“That goes both ways. A woman who acts as if she is tough, dark, and mysterious when I believe she was actually a beauty queen in a past life. You look as though you have dressed to perfection for years.”
“Touché, Handsome. Now, kiss me. She is watching.” Skylar pulls me in and our lips become one. Her lips feel so good, I begin to want more. She pulls away suddenly and takes a breath, looking at me with concern in her eyes.
“What’s wrong? I thought the kiss was pretty good.” I say looking over her beautiful face with a smile.
She forces a smile. “Nothing, but she’s watching us. You might not want to completely shut her out. Give her an opening, a small one, and she will come running to you, ego and all.” Skylar cleans the lipstick off my mouth. “I need to go to the ladies’ room. You get to work.”
Her hand slowly disappears from mine, and I hate it the moment it does. Acosta is on me within seconds, showing what she has to offer and making sure I understand she is offering it to me. “I think I would like to know more about you.” She leans in close and looks up at me between her extra-long, dark lashes. “Leave with me now, and I can make all your dreams come true. Trust me Handsome, this body of mine is amazing and will treat yours like it’s never been treated before, and oh, will you love it.”
I glance over at Skylar who is purposely hanging back away from us. Eli watches me carefully and nods. “I don’t know if I should. I am very happy in the relationship I am in now. I don’t know that you can please me as much as my girl does,” I say, infuriating the woman. “If you would like to discuss business or something similar, then we can talk. I won’t promise much more than that. I am committed to that woman, and it would take one hell of a woman to steal me away from her.” I hand her my card and walk away. We did exactly what we set out to do—get Acosta’s attention and get her interested. It’s only a matter of time before I am in the door and destroying her.
I receive a call to have lunch with Acosta. Not only does she invite me, but she sends a car to pick me up. I assume her intention is to ensure I come alone because she also picks the most out of the way, secluded restaurant there is—a place Skylar has little chance to find. Little does she know that Skylar can’t drive and wouldn’t be able to get there anyway.
I hold out the chair for her, and she smiles wickedly before sitting down and letting her dress ease up her thighs. Calmly, I sit, showing little interest in her low-cut dress. “I have an idea for you to consider.”
“I don’t want to talk business,” she says. “I want to discuss how long it will take you to get your clothes off. She stands up and hastily strips down to her scantily clad underwear. “I bet you’re faster at it than I am.”
“Possibly, but I’m good being fully clothed right now.” She sits next to me, wrapping her leg over mine.
“Are you gay?”
I smile and look into her eyes. “Sweetheart, even if I was, I have a feeling you would still be trying to get into my pants.” She looks astonished as she stares into my eyes. I don’t think this woman has ever heard the word, ‘no’. “Now, how about you do me a favor and set up a meeting with all your contacts.” Cradling her face in my hands I continue to focus on her. “Now, take me back home. Oh, and you might want to get dressed first.”
Acosta, I am sure, tried to ignore me, pretend I didn’t exist, but within a week, she was calling with an invitation to meet a few of her business associates for dinner. I am almost positive she doesn’t even understand why she did it. There are five very curious men staring at me.
“What is the meaning of this Michelle?” the older man asks nervously.
“No need to talk to her. I can answer your question. Michelle … and I are in business together. I am now the head of all her business efforts so she can concentrate on her social life that she adores so much.”
“I am not sure that I want to be taken out completely,” she says, looking my way.
I take hold of her chin and look into her eyes. “Darling, don’t be silly. You enjoy your luxurious life and let me make all the money for you. There is no reason for you to be bothered with such things when I can do it all for you. I can do everything for you,” I whisper to her, and she smiles sweetly.
“Okay, thank you,” Acosta says sitting down, adoring my every move.
“Okay gentlemen, this is how’s it’s going to be from now on. Everything goes through me and only me. If you need help with anything, you can contact my associate Elijah Stevens. He is an excellent problem solver, I assure you. I do plan on increasing your percentages …” Their eyes grow wide. “That’s right. I am willing to pay for your trouble having to transition from the Acosta structure to the Jayzon structure.”
“This is unbelievable. I have never heard of you before, yet suddenly you have the money to handle our business?” a man asks as he sits at the edge of his seat, ready to leave at the very moment I say the wrong thing.
With a simple smile, I groan and sit back in my chair. “Does it matter if you have heard of me before if I have the money to pay you? I like to stay hidden, gentlemen, and learn all I can before I make a move. I know all I need to know to deal with you. In fact, I know every detail about your lives gentlemen—your wives: Patricia, Carol, Madeline, Tori, and Lena, your girlfriends, which are too many to bother mentioning, and your whores who are extremely fascinating, especially Nina.” I stare at the distrustful man as he hears the name of his personal whore. “Hell, I even know about your extra bank accounts that you have hidden from your wives. What I am trying to say is, I wouldn’t try to get to know me too well or doubt me; otherwise, I will simply take you out and replace you with someone better.”
The anger in their faces almost makes me laugh, but instead, I wait to see who will be the first one to challenge me so I can prove my dominance. Patience … that’s all I need to do is be patient. Shaking his head, the outspoken man who is still steaming over the mention of his whore’s name, stands and pulls a gun on me. “I’m sick of this, and I am sick of you already. I refuse to work with you. I don’t care how much money you say you have to offer. Now you better tell me how you know about my life, give me the names that have betrayed me, besides this woman sitting next to you.” The man demands.
“The one other thing you should know about me is … I don’t like guns being pulled on me.” I look up at the man and into his eyes. His gun holding hand freezes, and he drops his weapon. “You should not have threatened me,” I say casually as the man begins to shake and tremble to a painful reality. He collapses as blood begins to trickle from his mouth. I sigh. “I hate when people don’t trust me. Anyone else care to challenge me?” They all shake their heads, trying not to look at the dead man on the floor. “Good. Then I can assume you gentlemen will not say a word about our old friend’s unfortunate death?” They agree adamantly. “Now that we have that out of the way, tell me what you need to make your business better.”
They all seem uneasy until one speaks up. “It would be a lot easier for me if my competition weren’t controlling so much law enforcement. They are constantly conducting raids on my warehouses, and I don’t have time to be moving everything every time they do or losing all I have and starting over.”
“Done.” He sits back, nodding. The others slowly become comfortable to chime in with their needs. All the while, Michelle sits next to me, admiring her nails. When we are done, I see the men out, but before I leave, I talk to Michelle one last time. “Sweetheart, I need you to do me another favor and get me your account numbers, the deeds to your homes, and a list of all your warehouses. I need you to give me everything you have. Do you understand?” She nods, and I kiss her on the cheek, leaving her in a state of confusion.
After a few weeks of draining Acosta, she suddenly snaps out of her trance. I am not sure how, but someone has gotten to her. She demands my attention immediately, not something she should be able to do of me. Despite the oddity of her actions, I decide to go see her before she ruins our ongoing plans. Skylar
refuses to let me go alone, which I agree with. In fact, I take my whole crew with me this time. I walk into her place with Skylar as my backup, leaving the rest to surround the estate and take out her men without her knowing. The moment Acosta sees Skylar, her already tense posture becomes a fiery anger in my direction.
“What is this? I don’t like games, Ryan. If that is what you are after, then you can leave. Now!” Acosta violently thrashes around the house, searching for things to throw at me. She’s a mess with wild eyes and disturbing twitches.
“You called me, and I told you I am only interested in business, not in any kind of cheap sexual tryst with you. Send me away, I don’t care. I have all I need from you now. I don’t need your permission to do anything anymore.” She rages, throwing everything within her reach at me. It was a horrendous attempt. She misses me every time by feet, causing me to laugh. She calls in her guards to take hold of Skylar and me.
“I will have her raped right in front of you. I will enjoy cutting her up and scarring her unrecognizable, then let’s see how much you want her over me. You think I can’t do it? I have done it many times before. You want to see? Renee!” she calls out.
A woman walks in with a mask on. “Yes Ma’am?”
“Show our guests what happens when you deny me what I want.” Renee removes her mask, showing her horribly disfigured face. “I made her watch while I fucked her husband. He, of course, left her once he saw her new look. Her only hope now is to work for me because no one else will want her. She is weak and disgusting, and my dear, you will be much the same when I’m done with you.” She smiles at Skylar, pulling out a knife and rushing at Skylar.
“Sky!” I yell quickly putting the guards holding me, down on their knees, but before I can help Skylar with hers, she has Acosta on the ground with the same knife to her throat and her guards at her feet, dead.
“You might want to watch who you mess with because I’m no Snow White, Wicked Bitch,” Skylar seethes along the woman’s tensed neck.
Acosta looks for me. “Help me, and I will give you whatever you want.”
“I think we already have what we want, and that’s pretty much everything you have. I just need you to sign one more thing.” She shakes her head but changes her mind when Skylar begins to cut into her skin. The woman is so worried about losing her beauty that she will do anything to keep it. Her female servant, Renee, doesn’t move or say a word as she watches, not even when Acosta begs for her help. Acosta hands over all her accounts and property to us, and we are kind enough to let her go. As Skylar releases her, Acosta comes at me with a gun she pulls from her scantily clad body and forces me to look her in the eyes so she can watch the death in my eyes. This time, I give her exactly what she wants, and she slides to the floor and dies, with her Renee laughing hysterically in the background.
“She seemed to be released from your control. Do you think Marius got to her?”
“No, the only one that has enough power to combat mine is Nick, and I know it wasn’t him.” I get a sudden chill as a strange feeling comes over me. I shake it off and chalk it up to overdoing it with Acosta. I must have played with her head too much. She was battling too many forced thoughts at once causing her to go insane. I look up at Renee and wonder what to do with her, but before I can try and help her, she has Acosta’s gun in her hand, holding it to her head. She smiles with an exhaling breath and shoots. I jump back as does Sky, and we both sigh at the woman’s unnecessary death. Renee was clearly waiting to witness Acosta get hers before she ended her own life.
CHAPTER 6
Elijah
Ryan is ready to go after the next guy, Les Canter. He is annoying, I agree. He is constantly trying to provoke us and force us into challenging him at the wrong time and the wrong place. The man is connected, and if we act against him at the wrong time, we could have a whole hell of lot of problems knocking on our door, ready to arrest us. He has men constantly harassing Ryan, not that it is hard considering that shack he’s living in. Ryan lost his composure once and nearly killed a guy who tried to take pictures of Skylar showering through the broken bathroom window. Thankfully, Shadow scared him away first. Canter is an irritating twerp, and I can’t wait to rid ourselves of him, but I think we should take a step back, enjoy our accomplishments thus far, and let this guy spin his wheels worrying about us for a while.
“Alright, Lily. Go on in.” My happy girl prances through the doorway with her freshly painted nails and new toy without a care in the world. At least, now, she listens to me; otherwise, I might have brought home half the pet store. I shake my head as Lily acts like she owns the place, although Cat does too. I guess I just pay the bills. I do, however, enjoy making them happy, and this house makes them both happy. The moment Cat walked in, I knew this was it. She didn’t speak at all. At every other place, she chatted non-stop about how the decision should be mine since it was my money. Not this place though. No, this place, she stayed silent throughout and couldn’t look me in the eye. She was afraid of giving away her love for the house, and heaven forbid, I buy something simply for her. Cat is not used to being spoiled or given much attention. Her sisters were the ones that received all the favor and were also the ones that required it, or at least did. Audra hasn’t been the same since she was scarred and spends most of her time hidden away somewhere, still Fagan tries to appease her with gifts so she will be tempted to marry someone proper. Leaving Cat to rely on herself for what she wants, which makes it all the more fun to surprise her with things. I learned my lesson not to overdo it though; she gets uncomfortable with flashy jewelry and cars, but a single flower on her pillow when she wakes, she adores. Although, come to think about it, she never did send the car back. It must be the convertible top. I have to admit, it is much nicer now that she can drive herself places. Teaching her to drive, however, required a lot of alcohol on my part.
She gets into the driver’s seat and sits there, staring at the car. “You know, it is pretty impressive what all this car can do, but it still requires you to start it,” I say to her.
“Oh.” She pushes the button she has seen me push a million times with no luck.
“Push the brake, Short Stuff.” She does and smiles at me when the engine roars to life. “Okay, now put it into gear and take the parking brake off.” She does, yet we still sit. “We won’t go anywhere unless you move your foot from the brake to the gas.” She nods and slowly moves her foot, and then BAM! Whiplash followed by a screeching stop. “Oh-kay, let’s try that a little slower.” We somehow make it to the road where she drives slower than the old lady with her walker. People beep at her and scream obscenities, but I tell her to ignore them and take her time. It takes two hours to get six miles, but she does it and reels with excitement. I celebrate with a drink.
The next practice session focuses on turning left, and it doesn’t go so well. “Okay, just turn the wheel slowly to the left and …” She drives right off the road, onto the sidewalk, and through a restaurant’s outdoor patio. Tables, chairs and food go flying everywhere. Luckily, she drives so slow everyone has plenty of time to get out of the way, but not slow enough to remember to brake apparently. The manager comes out, staring at us in shock. “Hi, two for dinner please, and by chance, do you valet?” I say smiling my patent too cute to be mad at smile.
In an effort to save lives, namely my own, I paid for her to get indoor driving lessons with professionals. After six months of training, she finally was able to take her driving test, and after four attempts, she passed. I bought her the new car after she went a month without a single wreck, mostly because the old car was hanging on by a thread, literally in some places. Now, she drives fairly well. I still won’t ride with her sober, but I hear she is pretty good.
The car gives her freedom, but it is the house that makes her happy. As much as Cat loves this house, Lily rules the place, and we let her. It helps keep the peace. As much as my girls love the house I have to admit, I love this house too, especially the pool overlooking the ocean.
It is the reason why I finally decided to take a look at this place, and it is what I have been waiting to climb into all day. A drink, a cigar, the perfect view, and I am instantly relaxed, forgetting about the troubles of the day. Before I can get too relaxed, my front door slams against the foyer wall, sending a mirror crashing to the floor. Cat is going to be pissed about that. Unwanted guests rush through the house, finding me in my once peaceful paradise. They surround me while I barely move. “Can I help you, gentlemen?”
“I think it’s more that we can help you,” the lollipop-shaped jackass says with his hands in his pockets as he admires my place. “This is a nice place. I wouldn’t mind living here. You think you might want to sell it and go back to wherever the hell you came from?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks for stopping by though.” I smile with an appreciative nod.
A swift kick to my head and the man growls, “I’m not giving you a choice dumbass. My boss wants you out of here. You are interfering with our plans, and we don’t like that. You need to focus your interests somewhere else before you get hurt or end up dead.” They jerk me out of the water and prepare to give me a sound warning when Lily walks out, snarling. “Oh, what’s this? Well hello, Sweetheart. Nice dog. I think she might make a nice gift for my boss.”
I push off the goons and look down at the fool. “No, you don’t touch my dog,” I say to my guests’ instant laughter.
“Let me tell you something, Mr. Stevens. We do and take what we want, and there is nothing you can do to stop us. Got it?” He smiles wide, folding his hands proudly in front of him as one of his boys tries to lasso Lily and take off with her. He kicks her a few times to get her to comply with their demands, and the moment I hear her whimper, I lose control.