Page 98 of Controlled

“You don’t read the news? You don’t pay attention to what’s happening in New York?”

It took him a few seconds to realize what I was getting at. “Ah, yes. The woman on your arm.”

“And find out if there’s any scuttlebutt on the reporter who handled the story in the Times.”

“A tall order all the way around. It might take me longer than a few hours.”

“Bullshit, Walter. By noon. Do you understand me?”

He grumbled under his breath, but I knew he’d come through. He always did, especially since he had yet to receive his quarterly bonus. “Yes, Creed. I will bend matter and time to get you what you want. Just remember that often opening Pandora’s Box can lead to disaster.”

Now the man was giving advice? I smiled since he rarely did that, but he was getting up there in age. “No worries, my friend. I enjoy taking risks and delving into the darkness. Call me when you know something.”

“Will do.”

I sat back, leaning my head against the soft leather, shifting the chair from side to side in the darkness. Bella had provided the idea, which could prove to be a good one. The drink wasn’t as satisfying as it usually was. The only thing that seemed to be was being around the lovely woman. When I sensed a presence, I reached inside my desk drawer for a weapon and jerked up my head.

She was like a vision standing in the stream of moonlight, her lithe body highlighted by the warm glow from the open blinds and the soft material of the robe she was wearing. After remaining in place for a few seconds, she walked into the room, taking her time heading toward my desk.

I shifted my chair as she came around, enjoying the moment of silence and the anticipation of what she might do. When she pulled the glass from my hand, allowing our fingers to touch, the sound of her soft moans pushed my cock against my shorts, the only piece of clothing I was wearing. Everything about the girl was fascinating, including the way she tipped back the glass, draining the last of the liquid.

As she climbed into my lap, her knees on either side, she dramatically placed one arm over my shoulder then the other.

“You should be sleeping,” I told her in a husky voice.

“I woke up and you were gone,” she purred and ran the tip of her index finger down the side of my face. “Not acceptable.”

“Well, how can I make it up to you?” As always, her playfulness surprised me, so much so I was ready to fuck her right here.

As she ground her hips back and forth across my throbbing cock, it was all I could do not to toss her onto the desk. She shifted once again, making the moment painful. As I growled, she laughed, the same finger traveling down the front of my chest.

“Come to bed with me. Make love to me.”

There was no need for her to ask me a second time. I stood with her in my arms, leaving work and the ugliness of my job behind. The woman was all that mattered to me. My little family.

Maybe I wasn’t such a madman after all.

Sex.

Romance.

I’d experienced both in one night. Yet business was a constant, the billions of dollars we earned not because my brothers and I sat on our butts on some tropical island drinking margaritas. Although that sounded good right about now, especially with my perfect dancer. I had to wonder how she would handle dancing in the sand.

A laugh formed on my lips as I tried to pull my mind away from the adventure the night before. We’d fucked until dawn. I’d managed a couple of hours’ sleep with her arms and legs wrapped around me, which was highly unusual.

However, getting back to business had been required.

Soldiers had been dispatched to watch Frederico’s family. He and his wife were playing the grieving parents, holed up in their house. I had to wonder whether Frederico’s wife knew he’d been responsible for his eldest son’s death.

As far as the Romanos, I’d called in a favor with a man I’d done limited business with to try to scour the streets to learn of their full intentions. If they were behind the two attacks on my organization, there would be more and planning would be needed.

A dozen of my soldiers had been sent into the streets of Chicago. If Nico Romano had sent a brigade of soldiers to handle the assassination attempt, so far, no evidence had been found.

It was as if a ghost was handling the bloodshed.

“What’s so funny?” Kane asked from beside me on the driver’s seat.

“How much I’ve changed in a week.”

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