Dirty Empire

by Nina West

  My breathing is turning ragged beneath his touch. “That’s not what I want.”

  “What do you want then?”

  “You. Just you.” I widen my stance to give him better access.

  He takes it, sinking two more fingers deep inside me, hitting that spot with deft skill. “If you give me a chance, I will change.”

  All I can muster is a sound of agreement, as my body betrays my conscience and burns with need.

  In the pool below us, Caleb has moved to sit on the pool’s concrete ledge, his legs splayed wide, allowing his two female companions space to nestle between his thighs. His hands cradle the backs of their heads as he guides their mouths over his dick. But his focus doesn’t seem to be on either of them. It’s not even up here.

  I frown. “Why does Caleb look like he’s staring at Merrick?”

  “Because he’s probably taunting him, like the narcissistic asshole that he is.” Gabriel’s teeth graze my earlobe, and hints of his normal playfulness emerge. “I need you now.”

  A flutter stirs in my belly. “I know.” And I’ll never tire of hearing him say it.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.” I don’t even miss a beat.

  With my body, implicitly.

  But also with my heart.

  Gabriel has my heart, whether or not I want to give it to him.

  “What I want, whenever I want it. Remember?”

  I feel his words between my thighs, even as my stomach clenches. The last time he played that card, he produced a plug from his desk drawer. “Are we back to this again?” I attempt a bored tone, but my voice comes out shaky with nerves.

  His chuckle is deep and teasing as his hand slips free of me. “Close your eyes,” he demands.

  I do as asked, my blood racing in my ears.

  With gentle hands, Gabriel slowly guides the straps of my skimpy dress off my shoulders. The silky material slides down my form effortlessly, to pool at my feet. “Keep them closed,” he warns, unfastening my strapless bra and tossing it away. “Here. Let me help you,” he coaxes, gripping my hips.

  With a hard swallow, I lift one heel free from my discarded dress, then the other, acutely aware that I’m standing in a floor-to-ceiling window wearing nothing but these silver five-inch heels. For once, though, I don’t feel the need to remind Gabriel that I’m not into his brand of kink. Maybe it’s the insanity of the past thirty-six hours, maybe it’s shock, maybe it’s the numerous martinis that I’ve consumed, but right now, nothing seems to faze me.

  I listen as Gabriel unfastens his belt buckle and wordlessly sheds his clothes. He sidles up behind me again. His bare skin is burning hot against mine. Still, I tremble from nerves.

  “Eyes closed,” he reminds me, before angling my face toward him with a thumb under my chin. He lays a sweet, sultry kiss against my mouth, the tip of his tongue skating along the seam of my lips, over and over again. His fingers skate across my cheekbone in an affectionate, teasing stroke, before working their way around to weave through my hair. There’s no rush, no hint of his exhaustion, no push to pass foreplay for the main event now that we’re both undressed.

  Ever so slowly, as Gabriel worships my mouth with languid kisses, everything and everyone else fades into the background. My body buzzes with nervous anticipation, even as it grows more comfortable in this highly vulnerable situation.

  He must sense it, too, because he guides my hands to the windowpane in front of me, gently pressing my palms against the cool glass. With a whisper of, “keep those there,” he molds his hands to my body, sliding them down my arms, down my torso, pausing to cup my breasts and tease my hardened nipples for a few beats, before slipping down to smooth over my hips.

  “Have I told you how much I like these shoes?” He murmurs, dragging the tip of his length through my slick folds.

  I shudder and angle my hips for him. “No. Why is that?”

  “They put you at the perfect height.”

  I feel the teasing smile curl my lips, even though he can’t see it. “For what?”

  He answers by sinking into me with a single, hard thrust.

  I let my head fall back and a guttural cry escape my lips as he fills me completely.

  “Jesus,” he hisses. “Do you even know how hot you are?” It’s sounds like an accusation.

  I answer by arching my back even more, earning another curse from his lips.

  His fingers dig into my hip bones as he begins moving at a steady, unhurried pace, and I brace myself against the glass, relishing how my body stretches and welcomes him, how it craves him. With my eyes closed, I realize just how overwhelmingly familiar Gabriel has become to me—his scent, his touch, his voice, his taste. I could find him in a pitch-black room full of bodies, with any of those.

  But all of them together?

  All the things that make Gabriel Easton who he is?

  Heat pools at the apex of my thighs as I allow myself to feel every inch of him. When it comes to my body, he has never led me astray. Every time he touches me, I know I’m going to enjoy it.

  Slowly, my curiosity replaces my nervousness.

  That’s when I dare to open my eyes and take in the scene below us.

  The group of three by the pool stairs are gone. Meanwhile, Caleb and his two women have left the pool and ventured over to the couch, where the blond grinds on Caleb’s lap, her ample breasts swaying. The brunette has turned her affections to Merrick, and her hand is down the front of his pants, moving rhythmically. He’s not making any attempt to reciprocate or even suggest he cares that she’s there, but he’s also not pushing her away.

  Isn’t that sweet… Caleb is sharing a dick-swapper with his sworn enemy.

  She leans in and whispers something in Merrick’s ear and, after a lengthy moment, he lifts his hips. She wastes no time, yanking his pants and briefs down his powerful thighs. His erection springs free. She eagerly dives in, taking him into her mouth.

  That finally gets a reaction from the seemingly despondent man, as Merrick’s head falls back against the couch. Even from this distance, I can make out the sharp, sexy jut of his Adam’s apple, and the way his lips part in a satisfied moan.

  Damn, between the Easton boys and the two youngest Perris, those evil, decrepit crime bosses produced some attractive men.

  “Like what you see?” Gabriel says through ragged breaths.

  I turn back to spy his devious smile. He caught me watching.

  His smile widens. “Don’t bother lying to me. You’re dripping wet.”

  My cheeks flush. I am dripping wet. “Don’t get any ideas. This is a onetime thing.” But Gabriel needs this now. Maybe I need it, too.

  “I guess I better make it count then.” He shifts his position and, clasping the back of my thigh, he hikes my leg high in the air.

  “Gabriel!” I exclaim through nervous laughter, using the window for balance as he displays me for all to see.

  His other arm slips around my waist to support me. “You’re good. I won’t let you fall,” he whispers into my ear, his face nuzzled in my hair.

  It’s all I can do to stay upright as Gabriel’s hips move with expert skill, thrusting into me over and over again, the moans he manages to pull from my throat growing frequent and loud. I should be embarrassed, but I no longer care what anyone hears.

  And I no longer care what Caleb and Merrick can see.

  Now, I watch with depraved fascination as the young Perri fists the brunette’s long hair, guiding the quick tempo of her mouth as she sucks him off. His steady, dark gaze isn’t on her though.

  It’s not on me.

  It’s not even on the woman riding Caleb wild.

  It’s on Caleb, his head resting on the back of the couch, his lips parted, his beautiful, muscular body tensing with an orgasm.

  One that has Merrick’s hips suddenly jerking upward, and his focus shifting back to the woman whose mouth he’s unloading into.

  “Time to come, baby.” Gabriel slips his fingers betw
een my legs. He barely touches me though, and my body is hit with wave after wave of intense pleasure, buckling my knee. Gabriel is all but holding me up, his own guttural cries a distance sound in the haze of my own ecstasy.

  “Wow,” he murmurs through his heavy pants, finally releasing his grip of my thigh. My leg drops like dead weight, the muscles useless. “Thought you said you weren’t an exhibitionist.”

  “Shut up. They can’t see anything, remember?” I scold breathlessly, even as my cheeks flush.

  The blond has abandoned Caleb’s lap to dive into the pool, leaving him sprawled out on the couch, buck naked, and languidly stroking himself while the brunette takes her turn riding Merrick.

  Something tells me they’ll be going several more rounds before the desert sun rises for the day.

  “Oh, they saw,” Gabriel teases, wrapping his arms around my body, enveloping me into his strength. “They saw what’s mine, forever. Because I’m never letting you go.”

  There was a time not long ago that hearing Gabriel say that would have set off panic inside me. Where I couldn’t get away soon enough.

  Now?

  I’m eager to know what “forever” might feel like with a man like him. If it can exist.

  Still, my stubborn side flares, the one that has come to enjoy battling with him. “I guess you better hope our monthly negotiations go well for you, then. I’ll have a new list of demands.”

  “A new list, huh?” Grabbing my hips, he spins me around to face him. “Remember, two can play at this game.”

  I slap his hands away and stroll past him, to perch on the edge of the bed. I offer him a saccharine smile. “And yet I’ll always win.”

  A wicked gleam flashes in his eyes as he charges.

  He’s buried deep inside me before my back hits the mattress.

  20

  Gabriel

  I wake to someone jostling my shoulder.

  “Hey. Gabe. You got to get up.”

  “Fuck off,” I mumble into my pillow. I forgot to lock the door.

  “No. Seriously. Wake up. It’s almost ten, and shit’s going down.”

  I peel my eyelids open. Caleb is standing over me, shifting from foot to foot. He’s already dressed and anxious. “Did you even sleep?”

  “A few hours.”

  “Did the Perris leave?”

  “Yup. Come on. We’re going to play some poker with Cohen.”

  I snort. “For what? You think you’re going to win his hotel with a royal flush?”

  “Shut up and get dressed. Now.” He’s at the door when he adds, “They found the bodies.”

  My eyes fly open. “When?”

  But he’s already gone. The bastard knew that would get me moving.

  I rub the sleep from my eyes and roll onto my back. Mercy is on her stomach, her silky black hair fanned out over the pillow, still deeply asleep. A sexy angel that I’ll never get enough of.

  The woman I love with everything I am.

  It’s a strange thing to admit that, but here I am, wearing-my-heart-on-my-sleeve in love with the woman I once bribed to sleep with me.

  I can’t wait until the day I can camp out between her legs and not have bullshit to deal with.

  Unfortunately, that day is not today.

  I settle for a feather-soft kiss against her shoulder. I don’t want to wake her, so I slip out and dress quietly, scribbling a quick note for her when she wakes up.

  “Mr. Green, Mr. Pink Panther.” Sienna strolls up to us in the lobby as we’re stepping off the elevator, an iPad tucked under her arm. She spares Farley a wary glance. Next to him, she looks like a tiny child. “How has your stay been so far?”

  Caleb grins. “Fucking killer.”

  “Well, good. Please let me know if you need anything.”

  His eyes dip down the cleavage of her sexy white blouse. “What time are you off tonight? You should come up and join us.”

  She offers him a pinched smile that screams, “go fuck yourself.” “Mr. Cohen told me to tell you he’s in the high roller room, waiting for you.”

  Caleb watches her stroll off, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. “Ten thousand bucks says she’s a minx in the sack.”

  “Ten thousand says that woman despises you and you never find out.” My burner phone rings in my pocket.

  “Twenty says I find out by tomorrow morning!” he hollers over his shoulder on the way toward the casino door, leaving me to answer the call.

  I don’t even bother with a hello. I already know it’s Stanley. “Where were they?”

  “About an hour southwest on 15.”

  I linger by one of the water fountains. “And what are the cops saying? Any suspects?”

  “Given who they are and the state of the bodies? They’re likin’ the cartel for this one.”

  Which is exactly where we were pointing them. But his words make my stomach clench. “I’m almost afraid to ask.” We gave the cleaner guidance but let him use his artistic flair.

  “Let’s just say someone will be playing a game of mix and match with a lot of body parts.”

  “Jesus.” Now I do cringe. Merrick wasn’t kidding about his cleaner being good at what he does. “How long before their names hit the media?”

  “It’s only a matter of time before something leaks.”

  “Right.” Reporters are already circling. They’ve sniffed out a big story. “All right. Let me know if—”

  “Cameras picked up something around the airport, from the night of the explosion.”

  “Oh, yeah?” With all this Perri shit, I’d almost forgotten about the plane. “They catch Uncle Pete’s guy there?”

  “No. Not his guy.”

  I frown. Something about the way he said that sounds off. “Whose guy, then?”

  “Surveillance shows Bane driving away minutes after the bomb exploded.”

  “Bane?” My father’s hit man? “You sure?”

  “As if I’d ever mistake that fucking face. He’s like the grim reaper without the scar. With it, he makes my balls shrink.”

  My frown grows deeper. “But that doesn’t make sense.” Bane only works for one man.

  My father.

  “Don’t know what to tell you, other than Bane was there at the time of the explosion. You should probably ask the old man about that.”

  “Yeah. Thanks.” I end the call, an uneasy feeling settling over me.

  21

  Mercy

  Hey, beautiful. Hotel stuff to do. Be back in a few hours. Moe’s around. Order room service and stay in the penthouse.

  I smile at Gabriel’s scrawl on the notepad he left on his pillow, even as a twinge of disappointment stirs, that I won’t be treated to a round of slow and sensual morning sex.

  And, to think, there was a time when I snuck out of the bedroom to avoid him.

  I laugh as I stretch my sore limbs.

  Climbing out of bed, I trudge to the bathroom to relieve myself. Memories of last night have me blushing as I stand naked in front of the full-length mirror. There is something about Gabriel’s lack of inhibitions that is decidedly attractive.

  One thing is for sure: a boring sex life is not in the cards for us.

  Neither is a normal life, I remind myself somberly, as a flash of three dead bodies hits me. I struggle to push that thought aside, and it leaves me with this lingering sense of dread.

  This sense that something bad is just around the corner, waiting for us.

  What will it be though?

  Another attack by Gabriel’s psychotic uncle?

  Agent Lewis, making good on her promise to arrest him?

  At least my father is safe for the time being.

  I want Gabriel to come back. When he’s with me, when I’m in his arms, this doesn’t feel like too much to handle.

  I spend another moment studying my naked body in the mirror, a body that Gabriel seems to adore to no end. Maybe I should take a picture of myself like this and send it to him, entice him to drop his “hotel stuff”
and race back here. At least then I wouldn’t have to deal with Michelle or Moe—two awkward conversations I’d rather avoid at all costs.

  With a heavy sigh, I slip on a terrycloth robe and open the door.

  A man with a long, jagged scar marring the side of his face stands on the other side.

  His gloved hand smothers my scream for Moe before it can escape.

  I feel a sharp prick in the side of my neck as I fight against his vicelike grip.

  And then my mind succumbs to darkness.

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  February

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen, Abigail. I swear!”

  “You didn’t mean for it to happen! You didn’t mean to put your … ” My words fall apart with my sobs. I can barely see Jed’s face through my tears. Tears that haven’t stopped since I ran for my dorm room earlier today. Tears that have left my skin raw and tight. And every time I think I’m all cried out, the image of Jed and her flashes inside my head and a fresh wave hits.

  I wipe my dripping nose against my sweatshirt sleeve. I’m far past the point of caring what I look like. “Who is she, anyway?”

  “Nobody important.” He brushes his own tears away with his palm and then reaches for my face, cupping my cheeks. “You are my whole life. You’ve always been my whole life. Always! You know that, right? Tell me you know that!”

  I swallow against the sharp knot lodged in my throat but it doesn’t budge. I knew that. Up until today. “Then why would you break my heart?”

  His handsome face flinches as if I’d slapped him. Something I wish I had the nerve to do. “You weren’t supposed to find out.”