by Piper Stone
His caress on my bottom allowed me to realize that the session of horror was over. Even as he untied me, I built my internal strength, no longer needing him to help me stand. As quickly as he’d untied me, I jerked off the fucking bench, moving quickly toward my clothes, making certain I didn’t take my eyes off him or his captivating smile.
My God, the man was truly arrogant.
And gorgeous.
And sexy.
I twisted my mouth and grabbed at my clothes, making certain to buckle the watch first. He waited, remaining deathly quiet as I dressed. Then he advanced once again, but I refused to budge.
“Valentina. Here’s how we’re going to play this little game of ours. I truly believe you’re here in my club under nefarious purposes. While I’d originally believed you were an officer of the law, now, I’m not so certain. Although quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. I am a dangerous man, capable of doing horrible things. Rest assured that the majority of people who lie and steal from me are not given a second chance. You were given a third.”
His words were damn chilling, leaving my mouth dry and my heart racing. However, I kept my glare intact.
“But there’s something about you that I not only like but enjoy, other than just your body. I will allow you to leave the premises tonight. If I’m correct in that you are an imposter, you will be best advised to stay away. If for some crazy reason I’m wrong and you decide to return, there’s one very important thing that you need to keep in mind.”
“And what’s that, sir?” I said with just as much animosity.
He took two solid strides in my direction, a smile returning to his face. “Then I will own you. Every. Single. Inch.”
Chapter Six
Gregory
A rush.
I’d felt the kind of rush I hadn’t experienced in years, sadistic hunger clawing at the surface of my skin an explosion of electricity. All because of her. All because of a monstrous need to consume her.
Valentina.
Or whatever her fucking real name was.
Beautiful.
Bold.
Fearless.
Too much so for what she’d gotten herself in the middle of. I’d yet to be able to figure her out on any level. I’d waited until she’d left the club, even watching her as she drove out of the parking lot. While neither one of us had spoken another word, the last look she’d given me was entirely different than of the ones before.
Determined.
Gone was the innocent girl who needed a job and nothing more. She’d been replaced by one with a tougher edge, a growing hatred because of my attempts at breaking her will.
And because of that alone, I hungered more than ever.
I wanted to taste every inch of her.
Fuck every hole.
Ravage her every day.
I longed to expose her to the joys of true ecstasy, but only after her full surrender.
No one had ever accused me of doing the right thing, but I’d felt it some insane duty to let her go. If she was a smart woman, she’d walk away just like I suggested.
If not, then the game would continue.
I only hoped I knew what I was doing. It almost felt like some form of Russian roulette, only I wasn’t entirely certain I was the one holding the pistol.
Hissing, I sat on the deck watching the sunrise over the water, grateful for the time on the boat. I’d spent the night in relative peace, although I hadn’t been able to get her off my mind. I tugged out the cell phone I’d taken from her, punching in the numbers. What struck me immediately is that she had very few numbers stored in her contact list. Granted, if she’d just moved here, that would be the case, but I was still surprised there were no family members listed in particular or even a past job. I was beginning to think that she wasn’t a real person, her identity made up quickly.
When I maneuvered to the pictures, the six she’d taken at the club were interesting, but in every one of them, she could have simply been taking photographs of any number of people. The only person I recognized was Senator Busfield. He’d become a regular at Club Darkness, which I wasn’t certain made me very happy. He’d been incensed I hadn’t accepted his invitation to discuss business. Perhaps I needed to make an attempt to speak to him directly.
I shifted to the few other photographs, which not only provided some comfort that Valentina’s identity was real, but also gave me a hard-on seeing her lovely smile. I fingered the screen, contemplating if I should give it back to her. I’d learned a long time ago that if something either was too good or created a wave of red flags, it was best to shove both out of my life.
This was potentially both.
I moved toward the railing, staring out at the water as the boat pitched softly back and forth.
The purchase had been one of the best I’d made in recent months, providing the ability to walk away from the club in an entirely different manner.
Maybe I was a drifter at heart, something I’d heard my father call me more than once when I was young. I’d never paid attention to rules, always going off on my own. However, my parents had always found me at some water source. I appreciated the calming effects the open water provided. Somehow, my expensive condominium seemed like a formality and nothing more, a necessary respite where I brought guests if necessary. They were never allowed on my boat.
Sighing, I knew better than to push the envelope any further, at least not until Valentina made her next move. With a quick snap of my wrist, I tossed her phone, watching as it sailed out several feet before sinking below the Potomac. Playing games was a dangerous endeavor.
I’d spent additional time attempting to find her picture on any website or press release of our various enemies. There was no sign of her and certainly no indication she’d ever worked for the local police. No cadet pictures. No training academy. Would they be so bold as to bring someone in from another state to run an operation? That didn’t make any sense.
I’d also placed a call to one of the club members, a man who should know everyone within the local police department. Calling in the favor I felt was necessary. In addition, he’d been given the task of checking to see if anyone was working on a case against us. I eagerly awaited his call.
I also hadn’t heard from Christopher. I truly loathed the informant he used, a corrupt piece of shit known to have ties with the Gasini mafia family. For some reason, Christopher believed the tie would come in handy.
What the hell was going on with the additional funds? Was someone really attempting to frame our company for an illegal activity? Extortion? My head was already aching and it was barely six in the morning. I abandoned the coffee, moving toward the railing. The slip had cost me almost as much as the damn boat, but the location was at least one of the few considered semi-private.
This wasn’t the perfect location. I preferred somewhere more tropical and would eventually leave all my worldly goods to my brothers and walk away.
With the exception of the boat.
Hell, maybe by then I’d have a larger one.
Laughing, I shook my head until I heard a slight creaking noise. Someone had dared board. As I rounded the corner, prepared to grab my weapon, I lifted a single eyebrow. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Michael took tentative steps as he glanced from port to stern, finally giving a respectful nod. “Not bad. Sweet Avenger, huh?”
“Seemed like an appropriate name.” I motioned him over, releasing my hold on the barrel of my Glock. He seemed to notice, giving me a shake of his head. “You want some coffee?”
He stood on the deck, enjoying the light breeze, then exhaled in an exaggerated manner. “You got any booze on this boat, maybe something to make a Bloody Mary? It was a long fucking night.”
This wasn’t my brother on any level. He almost never drank in the middle of the day and certainly never while at the club. The discrepancies had obviously ruffled his feathers.
“Come below. I think I can handle that.” He trailed behind me,
whistling in appreciation.
“I think we pay you too much, brother,” he commented before flopping down on one of the leather couches in the salon.
“Very funny. For the kind of money that we’re making, I think a raise in in order.” I moved toward the bar, studying him while I prepared two drinks. Why the hell not indulge on a beautiful Saturday morning?
“The boat suits you, Gregory.”
“You’re not here to talk about my boat purchase and especially not at barely six in the morning. What are you doing here?” I walked closer, easing both drinks onto the table before sitting down opposite him.
He chuckled, immediately reaching for his drink. “No, you’re right. I was up almost all night trying to figure out who could have deposited the money.”
“There has to be a trail.”
“One would ordinarily think so. Even with calling in a favor with our local banker in the middle of the night, all that could be determined was that ATMs had been used, several of them.”
“There are cameras at every one,” I offered.
“She tried that, although her access what somewhat limited last night. While she was able find a clear shot of every time money was deposited, whoever is doing this is going to great lengths to disguise their identities. No clear shots. It would seem that every person is of a different height and weight, but always shadowed. They certainly knew where the cameras were located. She’s going to dig deeper, but I’m not going to lie, we have a problem.”
“What are you thinking?”
He shot me a look. “What did you do with the girl? What’s her name, Valentina?”
“So she tells me and that’s on her employment record. I gave her one final opportunity to divest herself of our establishment.”
“You let her go. Why? Why in God’s name would you do something like that?”
“Because I have nothing concrete that she’s anyone but who she says she is.”
Michael exhaled. “I don’t know what to think other than her arrival was when the largest deposit was made. That can’t be a coincidence. You have to know that.”
“I hear you, but from what you’re telling me, it would appear this operation is large. What role could she play in all of this?”
“I think that’s something only you are going to be able to figure out. I’d just watch what you’re doing, brother. I know how difficult it’s been to let go of the past.”
My past shouldn’t have anything to do with how I handled Valentina. I wanted to be angry with him, but he’d been the one to pick up the pieces all those years ago. However, he was right. “She means nothing to me, Michael. Not a damn thing.”
“Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?” He lifted his glass in a toast of solidarity. Neither one of us had ever experienced good luck with women other than to have the occasional beautiful woman on our arm when necessary.
In fact, we were considered three of the most eligible bachelors in DC. As if that mattered to any of us. We all shared a love of money and control. Few women had been able to put up with our dominating desires. The fact we owned an exclusive kink club didn’t bode well for the conservative first families offering up their daughters like candy to men of power and influence.
“I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything. As I told Christopher, if Valentina is anything but who and what she says she is, she will have hell to pay.”
“Uh-huh. I can see how that worked really well.” he teased. “You already like her.”
“Like isn’t an option in our worlds, brother. You know that. She’s a beautiful pet and nothing more. She will be discarded as necessary.”
“Is that why you fucked her last night?”
Now I bristled. “Who I fuck isn’t any concern of yours.” Jerking to a standing position, I walked toward one of the windows, trying to keep my cool.
“You’re not a careless man, Gregory, which is why I find it odd that you’re attracted to her. I don’t give a rat’s ass about who you sleep with or cage for that matter. What I do care about is keeping our business in the black, which appears that someone wants to destroy. If any member of law enforcement required our books to be opened right now, we’d look guilty as fuck for whatever crime someone wants to be attached to our name.”
“Why is it that you’re so damn concerned, Michael? Is there something you’re been hiding while spending all your time with your nose buried in spreadsheets? Are there other business ventures that you haven’t shared? Perhaps ones involving criminal activity?”
His face reddened, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t go down that road. Don’t you fucking dare. I spent two years cleaning up shit after what our father left us. Two full years. I changed all my plans in order to help run the corporation. I think some gratitude would be in order.”
I’d never heard him talk this way about either our father or the fact he’d wanted a different life. Sadly, he’d had no choice but to take care of two younger brothers after my parents had been killed in an accident. While our father had been excellent at unearthing the various skeletons from some of the darkest closets, his distrust of the majority of people had made him a terrible bookkeeper.
“What our father left us was a multimillion-dollar corporation as well as several real estate holdings. I’m sorry you felt required to hold the bag until Christopher and I were of legal age. You should have just sold the damn operation.”
“I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t do that. Not to you and Christopher. But believe me, I thought about it more than once. Getting away from the scrutiny and the lies, the FBI probes and the warrants, let alone the obvious blackmail schemes that he’d reveled in, it feels like I spent a lifetime trying to right our father’s wrongs. Then there’s all the time we took getting it ready to reopen. Jesus. Neither one of us wanted to let the legacy go. Sadly, do you know what I realized only a few months ago?”
He’d never gone into any detail about what he’d been forced to face after their deaths. I’d been old enough to know Michael had been nearly choked off from his life, law enforcement insisting that there was evidence to find of wrongdoings. Then the various accusations and innuendoes had gone away.
Or maybe the dirty secrets we had on almost everyone who was anyone in this town had kept the wolves at bay.
“I’m afraid to ask what,” I said quietly.
“That we’re just like him. Brutal. Ruthless.”
“Only if people stand in our way.”
He laughed. “That’s always going to happen. There are those who will insist we go into business with them because that’s what our father did. Providing a name, cash, and strong-armed influence when necessary. Don’t get me wrong, our father exploited his share of friendships as well, allowing for an increase in the family wealth. You see, brother, having powerful friends in the right places is really important. Times were different then, a handshake meaning more than any signed contract. Plus, there was an honor code. It started with our grandfather. At least that’s what Pops told me one day over a decent bottle of scotch a hell of a long time ago.”
“That’s why you kept Club Darkness, encouraging us to run it as a family business. A family tradition that allows you the pleasure of exposing dirt when necessary. Let’s face it, you know all the dirty little secrets of our clients and have no issue using them when necessary.”
When he snapped his head in my direction, I’d never seen my brother so angry. I could also see a look of reservation in his eyes. He looked away, swirling the Bloody Mary. “Like father, like sons. And don’t tell me that you don’t enjoy the money or the power, the ability to have anything you’ve ever wanted. I know better.”
I certainly couldn’t disagree.
“The club was a meeting place for decades, a neutral location where discussions could be held in private. Pops used to say that the club formed a kind of peace treaty where everyone left their weapons and badges at the door, allowing for... frank discussions.” Michael laughed, taking another swig of his dr
ink. “Of course, he used that opportunity to collect his vault full of secrets.”
“You never told me that before.”
“Nope. Our mother wanted you and Christopher to have a better life. I knew there was no way to keep you away from the business given the way the will was written. But I spared you from the old stories just in case you wanted to keep our father’s memory... less scandalous.”
It was my turn to laugh. “I knew our father as an asshole as well as a discriminating businessman. I also was no fool, realizing that his power was his particular brand of kink. He salivated on watching people suffer, losing their prosperity and much of their control.”
He lifted his glass once again. “To our father. The most perverted, vile man in all of DC.”
I held up my glass, trying to find a decent memory of our father in my mind. He was hardly home, preferring to spend hours at the club. Now, I truly knew why. He’d been amassing his fortune.
And I had turned out just like him.
“As you already know, Pops developed more than a handful of enemies on both sides of the law. Playing neutral is the most dangerous position of all,” Michael said quietly. “You would have thought a dark cloak had been pulled from the city after the club closed. I think one or more of our father’s former acquaintances are determined to bring us down using whatever tactics necessary, perhaps even filtering bits and pieces of information to the cops. If we’re behind bars, our credibility is gone. No one would believe anything we spouted off no matter if we pulled out vivid photographs. They’d all just look the other way.”
Hence the reason for an undercover agent.
“Then we need to figure out who’s behind this quickly. I’m curious. Does this have anything to do with Senator Busfield and his attempt at going into business with us?”
He seemed genuinely surprised. “I don’t know. Busfield is not a fan of some of the club members. He’s also not a fan of certain lawmakers in town. However, he did know our father fairly well, which may mean a discussion should be had with him.”