by Gemma Hart
Because of this, I had always gone by aliases. Roy had initially been glad of my peculiar habit. He wasn’t sure if I could prove myself worthy of the Desmond name and if I liked going around hiding my true identity, even better. Less clean up for him if I eventually ate it.
But the habit stuck. And the benefit of that is that hardly anyone has a straight record of what I’ve done for the Desmond Mafia. They know my reputation. They’ve heard of some of the bigger hits. But no one can incontrovertibly say they knew exactly what I’ve done since I always worked alone.
Roy eventually used this alias habit of mine against me when I grew older. “Jax, Max, Larry, Barry, whatever the fuck you’re calling yourself today,” he grunted. “There’s no way you can take the 5% of this deal when you did the job under that name. Only Desmonds take a cut. And on that day,” he grinned, his gold teeth glinting at me, “you weren’t no Desmond.”
I had been pissed at first. I had orchestrated the entire drug deal and had lined up the producers. I had fucking earned my 5%!
But all I could do at the time was just grit my teeth and bear it and aim to get my cut in the next deal.
But Roy again let his greed and his generally sadistic nature get the better of him as he took the entire pool again.
I had nearly begun doing jobs under my own name so I could see what other fucked up reasons Roy could come up with to deny me my fucking cut but I had stopped myself at the last minute.
And then…it happened.
I remembered the sirens and the blood. I remembered the cold, clammy skin. I remembered Jamie’s large eyes, bigger than usual, as the light began to flicker in them.
After that, he never mentioned giving me a cut ever again. It was just understood that I worked for the Desmond Mafia. Period. Cut or no.
But now this was all to my benefit. Miraculously, it had all been a blessing in disguise. I had almost no tangible trace within the Family. Besides my name, not much else connected me to the Family.
With my plants in Germany, I’d have enough to live on and provide the life Jamie deserved. It was enough.
But I needed that fucking Juarez deal to go through!
A big deal like that was just what I needed to cover my escape. It was implicitly understood that in big deals, Roy and I were never in the same place together. You couldn’t have both heads of the Family in one vulnerable place together. We would make too big of a mark.
With the Juarez deal, I knew Roy would go himself to close. With the cover of the deal and the busy chaos of organizing the transfer of funds and holdings, the extraction of a small string of German plants would go completely unnoticed. Once I pulled everything out, I had a plane ready to take me to England. To Jamie.
And with the Juarez deal finalized, it would make the Desmond Mafia one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the nation. But it would also make Roy Desmond a bigger target for every governmental branch. Together with the Juarez Family, the scrutiny on them would be ridiculous. They would have to set up an even more elaborate relationship with authorities than they already had.
Roy would find it nearly impossible to lay hands on me then.
I popped the trunk of my car and threw in my gear bag. I had worried when I first saw Halle.
I threw the car into gear as I zoomed away. Alright, not worried. Shocked. Fucking furious.
It was a wrench in my carefully laid out plans. A fuckable and curvy wrench but a wrench nonetheless. With a set of new and curious eyes, things could become foiled and tangled.
But so far, the only thing that was getting tangled was my heart. So with the deal so close, I had to just hope she wouldn’t get any further involved. And that you don’t get further involved as well, asshole.
I sighed. Yeah, that too.
I just had to be patient. Carry on as usual. Arise no suspicion.
After that speech at the dinner, I could tell Roy was onto something. He was keeping me more in the dark than usual about things. But I knew the deal was close. I knew it was happening.
I just had to be patient.
Chapter Fourteen
Marco
I heard a breathy sigh from the office.
Pausing, I looked in from the doorway.
The office looked chaotic. There were boxes of old files stacked on one side of the large desk. Papers were strewn across the top of the desk with pens scattered between them.
And behind the mess was Halle. Leaning her head against a hand, her long blonde hair came falling down her back in a riotous mess. She pursed her lips as she carefully scanned her computer’s screen. The glow of the screen illuminated her dark oceanic eyes and her soft pink lips.
“Numbers not acting right, are they?” I drawled from the doorway.
Halle jerked up in her seat, surprised. Her eyes widened once she caught sight of me.
What are you doing, Desmond? I railed at myself. Since the night of the dinner, I had kept assiduously away from her, knowing it was the best for both of us. But seeing her face, so light and sweet, drew a stirring in me that I couldn’t resist.
Halle bit her bottom lip in a way that made me want to reach out and grab her, filling my hand with her full breasts, squeezing those nipples till I heard her moan.
I tightened my jaw as I walked into the office, forcing myself to clear my thoughts. My cock could only take so much teasing.
“Kind of,” she admitted finally. “I didn't realize there’d be so much work for me.”
I lean my hip against the side of her desk. I could see the flush in her cheeks rise as I closed the distance between us. Fuck, she was gorgeous. There was something about her that made you want to protect her in your arms while also pinning her down and filling her with your cock. It was an arresting allure, to say the least.
“We’re very prolific in business, Miss Margot,” I said in a mock formal voice.
Halle blushed a little at my teasing before raising a brow at me. “Yes, I can see that,” she said primly. “But clearly not too talented in hiring capable account managers.”
I grinned. “Are we besmirching the Desmond name here? I’ll tell you,” I said, lowering my voice confidentially. I saw a smile play at her lips, “not many people would risk doing something like that.”
Halle gave in and smiled widely as if amused. “And most definitely not to the boss’s son, right?”
“Definitely not,” I said sternly.
Halle huffed a laugh before shuffling the papers in front of her, organizing some of the chaotic mess into something of a more manageable mess. I watched her quietly. Her hands were petite but her fingers were long and graceful.
It was hard not to associate Halle with the word ‘delicate.’
Especially since a lot of other words also fit the bill like ‘beautiful,’ ‘sweet,’ or ‘goddamn fuckable.’
“Have you always been so into numbers?” I asked suddenly.
Halle looked up, clearly a little taken aback by my question. She pursed her lips as she thought.
“Well, kind of,” she said. “I’d always kind of been a bit of an organizer.” A faint smile played in her eyes as if she was recalling a long ago memory. “My dad always called me the general because I would want to help with the household budget and bills. He used to joke with me at the end of every month, asking what his allowance would be for the next month.”
I smiled imagining a small Halle, all blonde hair and blue eyes and laughter. I could see how adorable she would’ve been, organizing a house by herself.
“Where was your mom in all this? She must’ve been thrilled to have someone like you as a daughter,” I said.
Halle’s smile took on a more wistful note. It didn't falter but it did dim. She looked up at me, meeting my gaze directly. “She died in birth,” she said simply. “There was a complication with her pregnancy and I ended up being delivered by emergency C-section eight weeks early. But even with that,” she sighed, “she didn’t make it.”
“I’m sorry,” I said i
mmediately and meaning it.
Halle gave a dismissive wave of her hand a shake of her head. “It was a long time ago.”
A quiet lull fell between us as we both let our own thoughts take over. So Halle had missed out on a mother figure just as I had. The only difference though was that I was pretty damn sure her mother would’ve given her right arm to have been able to raise her daughter. My mother couldn’t wait for the check to clear so she could leave me and the horrible memory of childbirth behind her.
“So it was just me and dad,” she said, her eyes brightening up a bit at the mention of her dad.
“And where’s the old man now?” I asked, wondering what kind of man her father was. A good man, surely, to have raised a fearless girl like Halle. And yet, I was sure he wouldn’t be entirely pleased to know she was living and working so dangerously as an adult.
This time Halle’s smile did falter and a wet sheen took over her eyes. “Cancer,” she said. “Liver cancer. He went quickly and without too much suffering. If nothing else, I guess I could be thankful for that.”
If I could trade Roy’s life for Halle’s father, I would’ve in a heartbeat.
Halle sighed and ran a hand through her hair, clearing away the lingering sadness. “I was a pretty happy as a child growing up. Never really was too sad or lonely about being an only child. But it was when my dad died that I really wished I had a sibling.” She looked up and shrugged. “It can be a little lonely being an only child, don’t you think?”
I gave her my own shrug. “I wouldn’t really know,” I said. “I’m not an only child.”
Halle’s hand paused mid-stroke in her hair. She looked up at me with her mouth slightly agape. “Yes you are,” she said dumbly.
My lips twitched in amusement. “Oh I am?” I said. “An expert on me, are we? Got a file on my background and history somewhere?”
Halle’s cheeks flamed at my teasing. She looked away and coughed. “Well, I’ve only heard of one Desmond son.”
“That’s because there’s only one recognized Desmond son,” I said, quickly sobering up.
Halle’s brow creased, confused.
“To Roy Desmond, nobody is born a Desmond,” I said. “You earn the name. And you better be goddamn worth it, if you want it.” I picked up a heavy paperweight and rolled it in my hand. “My brother was born nine years after me. He was small and weak from the start. Nearly died as a newborn.”
I remembered that tiny little baby. I remembered hardly feeling its weight at all when he had been placed in my arms. My first friend. That had been my first thought. After years of being beaten and bruised and toughened, I looked into the tiny face of my first friend.
I gave another shrug. “And that was the start of it. He was just a weak boy. He had poor health and was constantly sick. He couldn’t do any kind of real work for the Family. And Roy didn’t want to recognize somebody who, in his eyes, was so worthless.”
Halle looked shocked and saddened. “But that’s not his fault!” she cried out. “It wasn’t his fault he was always so sick.” She looked at me as if wanting me to confirm what she had said.
But I could already tell my face had set into a stony neutrality that always fell when I talked about Roy. Roy Desmond, the man who defied medical science by having a rock for a heart.
“Where is he?” she asked, suddenly looking around the office as if she would find him hiding in a corner. “I’ve been here for weeks. I’ve never seen your brother. He’s…He’s still….”
I could tell where her thoughts were going by the paleness of her expression.
“England,” I said quickly. “He’s in England.”
Halle sighed in relief. “Oh thank goodness,” she said in one breath. “But why so far away? Is he receiving some kind of special treatment there?”
I pressed my lips, feeling tension creeping into my shoulders. A flash of blood and anger shot through my mind.
“When my brother was just turning eighteen, Roy ordered a job. It wasn’t a big one. Basically meet up with one of our distributors who had gotten a little out of line and send him a warning to get his shit together.” I squeezed the paperweight, feeling like I could expel all my anger into the round marble. “But Roy wanted to send my brother out on the job along with one of the guys. Said it was time he proved himself to be worthy of being a Desmond.”
“Did he go?” Halle asked, spellbound to the story.
I nodded. “Oh he did. He’d been dying his whole life for Roy’s approval and was eager for the opportunity to prove himself. Nevermind the fact that the kids had just recovered from a bout of pneumonia six days earlier.”
Hall shook her head, her eyes unbelieving. “You stopped him though, right?”
My jaw tightened along with my throat. “I should’ve,” I said. “But I wasn’t there. I was on my way back from a job down south. I wouldn’t get back till it was too late.”
At my words, Halle paled noticeably. “But he’s alive,” she whispered. “You said he was in England.”
I gave a humorless snort as I continued on. “Throwing an untrained kid into a dangerous situation worked out just as you’d imagine. Our distributor saw the newbie for what he was and played aggressive, pulling out a gun on them. Our man pulled his out too and they had a showdown which ended in our distributor getting his head blown off.” I tightened my grip on the paperweight. “But not before he shot my brother twice in the back.”
Halle’s eyes were nearly as large as the paperweight in my hand. “No,” she said breathlessly.
“I got back in time to see him being brought back bloody and pale. He looked like he had lost half his blood.”
“Wait!” Halle cried out. “Why would he be brought back here? He should’ve been taken to the hospital immediately!”
I gave her a sharp look. “Family rules. No matter what happens, whether shot, stabbed, or even poisoned, you come back to the compound. Always.” The incredulity in Halle’s eyes was understandable but unwarranted. This was a common practice in most crime families. You had to control how many outsiders meddled in Family affairs. And usually you had your own set of doctors in your pocket that you’d want to call before you sent one of your own to the hospital.
“Eventually, he was sent to the hospital. And that's when I told Roy,” I said, my voice sounding tinny and far away even to my own ears.
“Told him what?”
“I told him that I was fucking done. I was done with the Family and I was done with him. I told him that I was going to take my brother and leave. I would ask nothing of Roy, no money, no holdings, as long as he let us go quietly.”
A beat of silence fell between us, amplifying the magnitude of my words.
“And what did he say in response?” Halle whispered, aware that the answer couldn’t have been a good one.
I paused, letting the memory flood back, before throwing my head back and sucking in a quick breath. I dropped the paperweight back on the desk and straightened my back. I looked down at Halle and gave her a quick humorless smile.
“He said that the moment I stepped off the compound, he would call his men at the hospital to cut my brother’s throat.” Halle gasped but I hardly heard it. The memory was still fresh in my mind.
“You’re a Desmond, boy,” Roy had growled at me, slamming his fist on his desk. “That means you follow my orders. And no Desmond is a deserter. No Desmond is a fucking pussy. You try to sneak out of this Family and I’ll kill that weak piece of shit you call a brother.”
I had stood before him, my hands still covered in my brother’s blood, as I stared at him with a roiling hatred that went beyond anything I had ever felt before.
I should’ve expected the answer. I was too valuable to the Family. I was too good. My skills that I had developed to keep me safe from Roy’s bruising punches and sadistic training methods had become my prison walls. He couldn’t afford to lose someone like me. And damn it all, he would do anything to keep me here.
“But he knew I
wouldn’t just stay because he told me to,” I said. “So he said he’d allow my brother to leave. He could leave and live a life removed from the Desmond Mafia and would be safe and taken care of as long as I knew my role.”
As long as I kept working and killing and playing for the Desmond Family.
For Roy.
“So your brother is safe,” Halle said after a pause.
“For now,” I said. How safe can anyone be when connected to the Desmond Family? And from the way Halle was worrying her bottom lip, I can tell she was thinking the same thing.