TRADED: A Dark Mafia Romance

by Naomi West

  “I don’t see what this has to do with me.” Lorenzo finally took a slug of beer, keeping his eyes levelly on me. “I think you already know what I do for a living, and I’m no private eye. My advice would be to find yourself some other stripper to stalk. I think they’re pretty much all the same, anyway.” His manner was too casual. I knew from what Rossi had told me that Lorenzo was a very serious man.

  “I would agree with you, if the circumstances were different.” I signaled to the waitress for another drink. She saw my fingers in the air several times before she bothered coming back to the table. Clearly, I didn’t mean as much to her as Lorenzo did. Maybe she could tell he had money. Maybe she just liked the way he looked. It didn’t matter; he wasn’t watching her.

  “Anyway,” I continued. “I knew something had to be up. How could she just have disappeared like that? So I did hire myself a private eye, and that’s how I know she’s been living with you all along.” I smiled across the table, proud of that tiny peek I’d had into his life.

  Lorenzo sighed. “Is that all this is? Some jealous boyfriend bullshit? Get over it, Dino. There’s nothing you can do about it now.” He pushed back from the table with a disgusted look on his face.

  I put one finger in the air. “Hold on just a minute. Listen to the rest of the story. See, I didn’t just get a P.I., but a good one. He not only found Alexis and kept his eyes on her, but he kept his eyes on you. So I’ve got a stripper who’s suddenly living with a hitman, and a hitman who works for the Morettis. That might not add up to much in the dirty life of this city, except that I happen to know that said stripper and hitman just happened to get together after the majority of the upper men in the Calzoni crime family had been taken out.”

  His jaw tightened, almost imperceptibly. I had him. “I think you’re reading too much into this. I heard about the hit on Calzoni. I can’t say that it disappointed me. It’s no secret that the Morettis and the Calzonis didn’t get along. But I don’t see what that has to do with Alexis.”

  “Stop trying to be stubborn, Lorenzo.” I leaned forward, eager to make sure he could hear every word I had to say above the din. “It doesn’t take any special detective skills to figure out what happened. You were sent to kill Calzoni. Who else would they send? You’re the best hitman within a hundred-mile radius, or maybe even more. Anybody with half a brain knows how these things work: You can’t have any witnesses. My best guess is that Alexis was somehow tied up in all this. You thought she was hot, and now you’re trying to shield her.”

  “Bullshit.” Lorenzo took a long drink this time. “You can’t take a coincidence and just make it work to suit your needs. Besides, if you really have been tailing us, then you know that Alexis has met most of the members of the Moretti family. If I’m hiding her, why would I show her off like that? I’m not an idiot.”

  “You’re not,” I agreed with a bob of my head. “You wouldn’t still be alive if you were stupid. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Alexis got to you. She likes to play the victim and pretend that she’s totally innocent, but I know how she likes to manipulate men. That’s part of what she loved about being a stripper. She was in control, and now she’s controlling you.” It had made me angry beyond measure when I’d seen her in that club, but I wasn’t exaggerating. Alexis had power when she was on the stage, and she enjoyed it. She was a different person than the little mouse I’d pulled out of a homeless shelter.

  Lorenzo rolled his eyes. “You might be some pussy-whipped pushover, Dino, but not me. I do what I want, when I want, and with who I want. Now, either get to the point or find someone else’s time to waste.” He was ready to leave, his eye on the door every few seconds. I’d put him in a vulnerable position by taking the seat in the corner; it left his back exposed.

  “Fine. I’ll make it very simple. You give me Alexis back and we all go our separate ways. I take her and keep her in line, and you go back to being Moretti’s armed puppet.” My gut tightened at the thought of putting Alexis in the back of my car and taking her home. I would have to punish her for running away, of course, but I would enjoy it.

  “Or?” he asked testily.

  I lifted my shoulders and let them fall, as though whichever option he chose didn’t matter to me. “Or, I go to Moretti. I tell him just who Alexis is and who she was working for and that you’re protecting her. What he does with that information is completely up to him, but I find it hard to imagine that it would be seen as anything less than the utmost betrayal.”

  “What proof do you have?” Lorenzo demanded. “How do I know this isn’t all just a game to manipulate me? For all I know, you work for the Calzoni family yourself.”

  I laughed. He was getting so paranoid. I understood; it was the kind of thing that happened when you lived a life of crime. “I don’t have anything to do with Calzoni. I only work for myself, and I don’t have anyone I’m reporting to. But I’ve got all the proof I need. Pictures, videos, you name it. But don’t take my word for it. I’ll send you a copy of my files. You’ll have them in your email later today.”

  His lips were tight as he mulled his options. “Why do you want her back so badly, anyway? It’s clear she doesn’t want to be with you, or she never would have left.”

  Silly man. He was trying to turn this around and make it about me, but it really wasn’t anymore. Yes, I wanted Alexis back. Desperately. But this was about Lorenzo and what he would decide to do. “Does any of that matter? Do feelings ever come into the mix when you’re dealing with a hitman and the mafia? No, Lorenzo, I don’t think they do. All that matters is covering your ass and making your next dollar. I expect to hear from you soon.”

  Lorenzo shot to his feet. I admit I flinched slightly; he looked ready to kill me on the spot. But there were too many witnesses, and I had too much information on him. “What you’re doing is dangerous, do you know that? You shouldn’t be messing around with a man like me or one like Moretti. He’s just as likely to kill you as he is to listen to you. You’ll be hearing from me soon, but keep that in mind.”

  I was feeling suddenly generous. As much as I wanted to have Alexis back in my bed that very night, I knew it wouldn’t happen. Even so, I had shaken up Lorenzo’s entire world. No doubt he thought he was invincible, but even the tallest tower can be brought down when you pull out the right brick. “You have until the end of the week, Lorenzo. If I don’t have Alexis by then, well, you know what will happen.”

  He stormed out of the bar without another word, making several other customers fly out of his way before he reached the door. I ordered another drink from the stubborn waitress. All I had to do was bide my time.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lorenzo

  “That didn’t take long,” Alexis remarked from the kitchen as I came back into the apartment. I had tried to use the short drive back home to calm myself down. She couldn’t see me upset. If she thought something was up, she would bug me about it until I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I would have to tell her. I could withstand torture of almost any kind, but not the torture of Alexis.

  “It was just a quick meeting.” I flung off my shoes and headed for the living room. I needed something normal to do while I formulated a plan and staring at the television seemed like the most normal thing I could do. But as I passed the kitchen, I noticed the way she looked standing there in front of the stove. Her fitted tee and baggy jeans accentuated the way her waist dipped in. She had piled her hair up into a messy bun, exposing the gentle curve of her neck, and she looked like a perfect, gorgeous housewife. Before I knew what I was doing, I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

  Alexis leaned back into me. “Well, hello to you, too. Tell me, do you like asparagus?”

  I didn’t give two shits about asparagus. We could have peanut butter sandwiches for the rest of our lives and it wouldn’t matter. The simple fact that I even thought about the rest of our lives told me everything I needed to know. I couldn’t let her go, especially not to some asshole like Dino.<
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  I grit my teeth as his face floated up before me. He was a scrawny thing, with a scraggly beard and haunted eyes. Dressed in ripped-up jeans and a tank top, I could see the numerous tattoos that had been scrawled across his skin. He probably thought it made him look like a badass, but it only told me what a douche he was. Or maybe it was just because I knew what he had done to her. Alexis had never told me all the details, but I knew there was something about her past with this man that wasn’t good. It had been too easy for her to play the part of a girl with an abusive ex, and Jianna had hinted at the same thing. I should have just shot him on the spot and witnesses be damned. No, that had gotten me into enough of a situation already.

  Suddenly, I realized I hadn’t answered her question yet. “Um, yeah. Asparagus is fine.”

  “Okay, good. I hope you don’t mind that I’ve taken over your kitchen like this. I know we order in a lot, and you have plenty of frozen stuff to just heat up, but I was craving a homecooked meal. Jianna’s food is amazing, but I wanted something I could eat without worrying about being shot. And that grocery delivery service from the store around the corner is amazing.” She was sautéing chicken breasts in a pan and the scent of the herbs and spices was making my mouth water.

  Or maybe it was just Alexis. I stepped back and let go of her, moving to the fridge to grab a cold drink. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her. She had the radio playing softly in the background and she swayed her hips slightly to the rhythm of the music. When did I start seeing her like this? She was not just some stripper—not just some hot piece of ass I’d happened to save. This wasn’t an action movie, where the woman was nothing more than a reason for men to watch. She had beauty and spirit in her eyes. I could make her pretend to be my girlfriend to save her life, but I was a complete fool if I thought it stopped there.

  “You should be careful about using them,” I warned, turning my thoughts back to the food and trying my best to be the same man she’d been living with for the last few weeks. “Someone could be posing as their driver.”

  “If they start hiring fourteen-year-old boys like the chubby little thing who delivered this food, then nobody is safe from the mafia.” She paused, her wooden spoon in the air, and turned slowly toward me. Those blue eyes watched me warily. “That reminds me of something I think I should tell you.”

  The can of soda in my hand was suddenly too heavy. I set it down on the counter with a clunk. I saw nothing in the room but her. “What is it?”

  “Well …” Her hesitation was evident in the way the spoon dipped slowly back down into the pan and the set of her shoulders. Her hips had stopped swaying, her body stiff and cautious now. “I know I was acting like a child when I ran out of here the other day. I just needed to get out, but I know you’re right about my safety.”

  Every muscle in my body was ready to take action. It would only take a second to throw my shoes back on and be out the door. I would take down anyone who had hurt her. “Alexis, what happened?” I growled through my teeth. I didn’t like the idea of something happening to her and me not knowing about it right away.

  “No, nothing happened.” She glanced over her shoulder at me with those big blue eyes, then turned them back to her work. I had probably scared her again. I was good at that. “Everything was fine, really, but it was just this feeling I had. I thought maybe it was because you had warned me so much about the possibility of someone trailing us. But as soon as I left the building, I felt the need to run for my life. I kept looking behind me, expecting to see someone closing in on me.”

  I took a step forward, stopping myself before I had her in my arms again. “And were they? Did you see anyone? Alexis, if someone was watching you, you should have told me right away.” My brain was running at full tilt now, checking through lists of the men I knew Moretti employed for such jobs. They usually weren’t dangerous on their own, but the information they carried back to their boss would be.

  She shook her head. “I didn’t see anyone. Not really. It was all in my head, and that’s why I didn’t say anything. But it was such a horrible feeling. And I thought, maybe, that you were right.” Her voice trailed off at the end, so quiet I could barely hear her.

  Curling my fists at my sides, I bit my tongue. Of course I was right! I knew that Piero—at the very least—was suspicious of us. There was no telling if anyone else in the Moretti family was feeling doubtful enough to take action. And I knew now that Dino’s hired man must have been watching her for some time. He knew far too much.

  But none of that was Alexis’s fault. It was mine. I had dragged her into this and I should have known better. “Don’t worry about it,” I said stiffly. “It was probably nothing.” It wouldn’t do any good to make her worry any more than she obviously was. I could worry enough for the both of us.

  Now she turned fully toward me. “You’re sure? And you aren’t mad at me? I know I haven’t been very easy to live with, especially considering all you’re doing for me, and I should have listened to you.”

  In a moment that lasted an eternity, I saw Alexis for everything she was. If she was any other woman, she wouldn’t have apologized for her little fit the other day. She wouldn’t have worried about whether or not I was mad at her—me, the man who had kidnapped her and forced her to live a lie. She was beautiful and sweet—submissive but with a wild side that even she couldn’t quite tame. What would she have been if she had lived a different life? What had Dino done to her?

  But I couldn’t ask. I just had to know that she was mine, and not Dino’s. I had to know that she wasn’t just pretending and she wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with her. I had held back since our last encounter, trying to keep my distance and reminding myself of reality, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. Every part of me down to my cells surged toward her, eager to surround her and be surrounded by her. I had Alexis in my arms once again and the wooden spoon clattered to the floor. “Mad at you? Don’t even ask me. And don’t you dare apologize.” I covered her mouth with my own, feeling with satisfaction the way her body molded compliantly to mine. Our tongues danced, searching, seeking, and knowing.

  “I will if this is what it gets me,” she murmured as she brought one leg up and locked it around my hip.

  “Alexis, I need you.” My gut wrenched at the thought that I might no longer have her in my life at the end of the week. I didn’t know what to do about Dino, and I didn’t know what to do about Moretti. Either way, my life was over. But in that moment, there was only one thing I could do that made any sense. My body demanded it, but she was too precious to me simply to take it from her, no matter what may have happened before.

  Her arms were around me, her hands spread out on my back as she clung to me. “I know.”

  I could have taken her right there on the kitchen floor, but it didn’t seem right for what could very well be our last time together. I scooped her up into my arms and carried her down the hall to the bedroom. She squeaked and giggled, turning me on even more. I could feel my cock swelling, demanding that I take her right at that moment and be done with it. But this wasn’t just some fuck. I needed her to see just how much she had come to mean to me.

  Alexis began pulling her shirt up, but I reached out and stopped her. I wanted this to last as long as possible. I slowly drew her shirt up over her head, relishing every inch of her body as it was exposed. She had a cute little polka-dotted bra, and as sexy as it looked on, I couldn’t wait to get it off. But I took my time, reaching behind her with one hand to undo the clasp and slipping it off gently before I flipped it onto a nearby chair.

  Next came her jeans. She waited patiently, watching me as I slipped them down off her waist. Her panties matched her bra and they were just as cute, but they had to go. When she was naked before me, with her hair spread around her like a halo, I sucked in my breath. This was what I hadn’t been able to keep my mind off of. This was what I wanted.

  “Roll over,” I whispered.

  She furrowed her brow sligh
tly, but complied, giving a pleased gasp as I took her by the shoulders and began rubbing. I could feel the tension in her muscles as I worked my way down her body, rubbing my hands over every inch of her skin. She felt like velvet, soft and supple.

  “What did I do to deserve this?” she asked, her chin propped on her hands and her eyes half-closed. “It’s lovely.” She practically purred underneath me.

  I couldn’t answer. The truth was too hard to explain out loud, and it would only ruin the mood. She had done nothing, and yet, she had done everything. “Just enjoy it.”

  “I can do that.”

  I reached her lower back and only hesitated a moment before I moved down to her sweet, round buttocks. I longed to part them and shove myself inside her, but I reminded myself that Alexis was a girl worth waiting for. Once I’d given them proper attention, I moved down to her supple thighs and worked all the way down to the tips of her toes.

  Instead of asking her, I flipped her back over myself and started the whole process again. I watched as my fingers ran down either side of her neck to her collar bone. I caressed her arms, her hands, her glorious breasts, her stomach, and her hips. But my willpower finally gave out.