by Amy Starling
When he finally freed me from his hold, my senses returned to me. I pushed him back and scowled, ashamed that I'd let him have me so easily.
“What the hell are you thinking? You can't do that.”
“Oh, but I already did.” He winked. “I'm not blind, Ceci. Doesn't take a genius to figure out you want me.”
He had me stammering over my words. How the heck did you respond to a man like him?
“I could call security.”
“You could, but you won't.”
“What makes you so sure? You bring in a gun in here. Demand free treatment and drugs. Then you... You forced yourself on me.”
He fixed me with his smoldering stare. “Okay, then. Tell me you're not interested. Go on and say it.”
I tried, but it was impossible to say those words. Because it would have been a lie.
“I don't even know you,” I mumbled, grabbing for the door.
“Who said you needed to know me? It's better that you don't, anyway.” He chuckled softly. “There's only one thing that matters: you're damn beautiful and I've decided I want you. And guess what? I always get what I want.”
I knew as soon as he said it that he'd have me, too. I'd spent years like this, all stressed out and tense and sick with worry about my future. I wanted to forget all that, if only for one night.
Alec was offering himself to me. And he wasn't just any ordinary guy – the raw attraction between us was so strong that it nearly drove me crazy with desire.
What would it be like to make love to him?
“Ceci, where the heck are you?” Emily had come back into the building. She gasped. “What the – is that blood?”
Alec obviously resented the interruption. He sighed and brushed my cheek with his rough fingertips. I didn't try to stop him.
“A shame,” he murmured. “But no matter. One way or another, I'm going to have you in my bed.”
Emily had followed the blood trail to our locked room. She tried to open it, then knocked.
“You in there? What's going on?”
Before I could shoo her away, Alec opened the door. When Emily saw him standing there staring down at her, she turned white.
“Pardon me,” he said to her, then turned to me. “Thank you for fixing me up, but I have to be on my way. I'll see you soon, Ceci.”
We both watched him wordlessly as he strode out the door like he owned the place. Then Emily turned to me, her mouth agape.
“What the hell just happened? Who was that?”
I wished I knew how to answer her. When I licked my lips, I could still taste Alec on them.
Only one thing was certain: we'd meet again, and when we did, I'd be unable to resist him for long.
He didn't even know me, but I was already his.
Chapter 2 - Alec
I couldn't get Ceci off my mind.
Now, I've screwed tons of girls – so many that I couldn't remember them all. But that was just sex, and once those chicks left my bed I promptly forgot about them.
But with Ceci, it was different.
I knew something was up the second I laid eyes on her. It wasn't just how damn beautiful she looked with tendrils of dark blonde hair hanging in her eyes, or the way her smile made my heart pound like a jackhammer.
No, it was more than that. It was some kind of primal connection. I had to have her. She was gonna be all mine whether she knew it yet or not.
“God, this son of a bitch is heavy.”
“Stop whining and grab his ankles.”
Joey and Lucas struggled to throw our latest victim into the car trunk. Idiots didn't hit him hard enough to knock him out, and now the poor fool was kicking and squealing like a pig being led to slaughter.
I didn't feel like helping them. All I wanted to do was plan out how I'd be seducing Ceci.
Not that it'd be hard. When I kissed her, oh boy, it was clear as day she wanted it. She rubbed up against me and made this soft little groan that got me hard as steel.
Had her nurse friend not butted in unexpectedly, I'd have bent her over the table and fucked her right then and there. A little stab wound and stitches weren't gonna stop me.
“Yo, Alec!” Lucas waved and wiped the sweat from his head while Joey slammed the trunk shut. “The hell you doing over there, staring off into space? We don't get this guy back quick, your daddy's gonna get all bent outta shape.”
I kicked a rock off the pier and watched it sink into the black water. If negotiations with my dad didn't go over well, I'd probably be dumping Mr. Trenton's body into this lake later tonight.
“Hey, you're not the one who took a knife to the gut the other day.” I gently touched the spot where Ceci had sewn me up. “Gimme a break. And if Leo gets pissy, you tell him to talk to me.”
Joey snickered at me as I sank into the driver's seat. “Still can't believe you of all folks almost got taken out.”
“Kind of ironic, ain't it?” Lucas added. “For once in his life, the hunter became the hunted.”
“Shut up. I wasn't hunted; I just didn't see it coming.” I bristled at the memory of the knife piercing my flesh. “I mean, the guy's a lawyer. Who would have expected him to be packing heat under his coat?”
What a night that had been. Toby Henderson was the prosecutor in this trial, all set to convict one of our family and stick him with life behind bars. The guy's evidence was solid. If he presented it and swayed that jury, Frank would've been sunk for sure.
So I thought I'd break into his fancy house and “convince” him to throw the trial. He had other ideas.
How did I not see it coming? Was I losing my touch? Sure hoped not. I was no use to the family dead.
Our man in the trunk shouted himself hoarse, but it was futile with that gag in his mouth. Lucas turned and punched the seat behind him.
“Yo, shut up in there or we're going after your wife next, pal.”
We left behind the west side of Summerset City and made for dad's mansion. He didn't usually like doing business there – said the blood was too hard to remove from the carpet – but I guessed this one was urgent enough to make a house call for.
The light up ahead was red, but I didn't feel like stopping. I blasted through, ignoring the angry honking of some guy in an ice-cream van.
“Hope this doesn't take long. How am I supposed to run the club if I'm always doing dirty work for the family?”
“What's the matter – got a hot date there tonight? If it's that blonde bartender with the big tits, I don't blame you.”
“Nah. I got somebody else in mind.” Thinking of her pretty face made me smile. “She's a doctor. The one who stitched me up, actually.”
Lucas's eyes widened. “Wait, whaddya mean? What happened to Gray?”
“He was gone when I got there. Kind of glad for it, though. You should've seen this girl, man. God, she was stunning.”
The two of them exchanged looks.
“You just let some random doctor work on you? You realize how risky that is?”
“Gee, Joey, I hadn't thought about that.” I rolled my eyes. “Kinda hard to hold out for Gray to show up when I'm dripping blood puddles all over the waiting room floor.”
“Yeah, I guess, but you sure you can trust her?”
“I haven't told her a thing.” Although she saw my gun, and that probably put some questions in her head. “Anyhow, she's gorgeous. I'd take her over the bartender any day.”
Lucas found a bag of stale chili-cheese Fritos under the seat. He pulled it out and threw big handfuls into his fat maw. Crumbs dusted the floor as he spoke with his mouth full.
“You ever gonna stop screwing around with a different girl every night? I mean, you could really use a girlfriend if you ask me. Someone to cook for you and pick up your messes.”
“You're just jealous. The club's my personal buffet of the hottest women in town. All I gotta do is whistle and they come running.”
Still, I turned the idea over in my head as I drove the long driveway up to dad's
house. Yeah, a girlfriend might be nice – someday.
I was still young, hadn't even hit thirty yet. Long as I had women throwing themselves at me, why limit myself to the prison of monogamy?
Ceci, though... She was something special. The other night I got so horny daydreaming about her, I jacked off thinking of all the filthy things I'd do to her. Never done that with any of my usual conquests.
No clue what to think about that, except I had to get her naked and on top of me ASAP.
At last, we'd arrived. I parked the car behind Sam's and Freddy's. Wonder what they were doing here tonight.
“Hope he doesn't wanna have some long-winded meeting.” I popped the trunk so they could get our passenger out. “I haven't eaten since lunch.”
“Get married and you'd have a hot dinner waiting for you when you get home,” Lucas said.
“As if you know what marriage is like. You're worse than me, sleeping with every single dancer at that strip club of yours.”
The two of them hauled Mr. Trenton up and out of the trunk. Instead of protesting, this time he went limp and said nothing.
“Walk,” Lucas growled, pushing him up the stairs toward the back door.
“What did this guy do?” I wondered aloud. “Must be a big deal to go through with something like this.”
“I dunno, but for your sake you'd better hope it all goes well,” Joey said as he kicked the door open. “Otherwise, you'll be busy disposing of a body instead of hanging out at the club with the boys.”
Trenton didn't react well to that. His muffled cries barely came through the gag and the sack over his head. Joey elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up.
Inside, the smell of baking cherries and loud opera music greeted us. Dad's maid, Janet, hummed to herself as she fussed over the oven. He was pretty useless at the housework stuff, so he'd hired her to do it for him after mom died quite a few years ago.
“Hello, boys,” she called to us. “Leo's upstairs waiting for ya. When you're done with that, c'mon down and have some pie. It's almost finished.”
“Thanks, Janet,” I said. “Your desserts always have been the best.”
She giggled. “Extra whipped cream for you, Alec?”
“You know me too well.”
The more I thought about it, maybe it would be nice to have a woman cook for me like she did for dad. Not a maid, though. I didn't want to pay a girl to do it, and I doubted any of my one-night stands would be up for the job.
“Up the steps,” Joey snapped, shoving Trenton forward.
At the landing, loud voices were coming from dad's office. I nudged open the door to find Sam and Freddy talking with him.
“This asshole doesn't know who he's dealing with,” Freddy grunted. “Thinks he can just sling coke from the corner without our permission.”
“You gotta do something about him, sir,” Sam agreed.
“Dad.”
My father's steely gaze found mine. He smiled warmly, but both of us knew he wasn't in a cheerful mood.
“C'mon in, son.” He nodded to Joey. “This the guy?”
Joey tore the bag off the man's head. Right away, his eyes went wide with fear, and he bucked against Lucas's strong hold.
This was the first time I'd actually seen Mr. Trenton. He was tall and thin, with dirty-blonde hair. I studied him harder. Why'd he look so familiar to me? Hmm.
Dad stared him down. “Roger Trenton?”
The man nodded slowly. Good; it was best he tell the truth. Dad did not like it when people lied to him.
“Take off the gag. I wanna hear what this idiot has to say for himself.”
Lucas sliced the dirty rag off with his pocket knife. Soon as it fell, Roger gasped for breath and hunched over like he was going to puke.
“Don't kill me,” were the first words he managed. “Please, whatever I did, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to cause trouble. I got a family.”
Dad folded his arms, his jaw set. “Should have thought about that before borrowing cash you couldn't pay back.”
Roger gaped at him. “What? I borrowed from you?”
“Maybe you forgot,” Sam growled. “You came into my office begging for money. Well, guess what? The Ciarello family don't like folks stealing from them.”
“I didn't steal anything,” Roger said quickly. “I was gonna pay it all back, I swear. But I haven't had much luck at the races lately, and I've already wiped out what's left of my daughter's college fund.”
This guy made me sick. What kind of loser loved gambling more than his own daughter? Pathetic.
“Sorry, Mr. Trenton, but you're out of time.”
Roger began to sob again. He sank to his knees, blubbering like a baby.
“I only need a little while longer. That's why I started doing whatever I could to come up with the cash.”
Freddy stepped forward. “Including hustling drugs in Ciarello territory.”
“I – I had no idea,” he stammered. “I was just trying to make money. To pay off my debt to you. Don't you understand?”
Dad gritted his teeth. “Nobody sells in family territory without my permission. You're pissing off a lotta the wrong people, son.”
Roger continued to cry while we and dad figured out what to do with him. I couldn't keep from glancing at his face every couple of seconds, though. He reminded me of someone I'd seen before. Had I met the guy somewhere?
“Jeez, dad. How much did this idiot borrow from us?”
Sam pulled a ledger from his pocket. “He came to my place asking for a thousand bucks about a couple of months ago. Swore he'd pay it all back, plus twenty percent interest.” He flipped to another page. “He managed to pony up what he owed a few weeks later. But then the asshole returns, begging for a lot more this time – over twenty-thousand dollars.”
“What the hell for?”
Sam made a disgusted face. “The guy is big into gambling. Horse racing, mostly, and sports bets. He'd bankrupted his girl's college fund to feed his habit, but then it came time to pay her tuition and he didn't have the cash.”
“So he went to you for it.”
“Hey, I know a money-making deal when I see one.” His eyes twinkled. “I told him I'd do it, but the interest was gonna be thirty percent this time. He agreed. Said he'd pay every dollar back, except he's been dodging my calls and nicely-worded letters for a while now.”
Roger whimpered. “I told you I was working on it. That's why I was out there selling that stuff.”
“That might have been a good plan,” dad said, puffing on his cigar. “If you hadn't decided to do it on our turf.”
“What are you gonna do to me?”
Dad reached for the pistol on his desk. Roger's eyes widened, and he broke away from Joey's hold with a surprising burst of strength. He only made it as far as the stairs landing before Lucas hauled him back to the office.
“D-don't kill me. I'll do whatever you ask, I swear. Please...”
“You had time to pay, and you didn't. That's disrespectful. The Ciarellos don't like men who don't honor their promises.”
Dad's finger rolled over the trigger. I sighed. Damn it, there went my plans for the evening.
“Wait!” Roger cried. “I... I can get you that money. More than that, actually. There's to be a big race tomorrow. I know without a doubt which horse is gonna win.”
The guys scoffed. None of us believed him. People said the most ridiculous things when they thought they were about to die.
But dad didn't shoot him yet. He shifted the gun from hand to hand.
“Go on.”
Roger, apparently sensing his only chance at freedom, got very excited. He shook like mad and had this weird smile on like he wasn't really right in the head.
“Yeah, it's true. See, I met this guy the other day. He's one of the trainers, a guy who takes care of the horses. He got access to this... some kind of performance-enhancing drug, like steroids, I guess.”
Dad tapped his foot. “Get to the point, Mr. Trenton.”
“So one of the horses, name's Pied Piper, is consistently coming in last place. Nobody ever bets on him. No one thinks he'll win.” Roger smiled wider. “But he's been doping the horse up with this drug for a week now. None of the others will be able to beat him; I'm sure of it.”
Dad had a faraway look in his eyes. He was planning something, but what? I mean, could he seriously believe this idiot's story?
“When Pied Piper wins, think about it. What if you're the only one who bet on him? You'd stand to make a ton of money.”
“Leo, sir, you're not actually considering going along with this,” Joey protested. “Guy's clearly bonkers. Look how much he's lost already. What makes you think he knows better now?”
Dad sighed. “Lucky for you I'm feeling generous tonight. I'm willing to give you one final chance.”
Roger cried some more. “Oh, thank you. All I need is another ten thousand, and I can get you all your money back and far more.”
I laughed. “You already owe the family, and you have the nerve to ask for extra?”
“If this horse wins,” dad said calmly, “you will give every dime of it to me.”
“Y-yes, of course I will.”
“And if he doesn't win?” I shot dad a look to say I disapproved.
Coldness filled his eyes. “Then he'll be paying us back in some other way.”
He went to his safe, opened it, and pulled out stacks of money. Then he slowly counted it and handed a large chunk to Roger.
“Fifty thousand. Don't disappoint me.”
The guys were in an uproar as Roger shakily took the money. I glared at dad. The hell was he thinking, giving all that cash to him? If this guy was smart, he'd take the lot of it and run away somewhere he'd never be found.
“Thank you so much.” Roger stuck the bills in his pocket. “I'm going to win. I promise. I'll have the money tomorrow.”
Lucas shoved him to the door, but dad paused.
“You have a wife and a daughter, yes, Mr. Trenton?”
“Uh, yes, I do. Why do you ask?”
Dad stroked the barrel of his gun before sliding it back into a desk drawer. “Oh, no reason.”