Secrets and Lies: A Forbidden Mafia Romance

by Norinne, Rebecca

“That’s what I thought too. Except the last time I watched the tape, something jumped out at me, something that didn’t seem right. Those weren’t all dudes.”

  I watched as understanding dawned in his eyes. “That little ninja shithead running point? Do not tell me that was Arabella.”

  “Afraid so,” I confirmed. “Seems my ex-girlfriend has spent the last few years picking up some new tricks. Parkour and explosives, to name just two.”

  “Holy shit,” he answered, laughing. “Go big or go home, I guess.”

  “Pretty much,” I agreed.

  “Okay, so Arabella was responsible for the fire, but I’m not seeing what that has to do with the other thing.” He cocked his eyebrow.

  “I think Jayce knows about me and Arabella.”

  “You mean from way back?”

  Why did I get the impression he was asking me a whole other question?

  When his eyes bored into mine I tried not to let the guilt show on my face. It was bad enough I’d admitted out loud that I was planning on killing the leader of our crime syndicate, never mind that it was to save the head of the family of our biggest rival. Ben didn’t need to know I’d spent the last two nights with my cock buried deep in Arabella’s sweet little pussy. That was, of course, when her lips weren’t wrapped tight around my dick while I fucked her face.

  “Yeah, back then. You know, before,” I hedged.

  “Huh,” he huffed consideringly. “If he did know, he never said anything to me about it.”

  I rubbed my hand over my jaw. “The thing is, I have eight days to deliver proof that I’ve taken her out or he comes after the both of us.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “You heard me. He called me into his office and gave me orders.”

  “Then he definitely knows it was her on the video and that she’s running the game, but why do you think he’s on to you?”

  “Because of his threat. It makes no sense otherwise. I’m a good little soldier; I do everything he asks and I never question my orders. He’s testing me, I know it. He’s trying to see how far he can push me. And if he can’t make me do it, he’ll feel like I’ve lost my edge. I’ll be no use to him then and he can justify having me gone.”

  “Shit man, nothing Jayce does anymore makes a lick of sense.”

  “This time, it actually does,” I countered. “Think about it. If he believes for one minute that I’m sleeping with the enemy, he has a completely justifiable reason to take me out. But if I’m not, there’s absolutely no reason why I should balk at this particular order. After all, it’s not that different from any other he’s given me the last couple of years. I have more blood on my hands than I know what to do with some days, so it’s not like this should be any hardship. What’s one more check on my tally?”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I told you, I’m going to put an end to it.”

  “I don’t know man,” he cautioned. “I’m no fan of your brother, but he has a lot of minions. What’s to say if you do this, they don’t retaliate as a matter of principle?”

  I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. “Because I’ll be the man in charge?”

  “You seem to be forgetting something,” he cautioned. “If you take out the man in charge so that you become the man in charge, you’ve just told them it’s okay to take out the big man in charge.”

  “Fuck,” I bit out.

  He wasn’t wrong.

  “Unless …”

  Whereas it was generally accepted that Jayce was the brains and I was the brawn when it came to SJE, Ben and I always joked that I was the brains and he was the brawn of our part of the operation, but I was fresh out of ideas. If he had something that might work, I wanted to hear it.

  “Unless?”

  “If you take out his bodyguard at the same time, I think everyone else will fall in line. Jayce’s men sort of assume that fucker is invincible but it you show them he isn’t, they might be too afraid to step to you.”

  “That’s sort of my plan, actually. It’s the only thing that will work. I’ll have the element of surprise on my side, but I’ll only have a couple of seconds. Once Jayce realizes what’s going on, I have to get in and get out before he can alert anyone else.”

  “And you’re set on this?” Again, he stared me down.

  “Yes,” I nodded. “It has to be done. It’s him or me, Ben, and I’m not ready to die.”

  The irony wasn’t lost on me given the two times I’d practically begged for death. My guess was the same understanding flickered through Ben’s head too since he was the one who’d gone to the hospital after my motorcycle “accident.” Thankfully, he let my statement slide.

  “And you know for sure he’d call in his threat?”

  “This is Jayce we’re talking about. No one knows for sure what he’ll do from one minute to the next. But the fact that he threatened me like this tells me all I need to know. If I do what he wants, he’ll hang it over me forever. Anytime he wants me to do something I don’t want to do, he’ll threaten to have me offed. If I gave in once, he’ll think I’ll always give in. If I can’t stand up to him now, I may as well just sign up for a lifetime of indentured servitude because that’s what he’ll expect.”

  He rubbed his large, scarred hand over his face to wipe away his distaste. “Yeah, that’s probably true.”

  “And it’s not like this isn’t going to benefit the family. You know with Jayce out of the way we can at least have the impression of being a legit corporation. Look, I’m not talking about going straight or anything, but with him in charge, we’ve already been investigated three times. It’s only a matter of time until his hubris takes us all down and we wind up behind bars. If I go to the pen, it has to be for something I did. Not some stupid mistake that cock sucker made.”

  “I hear you,” Ben concurred. “But something tells me there’s more to this than you’re letting on. Look man, I’m not about to get all up in your personal shit, but I want you answer me honestly when I ask this next question.”

  Ah shit. Here it comes.

  “This isn’t just about needing to keep Jayce in check, is it?”

  I waited a beat before answering, which was really all the answer he needed. And still I said, “He threatened me, Ben. I can’t let that stand. Anyone else and I’d be fine with it. But not this.”

  “But he threatened Arabella too.”

  Damn Ben and his observant mind. He’d always been too good at seeing right through me.

  “That too,” I agreed quietly, glancing away.

  “Shit Xander,” he muttered. “You’ve seen her, haven’t you?”

  I turned back to my best friend. The man who was more a brother to me than my actual flesh and blood. “What do you want me to say?”

  “I want you to say you know what the fuck you’re doing,” he whispered, leaning in close. “And that this right here sounds like you’ve lost your goddamn mind. Maybe it’s genetic. Maybe both St. John sons need to have their heads examined, because if I’m not mistaken, you’re about to start a civil war, all for some pussy.”

  I fixed my glare on him. Through clenched teeth, I warned, “Don’t you dare speak of her in that way. You know better than anyone she’s more to me than that.”

  Holding up his palms, he said, “Alright, alright. You know I meant no disrespect. But man, all I’m saying is you haven’t seen this woman for years and suddenly you’re putting her welfare above everyone else’s.”

  “Not just hers,” I replied. “Mine too.”

  He scratched his chin thoughtfully for a few seconds.

  When he didn’t speak, I barreled forward. “Jayce is expecting me to bow to his wishes. He might not know about Arabella and me, but he’s expecting me to kill her to appease his whims regardless.”

  “But him threatening you tells me he thinks there’s a slim chance you won’t fall in line. That’s why he’s putting the screws to you.”

  “Exactl
y. Which is why I can’t let this go. He’s backed me into a corner. He created this situation and now it’s going to be the end of him.”

  “I’m hesitant to even ask you this because I can understand the position he’s put you in, but are you really willing to kill your own brother for the sake of a woman who broke your heart? Do you really think you can do it?”

  “I told you,” I growled low so as not to attract attention. “It’s not just about Arabella. Jayce needs to be stopped.” I paused, weighing my next statement. Then, I told him the truth. “But yes, she’s everything, Ben.”

  “Xander—”

  “No, hear me out. I know we’re no good for each other, but think about it for a minute. Since we broke up the first time, there’s been no one else for me. Arabella is everything. And despite my intellect telling me I should stay away, my heart has other ideas. Fuck man,” I groaned and speared my hands through my hair and tugged. “This whole thing is dangerous. If I fail, she’s as good as dead. If I fuck up and Jayce doesn’t kill me and anything happens to her—if I ever hurt her in any way—I couldn’t live with myself.”

  He rested his hand on my shoulder. “Ah shit. You love her, don’t you?”

  “Do I love her?” I asked incredulously. “Fuck, how can you even ask me that? Of course I love her. Haven’t you been listening to a word I said. She’s the other half of me, all I’ve ever wanted. I’d die for her … I’d kill for her.”

  I don’t know what Ben saw in my face in that moment, but whatever it was must have convinced him there was no stopping me. Nodding once, he said, “Okay, I’m in. What do you want me to do?”

  And so we devised a plan. It might not work, but at least I’d die trying.

  Chapter Eight

  Here is thy gold, worse poison to men's souls,

  Doing more murder in this loathsome world,

  Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell.

  William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet

  I wasn’t a superstitious person, but for the last forty-eight hours I’d had this feeling of dread sitting heavy in the pit of my stomach. And for every stolen moment I spent with Arabella, the feeling grew … like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  With what I was planning to do, it felt like it wasn’t a matter of if, but when … and suddenly I feared the time had come.

  It didn’t help that I’d texted Arabella three hours ago and hadn’t heard back yet. The closer Jayce’s deadline loomed, the more stringent we’d become about making each other aware of our comings and goings at all times. I knew she’d gone to a meeting this afternoon that had the potential to run long, so I was trying not to freak the fuck out, but with each minute that ticked by, my alarm escalated. The meeting should have been over by now. Shit, she should have walked through the door of my loft over twenty minutes ago.

  I picked up my phone to check the time again and to make sure I hadn’t missed an incoming message or call. Ridiculous, I knew, since I’d been gripping it tight for the last two hours, but I was a desperate man. And my desperation made me hope for things that weren’t there.

  “I think we have to make our move,” I told Ben, who was sitting across the room with his laptop open in front of him. “The longer this goes on the more erratic Jayce becomes. He called my cell six times last night, wanting to know where I was and who I was with.”

  I paced across the room and back, my fingers linked behind my head. “The most fucked up thing about all this though is that his paranoia isn’t misplaced this time. He’s not wrong: I don’t have his back but I can’t wait anymore. Arabella’s not safe.”

  “It’s not just with you, man,” Ben informed me, looking up from the screen. “His paranoia is starting to show and others are worried what it means. There’s talk, and it’s not good.”

  “Meaning?”

  Ben shrugged. “I couldn’t say for sure, but I know a few of the guys are starting to question Jayce’s directives. He sent a few of them out the other night to get a feel for what was going on at Club 66. He’s convinced it’s a front for the Russians and there’s a war coming.”

  That certainly got my attention. “That makes no fucking sense. Maksim is completely on the up and up now.”

  “I know, that’s what I’m saying,” Ben answered, his eyes dropping to his screen again, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

  “What are you looking at?” I asked, crossing the room to sit next to him.

  Ben handed me his computer and my eyes scanned the spreadsheet he’d been working on. “Shit,” I said once I realized what I was looking at. “Where’d you get this?”

  “You ain’t the only one with skills my friend,” he smirked.

  “You’re fucking Jayce’s secretary again, aren’t you?”

  His lips hitched up in a devious grin. “What can I say? She’s got amazing tits and her pussy tastes fantastic.”

  “And these extracurriculars have nothing to do with getting this info?” I asked, raising the laptop.

  “Oh no,” he admitted. “They have everything to do with getting access to Jayce’s off-the-books activity. Camilla’s pussy is just a bonus.”

  “If Jayce finds out she gave you this information, she’d dead.”

  It was one thing to plan my brother’s execution; it was an entirely other thing to sign the death warrant for someone who was helping us.

  “Ah, aren’t you cute. The assassin with a heart of gold,” he mocked. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Camilla doesn’t even know I have this. It’s amazing what a woman is willing to overlook when she’s getting a thorough tongue lashing.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the double entendré.

  I shook my head and smirked, looking back down at the information he’d gathered. Camilla wasn’t the first woman who’d had information stolen from her computer while Ben’s head was between her thighs. It was practically his signature move. His method of intelligence gathering was one reason St. John Enterprises had been able to take over as many companies as we had these past couple of years. He got in and then got out, leaving our competitors none the wiser how we’d gotten our hands on their private secrets. At this point, Ben’s tongue deserved a seat on our board for all it had done in service to the corporation.

  “It’s obvious Jayce is planning something,” I said, scanning the lines of data. “Shit, he’s moving money around so quickly it’s hard to keep track of the trails. Am I reading this wrong, or has he pilfered millions from our legit businesses? And what the fuck is this here?” I moved the computer between us so we could both see it at the same time and pointed midway down the screen. “It looks like he recently made a huge payment to …” my voice trailed off.

  Oh fuck.

  I shoved the computer away from me and surged out of my seat. I was across the loft in seconds, throwing on a Kevlar vest and strapping various weapons to my body in record time.

  “What the fuck?” Ben shouted, coming up fast behind me and arming himself almost as quickly as I’d just done.

  The awesome thing about Ben—the reason we were still such good friends—was he didn’t need me to tell him why I was gearing up for battle. He knew something had set me off and he was ready to stand by my side without even knowing why. Still, I couldn’t let him go into this blind. All our best laid plans had just gone to shit. Forget building schematics and the like. I was going through the front door with guns blazing.

  “He’s got Arabella,” I blurted as I strapped on my last knife. “That’s why she hasn’t answered her goddamn fucking phone. That meeting today was a front, set up by her uncle.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “One million dollars paid out to Zinan Security Services three days ago,” I answered, grabbing my keys and moving toward the door.

  I didn’t bother locking it when we left. Either I’d be dead so it wouldn’t matter if anyone found their way here, or I’d be returning the new head of the family and no one would dare step into my home without an
express written invitation for fear of retribution.

  “I’m not following,” he responded as we slid into the supple leather seats of my Aston Martin Vanquish and I revved the engine. “Zinan Security?”

  “Zinan is Royce’s younger brother Rocco’s company. Or rather, his half brother. He’s got a hard on for far east culture, hence the whole Japanese name to hide who’s really behind it. A few years back Rocco got into some seriously shady shit and Royce cut him off. There’s been bad blood between the brothers ever since. Or rather, there’s always been bad blood, but losing access to Royce’s deep coffers just exacerbated things. With the old man stepping down and handing things over to Arabella …”

  I didn’t have to say what it meant. We’d both been at this game long enough to see how this was all supposed to play out.

  “Shit,” Ben muttered. “He’s making a power play. He wants RW Corp for himself and he’s willing to take out his own niece to get his hands on it.”

  “Seems like it,” I answered gravely, my heart hammering in my chest. “And in the process, he nets a huge payday from Jayce and both men walk away happy. Never mind that they’ll be trying to kill each other in a couple of months once their ill-conceived truce gets fucked to hell for one reason or another.”

  As I sped through the streets of Chicago, Ben checked the chamber of his favorite gun and made sure he had quick and easy access to the blades that were strapped to his calves.

  “I assume you know where you’re going?” he asked, his voice calm and steady now that he’d dropped into soldier mode.

  No one had better focus than Ben when it came time for war. And yet, he and I couldn’t do this alone. Sure, that had been my intent when I’d first approached him, but over the last few days I’d realized my initial plan would never work. Which was why I was barking orders into my car’s Bluetooth system, my palms sweating as the phone rang three times before a voice on the other end of the line answered.

  “Yes,” came the terse greeting. “It is time?”

  “Change of plans Aleksei,” I snapped. “How quick can you get to Canaryville?”