Page 17 of Forbidden Hearts

“This is my baby brother, Santiago,” I say, patting Santiago’s back. He’s a grown-ass man and only a few years younger than me, but to me, he and Gustavo will always be my baby brothers.

“Good to meet you, Santiago,” Jacob says. He introduces Ben as his business partner. “We normally speak with Manny. He’s our point of contact withNuestra Casa.”

Even after all the time he’s worked withNuestra Casa, Jacob still manages to mispronounce the words. It’s as if he has contempt for the Spanish language and doesn’t like the way it feels on his tongue.

“Manny is a logistics guy,” I say, turning to Santiago to make sure what I’m saying is accurate. Mannywasthe logistics guy when I retired, but I’m assuming he is still around in the same job position. Santiago nods, so I continue, “He handles getting the merchandise from point A to point B. But we’re here to talk about a more complicated issue.”

“Well, I hope it’s not too complicated,” Jacob says. He waves over a server, a young guy wearing a leather jacket with the reaper logo. The server is clean shaven and well groomed. He looks nothing like the rest of the men at the club. “These are our special guests, so bring us the good stuff. None of that cheap crap we serve the regulars.”

“Yes, sir,” the server nods before leaving. As he walks away, I glimpse at the woman on the stage behind him. Her face is finally in clear view.

Holy fuck.

My jaw almost drops when I recognize her.

What is Alex doing up there? Is this where she works?

I study her sensual body again now that I know who she is. Plenty of my female students have shared their beautiful bodies with me, but for some reason, seeing Alex like this out in the wild feels different. Forbidden, almost.

She looks so fucking good up on that stage. Like the pied-piper, her sensual dances hypnotize the poor souls in the club out of their money.

I swallow hard, imagining my hands on her warm, soft body again. Heat pools behind my eyes as I consume her body. Her perfect curves. Her perfect tits. My heart gallops in my chest.Fuck.

Suddenly, she looks in my direction, and our eyes lock together. Her body freezes for a split second, but a beat later, she’s back to dancing normally. It happened so fast that I bet most men looking at her didn’t notice her body tensing up. But I did.

She was surprised, shocked. It amuses me that she reacted that way.

Alex moves further toward the back of the runway, every now and then glancing in my direction as I speak to Jacob and Ben about their snitch problem. I reciprocate the glances. I like what I see.

“The reapers are like a big family,” Jacob interrupts my thoughts. “So it’s fucked up when one of us goes to the cops. It’s like getting stabbed in the back by your own brother.”

I nod, only half listening to the conversation. My attention is on Alex dancing on the stage. Her movements evoke a certain feeling in my cock.

“Did you look into the prosecutor?” Ben asks.

“I did,” I say. “I visited her apartment last night, but she doesn’t seem to keep any legal documents there.”

For years, local law enforcement has been harassing Jacob and his men. They suspect the bikers are dealing drugs but haven’t found any evidence to go after them. Then, a few months ago, somebody tipped off the cops about a street-level drug deal, and they arrested one of Jacob’s men.

The captured reaper knew better than to turn on his own kin. He said he was dealing drugs on his own and took the fall, but cops continued to snoop in reaper affairs. Eventually, they gave up when they couldn’t produce evidence of Jacob and Ben’s involvement.

According to the police, the matter has been settled. But Ben believes the prosecutor who went after their reaper was tipped by a snitch. He thinks legal documents, which have been hidden from the public, name the snitch. That’s why I trailed the prosecutor from the rooftop bar to her apartment last night. I didn’t find any legal documents in her apartment, but I made a copy of her work keycard.

“So, what’s the next move?” Ben asks.

The server returns with a bottle of whiskey and pours some into our glasses. As soon as he leaves, I clear my throat and tell them what I did last night.

“I made a copy of her work keycard.” I sip on the whiskey and look at Alex, imagining that she’s dancing only for me. “I’ll visit her office soon.”

“Sounds good,” Ben says. “I’m glad you two are here to help.”

“He’s doing all the work,” Santiago says, leaning back in his seat. “Like Alonzo said, I’m only here in case the big guy needs to worry about this snitch problem.”

“I don’t thinkNuestra Casahas anything to worry about,” Ben says. “This will get handled soon.”

“That’s right,” Jacob says. “But enough about business. Alonzo, I see you’re a man of taste.” He points to Alex on the stage. “That’s our top performing dancer.”

“I can see why,” I say. I don’t care to hide my infatuation with Alex. She is clearly the main attraction of the night, and all the piss-drunk fuckers here are salivating over her. They grace their disgusting hands on her soft body when they insert tips into her bikini, and it pisses me off. Without warning, I find myself saying something unexpected. “I want her.”

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