Page 3 of Deadly Devotion

Haruto Adachi took control of the Japanese Yakuza in San Francisco upon his father’s death. But he is nothing like his father. His father was a scumbag and would cut a man’s throat for coughing too loudly. But as far as business was concerned, he kept his word.

Adachi has already tried to fuck me over. Dimitri and I flew to San Francisco to move forward with a deal for the Yakuza to handle the distribution of my art and drugs on the West Coast. We agreed on twenty percent, but then he decided thirty percent was better.

At the time, I thought it was a good idea to secure a second avenue of distribution after Mikhail fucked up and mouthed off to my New York distributor, Angelo Carvallo. In retaliation, Angelo raised the price of transporting paintings from my gallery to my dealers. In a situation like this, where I’m hiding the drugs in the frames of the artwork, I can’t hire a regular delivery service. Angelo and his guys have been distributing my drugs to my dealers for years. I didn’t have any problems until Mikhail accused Angelo of stealing close to three hundred thousand dollars of drugs hidden in the artwork frames. It turned out that Angelo didn’t steal anything; the paintings were put onto a different truck to keep the cops off the trail. Mikhail wasn’t thinking clearly, too drunk to realize there was a second truck and to stop himself from insulting Angelo. I had to agree to the increased delivery rates to appease Angelo.

That’s when I decided to reach out to Adachi. And that’s when he decided to screw with me. He wasn’t happy when I left San Francisco, and I told him to go fuck himself. It seems he’s trying to scare off Angelo and get my attention. Well, he has my attention. Now, to decide what kind of message to send back to him.

“Adachi should have stayed on the West Coast,” I say, grinding my teeth together. “Call Boris and get the word out that I want our vors on the street looking for Adachi’s men. Once we find them, we’ll send their heads back to Adachi, gift-wrapped.”

“Do you think that’s the right response,” Dimitri asks calmly, sipping his whiskey. “The Yakuza will take that as an act of war.”

“It’s the only response,” I reply, emptying my glass and setting it on the bar. “I don’t want a war,brat, but Adachineeds to understand that he can’t fuck with my business or my associates.”

“What about Angelo?” Dimitri asks, finishing his whiskey.

“Send him one hundred thousand dollars to appease him for the death of his man.” Dimitri nods as I grab my suit jacket and pull it on. “Let’s get over to the club and deal with Mikhail.”

Dimitri grabs the car keys from the glass cocktail table. Pocketing his cell phone, we leave the penthouse, taking the elevator down to the garage. My black SUV is parked on the far side of the garage, away from the elevator. Before we reach it, Dimitri’s phone rings. Answering it, he stops in his tracks. The color drains from his face, his eyes scanning the garage nervously. Ending the call, he ushered me quickly to the SUV.

“Who was that? What’s happening?” I press.

“We have to get to Echo…now,” Dimitri snaps.

Chapter 3

Talia

An hour earlier

Making my way through the crowded dance floor, I slip down the hallway and into the changing room. A few cocktail waitresses are chatting and changing into their work uniforms. Judy makes a beeline for me.

“You have the back room tonight. What did you do to get that gig?” Judy asks snarkily.

“I guess Phil wanted a waitress with class,” I reply, smirking. Judy’s face turns bright red as she stomps away.

Flipping my hair over my shoulder, I open my locker and push in my backpack. It’s only my third night of working at Echo, and Judy has been a pain in the ass for the first two. She hits on every customer, whether single or not, and tries to steal the other waitresses’ tables. She tried that shit with me on my first night and quickly found out that I’m no pushover. She’s been snarky with me since.

I slip out of my street clothes and quickly change into my work uniform. Closing the top button of my black vest, I check my appearance in the mirror. My short shorts fit like a glove, and my breasts are voluptuous. I’ve always been blessed with more than a handful, and I can’t imagine them getting any bigger as my pregnancy progresses. I slip on my black heels and close my locker. A quick touch-up of my lipstick, and I’m ready.

I feel the music’s bass vibrating off the walls the closer I get to the bar. Skirting around a group of women sipping on the bartender’s latest fruity creation, I squeeze through the crowd to get closer to the bartender. Joy was the bartender the last two nights, but I didn’t see her tonight. A tall, thin, blonde-haired man is pouring drinks and chatting with a brunette cocktail waitress. I take her spot at the bar when she’s finished loading drinks onto her tray.

“Hi,” I say loudly. It’ll be a miracle if he can hear me over the music.

“Hi yourself. I’m Chris. You must be new here.” He smiles genuinely, cleaning the shiny bar with a rag.

“I’m Talia. I was assigned to the back room tonight.” I rub my wrist nervously, my thumb circling my small black bird tattoo. I wish Sandy were working tonight.

“Wow! I’m impressed. Phil doesn’t usually give new girls that assignment.”

Apparently, working in the back room is a huge deal. Chris leans his elbows on the bar, leaning forward as if he’s about to hear top-secret information. I hate disappointing him, but I don’t know why I was given the back room.

“I’m Sandy’s sister.” It’s the only thing I can think of. A pink blush runs up my face, heating my cheeks.

“Well, that might be true, but you’re gorgeous! I’m not surprised Phil has you working a room full of men. There’s nothing better than being served by a stunner,” he states, giving me a wink.

“Thank you,” I reply sheepishly. I suddenly feel incredibly self-conscious. Most days, I still feel like the awkward, skinny little girl I was growing up. “Can you tell me where I’m supposed to go?”

Pointing to his left, he quickly gave me instructions. “Go down this hallway until you reach the black door with the gold star. Joey will let you in. Tony will be behind the bar tonight. It’s exclusively for our VIP guests.”

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