Dancing with the Mob: A Dark Mafia Romance Two-Book Collection Read online

  I let myself go, finally. Giles held me as I cried out, first in agony from sitting up, then as he held me some more, just letting the tears come. The terrible cries and sounds I made, he didn’t flinch. He just held me, stroking my hair as I felt the odd drop of his own tears mix with mine as we just sat there, together. And we were on that bed for I don’t know how long. Crying together.

  Eventually, I collected myself. I had so many questions, and I knew only Giles had the answers I needed. He tactfully held the tissue box, taking the used ones from me, not even laughing at my stupid honking and blubbering.

  “Are you really Giles?” I asked, half laughing, half crying still. His face had grown serious, then light again in a second.

  “Of course, darling! I can’t tell you exactly who I work for, but I’m the same Giles you hired, and nearly fired a few times, I might add!” He smiled knowingly, taking my hand again gently. “I was planted into your staff to spy on you… kind of,” he started. “But not in a bad way! We were trying to find out if and who --or what would ever want to get at you and your business. We knew it wasn’t the Bernardi’s.” He rolled his eyes, patting the top of my hand. “We both know they just don’t have the smarts for that!” I couldn’t help but laugh, because I knew he was right.

  “So who was trying to get me? And why did the Bernardi’s kidnap me?” I asked. I really had to know what was going on. I wouldn’t have picked Giles for a spy, but I would’ve expected this from the Bernardi’s even less. Was there someone else forcing them to act?

  Giles could see the growing concern, the terrible burden I carried in being the head of Mia Bella; but his eyes grew damp again.

  He gripped both my hands in his, fighting back tears, his voice breaking. “We’ll get to all that later, sweetie. Right now… right now… I… I have some bad news…” He broke off, looking away, trying to focus enough to say whatever it was he had to tell me.

  “Giles, what is it? For god’s sake, what’s the matter!?”

  His eyes filled, then overflowed. “It’s your father, Mia. He...umm... he died.”

  Twenty-One

  Jack

  Black’s voice was calm, disinterested. I think his cover being blown had taken any interest out of the case, regardless of the chain of events.

  “I’m not exactly sure what’s happened, Jack. We were tracking the island, the storm front, then both seemed to… disappear.” I could almost see him half smiling on the other end of the line, considering the effect that his words were having on me.

  “A whole fucking island doesn’t just disappear!” I snapped. I’d had enough of the FBI already, and this was sounding like another one of their cheap ploys to get me to play ball.

  I heard Black exhaling loudly through his mouth, a well fed cat playing with a mouse that had way too much energy for him to chase anymore. “Uh, Jack. There is some serious seismic activity from those coordinates; we’re just getting it now. A tsunami warning has been issued for the mainland coast and other islands up to a thousand miles away. It was a big event, 8.0 on the scale. I know this is not good news, just keeping you in the loop.”

  He seemed to be waiting for something more from me. But I was in denial, shock even. And having just had my Mia fantasy interrupted with the worst possible scenario, I was at a loss to offer anything. I hung up.

  Brown sensed something. “Problem Mr. Slade?” My dark look was met with him turning his eye back to the road.

  The wipers were swishing now, swatting at a swathe of foam which pounded against the windshield of the hearse. We were making good time, and I would be home soon, for my change of clothes and to freshen up. I almost reneged on my own orders to Brown, but, despite everything, the idea of a hot shower and a change of clothes was a good one. It would also give me time to think about what move, if any, to make next.

  Brown absorbed himself in following the road, and our precious cargo was heavy and silent in back. The future of the Leone family lay in that casket. The story to make it believable lay with me.

  I hardly recognized my own place, sheets of rain were driving hard at an odd angle, being thrown up from the ground, and a gale had picked up. It was sending trees into a panicked dance; twisting in time with the howling wind. Despite all of that, the square lines and rectangles of dark color that would normally be a welcoming sight, seemed alien, disconnected from the person I’d become in just twenty-four hours.

  I ordered Brown to wait in the car, to shoot first and ask questions later if anything happened, but I didn’t anticipate any problems. No one was out on the roads. In fact, I heard later that we had missed all the warnings on local channels. The feds’ story was gathering some credibility in my mind. Like the wildness of the sudden change in weather, my own mind was bent toward thoughts of unforeseen calamity, problems for Mia; for myself and all the Leone’s.

  I almost forgot the security code, but trusting my fingers’ reflex meant I was in the house soon enough. The wind, the rain and rush of apprehension was suddenly silenced behind the large, wood-lined steel door as it closed with authority, locking out the whole world for the time being.

  The familiar needles of hot water were like old friends, how long had it been? I wanted to stay, to feel myself getting hard at the thought of Mia, to watch myself gripping my cock, with legs stammering as I pumped thick ropes of my hot seed onto glass, thinking of her. But I couldn’t. Apart from the fact that there simply wasn’t time, I was empty inside. All the bravado and fire I had earlier seemed to have been sucked out of me. The hopes, the plans, then the news that all might be lost, it was too much to bear. I had to, once again, put my emotions into lock-down; burying them in a place they wouldn’t, couldn’t leap out at me.

  I commented to myself that I looked older as I dried off. Weaker and fatter. Maybe Rich was right. The drill sergeant wanted to tell me how I’d failed again, how it was all my fault that Mia was dead, just like my parents. All because of me. I groaned involuntarily, catching a fleeting glimpse of Rich’s nakedness next to mine in my mind as I got changed. The cries of our past echoing from deep down somewhere. No. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t let that take over.

  A quick scan of the refrigerator revealed nothing new. Brown and I would have to grab something on the way, or go without. I still had no clear idea, or any great additional plan to execute into the existing one. We would stay the course, no matter what. Too much was at stake to pull off Don Leone’s death without a hitch, and everything else would have to wait --at least until I had him at the safe house, with his dead double in his place.

  Brown was helping himself to some sandwiches when I got back to the car. He offered me a half, which I took and ate without hesitation. I realized how hungry I really was, and I knew I needed to eat, to rest, but there was still so much to do, and then I would have to face whatever else was waiting, lurking for me.

  If all had gone to plan, nobody else at the house should have known about us coming with the hearse, or that Don Leone had even ‘died.’ In fact, the puzzled look from the guards at the gates was a good sign. They recognized Brown, but not the car, and wanted him to open up so they could check it out.

  I leant across Brown, shooting them both a cold stare. “Just open the gates, fellas. I’ll brief everybody soon enough. Until further notice, nothing’s changed.” They looked shocked, but then relieved to see I was with Brown. The huge gates swung open and we cruised slowly down the tree-lined avenue, taking a side road around to the rear of the building.

  The weather had grown worse, which was good in a way. It meant the men stationed on the roof had taken refuge and hadn’t seen our approach. Brown had radioed in before we got to the house, so anybody who gave it a thought would have concluded we’d arrived in a different car. And where we parked probably wasn’t an issue for them either. For me though, every detail counted.

  Brown waited with the car again. I stole in through a service entrance on the ground floor, not thinking I would see anybody, let alone Doctor Rollins. We pr
actically bumped into each other as I came out into the main section of the wing of the house that Don Leone’s room was in. He jumped in fright; I was more interested in how things were progressing. Rollins looked ill.

  I soon joined him in his feeling. “What do mean he’s missing!?” I hissed, trying hard to stay calm and not raise my voice.

  Rollins’ eyes grew wider, and he ran his hands through his hair, then shook his head, disbelieving even what he heard himself telling me.

  “He was there one minute, then gone the next, Jack. He was out to it when I left the room, only for… oh, not even twenty seconds, to get some of the paperwork from the other room. I came back in; and he was just fucking gone!”

  I stood there, holding back shock. Thinking for a second. Twenty seconds was a pretty long time, anything could have happened, especially if the feds were still creeping about the place.

  “I need to get Leone number two in position, regardless,” I said absently. “I need you to gather everybody, I mean everybody in the security office, to tell them what’s happened and give me time to get Leone two into position, otherwise all this is for nothing.”

  Rollins was nodding, but his eyes were asking, pleading with me to consider the obvious... Where the fuck was the real Leone?

  “Did he have a wrist monitor?” I asked, hopefully.

  “No, I took it off just before he disappeared. Otherwise we’d be able to...”

  “Yes, yes! I know,” I snapped. I was tempted to start biting my nails, something I hadn’t done since military school. A thing I did when Rich and I heard Sergeant Hagan coming for us during the night, or when we were out on night maneuvers and he would order us into a clearing, or behind some trees.

  I heard myself telling Rollins to just get everyone in the same place, like I’d just said. I’d have to take the chance. I needed to get the fake --but dead Leone into his bed, so we could formalize the process.

  Rollins looked like he needed a drink, and I cautioned him not to even think about it, not until we were in the clear. Another part of his history had involved another Jack, the liquid king that came in a heavy bottle. I needed Rollins to stay focused, so we could continue as planned.

  His eyes had started to get shifty, he was losing it, I could tell. “What about the double from the institute? Is it as promised?” He had caught me off guard. Truth was though, I hadn’t even seen it.

  “It’s as requested,” I said, sounding as convincing as I could in an effort to restore some calm in both of us. “Now, go! Get everybody together; give me ten minutes and then break the news.”

  We checked our watches and I went ahead to get a gurney from one of the supply rooms. Medical equipment had become a standard feature in the house in the months leading up to Don Leone’s illness, and his imminent ‘death.’

  I was moving quickly but quietly. With Rollins gone, I realized most of the anxiety I had felt was pouring from him. On my own I was always better. I just had to stick to the plan.

  I was moving the gurney silently toward the pair of doors I had come in from, when I noticed that one of them was ajar. I could hear low voices. I set my jaw and drew my gun, sidling up to the gap in the doorway. I looked out; there were two figures by the hearse. I recognized one in the weather, it was Brown. I strained to see the second, then I almost laughed. I felt like crying out. It was Don Leone!

  Scanning the grounds and the rooftops as I rushed over to them both, they didn’t hear me over the howling wind. The rain was starting again too, and so I gently took Don Leone by the arm, startling him for an instant, then settling him into the front seat of the hearse.

  “Don Leone.” I smiled, but showed my concern at the same time. “We’ve to get you out of here, yes, but we haven’t even got your double in place! Please, Don Leone, stay in the front seat, keep down. I’ll be back for you soon!” I shot Brown a dark look, he shrugged back at me. “Stay with him! In the car!” I hissed. I hurried back for the gurney so I could take the corpse from the hearse and get it into Don Leone’s bed before anyone’s suspicions were aroused.

  It was a little bit of a blur, but I managed to get the dead Leone double from the hearse into Don Leone’s room and into his bed, just as his brother, Lucias, came in. He instantly threw the huge wooden doors open, shouting and wailing in disbelief that his brother was dead. Some other family members, most of the security team, and finally, Rollins, all piled in to the huge room, practically filling it. They all stood, suddenly silent. Don Leone was indeed, dead. To them at least. Just as we’d planned.

  Twenty-Two

  Mia

  I’d heard what Giles had said, I could see the room around me. I had a vague memory of what had happened from the island, being rescued. I should have collapsed, screamed, cried out with grief, but I didn’t. I knew better than that. But I should have cried out, it would have been more convincing. Giles was blubbering himself, so must have thought I was just in shock. I didn’t know the details yet, but I had the instant and overwhelming feeling that Jack had a plan, that he was carrying it out, and that my father was fine.

  A quick scan of my own link to Mikey, and then to my father. They were both alive, Mikey was in a jam, sure, but he was alive. I knew that much, I felt it. My papa, he was alive, I knew that too. No matter what anybody had told me at that succinct moment, I knew differently.

  I held Giles’ hand a little firmer. His tears had stopped before they had really started. I think he had primed himself to share in my grief. Instead, he got the Mia is in shock so she’s going into business mode face. I had so many questions for Giles before this news, now I had to focus hard to get just the right information he could, or was willing to give me. I liked Giles, he was being so sweet, he had saved my life, but there was no way I was going to believe everything he told me. And why --after everything else that had happened, would he come out with that right then? I wasn’t buying it.

  His green eyes were like two huge pools, very deep, and reflecting the whole room inside each of them. They had gone from tears of grief to a questioning stare in a matter of seconds. This guy was good; they’d picked the right man for the job, definitely.

  I took a big breath in then slowly out. I met his questioning gaze, prepping my mental inventory of questions. It was finally time to have that little meeting we never got to in my office, when I had caught him snooping over my desk.

  “How about we take a few steps back, Giles? This is a bit much to take in all at once. Agreed?” His eyes seemed to dance at the prospect, a moving problem that was gathering pace. He had to keep up, or let something out, or even worse... let something in.

  “Alright,” he agreed. “Like I said, I can’t say exactly who I work for, but it’s not a private organization.” He winked and gave a short smile. He looked up and to the left, gathering his thoughts.

  From experience, he was either about to tell the truth, or was well-rehearsed in his body language. I had to cut him some slack though, I needed answers.

  “The FBI had planted some people in your security team. They were your security team.” I felt my eyes widening, not the look I was going for. Giles continued. “The feds were there --are there, to try and find out who might try to hijack Mia Bella’s offshore finances. If you don’t know already, the Bernardi’s have been pretty much wiped out, with most of their offshore holdings being absorbed, hacked, merged, whatever you want to call it, into an income stream the feds can’t isolate.”

  I listened intently, trying to capture every last drop of information. He looked as if he was telling the truth.

  “They’ve been tracing Bernardi drug funds for decades, but when all of it went missing, just prior to them getting together their case, they were taken unawares. They also weren’t expecting you to be kidnapped. Neither were we! Whoever is behind this has got us guessing, on that part, anyway.” He looked away, then bit his lip.

  Had he said too much? I was just getting interested. There was the sound of heels behind the curtain, and a new voice. �
��Thank you, Giles. I’ll take things from here. You should still be in bed anyway.”

  A stunning figure emerged from behind the curtain. Her eyes were like two black holes, with a fiery light bursting out from within them. Her dark skin complimented her smooth and elegant features; she wore no makeup, but had flawless skin, stretched tight, but powdery soft. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek, shining, tight, black bun. This was the second time I’d been put at a disadvantage. First the manicure, now I was without my made-up face, and I knew my hair looked like a broken bale of old straw.

  As if reading my mind, she worked to put me at ease quickly, and to get Giles out of the room before he said anything else. It had the opposite effect. “Mia, I’m…” She smiled, catching herself in her own introduction. “I’m Giles’ partner, his boss if you like. My name is Ms. Parker.”

  Liar.

  She looked straight at me, saying it with conviction, but I could tell she’d forgotten her fake name and had to make a new one up on the spot. Giles’ smirk as he turned away told me that was the truth.

  “Catch you later, baby doll…” chimed Giles, marching out with his head down. He seemed relieved to get clear of the truth with me, for the second time in as many days.

  Ms. Parker pulled up a chair I hadn’t noticed before; she also took a small, black, leather bound notebook from her jacket pocket. When she opened it, I could see it full of her own code to herself. I shifted myself up, painfully, but needing to sit up more so she wasn’t looking down at me. I opened my mouth to start to say something, but again, she seemed to read my thoughts.

  “Mia, I know this is a lot to take in, I’m counting on your professional training and experience to give me the benefit of the doubt, and the time to explain some of what has happened to you. I can’t tell you everything, and yes, we are just as anxious for you to return home, to work, as quickly as possible. Today, hopefully.”