by K. D Clark
He slipped one finger inside, and she gasped in surprise. He let go of her wrist and met her mouth with his. Wetness pooled between her legs as he continued to work his finger in and out adding another and rubbing her clit at the same time. Her body was on fire like the temperature in the room had been turned up to the max. He trailed kisses along her jawline and down over her neck. She lifted her hips up, trying to get closer. His eyes locked with hers.
“You’re mine,” he stated his jaw clenched. She loved the way he said it. There was no room for disagreement. She was his the moment they’d gone back to his penthouse that first night.
She moved her hips faster to find release. The familiar tingle started in her stomach.
“Say it,” he demanded.
“I’m yours,” she gasped.
He smirked and started to move his hand faster until her legs were shaking, and she couldn’t take it anymore. She felt the nerve endings all over her body. Andre slowed and removed his fingers from her sex. He trailed more kisses over her body, his soft lips leaving goosebumps. He tugged at the bottom of the T-shirt she was wearing. She too lifted her back off the bed so he could pull it over her head. She laid naked in front of him but felt no shyness as his eyes traveled every inch of her body.
“You are so beautiful,” he said, voice raspy and full of lust. It gave her goosebumps, and that was all it took before that feeling was back in her stomach. He seemed to understand because he smirked and said “on top” as he unbuttoned his pants. That was all the encouragement she needed.
They switched spots, and she eased down on top of him, feeling her muscles give way to fit him inside. Once she came all the way down, he held her hips keeping her steady before pulling up and thrusting inside her once more. She gasped, but Andre did not slow down and continued to hold her hips and thrust up. She could feel the tension building again, and she slammed her mouth shut. Andre’s hand left her hip to smack down hard on her ass. Her eyes snapped open.
“Open your mouth. I want to hear from you,” he demanded.
She let out a scream as she was sent over the edge once again, waves of pleasure crashing over her. She fell forward onto his chest as he continued. Thrusting faster until he grabbed her hips tight, probably leaving marks. He grunted as he found his release. They stayed there. He still buried inside her as she laid on his chest, letting their breathing slow down. After some time, she slid off his chest and laid beside him.
“I gotta go to the club.”
He nodded. “Me too.”
A smile stretched across her face as she hopped out of bed and started to get ready.
*****
Tempest was busier than Cassandra had seen it in a while. Word must have gotten out that Gio was in town. People were pressed body to body, probably reaching maximum capacity, as Andre followed behind her. She had changed into a tight pair of jeans and high heels. They walked away from the dance floor toward her office, but Andre stopped first.
“I’m gonna get us some drinks,” he called over the music.
She nodded and turned back around, making her way to the office. Once she made it to the second floor, she could barely hear the music downstairs. Gio sat on one of the couches outside of her office. He was wearing his usual outfit of slacks and a button-up shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, showing off his tattoos that covered his arms and neck. Gio wasn’t a huge guy, standing at six feet with minimum muscles cut, but it was the way he carried himself that made him so dangerous. He was around the same age as Cassandra, both of them born into the crime world. While Cassandra was married to her husband, Gio had been working his way up the ranks to underboss. Gio was like an old friend to Cassandra, and she continuously trusted him with her life.
“Gio!”
His face split into a smile. Although she tried hard to show her tough exterior to her other men it was hard to keep that wall up with Gio. He had proven over and over again that she could trust him, and for that she was grateful. He was like a best friend she was never able to have growing up. Her father and Gio’s father often spent time together at her house in the office. Gio and she would play in the backyard and steal cookies from the kitchen table while her mother wasn’t looking. He rose from the couch opening his arms as she stepped in for a hug.
“How was Mexico?” she asked once they had stepped back from one another.
“Hot.”
She smirked. Gio was a man of few words, only speaking when he felt it was important, which made him a great underboss. He never gossiped or ran his mouth when he wasn’t supposed to. For that reason, people tended to listen when he spoke. She led the way into her office, sat in her chair, and started rolling a blunt as Gio took a seat across from her.
“Is everything settled or did I pull you out too early?” she asked cocking an eyebrow at him.
“Perfect timing actually. The cartel wants nothing to do with us. It seems that our friend was working on his own, so to speak. Only a few of them thought it was a good idea to gather Intel into Cosa Nostra. The cartel disagreed; we won’t hear from them again.”
Cassandra nodded, sealing the blunt and laying it down to rest.
“We got a bit of a problem on our hands here. We got competition in the street. At first, it was no big deal. They were cutting into our profits, and I sent Calvin to find out what was going on. They shot him.”
Gio gave no reaction to the news and simply waited for her to continue.
She picked up the blunt and lit it. “I think it’s starting to get bad, Gio. I have everyone searching high and low to bring one of these guys in so we can find out what’s going on and shut it down. I don’t even think they know what they’ve gotten into. Depending on what we find I might need you to set up a sit-down or we’ll just kill one off and send it as a warning.”
She offered the blunt to Gio; he took it and inhaled before speaking.
“How close are we to finding one of them?” He let out a breath of smoke filling the office with the smell of weed.
“Not close at all. I have Lucas on it though, so it shouldn’t take long. He’s pretty riled up about the whole thing.”
Gio nodded passing the blunt back to her. “And how are you?”
She opened her mouth to answer as Leo stuck his head through the office door, clearing his throat.
“You got a visit.”
She waved her hand indicating for Leo to let Andre in. He strutted inside. Cassandra expected him to look uncomfortable—most people were in Giovanni’s presence—but she forgot this was Andre she was talking about. He held two drinks in his hand: a Long Island for her and what looked like whiskey for him.
“Thank you,” she said as he set the drink in front of her and sat back on the leather couch in her office. He looked comfortable and relaxed as if he belonged right where he was. Giovanni lifted an eyebrow.
“Andre, Giovanni. Giovanni, Andre.” They nodded at each other, neither standing up to shake hands. If anything, they seemed to be staring each other down. While Giovanni looked like a cold-blooded killer dressed in nice clothes. Andre wore his suit like the businessman he was. It was unusual for someone to be allowed to walk into her office and look so relaxed.
“New guy?” Giovanni asked in Italian, already knowing the answer. No one new to Cosa Nostra would be allowed to step foot in her office, let alone bring her a drink and look so comfortable doing it.
She shook her head. “Where were we?”
Gio’s eyes flashed to Andre again.
“He stays,” she said answering his unspoken question.
Andre smirked at that. “Yea, I stay.”
Cassandra rolled her eyes, already tired of this little pissing contest they were having.
She spoke fast in Italian. “He’s a friend. I need you to show your face with the capos tomorrow so they know this is getting serious, maybe even talk with the crews. Find out what you can. Lucas should be okay on his side of things for now. Go home and rest. You did well in Mexico.”
; Gio nodded, standing, and left the room. Once he left, Andre stood up and took his chair.
“Who was that?” he asked. Cassandra picked up the rest of the blunt that Gio had left in the ashtray.
“Giovanni,” she said as she inhaled.
“I know that.”
“Good.”
Andre sat straight setting his whiskey down on the table and putting his elbows on his knees. His face was serious, and his eyes were filled with fire, something Cassandra was not used to. It wasn’t often that she got scared, but the hairs on her neck started to raise as Andre stared her down.
“Don’t do that,” he said surprisingly calm, but his tone was dark and meant business.
Cassandra swallowed. “Do what?”
“Brush me off. I’m not one of your men waiting for you to order me around and taking whatever sarcastic answer you give me. I asked a question, who was that?”
Cassandra hadn’t even noticed she had brushed him off. It had become such a habit. Her first reaction was to tell Andre to fuck off and get out of her office, but she figured that wouldn’t go over well.
“He’s my underboss. We kind of grew up together in this business.”
He seemed to relax some at her answer.
“You wanna come down to the bar?” he asked.
Cassandra shook her head. “I’ve got some more work to do. I’ll probably be here late.”
“Alright, Matteo is down at the bar; I’ll probably drink with him and then meet you back at your place?”
“Matteo?”
Andre smiled. “You’ll meet him soon enough.”
Andre stood and lightly grasped her chin. He tilted her head up before placing a light kiss on her lips before leaving. Cassandra stayed in the office the rest of the night, collecting money from her capos and working on the books for the club. Lucas was the last capo to stop by. He set his duffel back on the desk and sat down in the chair. Cassandra pulled out the rubber-banded stacks of money from the bag. She set the empty bag on the floor. She unwrapped the first stack and started to count silently. When her father was boss, tribute used to be a bigger deal. Everyone would gather for food and drinks, and the underboss would count all the money out while they discussed business. Cassandra found it easier this way, and it gave her one-on-one time with her capos as she counted.
“Find anything yet?” she asked, continuing to flip through the stack.
“No, got some leads but nothing major.”
“Giovanni’s in town. I want these thugs to be handled and put this shit to rest.”
Lucas nodded. “Me too.”
She finished counting out each stack in silence; when she was done, she looked up at Lucas who seemed lost in thought staring down at his hands in his lap.
“You OK?”
Lucas flinched as if he forgot where he was for a second before nodding quickly.
“Yea I’m good, just ready for this to be over.”
Cassandra stared at him for a second longer before nodding. “OK, you’re good to go. Let me know what you come up with, yea?”
He nodded, “Yea.”
She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Giovanni.
Keep an eye on Lucas; I think he’s got something on his mind.
It wasn’t often that Lucas seemed so withdrawn. Maybe it was just Calvin’s death weighing heavy on him but at this point, she couldn’t take any chances.
Chapter Eight
One Week Later
Andre
They had fallen into a routine of sorts. Once Andre was off work, he would pick up food and go to Cassandra’s, and then they would eat and go to Tempest. Andre would leave early to go back to her place, and then she would come home later. It was comfortable. He hadn’t been back to his penthouse, besides to grab some clothes. As he sat at the conference table talking with Felix on the speaker phone, he couldn’t wait to get back to her apartment. Things were going good. His men were still in the streets, and they were keeping quiet. He had started to build relationships with the dock workers for the gun trades. He was filtering money through his restaurant and real estate properties. Things weren’t moving as fast as he would have wanted, but they were moving. Felix assured him things were cooling down in Montreal, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he had to go back and show his face. The last thing he wanted was his men questioning his status as a boss, since he was spending so much time in the states. Once Andre ended the call with Felix, Matteo strutted into the office, leaning back in one of the chairs.
“Going to Cassandra’s?” he asked. Andre’s eyes flickered to the clock hanging on the wall.
“Yea, you got this?”
He nodded once. “Things are getting serious, huh?”
Andre shrugged. “I guess.”
“You’ve been living at her place.” Matteo wiggled his eyebrows.
Andre rolled his eyes as he got up to grab his jacket. “She’s cool, not what I expected.”
Matteo nodded but seemed to have something on his mind.
“What’s up?” Andre asked.
“I get it. But don’t forget who she is, Andre. She kills grown men and sells drugs for a living.”
Andre’s face pulled up into a smirk. “I believe we have a very similar occupation.”
Matteo shook his head. It was very rare that Matteo got serious about something. “I don’t think so. You both might both be running the Mafia, but she’s ruthless, Andre.”
“I know….”
“No, you don’t.” He cut in. “I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground. You know just last year she cut a man’s tongue out. Simply because he insulted her. What do you think she’s going to do once she finds out about you?”
Andre’s eyes widened, but he tried to keep his composure.
“She’s not going to find out,” Andre gritted out.
Matteo shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “If you say so.”
Andre walked out of the office and got into his Lexus. On the ride to the apartment, he couldn’t stop thinking about Matteo’s words. He was right. Andre had let himself get comfortable and cozy with the side of Cassandra that was funny, and sweet, and a bit of a chaotic mess, completely ignoring the ruthless boss she became at night. Even though he could recognize his mistake, he knew there was nothing he could do at this point. He was in too deep. He had let Cassandra trust him, rely on him, and he had finally broken through the walls that she had built around herself. When they were together in her small studio apartment, she resembled nothing of the notorious faceless criminal that the public heard about. She was just Cassandra. And as he walked into the apartment and the smell of food hit his nose, he was instantly calm. He walked in to see Cassandra standing at the stove, dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, with a lit blunt in one hand as she stirred a pot of something on the stove. He never wanted this to end.
“You cook?”
She jumped dropping the blunt on the floor.
“Shit!” She cursed as she looked to see where it fell before picking it up. “You scared the shit out of me, Andre!”
He smirked and nodded toward the stove.
“You cook?” he repeated.
She walked over to the bedside table to put out the blunt. “Yes, I am Italian.”
“Then why have we been ordering takeout all the time?”
She shrugged. “I like to cook. I just don’t usually have the time, and I haven’t really had anyone to cook for.”
She walked back to the stove and started to drain the pasta noodles.
“Ah, so you can be domestic.” He ducked, barely missing the spatula she threw at his head.
“I am not domestic; I just like to cook.”
Andre put his hands up in surrender, laughing. “Okay, you’re not domestic.”
Cassandra placed her hands on her hips. “That’s right. I’m a cold-blooded killer feared by all; don’t forget that.” She winked and went back to cooking.
“Feared by all, except for me.”
“This, every night,” he mumbled his mouth full of food.
She giggled. “I’m guessing you like it?”
He nodded.
“I was always in the kitchen with my mom when I was younger. She’s a busy woman, but more domestic than I am. She cooks every night.”
“I would like to meet her.”
She paused, about to take a stab of her pasta.
“My parents?” she asked, eyebrows raised.
“Why not?”
She looked away, going back to eating her food. “Maybe.”
Cassandra
Her phone started to ring on the kitchen island. She grabbed it and waited for whoever was on the other line to talk.
“You were right about Lucas. Want me to bring him into the office?” Giovanni said.
“How long?”
“Just a couple of weeks I hear.”
“Bring him in. Don’t leave him alone; I’ll be there soon.”
She ended the call and set the phone back on the island, letting out a sigh. She had suspected that Lucas might be involved in something. She suspected the FEDS might have gotten to him, and she wasn’t wrong. Talking with the FEDS in Cosa Nostra meant death, but she was willing to hear him out. Lucas was too loyal to snitch, but if he was getting trailed, he should have come to her or Gio. She looked over at Andre, who was finishing his dinner.
“You gotta go?” he asked.
“Yea.” She slid off the stool and headed toward the closet to grab an outfit. She flipped through the hangers, landing on a dress. She held it up to examine it when Andre’s arms snaked around her waist.
“I like that one,” he whispered his breath hot on her neck. She melted into his touch before straightening up and struggling out of his hold.
“No, no, I know what you’re trying to do.”
He faked innocence. “Do what?”