now, telling them how it’s gonna be while your dad’s so sick. Uhhh, you knew he was sick, right?”

  “How sick?” I asked, feeling lighter.

  “Well, I’m not one to talk, but some of the other guys; well they said he was pretty sick. Having trouble breathing most of the day. Doctor restricts access and only lets Don Leone do certain things now. Mr. Slade should be there, but he kinda took off like you did, after the, uh, after the hit. Word is, he took a slug and isn’t too glad about it, but nobody’s seen him surface as yet.” I could feel Gray’s grimacing smile through the line. He never really liked me, I guess. None of them did. I wasn’t mob material and everybody, including me, knew it.

  I got off from Gray and listened to Natalia’s message. I tried to call, but her phone was off. I just spoke to you like five minutes ago, what is it with this woman?

  I figured I’d just make my way to Natalia’s place and wait there for her. Anything was preferable to the cockroach hotel. I felt like I needed a proper shower and a change of clothes. Natalia’s place would be the safest too. Handing back my key to the sneering clerk, I hopped into the SUV, programmed the address into the computer, and was about to pull out.

  “Don’t move. Don’t panic, just drive.” I smelled him before I saw his face in the rearview. I felt my heart grab in my chest, the thrill of adrenalin, then it sank.

  Slade.

  “Drive,” he said again, his voice was gravel; matched by the sound of the lot under the SUV as I pulled out onto the highway.

  I gulped loudly, because Slade always had that effect on people. I can’t say I was surprised to see him. I didn’t expect to just skip out of an organized hit that was supposed to be my gig. He’d come for his own pound of flesh. For vengeance. I broke the code and I would have to pay. I was no real gangster, but I knew that much.

  “You’ve come to kill me, I suppose,” I said, nonchalantly. It had been fun, I reasoned to myself. I had a good run while it lasted. I knew with Slade it would be quick. The party was over.

  I saw Slade’s head moving from side to side in the back. He was wincing, grimacing and smiling, all at once.

  “I’ve been hauling ass across country for two days to find you, I haven’t killed anyone yet.”

  That must be a record. A whole forty-eight without a body count…

  “I’m not here to kill you, Leone. Right now, I need you to pull some shot out of my ass. That hotel would’ve been perfect but you checked out just as I arrived.”

  I let the window down. Whatever it was that was coming off Slade, it fucking stank.

  “I hitched some of the way on a poop train,” he commented. There was no need to read my mind, my green face and twitching nose said it all. “What? Your shit doesn’t stink? It has to go somewhere. In some parts, they haul it by train. It’s an easy, free ride. The overnight express to most places. If you get a car up front, it’s nice.”

  I disregarded Slade’s travel recommendations. I’d stick to the gold card and first class, thanks. If he wasn’t going to kill me, that meant I was going to be stuck with him. Not an ideal situation.

  “Where am I driving to?” I asked.

  “Just go to wherever you were going. Uh, make one stop at a drug store, I’ll write a list of what I need… pen!”

  I fumbled in the console while driving, swerving a little into the next lane.

  “Watch it! I don’t need LAPD on my ass, Bernardi shot is one thing, dirty cops are another.” He looked back at the receding traffic. The coast was clear. “The Bernardi’s have some friends in low places, getting crooked cops to guard their boy was something we hadn’t counted on. They were armed to the teeth. Apart from running like a fucking girl, you did the right thing. If you’d gone into that room at the hospital, you’d have been Swiss cheese.”

  I wanted to speak, to ask so many questions, but with Slade, it was always better to just be still and quiet. He’d let me know everything I had to know, if anything. I felt bad for him, taking the bullets for me, but after all, it was his job. I would never have told him that though.

  I recalled the torture of being stuck in the same car with Claridge for a whole night. I didn’t want a repeat performance at the hands of Slade. I decided though, to use some of Claridge’s psychology. I would ask pointed and indifferent questions about my family, to gauge Slade’s response.

  “How ill do you think my father is, Jack?” He looked up suddenly, hearing his first name from me was not something he liked. I noted that mentally.

  “You’re telling the story,” he said dryly. He was deadpan, giving nothing away. I wanted to learn more, so I would have to press further, despite my being no Claridge at the friendly interrogation game.

  I smiled a little, acting like maybe I knew something he didn’t. Then it hit me. I actually did know something he didn’t. I knew a lot. I had the Bernardi’s daughter eating right out of my hand. And surely that was worth something, not to mention the deal I had with Claridge, including the infiltration of their entire network. Trouble was, I didn’t know exactly how any of that was going to happen at that point, nor did I feel that Slade would’ve really cared much either way.

  “Either say it, kid, or shut up and drive. I need a drugstore, bathroom and hot shower. In that order. Anything else you want to say has to be about one or all of those three things. Got it?” I nodded, with my smile slipping.

  I had nothing. I decided to go out on a limb. If things went south with my plan, which I didn’t even have yet, I needed to know if Slade would be there if I needed him.

  “Have you ever heard of someone called Claridge?” I ventured, almost wincing as I said the name out loud; expecting Claridge himself to burst through the floor of the moving car.

  “Does he own a drugstore?” Slade quipped.

  Case closed. I shut my mouth for the rest of the drive, until we reached what looked like a suitable drugstore. I took Slade’s list in and, despite the objections of the chemist, got most of what he needed.

  “I hope you have money,” I said to Slade, tossing him the large brown paper bag. “That just cost me all I was carrying. You can thank your lucky stores for shady drugstore chemists in L.A.”

  Slade scowled. I recalled instantly that I was the millionaire son and brother to a billionaire fashion mogul. Surely Slade knew my life was worthless without handouts from my family? Then again, I had snagged the last lot of cash all by myself. Plus, I’d almost gotten away with the coke deal. I figured I just needed more practice. Or none at all. Once I had Claridge taken care of, my life would be a few lanes wider than easy street.

  “This will do,” he mumbled from the back. “Get us somewhere clean and private. I’ll need your help.”

  I didn’t want to take him to Natalia’s, but I also figured he didn’t know anything about her, not in L.A. anyhow. It was a long drive, but we made it by the early afternoon.

  “Yours?” Slade asked, scanning the property as I pulled into the huge garage. It was a very nice house, big but no
t Leone big.

  “Just a friend’s,” I said, getting out. “Don’t mess it up, please.” His look from the back seat was unnerving.

  I directed him to the ground floor bathroom, where he promptly ripped off his pants like they were held on with silly string. I was staring without realizing. I heard Slade snapping his fingers.

  “I changed my mind. Get out.”

  I tore my eyes away from his body, gently closing the door and sighing with relief that I didn’t have to be the one to help him do whatever he was going to do. I felt odd, staring at him like that. I guessed that’s how the women looked at me. I felt something in me move, down there. I shrugged and went to look for something to eat instead, because I was starving.

  Slade was a good hour, but emerged, limping. He was clean and not smelling so much like ass. He was also completely naked, which set me staring again. I couldn’t help it.

  He sighed, his whole muscular frame twitching and contorting with each movement. “Can you find me some clothes, or would you like to take a picture?” I flushed and moved quickly to see what I could find in the way of clothes. I was extra annoyed at myself for being caught twice, staring at Slade. I almost wished I had gotten to help him after all. I was in awe of his body.

  Thirty-One

  Natalia

  As soon as I knew my family wasn’t going to kill me, well, not just yet anyway, I left the house and called the hospital in L.A. I needed to speak to Felix.

  I got a nurse, who was with him and I got to say hello. Claridge had indeed presented himself as a specialist, sent in by a Dr. Rollins. I questioned this and, after being patched back through to another doctor, it all checked out. If anything, I came out as the strange one. Yes, they were all real doctors, yes, they were doing their jobs.