THE STRIPPER GYRATES her hips in front of me, trying desperately to entice me. Gritting my teeth, I snag my drink from the table and take a long swig of the dark liquid, doing my best to completely ignore the woman.
“Maybe blondes aren’t your thing?” Vidal, my business associate, surmises. “I can bring in some brunettes or maybe a redhead,” he offers.
“Not in the mood for any variety today,” I tell him, barely able to contain my irritation. We’re at Vidal’s strip joint, just one of the many businesses he owns that we launder our money through. He insists on conducting meetings here; and any other time, I wouldn’t really mind. But today, I’m not in the mood.
Vidal nods in understanding and waves his hand, dismissing the girl. The blonde walks away with a backwards glance at me, pouting. Any other day, I would have taken her to one of the back rooms and fucked that pout right off of her face. But now that Aria is in my life, it would feel wrong somehow.
When did I suddenly get so fucking righteous?
Groaning, I rub a hand down my face while I desperately try to block Aria from my thoughts. The whole reason for me getting out today was to forget about her; and so far, it’s not working. In fact, her not being with me is making my thoughts drift to her even more often. “Fuck,” I grit out before finishing off my drink.
“Another?” Vidal suggests.
When I nod, he gestures for one of his men to bring forward the bottle of expensive liquor, and I watch as he carefully refills my glass. Vidal is dressed casually today with a Hawaiian-looking shirt and khaki shorts. He’s short and skinny with a pencil thin mustache and warm, brown eyes. He doesn’t seem like much to look at him, but I’ve seen him take down three men much bigger than him in a fight before. He’s scrappy and gets shit done when it matters the most. Maybe that’s why I chose to work with him several years ago. There’s something profound that can be said about a man, who is an underdog, with the odds stacked against him and the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he still ends up coming out on top when it counts.
“Something wrong, Mateo? I’ve never known you to drink so much or turn down pussy,” he says, leaning back and stroking his mustache.
My eyes flash towards him, narrowing as a warning.
Vidal puts his hands up in a placating gesture. “Alright, alright, no need to talk about it,” he says with a smirk.
“I just want to talk about business,” I inform him. And forget about a certain pretty brunette with a smart mouth, I add internally.
“Good enough.”
“Why is my shipment not here yet?” I inquire. The materials I need from California never arrived, and it’s been a thorn in my side. Production has halted at several of my warehouses. And if they’re not making the product to sell, then that means I’m not making any money.
“Our usual dockworker wound up dead last week,” Vidal explains. “We’re still working on trying to bribe another man to take his place.”
“Any progress?”
“I found a man with a family — a wife and kids. I have no doubt he’d be willing to do it if I paid them a visit, gave them a little scare. Hell, he might even do it for free if I take his family for a few days and rough them up to help convince him.”
I hold up my hand to silence him. “Your words should suffice. We don’t need to go to extremes unless it becomes absolutely necessary.” Children are innocent. They don’t choose what their fathers end up becoming. “Pay him the same rate,” I add on. It’s worth the money if I can get my shipments docked safely.
“If everything goes well with our new rat, the rest of our deliveries should be a breeze.”
I nod. “Good. Make sure there are no further problems,” I tell him sternly before standing and buttoning my suit jacket. “I need to head home.”
“So early? It’s not even five o’clock,” Vidal says incredulously.
I move my head from side to side, cracking my neck. The tension I feel there is almost excruciating. I’ve been trying to handle business as usual just to get away from her. But even my associates are noticing a deviation in my behavior. Maybe I just need to fuck Aria to get her out of my system. If only she would give in to me. I’m sure one good romp in the sack would make everything better. I could quickly get over her and move on with my life.
“I have a woman tied up in my bed waiting for me,” I lie through my teeth.
He smiles wickedly. “Nice.” He stands and shakes my hand. “Well, I won’t keep you from your little captive.”
My little captive.
Yes, that’s exactly what she is. And tied up in my bed is exactly where she should be right now. Just the idea of seeing Aria’s big doe eyes wide and helpless as she struggles against her bonds has my cock hardening in my slacks.
“I’ll be in touch,” I tell Vidal before departing.
Once I’m in the back of the car, I pull out my cell phone. I read over my texts, hoping for an update on Aria, but there is nothing. Frowning, I tell the driver, “Hurry home.” I have an almost overwhelming need to see her. And an even stronger need to touch her and make her mine.
