Dante: A Mafia Bad Boy Romance (Sinsations Book 2)

Dante: A Mafia Bad Boy Romance

Sinsations #2

This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons – living or dead – is entirely coincidental.

This work is intended only for adults over the age of 18. All sexual relationships depicted are between adults who are not related by blood.

Dante: A Mafia Bad Boy Romance © April 2016, Jessi Talbot

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews.

JOIN JESSI TALBOT’S
MAILING LIST
AND NEVER MISS A NEW RELEASE

 
Then…

“Dante!”

The scream was high-pitched and shrill, like that of a little girl. I’d be sure to pick on him mercilessly about that later. Only ten-years old and Alyosha was already determined to be a man in all things. As his older brother, it was my job to tease him when he failed, although I’d punch anyone else in the face if they got the idea to pick on him.

But there was no worry of anyone picking on him now because he wasn’t the only one screaming. An army of strangers in black suits had invaded our home, their guns filling the air with acrid smoke that burned our nostrils. Many people were screaming. Many people were dying. I didn’t know if our parents were among the dead.

We ran into our bedroom, slamming the door shut behind us. I ran to the window without slowing down, only releasing my brother’s hand long enough to slide the window open and step out onto the tree branch outside our second-story window. I held out my hand. “Come, Alyosha. We have to go.”

He stepped to the window, looking at me with wide nervous eyes. We had used this tree to escape the watchful eyes of our parents and bodyguards numerous times, but those times had been quieter, calmer. Even through the closed door, I could hear footsteps storming up to the second floor. We were the third door down the hall. They’d be here within minutes.

“Alyosha!” I opened and closed my fingers, silently pleading for him to take my hand. I didn’t know who the strange men were but I had heard stories. We had been warned by our parents. They would either kidnap us and sell us back to our parents, kidnap us and sell us to someone else, or they’d simply kill us. None of those sounded like fun to me.

My brother narrowed his eyes. “You don’t tell anyone I was scared. Not ever.”

I sighed. It was valuable information he was demanding I give up. Papa would be proud. I nodded. “Deal.”

Alyosha wrapped his tiny hand in mine and stepped out next to me on the branch. We ducked down as the bedroom door slammed open, banging against the wall. “Go,” I whispered. He nodded and ran down the branch. It connected to the tree at almost a perfect 45-degree angle. I learned about that kind of stuff in school. I didn’t know at the time what that kind of information would be useful for, but right now thinking about it helped keep me from worrying that me and my brother might die.

We hopped from the branch to a lower one, and then jumped the remaining distance to the ground. I glanced up at the window. Nobody was there. “Run,” I said to Alyosha as I took his hand, running towards the driveway, half-dragging him behind me. We had always been taught to get to the cars if anything happened, that a bodyguard would take us away from danger. But two of the cars were on fire and more of those black-suited men were patrolling the area. There was no safety there.

I spun and headed towards the gardenia bushes along the edge of the house, letting go of Alyosha’s hand and pushing some of the branches to the side, lifting them up. “Crawl under.”

“Bugs,” Alyosha said, frowning.

“Bullets,” I replied.

He pressed his lips together. After a couple of seconds, he nodded, falling to his knees and crawling into the tiny space I had created. I moved more branches back, being careful not to break them, and joined my brother, kneeling down beside him.

The guns weren’t going off as much. I guessed that meant anyone who was able to fight was already dead.

“Remember your promise,” Alyosha said.

I nodded. “Quiet,” I whispered. “I will.”

“Look there,” he said, pointing towards the far corner of the garage.

I whispered one of the few swear words I knew and snatched his hand down, hoping nobody had seen. One of our soldiers, the one who usually watched our mother when she went shopping, came staggering around the garage, his white shirt mostly red now. He raised his gun and fired as one of the intruders raised his gun. The intruder was spun around as he fired, a wet, red flower blooming on his shirt. Alyosha gasped, slumping against me, as if he had suddenly decided to take a nap. I looked over at him.

* * *

Now…

I jerked awake and sat up in bed quickly, my body covered in a cold sweat. Damn it. This was the third night in a row that I’d had that fucking dream. It had taken years, and plenty of booze and drugs, to make them go away before, and now, for some unknown reason, they were back.

I crawled out of bed and strode into the kitchen, not bothering with clothes. I lived alone so what did it matter? I hadn’t even had any women over this week, living like a fucking priest. Too much other shit going on. I grabbed the scotch out of the liquor cabinet, spun the cap off, and turned the bottle up, welcoming the burn as the liquid fire ran down my throat.

I was lying to myself. I knew exactly why the nightmare had returned. Because I did something I said I’d never do. I took control. Lucifer and Krista had left three days ago to go on their honeymoon, and Luc had turned over the reins of his casino to me. Sinsations was in my hands. The hottest casino and hotel on the Vegas Strip, brought from dream to reality by my best friend, was under my control. Not that there was anything that really had to be done. My job was basically to walk around and be the face of Sinsations, to make sure everyone was having a good time.

But I hated being in charge, hated being in a position where I could control others, hated having to make decisions for others. The last time I had been in charge of someone else, I had chosen a gardenia bush as a hiding place.

No, at six-feet, four-inches tall, I preferred to be the muscle. Let someone else call the shots. It was better that way. Better for me. Better for everybody.

I took another drink from the bottle, glanced at the clock on the microwave. Four o’ clock in the morning. Holy hell. I put the cap back on the bottle and sat it on the shelf. No reason to put it back in the cabinet. I’d probably need it again tomorrow morning.

After a quick shower, I put on my suit, ran a hand through my still-wet hair, and headed out, taking the elevator down to the main casino floor. One of the perks of the job was a rent-free suite at Sinsations’ hotel. When Luc had first mentioned the arrangement, I had complained, telling him I didn’t need any damn handouts, but, as usual, he didn’t back down, saying it made sense for the head of security to live on the premises in case there were any problems. I couldn’t argue with his logic… and it was a damn nice suite.

“Hi, Dante.”

As I stepped off the elevator, I smiled and nodded at Trixie, one of Sinsations many ‘angels,’ cocktail servers wearing too-tiny outfits that showed off their ample curves, complete with feathery angel wings. Luc milked his name for all it was worth, calling Sinsations heaven on earth and always flashing a devilish smile when asking people where else but Sin City would Lucifer set up shop?

“Hi, Trixie. How ya doing?”

She flashed me a devilish smile of her own. “I’m as fine as wine.” She winked. “And I’m willing to prove it when my shift ends in thirty minutes.”

I held up my hands in mock surrender as I walked by. “You’re too much woman for me, Trixie. You know that.”

She laughed, shrugging her shoulders and making her wings flap. “If you decide you want a taste of heaven, you know where to find me.”

I laughed, shaking my head as I went upstairs to Luc’s office. Trixie had only been working here a week and she had already let me know numerous times that she was up for a little fun. I dragged my fingertips across the wood of Olivia’s empty desk as I walked by. Poor Trixie had rotten timing. Maybe she’d get lucky in two weeks, when Luc got back. I glanced at Olivia’s desk as I swiped the keycard to unlock the office door. Maybe.

I stared at the ceiling in the dark, wishing I could get a full night’s sleep. I sighed, glancing at the clock on my nightstand. Three-forty-five. I could already tell it was going to be a long two weeks. Who was up at this ungodly hour unless they absolutely had to be? I closed my eyes, forcing them to stay closed, to ignore the angry red digital numbers on the clock, to ignore the reason behind my insomnia, the reason that was tucked into the back of my mind, a reason that got mentally slapped every time it tried to make its ugly presence known.

I could go back to sleep. Not like it was hard to do or required special training. It was sleep. If nothing else, I’d lie here in bed with my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep until I actually fell asleep, working the whole fake-it-til-you-make-it strategy.

Turns out that pretending to be asleep was a lot harder than it seemed. Slowly, reluctantly, I opened my eyes, just a tiny bit, and glanced at the clock. Three-forty-nine. Dammit! I sat up in bed, running my hands through my hair, my fingers getting tangled in the unruly curls. Great. I managed to sleep long enough to get a wicked case of bedhead. Simply fantastic.

I climbed out of bed and padded barefoot down the hall in my boxers and over-sized t-shirt, making my bleary-eyed way into the kitchen and stabbing the power button on the coffee pot with more ferocity than it deserved. My boss, Lucifer, and his new bride, Krista, were on their honeymoon, and I couldn’t be happier for either of them. I had never seen Luc so happy, not even during the grand opening of Sinsations. He deserved happiness. He deserved a break from this place to celebrate his new life with his new wife.

But I had never, not even in my wildest dreams, imagined exactly what that would involve, never connected the dots from A to B, which clearly showed that, during his absence, Luc would turn over control of the casino to his best friend in the whole world.

Letting out a deep sigh, I leaned back against the kitchen counter, thoughts of him running through my mind. Dante Dubow. A shiver ran down my spine as I whispered his name. How many times had I imagined that as my last name? How many times had I imagined screaming his name as he made me his? My cheeks heated and my sex clinched. Probably as often as I had actually screamed his name while using my trusty vibrator.

I went to the fridge, grabbed a cold bottle of water, and guzzled half of it one swallow, my throat suddenly dry. It was a fantasy, of course. Dante, with his super-sized body, chiseled face, and sexy-as-hell Russian accent could have anyone in Vegas. Hell, he could have anyone in Nevada. Why would he be interested in me?

I poured a cup of coffee and took a sip. Water was okay but today was going to require some serious caffeine. I closed my eyes and groaned. Dammit! The coffeepot at work was in Luc’s office. No big deal when Luc was there, and I was sure Dante wouldn’t mind, but I wasn’t sure my nerves could handle it. It was difficult enough with him sitting just a couple of yards away from me, but to actually go into the office, with him right there? No, I didn’t see that happening. With any luck, I could time my coffee runs during the times when he was walking the floor. Sadly, that would cut into my drooling-over-Dante time. It was a comfortable arrangement for me, one I was very used to.

As head of security, Dante would patrol the casino on a regular basis, and I always made sure to get my fill, my eyes burning him into my memory every chance I got, looking over the second-floor railing down into the casino. One time he happened to look up and locked eyes with me. I thought I would die of embarrassment. Thankfully, he had never brought it up.

I shook my head, trying to clear it of thoughts of the handsome Russian. Took another sip of coffee. Going back to sleep would be impossible and I had seen everything pay-per-view had to offer during my first couple of nights of insomnia. Might as well go into work. Dante wouldn’t be in until around nine so maybe I could actually get some work done instead of wondering if he might be in the office looking at me on one of the security monitors. I shook my head again, laughing at myself. Like that fine Russian god would be interested in a short, curvy Hispanic girl who spent most of her days working with boring spreadsheets and databases. Not likely.

I looked down into the casino from the open second floor, appreciating the design Luc had gone with. The second “floor” was more of a hallway with offices along the edge, with the center providing an eagle-eye view of the casino below. Standing outside his office, Luc could survey his domain, looking down into the world he created. It was a power-trip. You couldn’t help feeling like the king of the world with a view like this. Even at six in the morning, the casino was busy. People always said New York was the city that never sleeps but that town was in a coma when compared to Vegas. Hardcore gamblers won and lost entire fortunes while most people slept.