by Sedona Venez
Even with the lack of solitude, these four men were my family, closer than flesh and blood. I’d take a bullet for any one of them, and I knew they’d do the same for me.
There was Ram, of course—my best friend and partner. Then Max and Rocco, brothers and my enforcers, would handle all my dirty work. They’d knock the heads that needed knocking together, roughing up all my enemies and keeping my business associates in line—not because I forced them to do it, but because the sick bastards loved the hell out of inflicting blood and carnage. Kevin took care of the financing and accounting for all my businesses. He was also a tech genius with connections with people in high and low places, making him a highly skilled intelligence asset. Everyone played their part. For years, we’d tightened up my operations along the East Coast, making us all filthy rich because of it.
We’d all made hard sacrifices to get to where we were today, including loving and losing people we’d cared about. Losing the love of my life, Maya, had cut me deep, sending me to a dark and wild place. I’d sunk into the abyss of violence and crime, abandoning Maya’s and my dream of leaving the criminal world behind and starting anew.
Only Ram’s friendship had pulled me back from the brink of despair and death. We’d focused on a way to go legit. Real estate had been the fastest way out. We hadn’t been fazed by the fact that the close-knit world of real estate wasn’t about to let thugs like us through the doors. So we’d used bribes, violence, and our connections in the criminal world to fuel our ascent. When we’d broken ground on our first building, I’d known it was just a prelude to the legitimate money to come, fulfilling Maya’s dream.
I smiled. She would be so proud of me if she were still alive. Many people underestimated me, but she hadn’t. I’d beaten the odds by working hard, long hours to build my empire from the ground up. What I hadn’t known about real estate I’d figured out through trial and error. Now I was part owner of a multibillion-dollar real estate development and investment company with offices in New York and Miami, including a portfolio of condo projects, hotels, and office buildings.
I stared at Ram. “Rough night?”
Ram looked up and nodded.
Max savagely bit off a piece of bacon. “Yeah, right. After the gala, he was banging the shit out of that socialite chick, Cate Bellisario.”
I smirked. “Did she tell you anything we can use against Bigsby?”
We were ruthless. I didn’t mind taking a hell of a lot of pride in that.
Ram stood up and stretched. “How could she? She had my cock down her throat for half the night.” He groaned, walking toward the refrigerator. “I’d thought I was into some freaky shit, but damn, the weird shit she begged me to do to her made me a little uncomfortable.” He pulled out a bottle of water and then leveled me with a glare. “The things I do for the job.”
Rocco looked over his shoulder and snorted. “Poor baby. Fucking a hot chick is just such sweaty hard work.”
Ram punched him on the shoulder. “Shut the fuck up.”
I leaned against the granite countertop, gulping my coffee. “I didn’t tell you to fuck her. I said to use her obsession over you to get more leverage on Bigsby.”
“You know me.” Ram grinned as he twisted open the bottle. “I don’t mind going real deep in the name of work.”
My lips tilted into a brief small smile. “I bet you don’t,” I replied.
Max and Rocco chuckled.
Cate was a frequent patron at The McKay Club. She had a seedy dark side she kept well hidden from her fiancé Bigsby. I’d known, with a little nudge from Ram, Cate would jump at the chance to fuck him. She was our ace in the hole. It would be just a matter of time before she was so strung out on Ram that she would do or say anything to keep getting fucked.
Kevin talked rapidly into his cell. “Are you sure? … Okay. … Yes. Keep digging. Talk to you later.” His brows knitted, his bewilderment evident, as he strode around the counter, shoving his cell into his pocket. Opening the refrigerator, he grabbed a bottle of water.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” Rocco turned from the stove with his plate piled high. He sat down before shoveling food into his mouth.
“We need to work on our leads.” I drained my coffee cup and refilled it.
“Which ones?” Max asked.
“All of them,” I responded.
Kevin choked on his water. “All of them?”
“Every damn one of them. The trail on Lexis was getting cold, but now that we know Jeff Barolo and Bigsby are linked, we need to work that lead and find out where Jeff’s hiding. The Sinthia and Bigsby connection is still hot. We need to work that angle ASAP.” I crossed my arms, looking at Kevin as he plopped down. “So what else do we have on him?”
Kevin raked a hand over his face. “Nothing new. I couldn’t find any ties between Bigsby and Ben. Are you sure Ben was telling the truth about Bigsby cleaning Ben’s money through his company Pomtonic International?”
“Yes,” I responded.
Kevin frowned. “I don’t have any information verifying that yet. And UF-Star, the independent political action committee spending money to advocate Bigsby for New York City’s new mayor, is squeaky clean.”
“And the Jeff Barolo lead?” I asked.
“It’s going nowhere. I can’t locate him. He’s off the fucking grid.”
Ram’s stoic expression turned grim. “So we have nothing? Why the hell are we paying all this money for intel if you can’t produce shit?”
“What the hell is wrong with you? You didn’t let me finish,” Kevin snapped back.
“Go ahead,” Ram responded grudgingly.
Kevin slinked down in his seat. “Bits and pieces of information about Jeff’s past are surfacing. He’s bad news, and he’s had some assault charges. Plus, he’s on probation. Eventually, he has to check in with his probation officer. So we’ve got that covered. The Bigsby and Sinthia angle is dry, and what little information I have, I haven’t quite put together, but I will.” He crossed his arms.
“What about Sinthia’s background? Any skeletons in her closet?” I asked.
“Nothing scandalous. She moved around a lot up until she was seventeen. Her parents seem pretty straight-laced. Her father, Ian Michaels, died years ago in some freak car accident. Her mother, Grace Michaels, owns some overpriced teahouse in Manhattan.” Kevin frowned. “But I did find something very interesting. Sinthia has two birth certificates.”
I whistled as I rocked back on my heels. “Two? How did you find them?”
“I started with her DMV record.” Kevin’s voice was calm and easy. “Once I had that, it wasn’t hard to trace her birth certificate. I just wasn’t counting on finding out she had two.”
My lips tightened. “What else did you find?”
“She has two names on record—Sinthia Cruickshank and Sinthia Michaels,” Kevin responded.
My shoulders bunched, but I kept my face expressionless. “Cruickshank?” I bit back the expletive hovering on my tongue.
What the hell?
Cruickshank was the person Bigsby had bragged about to Mom.
I started to mention what I knew, but then I stopped. I needed hard information, not remnants from dreams that didn’t make a bit of sense. I decided to wait until Kevin could dig up more info before coming to a sound conclusion about what this all meant.
“Yes, Cruickshank,” Kevin replied.
Ram inclined his head toward me. “What do you think? Does she know?”
I scowled. “Do I look like a fucking mind reader? I haven’t spent enough time feeling her out to know anything concrete about her.”
“Oh, you did a hell of a lot of feeling her out,” Max said. “I saw the way Sinthia looked after you were done with her on the rooftop. The woman seemed well tousled.”
Max and Rocco chuckled.
I shot them a dirty look. “Yeah, okay. Laugh it up, idiots.”
Kevin smirked. “What I do know is someone tried real hard to hide her birth certif
icates, but they weren’t counting on the fact that I’m really good at what I do—unearthing shit they’d paid a boatload of money to bury.” He smiled smugly. “The first birth certificate has her father listed as Ian Michaels and her mother as Grace Michaels. The second certificate has her father listed as Greer Lorne Cruickshank and her mother as Aubrey Cruickshank.”
“Find out if the Cruickshanks are still alive.” I rubbed my chin. “Put a tap on Bigsby’s cell and follow up with your Fed contacts to see if they know anything about Bigsby. If he’s laundering money, he has to be on someone’s radar.”
Rocco leaned back in his chair, raising a brow. “Okay, I have one word to describe that idea—insane. An unauthorized cell tap on the next New York City mayor?”
My jaw clenched. “So the fuck what?” I countered. “We do that shit all the time.” I looked at Kevin. “Just put the tap on.” Then I glared at Max. “I need you to put a tail on Sinthia. Discreetly follow her. I want to know everything she does, everywhere she goes, who she interacts with. I even want to know who she’s fucking.”
Max threw back his head and roared with laughter.
“I told you,” Kevin said smoothly, nodding at Ram with a knowing look. “I won the bet. Now pay up, Ram.”
Ram threw his arms up in the air in exasperation before taking out his wallet. He pulled out a crisp hundred-dollar bill and slid it over to Kevin.
Kevin picked up the bill before loudly snapping it with a wide smile. “I just love taking your money.”
I stiffened. “What bet?”
“I bet Ram that you’d crack and order Max to follow her. Ram said you wouldn’t,” Kevin said, smiling slyly at me.
I couldn’t hide my incredulity. “You motherfuckers are taking bets on me? What else are you betting on?”
“How long before you fuck her,” Rocco admitted.
Totally deadpan, Max added, “Four thousand dollars on the line, and given how long you and Sinthia were on that rooftop last night, I might just win this bet.”
Kevin frowned. “Hey! Why didn’t anyone tell me about that bet?”
“Because, Mr. Genius, we knew you’d win,” Ram said to Kevin. Then he looked at me. “I can’t believe you ordered Max to follow her. Damn it. She’s not who you should be following. That should be Bigsby.”
“That’s for damn sure,” Max mumbled as he got up. He put his plate and utensils into the dishwasher.
“Don’t tell me what I should be fucking doing. I have millions invested in her. I have a vested interest in keeping tabs on her,” I responded coolly.
Ram shook his head. “Bullshit! If you care so much about her company, then give me the okay to contact the other retailers so I can give them the thumbs-up to resume business with her.”
My jaw twitched. It’d been a while since I wanted to take Ram’s head off so badly. “Why do you give a shit?” I asked, not bothering to hide the rage building within me. “You interested in fucking her?” In an instant, my hackles rose as my eyes accusingly locked onto Ram, and I slammed my empty cup on the counter.
Ram’s mouth turned up into a smile. “She’s hot, but I’m not a blocker. No matter how much you deny it, I know you. You’ll be fucking her by the end of the month.”
I wanted to deny it. Everything about Sinthia Michaels was complicated, too complicated, but I wanted her in my bed. I knew she wanted to be there, too, but for some reason, she was hesitant and damn skittish. I needed time to work her a little more. I wanted no doubts to be in her mind when we fucked.
“Given what I know about her, I’m going to have to take it slow until I figure out what’s going on between her and Bigsby,” I clipped out.
Leaning up against the wall with his thick arms crossed, Max sent me a you-are-so-full-of-shit look. “Uh-huh. I call bullshit on that, Core.”
A smile twitched across Rocco’s lips. “Me, too. Shit. Every time anyone mentions her name, you get that look, bro.”
My irritation swelled. “What look?”
Ram took a large swallow of water before responding, “The look you get when we’re about to take over a company—predatory, focused, and possessive.”
Ram knew me well. He was right. From the minute Sinthia had stepped onto that rooftop, I’d known it was time for a change, and she would be the woman who could satisfy my distinct and dark sexual tastes. I wanted her despite the fact that there were a million reasons I shouldn’t.
It didn’t hurt that I loved her point of view about sex and me, because she held no punches. She was a welcome change from both the women who threw themselves at me because of my money and those I slept with to sate my sexual cravings. None of it was real, and all of it was exhausting.
“Are you fucking with me right now?” Kevin stared us with an incredulous look on his face. “I can’t believe you guys are cosigning on Core going cock deep into her. It’s illogical.” His voice was rough and serious as usual.
Ram’s lips curled up into a smile. “Logic has nothing to do with this shit.” That faint smile was still on his lips when he pointed his finger at me. “He’s in fuck-and-destroy mode. I say let them fuck it out so he can get her out of his system.” He pointedly looked at me. “Besides, I kind of like her. Her take-no-shit attitude reminds me a lot of Maya,” he said quietly.
Even after all these years, it was still hard to hear her name. “She’s nothing like Maya.”
No woman could ever compare to Maya. Maya was the first woman who had loved me for me, who had stood by me when I was poor, and who had grounded me when the money started rolling in and I got lost in fast cars and fast cash.
Maya had been my balance, my rock. The major reason I’d decided to turn my back on my criminal empire was for fear of losing her and my unborn child. But I’d lost her anyway, and my world had shattered into a million pieces. Just one tragic moment, and she’d been taken away, leaving me emotionally void.
Ram knowingly stared at me. “If you ask me, I think it’s past time to move on.” He cocked his brow at me.
I bit back a growl of frustration, wishing my friend would just shut the fuck up. “I didn’t ask you,” I grated, “so keep your damn opinions to yourself.”
He wanted me to let go of the memories of the love of my life as if she’d meant nothing. If it were so easy, I would have done that years ago, but the loss still hurt like a motherfucker.
Ram’s brow furrowed. “I’m just keeping it real. You’re thirty-six now. It’s been fucking years.”
Contrary to his belief, time had not healed old wounds for me. It’d only made the loneliness worse. I longed for her to still be here to enjoy the life I’d built, one that had been in the making when she was by my side. When she’d died, I’d gone on a violent rampage, lashing out at everyone around me, including my friends.
Without her, my life was cold, and I wasn’t alive.
My body tensed as the recollections of that fateful day echoed through my mind. Those memories of fire engulfing my SUV, taking Maya with it, had haunted me for years. Making matters worse, I’d never found the person responsible for the car bomb.
***
Manhattan
Thirteen Years Ago
Maya’s hand curled around mine. Her eyes were wide and filled with excitement as I ushered her along the sidewalk toward my waiting SUV.
She stopped, reaching up to grab my face between her hands. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
“Not in the last hour.” I bit her lower lip. “Let me hear it.” I hugged her.
“I love you, Core.” She wrapped her arms around my waist, burying her face in my chest.
I’d never believed in love until I had hers. She was everything I didn’t deserve—kind, loving, tough. And she was mine. She was the first person I woke up to every morning, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love you, too.” I ran my hand through her hair as she peppered me with kisses. “Don’t tempt me, woman, or I’ll take you back upstairs and give you round two of slow a
nd steady fucking.”
She tipped back her head and smiled at me. “Promises.” She paused. “You know, I’d rather be upstairs, being fucked by you than sitting in floor seats at some basketball game.” She frowned, biting her lower lip. “Besides, the tickets cost too much.”
And that was one of the many things I loved about her. She didn’t care about the trappings—money, cars, or the lavish lifestyle—that my illegal deeds had brought me. She loved me for me and embraced me for the man I was—hard and broken.
I grabbed her chin. “Nothing is too much for you. You know that.”
She was my kind of perfect.
“Stop spoiling me, Core. I don’t care about the money or cars. I just want you”—she stepped back and pressed her palm against her round stomach—“and our baby.” Her face pinched with pain, and then she smiled.
“Are you okay?” I asked, anxiously looking her over.
“The baby kicked.” She kissed me. “You worry too much. If it were up to you, I would be swathed in bubble wrap.”
“You’re damn right. I need you and my baby safe.” I frowned. “There’s just too much shit going on right now.”
The tension and violence between my team and a rival gang had been ramping up over territory and money. There was no way around it. Someone was going to get hurt. This was more of an incentive for me to leave my criminal world behind.
“I trust you to protect us, Core.” Her smile widened. “Oh, the baby kicked again.”
She snatched my hand before placing it on her stomach. I rubbed my hand over the swell of her belly and smiled at the answering movement from my little one.
“See? The baby just said, ‘Hell yeah, Daddy.’”
I continued to caress her growing stomach with reverence. I thanked my lucky stars that she wanted a family with me. Bending down, I brushed my lips against hers, and she caught her breath.
“How did a beast like me get such a beauty?”
“What can I say? A big cock and a smile get me every time.” She winked at me.
I swatted her ass. “Come on, woman. Let’s go to the game and get back home so I can thoroughly ravage you.”