It had been ten days since Luca left for Chicago. In that time, Martha helped familiarize me with the accounts. Boring stuff, but not unexpected. It did give me an excuse to work on my laptop for hours at a time. Before I reconnected with Doriana, I got the Wi-Fi password from Dario. This enabled me to get into the admin account of the network. It was secure enough, but not from me.
I worried a bit, but Dario mentioned in passing that the one in Chicago was more updated. God, I hoped so, and I believed him because online gambling was one of their more lucrative businesses.
Tony walked in with several packages that came from Doriana. I’d always used a mail-forwarding service to maintain my anonymity, even with her. It was for her protection and mine after what had happened with Santino. I wasn’t sure where the leak came from and that made me more wary.
“This looks like serious stuff.” Tony had been left behind to babysit me. “Should I tell Dario to send his guy?”
Among the packages was the router that would split the house network into two. And I could modify one of them and make it visible only to me.
“Oh no,” I said, panicking a bit. “I communicated with the seller and it came with easy setup instructions. I might need your help when the television comes, though.”
Tony shrugged and left me to it. It took me almost all afternoon to get it up and running. Doriana did not send easy instructions, but I bugged her no end on our DEC-phone.
After Luca’s customary check-in that night, I got down to work. Admittedly, being away from my husband gave me the opportunity to explore the part of myself I had put on hold. Within the walls of the mansion, I felt free and secure enough to re-evaluate what the hell I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t regret turning down Doriana in Paris because I wasn’t psychologically ready. With a routine being established, I could micro-step back into my alter ego and see where it would lead me. I logged in to the Dark Web and brought up our chat window.
Chimera: You there?
Doriana: Welcome back, hooker.
Chimera: Glad to be back. How did that job go?
Doriana: Like taking candy from a baby.
I laughed manically.
Chimera: Were they crying?
Doriana: For sure.
Chimera: So nothing for me?
Doriana: What? There’s always something for you.
That something appeared in my notifications.
Doriana: All the information is in the packet. Same organization, different group. This one is stateside. It wouldn’t be for a couple of months.
Doriana and I chatted a bit more before I signed off. I opened the files and studied my mark.
Luca
“That was a fucking waste of time.” I shoved out of Vasily Orlov’s club. I could have been home fucking my wife.
“It wouldn’t have been if you gave in a little,” Carmine said, walking alongside me on my right. Dario was on my left with the rest of our men behind us.
“What do I know about Santino’s money,” I said. “Those Russians are bluffing, thinking they could swindle the Galluzo into a deal they made with Santino without Vincenzo’s knowledge.”
“The boss said it was okay to negotiate an amount with them,” Carmine replied.
“An amount,” I scoffed, patting my suit and digging for my cigarettes. It had been torture to be away from Natalya, but it was necessary for our marriage to last. I would get used to it. She would get used to it. Maybe two weeks was too short. It was too little time to adjust to being without her after spending every waking moment in Paris.
I lit up and dragged smoke into my lungs to calm my aggravated nerves before saying, “They wanted me to throw in my cargo plane.”
“It doesn’t cost you anything. The plane would be making the same trip,” Carmine said. “You can carry their seven passengers.”
“But we know what it is,” Dario said. “And we don’t touch that.”
Carmine laughed. “Don’t tell me you never looked the other way.”
“Not when it comes to this shit.” This shit was the sex trafficking of minors. I had no desire to be involved in that part of the Russians’ business. The less I know about it, the better. If it were drugs, and they wanted to use my ship, I’d let them. I never took a cut from it, but it was understood that I would ask a favor in return. People had a choice when it came to drugs. But I drew the line when humans were used against their will. A muscle twitched under my eye. Especially when they were minors.
“Vincenzo wants an update soon,” Carmine said. “He wants to be clear of any debt owed by Santino.”
“Tell him we’re working on it.” Carmine irritated me, but he’d also been useful as a statesman since he was less of a hothead than Dario and Ange, or me. I could also pump him for information on Natalya, on how to handle her, and he offered it, albeit cautiously. Though it confused me, since Natalya seemed to trust him and appeared fond of him. Why would he offer me ammunition to use against her? Unless he didn’t want to piss me off and he wanted the Galluzo-Chicago alliance to work.
If I could pull this off, I’d come out with more leverage than ever. I couldn’t complain either because I ended up with a very passionate wife.
My mind was so consumed with my imminent return to the mansion, a roar from Dario turned me rigid.
“Watch out!”
My consigliere shoved me out of the way just as gunfire exploded.
“I want them found. I want them dead,” I growled into the phone.
“Carmine and I are looking,” Ange replied.
“Look harder.” I ended the call.
Dario was sitting beside me in the Escalade. He gave me a few moments before saying, “You’re bleeding.”
I glanced at my sleeve. “It’s just a graze.” But it stung like a motherfucker. Probably took a chunk out of my biceps too. We were already in our vehicles when the cops arrived. The perpetrators had the audacity to strike at us in front of Orlov’s club.
Suspicions pointed away from the Russians because Orlov made it clear violence was off-limits at his club, but I wouldn’t put it past the motherfucker to engineer the whole thing. Except, it also did him no good if I was dead. He wouldn’t be getting his money.
I shoved the SUV into gear and rolled out of the parking lot. My men followed behind me.
Carmine was with Ange on the trail of the blacked-out Explorer that’d done the hit. Might as well get him some street cred with my brother.
“Maybe I should drive,” Dario said. “Because you might pass out.”
“It’s just a graze,” I repeated. “I’ll let you know if I’m about to black out.”
I chuckled. Maybe I was dying from blood loss. My phone on the dash rang. It was Carmine.
“We lost them, but we got the plates.”
“The plates are useless,” I said. “Probably stolen.”
“Yeah,” Carmine said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Tell Ange to continue looking. I’m going home.”
I could feel Dario’s raised brow.
“You’re still going home to Tralestelle?” Carmine asked, surprise in his voice.
“Of course. Keep me posted.” I ended the call, grabbed the phone from the dash, and turned it off.
“This is not the first time I’ve been shot at,” I muttered to Dario. “But it’ll be the first time I’ll go with my wife to the first checkup.”
That was a lame excuse. I wanted to fuck Natalya, especially with the adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“What happened to making her get used to being away from you and yet worshipping the ground you walk on?” my friend asked.
I ignored his sarcasm. “She’s been busy. Martha reported that she’d taken over the household budget with no problem. Tony said she overhauled all the appliances at home in two short weeks.” If that was her way of getting back at me while I was gone, then she could have at it.
Dario chuckled. “Have you checked your credit card lately?”
I shrugged. “She could spend all she wants and not bankrupt me. The point is”—I cast him a glance—“I’m rewarding her for good behavior.”
“I hate to tell you this,” Dario said. “She’s not a dog.”
“Should I drop you at the corner?”
“I’ll shut up.”
“I’ll be back on Monday.”
“You can work from there, you know,” Dario said. “Spend some time with your wife.”
“Maybe.”
It was almost one a.m. when I arrived at Tralestelle. I was surprised I didn’t get pulled over by a cop as I was racing home, way past the speed limit. Tony met me at the door. I informed him what had happened and to be on alert.
My wound stopped bleeding, but my fucking arm was sore. I didn’t care, though. My body was fired up, and I couldn’t wait to sink into my wife.
I remembered her jealousy over Jessica. I didn’t even remember that dream. I pushed my ex-mistress out of my mind and took the stairs two at a time. By the time I entered the bedroom, I was hard. I started removing my clothes—tie, shirt, shoes. I unzipped my pants and walked over to Natalya’s side of the bed.
The moon illuminated her form. Her face was half covered by the blanket and all I could see was her blonde head.
I sat down. The mattress shifted, and she started to stir. I peeled the blanket away, and before she could come fully awake, my mouth was on hers, and I climbed on top of her.
Her initial struggle died away when she realized it was me. I kissed her fiercely as I slowly wedged my hips between her thighs. My cock was already rubbing against her.
When I tore my mouth away, she breathed, “Luca…”
“Miss me, baby?”
“I did…but you smell like a bar.”
“And you smell like heaven.”
She twitched her nose.
I chuckled deeply. “I don’t think I can wait to be inside you.”
She pumped her pelvis against me, rocking against my cock. “I don’t think I want to wait either.”
I didn’t waste another second, but more than sinking into her, I was dying to taste her. I let my tongue trail down her body, over the coolness of her silky sleepwear. When I parted her legs, the scent of her arousal saturated my nose.
“No panties?” I nibbled her inner thighs.
“I was thinking of you…”
“Are you saying you masturbated just now?” I planted a kiss closer to her pussy.
“Yes.”
“I should punish you.” I licked around her slick and perfectly swollen flesh. Her hips squirmed, and I flattened a palm over her pelvis to keep her still. I lapped her hard, I licked her slowly, and I tunneled my tongue into her and made her come over and over until she was hoarse. I bolted up her body and pushed inside her. Her back arched and her eyes closed.
“All your orgasms belong to me. Got it?”
“But you were gone so long and I missed you.” She breathed as I started to thrust inside her. I said nothing. I couldn’t tell her how I nearly got shot because I was thinking of exactly this. Of how I wanted to be here with her. She couldn’t be my weakness. As those thoughts ran through my head, I pumped faster, until finally I went over and emptied two weeks of need inside her.
