Queenpin (Syndicate Book 1)

by Eden Rose

  “Just wondering if Madam Luca found herself a new playmate. You know we have all been trying to get you to look at us the way you are looking at him.”

  Before he can say anything more, I raise my hand and slap him across the face. “Did I ask for your opinion?” I say menacingly and all of the guests turn to look at me. “You are dismissed.”

  Chapter 9

  Mason

  My dick is harder than fucking concrete. For fuckin’ real. It’s uncomfortable and it’s almost as if I’m doing this to myself. I have sat in this chair for over an hour and have now watched three different couples have sex in front of me. The smell of their sex is intoxicating me, and it makes me want to fuck them too.

  However, I don’t think I’m allowed to. Feeling this way is something that I’m not used to at all. I have never been one to abide by the rules nor have I cared to. But there’s something unnerving about Lucian.

  It’s almost as if she has the ability to peer through my soul and read me better than anyone. How in the fuck is that possible? I feel her eyes bore through me and when she slapped that man up there, I felt her looking at me. I couldn’t look at her though.

  It’s the strangest fucking thing ever.

  I feel her and it’s making me want to leap out of my skin and get the fuck out of here.

  “Are you enjoying the festivities?” I hear behind me.

  Before I even turn in my chair that I have been sitting in since I was told, I knew it was her. I don’t turn to look at her and I feel the sharp prick of her nail as it traces down the back of my neck. “I asked you a question sub. Are you enjoying yourself?”

  Like a man possessed, I don’t ask her why she keeps calling me that and I don’t tell her to fuck off. Instead, I’m sitting here completely under her spell. “Yes, ma’am.” Where the fuck did that come from?

  Her nail pierces my skin on the knot of my spine. “That’s not what you call me. You have two days to consider this and if then, if I don’t hear from you, I want a different chef. But if you do want this, we have rules to discuss. You may leave.”

  I don’t turn around to ask her what the hell she’s talking about nor do I even care to know. Whatever she’s offering me, I know I’m going to do it.

  ***

  “You ready to do another drive?” Brad asks me as he bangs on the front door.

  I groan. I need the money, but this is fucking dangerous.

  “Where to now?” I retort dumbly.

  He chuckles. “They don’t go over their plans with me, Mason. I don’t know shit.”

  “Is this going to end me up in federal prison? I’m too poor to go to country club one the celebs go to for murder. I couldn’t even afford one day there!”

  “Holy shit, have you always been this much of a Drama King?”

  “He has,” Andrew pipes in. “Ever since we were little, he’s complained and worried about everything. Fucking pussy.”

  I turn to look at Andrew sitting on the couch with a beer. “At least I’m trying over here!” I snap back. “You collect unemployment, fucker.”

  My brother shrugs. “It’s income. Suck it, bitch.”

  Brad’s laughing at our exchange. “Are all brothers like this?”

  “I sure hope not. You want my brother?” I offer him like a used car salesman would.

  “Nah, I’ll stick to being an only child.”

  That explains all of his selfish ways. The man is only thinking about himself. Of course, that makes sense. What an asshole for talking shit about me.

  “When is it?” I ask him with my eyebrows raised. I have every intention of making my way to Lucian’s sooner rather than later. Brad likes to take his sweet fucking time when telling me what’s going on.

  The more I wait to Lucian, the more I crave her.

  “It’s either going to be tonight or tomorrow. I’ll let you know,” Brad calls out before walking out of the apartment.

  Taking all the time she gave for an answer to her question is stupid. I knew without a shadow of a doubt I would do anything this woman asked me to. I also knew I would happily do it as well.

  Without even taking the two days, I walk to Lucian’s office in the morning. There was no way in hell that I was getting any sleep and I couldn’t get her out of my mind. It’s crazy that I’m thinking of her this much, but I can’t stop it to save my life.

  Feeling as if I needed to dress up a little, I made sure to wear a dress shirt and a tie. My dress slacks have been neatly pressed, and my hair is styled.

  Why the hell am I doing this to myself? I don’t understand why I even care what she thinks of me, but I do. I care a lot about Lucian thinks and it’s pissing me off.

  While I’m walking to her office, I consider turning around, but I need to know why I want her so badly. It’s not that I don’t want to fuck her, I do. Really, my dick is so ready for it. It’s that I don’t know what the hell is about to happen and I’m nervous.

  What the fuck?

  Once I reach her office, I look through the blacked-out door to see if anyone else is in the club. There’s no one. I try the door handle trying to get it open, it doesn’t budge. “Hello?” I call through the door hoping to get someone’s attention.

  It’s obvious this is a sign. I need to get my ass home to figure out my place in all of this.

  Chapter 10

  Lucian

  “Here’s everyone’s cut this week,” I address my crew of eleven men.

  They stare at the stack of hundreds in front of them. Each of them got ten thousand and up for doing the work.

  “This week is going to be tougher than the last. There’s something brewing with the 3-1-3 is stacked up with product this week. We need our strongest runners on the field,” I look at Raul who’s shaking his head. “What?” I demand without any nicety.

  He groans. “Where did you get the extra product?” He pointedly asks.

  My eyes zero in on his face. He always gets cocky when I’m about to take on someone new. Raul can never just let us go and leave me alone. The fucking man has to get his hands into shit he doesn’t need to.

  I know what I need to do.

  “What makes you think you have the right to ask me questions?”

  He stands up out of his chair in the middle of my club. “I have the right to ask you questions whenever I want, Lucian. How did you get the extra blow?”

  My other crew watches with amusement at us. I’m glad I’m fucking funny to them. “Because this is my sector. You knew this was my sector and you keep interfering. What are you trying to prove? That you have a dick and I don’t?” I blurt.

  Raul’s working me on every nerve and I’m bridging the gaps between everything that’s happening and him.

  “I don’t know if you have a dick or not because you won’t let anyone touch you.”

  Without thinking, I pull out my gun and aim it at Raul. “You’re going to bring up private conversations? I’ve never bashed you, fucker. You want to let everyone know how you fell in love with me?”

  “Hey!” Someone shouts from the door. “There’s a time and a place for this. I want my money,” Ralf says with a vengeance.

  My back tightens as I hear the voice of the shot caller for every sector of the 3-1-3. I knew it was only a matter of time before he came looking for me to give him the rest of the money I owe.

  “Ralf! Hi, what brings you here?” I ask stupidly. I know exactly what he’s doing here.

  “Lucian, we discussed this the last fucking time I was here. You either pay up or I take flesh. Pick which one you want.”

  I know what flesh means. Flesh means someone’s going to die or be jumped and I can’t have that coming back on me.

  “I know, I know.”

  He growls at me, walking through the room with his eyes focused on me. “You will do what you’re told, or I will own that pussy more than what I already do!”

  My body tingles from the latent fear of knowing what he’s capable of. The night I was jumped-in, w
as also the night I almost needed stitches from Ralf. The man is ruthless when he’s taking what he wants and who he wants, however he wants.

  That was also the last time I was touched by anyone.

  Being jumped-in either means I take the beating, or I take the gang. I couldn’t take the beating at only a hundred pounds and fresh off the street. I took the gang instead. It went on for hours and hours. Finally, Ralf ended it with himself taking me- hard, ruthless and with no mercy for a sixteen-year-old girl who had been living on the streets.

  I got lucky that night with Katie, a friend to me now, knowing what was about to happen and she tried to rescue me. She made it her mission to try and take the place of the women about to be jumped-in. I thought taking the gang was the worst thing in the world. Nothing compared to knowing your friend was willing to take your place.

  “You owe me money, Lucian. You owe me twenty-five K today. I want my money right now!” He growls at me.

  “I’ll get it for you!” I yell back.

  Having a screaming match in front of my gang is not something I fucking want to do. These assholes need to respect me and know that I’m queen of this sector. I run the shit on the street. Being scolded by Ralf, only proves I’m just a bitch in high heels.

  “Give me a minute,” I call back to him.

  “I’m coming with you!” He snarls.

  I shrug, spinning on my heels and I walk to my office to one of the safes with the twenty-five thousand in it. I’m not showing him the other safe which holds hundreds of thousands of dollars. No, I’m not that fucking stupid.

  “Listen, bitch,” he shouts at me down the hall to my office. “I don’t give two fucks if you’re running a side business. Big Heavy will always get their money.”

  “I know!” I shout back. “You don’t think I fucking know that? You can stop sending me notes with threats in them. I haven’t been keeping any money from you guys.”

  It happened so fast. His hand encased mine and he spins me around causing me to lose my balance and I fall into the wall. He’s on me in a matter of seconds. Ralf’s strong, expensive cologne fills me nose and I gag on it. His brown eyes are drunk with power and rage aimed at me.

  Is this when I die? If so, it’s probably a good idea I didn’t drag Mason into this world. This world of not knowing what is coming next. This world of not knowing if you are safe or if you’re going to die today.

  Someone like Mason doesn’t know the first thing about what this life in like.

  Ralf moves his hand from off my wrist, wrapping it around my neck, squeezing it. “I don’t like you. You’re a fucking bitch who only got to where she is because of me. How dare you steal money from me?”

  I gasp, clasping at his hand to get it to move. “Ralf…” I wheeze trying to get him to see he’s choking me.

  It didn’t work.

  “I should have killed your ass when I fucking wanted to. You’re nothing but problems. Get me my money, now.”

  His hand lets go of my neck and I rub the sensitive skin where his fingers squeezed me. My skin feels tight as air flows through my lungs trying to oxygen through my whole body. “I’m sorry,” I mumble stupidly.

  “Not as sorry as you will be.”

  Chapter 11

  Mason

  When did I become such a weak piece of shit? Letting some pussy control me like I’m weak? I’ve never let some girl control me like the way Lucian McGrace does.

  The worst part about it?

  I like it.

  I slam the door to the apartment shut, stomping through the corridor until I get to my room and then slam that door shut too. I slump my body onto my bed letting out a deep breath of frustration.

  Lucian’s got me all tied up in knots. I don’t know which way is up anymore. How does a woman possess me the way she possesses me? Why the fuck did I allow her to possess me like this? I don’t fucking understand how I became a literal pussy over the prospect of getting pussy.

  The burner phone rings across the room in my duffle bag I use to hide my shit from Andrew. In the past, Andrew used to sneak shit out of my room to buy the drugs he used to be on. He would steal anything and everything out of my room. I began to hide things in the most obvious places in hopes of him not finding it.

  This time it worked since he hasn’t been in here to steal the ten grand I have in the bag.

  I groan, stumbling over to the phone to answer it. There’s no name that pops up on the caller I.D. but then again, I didn’t expect there to be.

  “Hello?” I answer.

  “Pick me up at Eight Mile’s old K-Mart. Come alone,” a male voice says into the other end of the line.

  “How much?” I blurt.

  “Another ten grand if you can get here in fifteen minutes.”

  I don’t respond. I hang up the phone and grab my keys to the apartment. It’s about a twenty-minute walk to that side of town, but I want that extra money.

  Ten grand to drive every time they call? Fuck yeah.

  I need the money.

  I run towards that side of town and get there in ten minutes. Raul is waiting for me outside of a black Suburban truck wearing all black. He has a phone in his hand, he looks towards me with an impressed look on his face.

  “Someone’s eager.”

  Shrugging, I take the keys out of his hand and jump into the car.

  Raul gets into the backseat without saying another word to me. I don’t want to ask too many questions and get him all pissed off at me. With that being said, I’m dying to know why he’s paying me so much money.

  “Turn left up here. It’s the fourth house on the right,” he directs.

  I follow the directions without making a peep.

  Like most of this side of Detroit, it looks rough. The houses are run down, kids screaming outside of the house, hookers walking around in broad daylight… it’s the usual for this side of the city.

  Normally, a white guy over here is either looking for some crack or a hooker.

  I park the car as Raul unbuckles his seatbelt. “Keep the car running. I’ll be out in about five minutes.”

  I don’t say anything. There’s nothing to say to him.

  Instead, I pull out my phone and Google domanatrix sex.

  “Holy shit,” I mumble to myself.

  The images all range from women in bondage, men kneeling in front of the women, women with whips in their hands… there’s a little bit of everything on here and… it’s fucking hot.

  I’m so caught up in the images that I don’t hear Raul tapping on the glass to get me to unlock the car. I jump a little bit in my seat and quickly unlock it.

  He chuckles. “I take it you got to know Lucian,” he murmurs to me in an accusatory tone.

  I don’t say anything. There’s nothing for me to say.

  “You don’t have to say anything to me. I already know. Just be careful. The girl is a wild card. She’ll eat you up and spit you out in a second.”

  I look in the rearview mirror without responding to what he said. “Where to next?” I retort.

  Chapter 12

  Lucian

  The gun is heavy in my hand, but I aim it anyways. This is the first time that I have held my new Glock.

  “Lucian! We need you at the fort, right fuckin’ now!” Raul yells over the loud music of the party.

  I had stolen the gun from one of the assholes who tried to break into my apartment. They honestly thought they were going to take me out? Fuck them. I got them right where it hurts. I stole their guns and all their money before they knew what I was doing.

  I love a good pay day.

  The gun is heavier than I would have liked but the weight reminds me of the power I have over everyone. I’m no longer that trash on the side of the road people used to treat me as. I’m moving up higher in the ranks and no one’s going to stop me.

  Raul’s eyes are wide as he tries to convey the importance of hurrying up. What he doesn’t realize is that I call the shots now. He’s my gopher and I’m
not going to let him push me around.

  “What’s happening?” I yell over the music.

  I’ve smoked three blunts and drank a couple of beers. I’m not wanting to fight anymore.

  He places his hand on my shoulder, but I shrug him off. “What the fuck did I say about touching me?” I growl.

  He backs up. “You’re needed at the fort. Someone’s brought a shipment in.”

  “Fuck! Why do people want to ruin my fun fucking time?”

  Muttering to myself the whole way to the fort, I can’t help but wonder if this is why people get burned out in the game. I’ve only been in it for a short time and I’m already stressed the fuck out.

  Raul taps on my car window once I park. Stepping out of my vehicle, I look at the fort.

  There are no lights lighting up the fort for anyone to see what’s happening… or what was about to happen. With that being said, there isn’t any movement happening outside.

  “Am I being set up?” I demand from Raul. His eyes narrow.

  “No. I have no idea where anyone’s at.”

  “I’m being fucking set up. Find those assholes before they- “

  Ratatattat!

  Bullets are being fired all around us! I can feel the heat from the guns and the anticipation of not getting caught by a bullet.

  My gun is cocked and aimed ready for action as I tuck behind my car. I just need to figure out where they are shooting from. My car is bullet proof but with the blanket of bullets, I don’t know how long my car will be able to stand up to the heat.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I demand louder.

  A sharp pain hits me in the foot and I bite my lip to keep from screaming. Ouch! I just got fucking shot on my foot.

  “Luca! You okay?” Raul yells from the other side.

  I don’t answer him for the obvious reasons. I’m not getting shot at again. Fuck no.

  Suddenly the firing dies down just enough for me to look around the side of the car to see if I can see anyone.

  “Fuck you, McGrace! Fuck you guys for trying to take over our property!” I hear someone yell.