Page 54 of Under His Control

I grunted a laugh as they checked my holsters. “I can’t believe it’s only been a month.” It felt like so long ago since Eva and I met at that engagement party. Now, after all these weeks when we’d tried to keep our distance, we were together.

“Are you ready?” Franco asked. He was the supervisor I reported to, the highest-ranking capo in the organization. Although he was the man I had to directly answer to, he seemed more like a friend than a manager. Every night this past week, after dinner and before I’d wait for Eva to come to my room, we hung out over a drink and just talked.

“Itiskind of quick,” he said of my first assignment arriving.

“Nah. I’m good. Just need to check on my girls.” I stopped mid-step. “Girl,” I corrected. It was too damn easy to see Eva and Olivia as mygirls, plural. But I had yet to tell any of these men that I was sleeping with her. I got the impression she wanted to keep it on the down low too, and until we agreed that we’d make it known, I’d follow her lead.

Lots of things were happening right now, and I didn’t want to complicate anything by telling Dante that I was with his preciousniece. I was no one, an outsider fitting in. If anyone claimed I wasn’t worthy or good enough for the Mafia princess, I had no grounds to argue it. I would, but I understood my position here, and technically, I was nothing more than a guest who overstayed my stay until I became a new hire.

I didn’t look back to see if the men heard my slip. Or if they noticed. No one called me out for the way I implied that Eva was my girl. Instead, staying punctual to the assignment, I headed to my room where Olivia was still napping. Eva had fallen asleep in my bed, but I didn’t want to presume anything.

“Hey,” I said after I entered, finding her walking out of the shower.

“Hey.” She smiled. “Getting ready to leave?” She looked over my grungy outfit.

“Yeah. But I wanted to stop in and say bye.”

“Oh.” She ran her hand through her hair. “Is Danicia coming to babysit, then? I’ll get out of the way.”

I grabbed her at her side, giving in to the temptation to slide my hand under the towel and caress her smooth skin. I couldn’t get enough of her, and I was weak to want to touch her every chance I could.

“You are.”

She frowned. “I’m in the way?”

“No.” I kissed her. “You’re babysitting. Or I’m hoping you will.”

Her smile lifted my heart. She was goddamn gorgeous when she grinned like this, that private, soft smile just for me. “You want me to watch Olivia?”

I nodded. “Yeah. You’re spending so much time with me—and her—it makes sense, right?”

She was still surprised, pleasantly, but she agreed with a nod. “Well, yeah. I wouldn’t mind at all.”

“Good.” I kissed her again, then looked her over with a long sigh. “But don’t wait up for me.”

She rolled her eyes. “As if.” She dropped the towel and turned to get her clothes.

“You tease.”

She rubbed her hands over her bare ass, taunting me more as she bent over. “Go on. Be careful and come back to me.” She glanced toward the crib. “To us.”

Damn, I liked the sound of that. Not just me and her, but all three of us. I’d never considered being a father, but now that I was, I was a package deal. And she’d accepted both me and my daughter.

I left before I’d been tempted to go after her, and as I rode out on a bike Dante secured for me—not mine, since the MC might recognize it after some of the men picked a fight with me at that gas station—I savored the allure of coming back to Eva. And Olivia.

I had something to fight for, more than ever, and with that reminder, I was motivated to be alert and focus on this first assignment.

The ride to the area where this second compound was didn’t appeal. It was a rundown part of the city, neglected and beaten down with the pressure from weather, lack of maintenance, and gangs. Squatters no doubt stayed in many of the structures barely standing upright, and I knew I had to be in the right place when more motorcycle engines roared in the distance. I stopped my bike near a bar, but I didn’t go inside. Now that I knew what the Devil’s Brothers’ cuts looked like, their patches and emblem, I could spot them and avoid their noticing me.

The compound wasn’t too hidden, not with the music blaring from inside. A party—or three—raged on in there, and with the cover of blending in with other bikers, I slipped into the rundown building.

At one time, it was likely a warehouse. Tonight, it was a shot-up dump. The grimy interior didn’t stop the bikers and whores from drinking, taking drugs, and dancing. Weaving through the crowd wasn’t as easy as I'd hoped.

Too many glances at me made me nervous, even with the sham replica of the Devil’s Brothers’ cut on my back. The leather of the sleeveless vest was still stiff, unused and not broken into since Franco had someone stitch it together this afternoon.

But it worked. My disguise covered me all the way toward the back of the building. Franco, Romeo, and a spy named Andy all strategized with me earlier. Placing the spyware in the main clubhouse wouldn’t be effective with the risk of multiple conversations overlapping or music droning voices out.

Back here, near smaller rooms where people could speak without distractions, were more optimal places to stick the small recording devices.

---