“Are you ready to go?”
She stared at him, and he stepped closer, staring at her body. She was breathing a little heavier than normal. She was pissed off, overtired, upset, and she didn’t want this man, of all people, guarding her.
“Tudoro said to do whatever was necessary to get you to cooperate.”
Her eyes widened.
“I assured him that you wouldn’t give me any problems, Adalina. That we would come to an agreement and you would quickly learn that what I say goes. Now, let’s go.”
She turned away from him, and that was her mistake.
* * * *
Turk pressed up against Adalina’s back. His arm was snug around her waist, and his hand gripped her hair and neck and tilted it so that she was forced to look at him. Her lips parted, her face flushed, and her blouse gaped open in this position, revealing her abundant breasts.
“You’re going to learn the rules fast. You’re going to abide by those rules, and there are no negotiating terms.”
“Let go of me.”
He gripped her tighter, yanked her hair and neck.
“Oh.” She gasped and cringed.
“This is a new start. I was too fucking lenient with you the last time. Now that I know you can handle things, especially two cocks inside of you, I don’t need to pussyfoot around about where you’re going to wind up.”
She clenched her teeth. “Let go of me. You can’t talk to me like this. Tudoro won’t stand for it.”
“Tudoro is ready to issue the order to kill Vinny and Sunny. All I need to do is tell him you’re still interested in them. That you want to forgive them instead of move on with me like Tudoro expects you to.”
She tried shaking her head. “No. Never. I’ll never be in your bed.”
“Who needs a bed? Surely not a whore like you.”
She shoved her elbow back, shocking him, but he quickly recovered and slammed her body down over the island. She cried out in pain, and he pressed his hand between her legs.
“I can unzip my pants right now and force you into submission, or I can give you a little more time to adjust to your destiny. Either way, you have no power. Tudoro gave up on you based on the fact that you fucked two men who were ripping him off. The ties of friendship can only go so far. Your want your ex-lovers to live? Don’t deny my orders. I don’t think they’ll be so lucky the next time one of their enemies takes a shot at them.”
He moved his hand and turned her around. He gazed over her body. “Keep your schedule clear and open. Don’t make any plans without asking me first. I’m your shadow, Adalina.” He reached up and stroked her jaw with his index finger. She turned away. “There’s no getting rid of me. Soon enough, I’ll own you.”
* * * *
“We have to figure this shit out. Someone set us up,” Vinny said to Sunny and their cousins and uncles. They were all gathered around the living room at Uncle Louie’s place.
“Does Adalina believe this shit is true?” Fredo asked them.
“It doesn’t matter if she does or not. She knows that Tudoro could issue a hit on us. The only reason why we’re still here is because of Adalina. But this shit is bullshit. Someone set us up, and we need to figure out who and why,” Vinny said to him.
“We’re losing some of our connections and customers on the streets. Word is spreading that we fucked over Tudoro. We’re going to be owing money instead of raking it in,” Clemenza stated.
“Only a few businesses have backed out of contracts, and they were originally with other companies. We can control that shit. What I don’t like is this constant threat to your lives. Like Tudoro can just decide to end it. You need to stay clear of Adalina,” Uncle Louie said to them.
“How the fuck are we supposed to do that?” Sunny stated.
“You have to, or they’ll kill you,” Alfredo stated.
“We need help on this. We can ask questions, but no one is biting on any leads. It’s a fucking conspiracy,” Don stated.
“The rest of the business is still booming. This is one aspect of it. We need some help. We don’t even know where to begin except with Miller, who we bought the liquor business from, and he’s nowhere to be found,” Toro added.
“Find him. It’s all we have to go on right now, and of course a little help from Mateus and Major,” Vinny said.
“I think they just said they would help. They don’t trust us either. It’s a fucking mess,” Don said.
“Can you blame them after what Paulie Junior did? We have to work this out. Otherwise, we may need to sell off these routes and the two of you can forget about ever being involved with Adalina again,” Alfredo told them, and Vinny looked at Sunny.
“I’m not giving up. We worked too hard for all of this. We’re as powerful and well known as the Monteith family.”
“No one in their family is being accused of stealing. You guys, and all of us, are,” Uncle Louie said, and Vinny felt his temper flare.
“Someone set us up, and we need to figure out who, and fast.”
* * * *
Adalina stared at the computer screen and kept downloading information to the thumb drive. She was pissed off. The last three days Turk had showed up to bring her to work, to take her to lunch, and to pick her up and bring her home. He was aggressive and had even kissed her this morning.
She hated the man and didn’t trust him one bit, but Tudoro wouldn’t listen to her. Nor would he hear her out when she tried to inform him about missing orders in the warehouse, suggesting that perhaps someone else was stealing from him and making it look like it was Vinny, Sunny, and their family. Of course he wouldn’t listen and threatened her with sending her away, out of the country and with Turk as her guard and companion.
It pissed her off. Tudoro was her cousin, her best friend, and the only family she actually had here and he was caught up in hating the two men she loved. And she did love them. She knew they hadn’t done this stuff, but she couldn’t figure out who was doing it. She needed help. She needed inside people, or, at minimum, she needed to track the missing merchandise and find out who’d sold it and to whom. In order to do that, she would need to tap into her family resources, lose her tail, Turk, and do some work in the black market.
The good thing was that Tudoro didn’t really know all her capabilities. She really shouldn’t be angry with him. He didn’t believe that Sunny and Vinny hadn’t stolen from him, but someone had gone to great measures to make it look like they had, and she needed to figure out who. She had to be smart, though. She could get caught, and she needed to give all the evidence she had to someone who had the power and ability to help her and to help Vinny and Sunny.
She pulled the thumb drive out of the computer and hid it. Tonight was the event at the club. She’d been able to talk Tudoro into letting her go with Bella and the girls with Turbo and Harley as their guards, so she didn’t need to worry about Turk. She would do what needed to be done.
* * * *
“I should head over there to be sure and keep watch. You never know, Tudoro. Vinny and Sunny really brainwashed her. She’s been resistant, to say the least,” Turk said to Tudoro as they sat in the office having a drink.
“I don’t think the Costanza brothers will be stupid enough to try and see her at the club. Besides, Harley and Turbo are prepared just in case.”
“I don’t trust it. They’ve brainwashed her.” Turk sat there feeling antsy. Tonight he planned on taking her to bed, forcefully if necessary.
“I know. She came in here talking about these files she found of shipments from months back. Merchandise was missing, crates misnumbered, and she was trying to push the idea that this was a bigger operation and has nothing to do with Sunny and Vinny.”
Turk felt his chest tighten. Could she have gathered enough evidence to show that it hadn’t been Sunny and Vinny but instead it would point to him? He started to worry. He forced a smile.
“She’s loyal and I. She really needs looking after, Tudoro.” Tudoro looked at Turk.
“I know you want that job and she’s resistant. Give her time to get over those two. She grew up with them and their sister and cousins. She wanted something to be there that wasn’t.”
“I’ve been patient long enough, Tudoro. Adalina isn’t exactly going to be considered so classy and such a catch after being with two men.” Tudoro clenched his teeth and exhaled. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so blunt.”
“No. No, you’re right. I’ve tried my hardest to keep her from making such a mistake, but she’s defiant. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I won’t watch her self-destruct, though.”
“I’ll help. If you give me full authority to make her mine, I can persuade her to not be so defiant. She needs a firm hand. That’s obvious.”
“I can’t force her to be with you.”
“It won’t be forced. She’ll come around. The time we’ll spend together will reinforce that. It will also stop her from creating these other scenarios in an attempt to take attention away from what the Costanza brothers did to you and the company.”
“I suppose so. Whatever you think, Turk. I won’t be made a fool of by those men. They should be dead. By keeping them alive it shows weakness on my part.”
“Then kill them.”
“I may just have to.”
Thirty minutes later Turk got behind the wheel of the SUV and called Crane.
“I need you to find Adalina at that club. Get her to leave with you through the back door. I’ll be waiting.”
“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” Crane asked.
“Figure out a way. Tell her you know about some missing shipments and they seem suspicious. Then convince her to go outside with you.”
“And her guards?”
“She’ll lose them if you set the right bait.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I need to put a stop to her curiosity, investigating, and her need to be with those men. She’s mine, and it’s about time I claim her.”
* * * *
“What is on the thumb drive?” Mateus asked Adalina over the phone.
“You’ll see when you get it, Mateus. Please. I can’t trust anyone. Tudoro won’t even let me get a word in about this. If you look at it and don’t come up with what I did, then so be it. Maybe I am just hoping Vinny and Sunny aren’t crooks.”
“Is this the favor you mentioned months ago?” he asked.
“No, but I’ll give that favor up to prove that the two men I love are innocent and that someone set them up.”
“Okay. I’ll look at it when Bella gets home.”
“Great. Thank you, and one last thing.”
“You are so pushy.”
She chuckled. “I promise you’ll be happy that you helped me and remained on my good side as a friend one day.”
“Go on.”
“If something goes wrong, if my looking a little deeper gets me in worse trouble, you’ll have to trust Tudoro to help. Just explain everything and show him that thumb drive.”
“Adalina, I don’t like the sound of that. What exactly are you planning on doing?”
“Finding out the truth. I need to go. Thank you again.” She ended the call and then exhaled. She’d already given the thumb drive to Bella, who was nervous about losing it. Now she needed to start investigating, and the best place to start was with Squirrel. He worked behind the bar at the club, and he knew shit.
“So, Squirrel, what’s going on?” she asked, joining him at the end of the bar.
“Hey, gorgeous. Everything all right? The guys are treating your friends good in their section?”
“Oh yeah. Thanks for asking. How’s work?”
“It pays the bills.”
She smiled.
“I was wondering if you were still pulling the midnight crew with deliveries and stuff?” she asked, knowing that during the middle of the night, places in the city as big as this would get night deliveries and that was when staff restocked shelves, replaced kegs, and did the leg work that made the bars run during regular business hours. They got paid well, but they also saw a lot of shit, including any special deliveries or unofficial stock, even high-priced items that would go into a safe.
“Yeah, are you kidding? As many hours as I can get. Obviously I’m not on tonight.”
She smiled.
“You know I’m working for Garlitto Industries now. We supply a lot of stuff to bars like these.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, we also have a warehouse filled with things. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of it all,” she said to him.
“I bet. I’ve seen a bunch of things over the years working down here,” he told her as he wiped out some glasses he was cleaning.
“I bet you have. I’m trying to get a better insight into how to keep track of the product, but before I took on the job, cases were disappearing. Like half a dozen here and there and then some.”
He looked around them and then leaned closer.
“That shit happens all the time. I can remember this one guy who worked in deliveries. He got paid more to sneak into some of these pretty high-tech facilities and take pallet loads of liquor, barware, any high-end stuff. But only like a pallet, once a month or so. Supposedly there’s a list of places, and the hits take place sporadically. Never the same spot or time and date, and they rotate.”
“Wow, that is pretty interesting. So I’m assuming there’s an inside person who just so happens to have a way of making sure the back door is open and the alarm not set?”
“I don’t know really. The guy didn’t want to share much. I only asked because I was wondering how much he got paid, but it wasn’t my thing. I would be too worried about getting busted. I hear these guys steal from big shots. You know, made men.”
She swallowed hard. “That’s pretty stupid.”
“Adalina, you’re smart, and you know a lot of people. Don’t tell me that you don’t believe Garlitto Industries gets hit too?”
“Of course not. I found evidence of it, and I guess being the kind of employee I am, I’d like to stop it from happening. It sounds like a big operation, though. I guess I’ll just worry about my company and maybe changing things with warehouse security.”
“Maybe check out all the employees, even those who really shouldn’t have access to the warehouse. Could pull something up.” He winked, and then they heard the announcement of the show starting and then male strippers about ready to arrive.
“Thanks, Squirrel.” She went to stand up, but he covered her hand and looked around then back at her. “You may not want to push too much for information to just anyone.” She squinted at him.
He nodded to the left.
“Some of these guys do jobs for a guy who is really close to Solencio Monteith. That isn’t something you want to start picking at. You could get hurt,” he advised, and she nodded her head.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Like I said, I’m not looking to cause a raid. I’m hoping to stop losing merchandise. When high-priced cases of liquor disappear in a flash, I can’t take it lightly.”
“Good luck.”
“Hey, you, too.”
As Adalina thought about what Squirrel had said and how a person involved was very close to Solencio, she looked up and saw Crane standing there. Instantly she knew something was wrong. She pulled out her cell phone and texted Mateus. All she texted was the word Crane, and the word’s connection, close to Solencio.
“Hey, Crane, what are you doing here?” she asked and squinted at him as though it was the weirdest thing.
“Looking for you.”
“For me? Why?” she asked.
He looked around them. “We need to talk. It’s important.”
“What about? I’m kind of busy and here with friends. The show is about to start.” She turned to look toward the party tables. The dancers were coming out already, and the women were screaming.
He stepped closer and took her hand. “It’s about something I overhe
ard. I didn’t know who to talk to about it, but I think maybe Sunny and Vinny were set up.”
“What?” she asked, her focus completely on him.
“Come on. It’s quiet out back, and I know the guys there. They’ll let us back in.”
She followed him, his hold on her hand firm. She looked back, catching Harley looking around, maybe for her, and as she rounded the corner, he caught sight of her and started heading toward the crowd. As Crane pushed the door open and led her down the steps, it was too late when Turk appeared.
“Get in. Tudoro needs to talk to you. Now,” he stated firmly, and Crane got her into the SUV. Just as the door closed and the driver took off, Harley came through the back door of the club, missing her.
* * * *
“What do you mean Crane and Turk put her in an SUV and took off?” Mateus asked.
“I don’t know what’s going on. What do you want me to do?”
“Get the thumb drive from Bella. You and Turbo remain with Bella. Have Jack get that thumb drive to me now.”
“Okay.”
Mateus disconnected the call.
“What do you think it means? Crane, and someone close to Solencio?” Major asked.
“We need that thumb drive. Something isn’t right. Get Vinny and Sunny on standby,” Mateus said and then looked at Major. “Did you find out if any of our merchandise is missing from our warehouses?”
“I’m on it. Got guys going through it all.”
Thirty minutes later Mateus put the thumb drive into the computer and started reading the files and Adalina’s notes.
“Holy shit, she was right. Vinny and Sunny aren’t doing this. Someone else is. Look at these numbers, and wait, these are from Monteith’s warehouse.”
“Someone is ripping Monteith and Garlitto off, and it looks like other places, too. Holy shit.”
“We need to get Tudoro and Solencio over here,” Major said.
“We don’t know if Solencio is operating this.”
“Adalina said Crane and someone close to Solencio so maybe that’s who is doing it. Maybe she couldn’t text the name or didn’t know yet.”
Made Men 2: Forbidden Love (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 11