For Adriano (3 page)

A feral growl meets my ears, and he opens his eyes. His gaze drops to my lips and then back up. “One of these days. One of these days… I’m going to kiss you, Cam. But not now. Now, you don’t want it bad enough. I want you to beg me for it because you made me wait so long.”

There’s a vow hidden inside his plight, a vow of how when I do finally submit, it’ll be unforgettable. Remarkable. With just a small touch, not even a kiss, just a gentle caress, and a few words, Adriano can entrance me like no other man ever has.

He notices that I’m beginning to want him. We’re both constantly provoking each other.

Adriano stretches his arm and checks his silver watch. “It’s midnight. Happy birthday, beautiful.” And he presses his lips to the side of my mouth.

Twining my arms around his neck, I hug him. It’s such a joy that someone remembered my birthday. I’ve been dreading spending the day by myself – I hate spending birthdays alone. “Thank you!”

He extends his arm to grab a black velvet box on the back seat. “For you.”

“My first present.” Excitedly, I lift the lid, but there’s nothing in it, so I look up with a sulk.

“What are your plans tomorrow? I know you don’t have any family. I’d like to spend the day with you—”

“To try to get into my bed?” I tease.

“No, just as friends. I promise.” He gives me a boyish grin.

“Okay… What did you have in mind?”

“I’m picking you up at nine a.m. for breakfast, and we’re going to fill your box – no pun intended, I swear – with presents.” He holds up his palms.

Laughing, I retort, “I believe you, and I’d like that. Let’s see where the day takes us.”

I smile as he gets out to open my door and escorts me all the way to my front entrance where we say a friendly goodbye.

And from that night on, Adriano is my new chaperone. The driver still picks me up, but Adriano takes me home almost every night.

The next day, I experience my most memorable and intimate birthday.

*

Where do I go from here? I have two choices: go back to Fat Sal or go back to the Syndicate. Deep down, I don’t want to believe Adriano would hurt me, but that was before I became an enemy and left a bomb at their headquarters, so I don’t know if I can take that risk.

The uncertainty is terrifying, and it’s draining me; therefore, it’s time I make a change. I’m done being the hunted one.

CHAPTER 3

Adriano

I enter the spacious studio room of my loft with exposed brick classic elements and polished concrete ceiling on the fortieth floor of the Astoria Tower, located in the South Loop neighborhood.

Dropping my suitcase on the hardwood floor, I go to my right to the bar of my open kitchen, which looks out into the living room and is angled toward the eighty-five inch TV hanging on the opposite brick wall. I turn on the lights in the entire apartment, and with one button, my industrial brown loft with one wall existing of floor-to-ceiling windows lights up.

The food portions on the plane were tiny, and now I’m starving, so I order Chinese from the only place close-by that’s still open and will deliver at this late hour.

Then I climb up the floating staircase to my master suite.

After changing out of my suit into sweatpants and a t-shirt, I grab my golden lighter and cigs and open the double glass doors to go out onto the terrace. It’s windy but not cold, and I appreciate this time of night. Flicking open my lighter, I duck inside, out of the wind, to light my smoke.

It’s May 31.

“Happy birthday, Cam.”

I take a draw, letting the nicotine burn down my throat.

She’s alone out there. She must be.

The fumes billow up from my nostrils into the midnight air as I stand with my feet shoulder width apart in the middle of my terrace.

I miss her.

What’s she doing today? Sadness washes over me at the thought of Cam spending today by herself. She detests that.

After she’d worked for us for three months, we grew closer. And our friendly interaction transformed when we celebrated her birthday together.

*

Two years ago

A lot of gorgeous women have captured my attention through the years, and it’s been easy to get into their pants. But Cam is elusive. So stunning, so funny, so incredibly sexy. She’s the first woman who’s ever friend-zoned me, and chasing her has been too amusing. Only, she puts up a wall that I’ve been trying to breach. And I think she wants me to break it.

She’s been opening up slowly since her birthday, which was spent in different restaurants throughout the Loop where we’d eat one small dish and then continue on to the next restaurant she wanted to visit. She downright baffled me with her fantastic idea to pass the day. Food and a beautiful woman. What more can a guy ask for?

I’ve been driving Cam home every night since the first time I dropped her off when we almost had our first kiss. I was rock-hard on the drive to my apartment, still feeling how she gently examined my face with her fingers. How an arousing tremor ran down my spine when she stroked my eyelashes – a strangely sexy move that made me shudder down to my toes.

And business has been slow, so I’ve had time for her most nights. But unfortunately, it’s increased recently, and it’s been difficult to be her driver at the end of every one of her shifts. That bothers me because I enjoy accompanying her home.

As I hit the gas toward our warehouse up north to assist Luca with interrogating a dealer, I text Cam hurriedly.

I’m working late. Not sure until what time. Stay in one of the private rooms. I’ll be there later.

Hi. No, that’s fine. I can ask Damian to take me home.

I’ve seen Damian watching Cam, and he has a hard-on for her. No way is he taking her home. I answer curtly.

Stay there. I’ll be expecting you to be at the house later, Cam.

Bossy, are we?

Be careful or I might spank you!

Promises, promises!!

I get a kick out of her taunts and am anxious for this night to be over.

All of a sudden, we have a new routine. Whenever I’m going to be late, she waits for me in one of the strip club’s private rooms, which has a bed and an adjacent bathroom. And this is all while I’m being friend-zoned by Cam.

One night, I arrive at the house after midnight to find her snoring softly on the bed. I’m dead tired and remove my dress shirt before I lie down on the mattress, spooning Cam. She snuggles against me, and I drape my arm around her waist, pulling her into me. Then I drift off to sleep with the sweet scent of vanilla surrounding me. It’s the very first time I’ve ever slept with a woman in a bed for an entire night without having sex.

*

I take another draw from the cig between my thumb and forefinger while watching the Chicago nightline. She’s out there, somewhere, alone.

After the night we literally slept together, our friendship progressed into more. I was constantly pushing her boundaries, and she was always resetting them. I broke her restrictions, but she also broke mine. Before, a woman was just a means to a fuck. Not Cam. She was something else. She became friendlier and more open, but there was always something holding her back. There was something or someone in her past that had a hold of her present. I could sense it in how she closed down when I’d asked personal questions, which she evaded answering.

Maybe if we’d remained just close friends, we wouldn’t be apart and wouldn’t have made such a mess out of our situation. When I do find her, how will our relationship be now? I’m her father’s
Capo
.

I finish my smoke and move back inside to go downstairs.

Chinese food’s delivered five minutes later, but after a few bites of steamed vegetables, my appetite’s gone.

I crawl into bed, beat from worrying about Cam.

I’m sure James will be at my front door as soon as he returns from Italy tomorrow, expecting new information about his daughter – information I don’t have.

***

I hold the door open while eating a sandwich and welcome James and Damian.

James demands an update before I’ve even closed it. “Camilla?”

“Damian?” I prompt Damian to fill us both in.

“She’s missing without a trace. Her cards aren’t being used. We haven’t had a sighting since we lost her after she left Fallon’s therapist’s office months ago. She must have connections or a shitload of cash. Maybe she’s left the country somehow?”

“That’s impossible!” James waves his hands around, obviously distraught by the current state of affairs because he rarely raises his voice.

I swallow the last bite of my sandwich and motion for them to join me in the kitchen and address Damian, “It’s disconcerting how people keep escaping our grasp—”

“Either she’s out of the country or living inside somewhere and never leaving the house,” Damian interrupts.

“She hasn’t left the country.” I just know she hasn’t. She’s nearby.

“Or she’s dead,” Damian expresses and is seized by his collar by James.

He knocks him against the wall, right next to my Bang & Olufsen speakers, with his arm blocking Damian’s throat. “Shut up!”

Don’t mess up my furniture… Although I wouldn’t mind James punching Damian once…

“Calmare.”
Calm Down. I place my hand on James’s shoulder, and he steps back.

Well, if Damian didn’t realize Cam is important to our boss, he certainly knows now.

James’s face still exudes anger.

“I apologize.” Damian actually looks regretful.

“She’s good at hiding,” I explain. “We need to lure her out. We need to dig deeper, Damian. I’ve told you this is top priority.”

James stalks off to the kitchen.

“Check her card records again,” I order with a clipped tone and dismiss him.

Damian leaves, and I turn to my
Capo crimine
.

I’ve never seen him this emotional. He’s usually cool and collected. This situation with Cam – who doesn’t even know she’s his daughter – is affecting him severely.

“Make sure he keeps his mouth shut about my outburst,” James instructs me.

“I’ll take care of him; he won’t speak a word.”

“We’ve got nothing after all these months. I’m... Dammit! I’m worried about her.” He exhales a heavy breath and avoids my eyes as I take a seat on the stool next to him.

“Me too,” I disclose and rub a hand down my jaw. “We have no leads. I’m not sure where we go from here.”

“Let’s talk to Henry one more time. Maybe he can be of help.”

Henry’s the Syndicate’s hacker. He’s a nerd who works officially for Google and unofficially for us.

I nod and fish my phone out of my pocket, and the reminder for the board meeting displays on the screen.

Luca and I are owners of a security software company, Security Simplicity, that’s managed by three directors and thirty employees. It was a thriving business for a while, which made it easy to launder our Syndicate money through our own company, but competition is fierce in this software branch nowadays, making it difficult to fake numbers when there’s decreasing profit. The cash we earn with the drug dealings in Chicago needs to be legitimized. It’s invested into our company, and we appear to be successful, hardworking entrepreneurs. All our finances are being handled by the Finance Director of the company, Jeffrey. Along with
Consigliere
Salvatore, who handles the finances of the Syndicate, they manage to whitewash Syndicate money through Security Simplicity. Apart from Security Simplicity, there’s also another company we use for money laundering, which is James and Salvatore’s company.

We’re never under investigation because we seem legit. And the Syndicate’s power and influence reaches far beyond the Mafia. We have associates working for us in every government body, including the police, the FBI, and the DEA.

I pocket my phone and inform him, “I have a meeting at Security Simplicity. Can I meet you at headquarters later? I’ve got to attend this meeting since Luca’s not here, and we’ve had some issues during the last week, so I want a status report.”

“Anything serious? Luca hasn’t mentioned it to me,” James says.

“It wasn’t anything serious as far as we could tell, but the meeting must mean there’s an update.”

“Fine. I’ll call Henry on my way out and have him meet me at headquarters. Meet us there as soon as you’re done at Security Simplicity.” He leaves, just as rigid as when he came in.

***

My assistant, Janey, hands me a cup of steaming coffee just as I’m about to exit my office for the board meeting.

“You’re fantastic, Janey.” Throwing her a wink, I reach for the cup to take it with me.

I undo the top button of my white dress shirt and enter the boardroom.

“Gentlemen.” I extend my hand to our three directors and take my seat in the leather chair at the head of the rectangular cherry table.

“Adriano, we called this urgent meeting to discuss the financial health of this company,” the Finance Director, Jeffrey, who’s sitting on my left, begins. “I’m afraid we’ve had a decline in profits.”

“Meaning?” I ask and grab a napkin and a vanilla muffin from the tray in front of me.

“I can’t find ways to methodically flow cash into the company if the actual numbers are close to stagnant. And now even declining.”

I quickly chew the muffin while different scenarios blaze across my mind. “Can’t you conjure a new investor?”

He shakes his head in denial. “No, not in this economy, and with the current state of SS, it would put us on the radar and raise unwanted questions.”

The directors’ gazes clash for a second. This is not good.

“There’s another issue,” he continues when I stay quiet.

“Money has been disappearing.”

I lean forward. “How much?”

“I don’t know. Accounting and IT are looking into it as we speak.”

“Ballpark?” I command, my voice tight.

Jeffrey sighs before answering, “Over one million.”

I grit my teeth. “How’s this possible?”

“My guess is...that we have a leak on the inside. Someone who’s been intelligently covering moving millions out of the company.”

I push the muffin away. “There are only thirty people on this staff. Thirty people who have been carefully screened,” I fire back, disbelieving his theory.

“It’s also a possibility that there’s been an oversight in accounting.”

“That would be a huge oversight then,” I comment dryly.

This could cause major problems for us. Since the Syndicate runs all drug traffic in Chicago, we have significant amounts of cash to launder. We need profitable companies in order to keep forging documents.

“What’s our course of action?” Probably a new assignment for Henry.

“Waiting for news from Accounting or IT,” Jeffrey replies.

“When did you demand to have an update by?” We need answers fast.

“End of the day.”