by Nicole Banks
Copyright © 2020 by Nicole Banks.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, events, and products are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Printed in the United States of America.
Editing by Rosemi Mederos
Formatting by: Champagne Book Design
Cover Design by: Emma Rider at Moonstruck Cover Design & Photography
Photography by: Reggie Deanching
Cover Models: Tiara Daja’e & David Eremkine
Title Page
Copyright
Author’s Note
Dedication
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Epilogue
Sneak Peek of Tesoro
Acknowledgments
Author Information
This book is completely fictional.
It contains adult themes.
This novel is intended for mature readers only.
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To those who fall hard and fast.
BRUNO SAT AT THE END of a long table nursing the vodka he was given. He hated the shit but knew better than to decline what was offered in Boris Sanokova’s home. It had been a month since the Ice Whore, Sofia Barbati had come into New York taking territories that had never belonged to the Barbati organization–including his club, Tres Bellas.
The families hadn’t wanted to outright retaliate just yet. They were gathering up intel on her and her soldiers to see where she’d be the most vulnerable to break. All Bruno wanted was his fucking club back and to see Otto pay for their betrayal. The bastard had made sure to move his younger sister–the only power play he ever had over Otto–into hiding before Sofia beat his signature out of him for Tres.
Bruno looked down at the cast on his wrist. He couldn’t believe Sofia had been the one to dole out his beating. Every broken bone, every sprain, every ache in his body came at her hands. He would have been impressed if it wasn’t for the fact that she made him sign over the only territory his father ever let him oversee before his stroke.
He took a hit in his respect and power. Power he had to fight for because his father had thought he was incapable of being anything other than a spoiled child who needed his ass wiped for him. Being that he was in his current situation, he had proved his father right. He’d been overpowered by a female. It didn’t matter that she was a Barbati mixed in with the craziness of a Gomes, she was still a woman who had taken something away from him.
While his bones would heal, the wound to his ego wouldn’t until he got Sofia’s head mounted on his wall or her on her back like the women he sold.
The sounds of grunts filled the air around him as Boris took his sweet time fucking one of the many women he owned on the table. The girl was pale enough that even in the dim lighting, Bruno could see the red welts and purple bruising on her otherwise flawless skin. Going by her limp body, she was probably too drugged up to give a shit. Most of the men Bruno and Boris serviced with the women they sold liked them with a little fight in them. It did nothing for his dick when a woman just lays there like she was dead. Boris, on the other hand, liked them docile and easy to control.
After what seemed like an eternity, Boris let out a long grunt, splashing his seed all over the woman’s body before pushing her off the table. She fell hard, too stoned to know she should have used her hands to brace herself for the fall.
Boris snapped his fingers, and two of his soldiers grabbed the woman, hauling her up to her feet. “She is of no use to me any longer.” He put his dick back in his pants and sat down. “Do with her as you see fit. If the other guards want to pass her around,” he shrugged, “I don’t give a shit, just don’t get the cunt pregnant.”
Boris drummed his fingers against the table. His stare on Bruno made Bruno uncomfortable, and he fought to keep himself from fidgeting. Boris could have had him killed the second they lost their last shipment and Sofia Barbati took over the club they used for housing and selling women.
“It’s been a month, and I still haven’t figured out if I should kill you or not. Your old man is still breathing, which means you’re not a boss yet, so I wouldn’t have to go through the proper channels.” He snapped his fingers again, and a woman who wore only a scarf over her face, brought Boris a cup—probably filled with more vodka—and a cigar. He made quick work at lighting it before he continued to reprimand Bruno.
“You know this shit never would have happened if your father was still capable of being in charge. You lost my shipment and the club I had a twenty percent stake in. So now I’m out of fresh pussy and money. I had to sell off some of my fresh stock to keep our buyers happy.” He puffed out a string of smoke through the side of his mouth. “You said you had a plan, correct?” Bruno nodded. “Good. I want to hear it, to make sure you aren’t fucking us further. It’s bad enough that cunt Barbati took out Vinny before we could and now owns enough of New York City to be a problem. She has too much power in Brooklyn—she’s too close to my territory. I don’t need that bitch sniffing around thinking she can take us all on.”
Boris drummed his fingers against the table. Bruno could feel the anger radiating off of him. “We have a meeting with her coming up. I don’t understand why we voted to wait to take out a measly woman,” Boris snapped.
Sofia wasn’t just any woman, and it was a fool’s mission to think otherwise. She wasn’t some meek individual who was going to lay down and take whatever was handed to her. Sofia wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty if it got her message across clearer.
Bruno cleared his throat, knowing he needed to choose his words carefully. He didn’t want to piss off Boris any more than he already had. Bruno was and wasn’t safe so long as his father was still breathing. They couldn’t outright kill him because of the boss his father was, but there were ways around it because Bruno wasn’t a boss himself.
“My plan is already in place. Well, it’s two plans. One will allow us to get the club back, and the other one will hit the Barbati organization a lot harder.” While the first one was ideal for them because they needed a new place for their business operations, the second option would hurt Sofia and Otto more.
Boris nodded, putting the cigar back in his mouth. “Tell me more about this plan,” he grunted, and his hand disappeared under the table before he grabbed the woman who had given him his drink and cigar and popped her down on his lap. Going by her scream, Bruno could tell he’d just driven his dick inside of her without any lube. He pulled the cigar out of his mouth and placed the burning end on the woman’s back. The more Boris hurt her, the harder he managed to pound into her.
Bruno wanted to roll his eyes. He could watch porn at home for this shit; he didn’t need a front row seat to it at a business meeting. This was one of the many downsides of getting into bed with the bastard. He knew what his power meant, and he wasn’t afraid to flaunt it, like right now when Bruno was trying to plead his case.
Boris quickly stood up, pushing the woman face down on the table. She wasn’t as drugged up as the other one had been, and going by her cries, she was one of the newer girls, probably from one of their last shipments.
Boris wrapped a hand around the woman’s neck. He looked Bruno dead in the eyes. “Your plan...” he grunted, “...better work…” another grunt, “...or you’ll be in the same position as these women I own.”
OTTO WALKED INTO TRES BELLAS. The club was still closed for a couple of hours, but he wanted to check on his sister Gia before he met up with Sofia and Dom for the meeting with the families. He tried to get out of the meeting, arguing that he was just a lowly soldier in the organization and had no place at that table, but Sofia wanted him there. For her, it was a matter of having her best shooters with her to protect her if this meeting went south. Given how her first forty-eight hours had been when she touched down in New York, they would be lucky if there were no dead bodies by the end of the meeting.
He checked his watch, taking note of how much time he had before he needed to be in little Italy for this meeting. It was going to be interesting to see his old boss, Bruno, again. He’d be at this meeting in place of his incapacitated father, and while Otto had completely cut ties with the man, he knew their relationship was far from over.
Otto not only chose to walk away from Bruno when Sofia took over Tres, but he also helped orchestrate the takeover, which by now he was sure Bruno had pieced together. It was only a matter of time before Bruno retaliated. If not against Sofia, he was definitely going to come after Otto. It made Otto grateful that Sofia was able to keep his younger sister, Natalya, tucked somewhere safe, even if he hated who she picked for Natalya, to stay with.
He checked his watch again, making sure he was still good on time. He wanted to make sure there were eyes on Gia. He didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone with everything going on. He spotted her easily enough in the middle of the club with a clipboard in one hand and a smile on her face as she looked up at Smoke. The bastard pulled at a loose strand that escaped her bun with one hand, while looping his fingers into the belt loop of her jeans with his other hand. They looked entirely too cozy for Otto’s liking and quickly ate up the distance separating him from them.
This was the fifth time since Sofia told the Unhinged Brothers to stick around that he found Smoke looking at his sister like she was a fresh piece of meat waiting for him to take a bite. Otto usually never told Gia who to date or what to do, but Smoke was as psychotic as they came and wore his asshole behavior like he wore the cut on his back—with pride. The guy left discarded bodies in his wake, both the wounded female kind that didn’t know the score and the bloody kind.
Otto specifically made it a rule in the Council that if the Unhinged Brothers were staying around and helping out with whatever the Council needed, they couldn’t fuck anyone who worked in any of the business under the Barbati name. They had enough shit to worry about without having to deal with the shit storm that came with Smoke or any of his brothers sticking their dicks in anything in a skirt—his sister included, because as much as Otto ended up pulling Gia into this life with him, he hoped one day she’d be able to walk away from it.
He was a lost cause, but there was still hope for both his sisters to find a life outside of the power plays and blood spilling. Gia wouldn’t find that life the further she sank into this one and if she kept looking at Smoke and the rest of the guys who were a part of his crew like they could offer her some type of happily ever after. The only thing those guys kept forever were their cuts and their bikes.
Otto cleared his throat, but neither one of them bothered to acknowledge him. They were too wrapped up in their own world to pay him any mind. He cleared his throat again when the DJ started playing “Garden” by Emeli Sandé. The lights dimmed in the club, giving it the sultry atmosphere it was known for. It wasn’t unusual for the DJ to play a set for sound check before they opened or for the girls to take the stage a few times to walk through any of the new routines they were hitting.
It should have been business as usual for Otto, but as soon as the artist of the song belted out the first lyric, something pulled his gaze toward the stage. He seemed to forget his issue with Gia and Smoke as a woman he’d never seen before walked out from stage right, in a white tank top and shorts. She had an air about her that screamed regal with each step she took toward the center pole.
She gripped the pole, dipping her hips one way and then the other. She turned around, giving him a clear view of her ass in her barely there shorts, and he felt the blood inside his body start to heat. It was a slow simmer—something that crept its way inside of him and gave him a gentle nudge to get closer to her.
He licked his lips, letting himself get seduced under the spell she was casting for him with her hips. Each sway seemed to be in tune with his thunderous pulse. He swallowed his tongue when she wrapped tiny hands around the pole and flipped upside down. She spread her legs into a wide V as she turned around on the pole.
Everyone and everything faded away while he watched her work that damn pole like it was an extension of her. He wished it was him she was wrapping her legs around, grinding her hips against. She was seductive in a subtle way—where you didn’t know what’s happening until after she sank her teeth into your flesh and drained you of your blood.
Otto knew he should look away, but he couldn’t stop himself—he was enthralled by the way she moved. She held him captive in her rhythm, and he wondered if he was the only one who could hear it.
He had no clue why this particular woman was pulling such a visceral reaction out of him. He was no stranger to seeing pretty women. He practically lived at Tres where flashes of tits and ass weren’t out of the norm for him. Yet, something about the woman on stage, her long hair the color of smoke, was making him stand still and take notice. She was making love up there, and it made Otto want to shut the doors of Tres Bellas permanently so he was the only one who ever had the privilege of seeing her move like that.
She turned around again, their eyes locking this time, and a small smirk teased her lips. Otto sucked in a sharp breath, and his heartbeat drummed to the beat of the song that blared through the speakers of the club. She never took her eyes off of him as she continued her dance. They were locked in this silent foreplay of the senses.
She hadn’t touched him—she couldn’t.
But every sway of her hips, every lick of her lips, every time her legs wrapped around that damn pole, he felt her on him. Her body was intertwined with his, driving him mad with a desire to consume her after she took from him everything she needed.
All too soon the song ended. She came to a stop in front of the pole and the air around them grew hotter. They continued to stare at each other—breathing heavily, like they’d just spent hours devouring one another, but Otto felt no relaxation. His body was strung tight, like a bow, waiting for the vixen on stage to release him from the torment she still held him in.
Otto became halfway aware that they weren’t the only two people in the room right now. He felt Smoke on his left and his sister on his right, and he cursed under his breath when Smoke smacked his shoulder. The asshole’s deep chuckle made him grit his teeth, and it turned into a growl of possession when he heard Smoke talk.
“Now that’s a nice piece of ass.” Otto could hear the slimy smile in Smoke’s tone, and he balled his hands into tight fists to keep from punching Smoke in his neck. “I got dibs, O,” Smoke whispered in his ear. “She looks like a good time.”
Mine.
The word was a roar inside his skull. It was a primitive and an idiotic response—one that he never had before. But everything inside of him wanted to beat Smoke till he was bloody, so he wouldn’t think to look at the woman on stage ever again.
“You know the rules, asshole.” His voice was harsh. He heard the threat in his tone and going by the widening of the woman’s eyes, she heard it too.
“As entertaining as this is,” Gia murmured beside him, �
��meet one of the new hires, Otto.” Her tone was laced with amusement and Otto ignored her until he realized what his sister told him.
New hire.
Otto pulled his eyes away from the woman and looked back at his sister confused. “New hire?” he mumbled. His brain was still scrambled after watching the show that was just put on for him. He tried to remember if he okayed hiring anyone recently. Thanks to Bruno’s inability to run a business, Tres had only been able to survive because of the cut it was making in the sex trafficking trade. They were barely staying afloat with the bills and paying their employees, and whoever was running with Bruno had taken a percentage out of the club as well. When Sofia took over, they were in a hole that was only cushioned because Sofia still had money ties in Columbia.
Otto turned to face his sister so his words wouldn’t carry past his sister’s ears.“We can cover this?”
Gia gave him a slight nod. “You gave me the okay a few nights ago.” Otto shook his head, remembering the conversation now. Three of their girls had quit on them right before Sofia’s take over. Otto figured a few new dancers wouldn’t hurt their budget too badly and hopefully they’d be good enough to bring in more clientele. Otto hadn’t counted on them being this good though.
Gia turned her attention to the woman on stage. “Besides, if she keeps moving like that, we’re not going to have a problem packing the place out, especially on Thursday nights.”
Ahh, Thursday nights at the club had been gentlemen’s night. It geared less toward the club vibe and more toward a lounge with pole and stage dancers as well as strippers and any private parties they wanted in one of the back rooms.
“You killed it up there, Ivy.” His sister seemed impressed with her. Otto was too, probably more so.
Ivy.
Otto let her name float around in his head. She looked nothing like the comic book character, but he had a feeling she was every bit as poisonous for him as the nickname claimed to be. That should have been enough to deter him and his cock from wanting her, but the poor bastard twitched at the thought of dying in between those mile-long legs of hers.