Dirty Money
A Dark Mafia Romance
Roxy Sinclaire
Tia Lewis
Illustrated by
Kasmit Covers
Edited by
Teresa Banschbach
Contents
Mailing List
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
About the Author—Roxy Sinclaire
About the Author—Tia Lewis
Also by Roxy Sinclaire
Also By Tia Lewis
Copyright © 2016 by Roxy Sinclaire and Tia Lewis
All rights reserved.
Cover design © 2016 by Kasmit Covers
Edited by Teresa Banschbach
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
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Chapter 1
Destiny
The room was spacious and sparsely furnished, but dark and dingy, the air cold and stale. The kind of place that came to mind when you thought of 'underground'. Not the kind of place I would have seen myself in even a year ago.
You wouldn’t think that a five-star hotel with a million-dollar casino was above it.
I looked across the room at my remaining companion. There were originally two guys with me, but the babysitter either decided to step out or was needed somewhere else. I didn’t care about him, though; just the guy in front of me.
Alex Wright.
He wasn’t the kind of guy I'd expect to find in a place like this. But then, up until a while ago, I was a naïve little girl that still believed in rags-to-riches princess stories.
Alex was big, at least six feet, and dark all over; tanned skin, black hair, eyes that looked black from a distance but were just a dark brown. When I first met him, I wasn’t sure what to think of him. He didn’t act much like the group I hung out with. Very few people could survive in that kind of crowd and appear unscathed. I couldn’t help but feel impressed that he'd lasted so long and kept his sanity intact.
The sound of the door opening distracted me. I looked over to see who it was, expecting the other guy. But it wasn’t him; or not only. Instead the guy that walked in looked more like the sort I'd been hanging around too much lately; rich, privileged, and dangerous. I was tall myself, with high heels that put me even with Alex, but this guy was even taller than Alex.
I assumed he was the client.
I shot a quick glance at Alex. He tilted his head, just slightly, toward the new man at the door. I took my cue to go forward, pasting on a smile of welcome. He came in, followed by our guy holding a bag at his side.
The client noticed me as soon as I moved, eyes sharp even in the dim room. I had a moment to be grateful I'd gotten a warning about the venue and dressed accordingly. Not that I had that many choices in the way of coverage, but having something thick meant I was comfortable enough to play my part right. I'd had hell choosing make-up for the lighting, though.
"Please, come in and take a seat," I invited.
His eyes skipped to Alex behind me, hard and unreadable. I could imagine he was still just a bit cautious; and yet, he came here. The greed of men astounded me sometimes, but then I wasn’t one to talk. We both ended up in the same room, after all.
He smiled, pleasantly, even though it didn’t reach his eyes. "I assume you're the Alex I've been hearing so much about. To be honest, you are not what I expected."
"I get that a lot. I'm not sure why, though. But putting that aside, I believe we're here to do business," Alex said.
His mouth curved into a smirk as his eyes slid to me where I stopped a few feet away. I didn’t want to be so close to this man, the look in his eyes was enough for me to make up my mind, but when it changed into something like desire, I felt chills go through my body. I made myself stay still and relaxed.
"And who is your lovely companion?" the man asked.
"This is Destiny. She accompanied me, at Angelo's request, of course," Alex replied.
"Hmm. He always did know what I liked."
His eyes raked over my body, from my peep toe shoes, up my legs, past the figure hugging black dress that fell to my knees with slits at both sides and a low neckline, to my perfectly done hair. I just smiled, and stood in a relaxed pose with my arms at my sides so he could get the full view.
I'd gotten explicit instructions when coming to this certain meeting. I'd been allowed leeway before, but this specific man needed 'extra special care'. Luckily, I was his type. My job was to stand there and be pretty while Alex handled everything.
Fine with me.
He held his arm out for me. Everything in me revolted at the thought of getting closer. But I'd gotten used to doing things I didn’t like in the past months. Outwardly, I just smiled wider in delight, lifting a hand as I stepped forward and slipping it around his elbow.
Alex's eyes met mine before he glanced away, a tiny tic at his jaw. He was probably as unnerved as I was; just as good an actor.
In the middle of the room, right under the single light bulb, sat a table. Even though this setting was reminiscent of a B-movie scene—in a dark room, with the one light bulb, a simple, ugly old table and matching wooden seats—it wasn’t quite as bad. We were underground, but it was still under a grand hotel. It was something of an office, with a desk pushed to the far wall, some paintings and photos hung up on the walls.
The table that sat in the center of the room was big enough to sit eight people and was round, made of solid oak. The seats around it were large and padded, made of the same wood. It looked more like a room for underground poker.
Which it used to be for, at least until technology took over and more people went to the internet, even for poker betting. The room was rarely used, but this was a man that had been there before, which was why the room had been opened for this client, though we could just as easily have met upstairs.
I stepped away from him as we drew close to the table and pulled out a chair for him, as Alex moved to sit directly opposite. He smiled at me as he took the seat, with a hand on my back to keep me in place. Instead of moving away like I wanted to, I wrapped an arm around his shoulder and lean
ed against him. He made an appreciative sound, his hand curving over my hip.
I listened as they negotiated, but most of what they were saying went right over my head. It was in English, but it was way too technical for me to grasp. Once I was sure the guest was preoccupied, I looked around at the other guy. He'd moved the bag to the desk and was checking over the contents. I should have been surprised, but I'd been at this a while, enough that the awe had worn off, but it was still unbelievable.
Bundle after bundle of bills were pulled out, checked and set on the table. By the time the bag was empty, a neat pile of green was laid out. He glanced at us and gave me a nod, and started to put the money back in the bag. I met Alex's eyes as our guy walked out of the room giving a small nod. He didn’t acknowledge the motion, his eyes sliding back to the client.
"The agreed upon amount is all here. Were you informed what happens from here?"
"No, I was not. Why don’t you enlighten me?"
"There's a bank within walking distance of the hotel. My friend, who just went outside, will be meeting with whomever you came with and they will both go there. The money will be deposited into an account, and when I get confirmation, I will give you the software that you came for."
I knew what happened there. Once money made it into that account, it wouldn’t be found; it was a dummy account, whatever went in it was transferred to an offshore Swiss account, untraceable to anyone but the few that held the codes to access the money. Angelo handled that. I wasn’t sure he knew, but I was sure Alex had the codes as well.
"And you can assure me this software does everything that you just claimed?" the client queried.
"Of course. I test everything I create myself. I'm sure it works. Angelo gave you the numbers of the last trial before you came. I will bet my life on the truth of those results," Alex assured him.
"Oh trust me, boy. You are. If I lose my money for nothing, I will come after you."
It was very clearly a threat, spoken way too casually. I saw Alex sitting still with a blank face on. While I couldn’t see the man's face, I was intimidated, but impressed that Alex could meet his eyes so calmly. My respect for him went up a notch.
Alex broke the stare, smiling. "How about I convince you?"
"You'd have to be pretty damn convincing."
"Of course." He raised a finger, pushing his seat back and getting up. Alex went over to the desk and reached in one of the drawers. He came back to the table, setting down a pack of cards. "How about a basic hand of poker?"
"What are the stakes?"
"Your money and my life." He said it just as casually as the threat had been given.
I'd gone rigid, looking at him with wide eyes.
There was a short silence in the room, and I jumped when the man beside me suddenly let out a booming laugh, the most genuine he'd sounded since walking into the room.
"You have guts, I will give you that. Very well, let's play. How does it end?"
Alex ripped open the new pack and dropped the cards into his hand, setting the empty box aside.
"The best hand wins."
I didn’t have a head for poker any more than I did technology. I watched as Alex shuffled the cards like a pro, then deal out cards, one to himself, one to the other man, until they each had five cards. He set the rest of the stack between them, a little to the side. Each man took their cards.
I was released, and I took the silent command to step aside. I didn’t think our guest trusted me not to give out his hand, even though I wouldn’t know how. I'd been useful for much, but this was one of the areas where I was nothing more than arm candy.
Was I ever anything else in this crowd? I couldn’t remember.
It was a surprisingly quick game. I'd been invited to poker games a couple of times, although at Angelo's place and not here, but I'd seen one go on for six hours straight. However, there were only the two of them, with no chips on the table, even though the stakes were so much higher. They each took a moment to consider their cards, a few were discarded on the table and traded. They didn’t take long, maybe ten seconds in between a trade before reaching for another card.
When the client suddenly smiled, looking pleased with himself, I felt my chest constrict. He set his cards on the table so they were visible. They were all spades, king, queen, a ten, a jack and a nine. Both men froze for a moment, and I wondered what was going on.
We were interrupted when a phone vibrated, and the sound made me jump. Alex rose calmly, leaving his cards lying face down on the table and walked back to the desk where he'd left his phone. The client rose as he came back looking at the message that came in.
"The money was safely deposited in the account. Your man and mine are on their way back."
"Be that as it may, we had a game going that was independent of the deal I made with Angelo. My money is now gone, so unless you can beat a straight flush, your life is mine."
He sounded insufferably smug. Alex didn’t even look concerned.
"If I beat you, the deal will follow through?"
"Of course."
Alex hummed, idly glancing at his cards. He flipped the farthest card with his finger. Instead of coming out from under the other cards, it flipped all five cards over. There was a speechless moment, but the client had lost his smile. I stepped close so I could get a better look.
The cards were almost similar, but Alex's hand was hearts, not spades, and in place of the nine card was an ace.
I jumped as another booming laugh came out of the strange man.
"A royal flush! I haven't seen that in years. You're either a very lucky man or a particularly good con man."
Alex smiled thinly. "I'd like to think it's both. But now for my end of the deal. Do you have a phone on you?"
He reached into his coat, and I tensed, but he just pulled out a smart phone, one of those bigger ones that were closer to tablet category. Alex took it, messed with both phones for few seconds, and handed the phone back. Two people in the room waited, confused.
"Is that it?" he asked.
"Yes, it is. All my programs are package sized, it's easier to transfer it around if I just carry it in my pocket and keep it with me. Look for the icon that doesn’t belong on your home screen and you'll know it's what you're looking for. Your phone's version is newer than mine, so you should be able to run the program on it."
I stood still as he checked his phone and whatever software Alex just put in it. After a moment, he smiled, looking pleased. I was glad when he didn’t laugh again.
"The man himself, Alex Wright. It was a pleasure doing business with you," the client offered his thanks.
"Likewise."
His eyes cut to me. "May we head upstairs? Unless the two of you wish to remain here."
"Of course we can." Alex answered.
"Wonderful." He spoke to Alex but directed a smile at me. "Beautiful Destiny. After you?"
I didn’t want to, but I did what I needed to do; smiled and did as I was told. We had to go around several hallways just to get to the stairs, then several more hallways to get to the hotel lobby. We met with our babysitter and another guy. The client bid us farewell, his hand lingering just a little longer on my back than I was comfortable with, sliding lower before he slipped his hand away. He walked straight toward the casino, his man falling in beside him. The babysitter gave us a nod and went to complete whatever other duties he had.
Which just left me and Alex. I was surprised when he suddenly took me by the elbow, but I relaxed. His grip was loose; I could have broken away if I felt like it. He guided more than pushed me toward the elevator.
A few minutes later, we were back at our hotel suite, courtesy of Angelo. Alex sighed as soon as the door closed, dropping his body onto the couch, his head thrown back with his arms limp at his sides.
"That… was bad." Alex stated.
I gave him an incredulous look which he didn’t see because he'd closed his eyes.
"What do you mean, bad? He was the biggest fish
we've had to deal with so far, and you were okay, weren’t you?"
"I just tangoed with a possible psychopath, and nearly signed my death sentence over a deck of playing cards. Please, let me rest."
I hadn’t realized just how highly strung he had been. He'd looked so cool, like he carried out deals like that daily. I had gotten used to the exposure of such goings on or I would have broken down, and I wasn’t even the one at center stage.
I chewed on my bottom lip for a moment. Deciding to help him relax, I slipped off the shoes and walked forward. My feet sunk into the lush, soft rug as it muffled my footsteps. I touched a hand to his shoulder, and his eyes snapped open as his head came up. Moving slowly, I held his eyes, as I planted one knee on the couch beside his thigh, throwing my other leg over his lap so I was straddling him. I leaned closer, holding his cautious gaze. When he didn’t stop me, I held his face in between my hands, bringing my lips to his.
I kissed him softly, coaxing, just brushing my lips against his. As his body relaxed beneath mine, I grew bolder. I pressed my lips harder against his, pulled back to kiss his chin, along his jaw, across his cheek. He was docile beneath me, until I parted my lips to lick at his mouth.
He moved, so unexpectedly and quickly, I was left breathless as I suddenly found myself lying back against the couch, with the length of him fitting perfectly against mine. I met his eyes and they were dark and unreadable.
I could feel my body draw tight—in fear or excitement, I wasn’t sure—as I held my breath and waited for him to make his move.
Chapter 2
Alex
What the hell was I doing?
Something stupid was the obvious answer. The meeting must have messed with me more than I knew if I was letting her get to me so easily.
Dirty Money: A Dark Mafia Romance (Alpha Men Book 1) Page 1