Page 2 of Undercover Desires

Now I’m listening. He’s serious. He wants me to help him bring down these guys. “I’m up for it. What do I need to know?” I ask enthusiastically, ready to make a start on my first assignment. This is the chance I’ve been longing for. I’m desperate for it. Since childhood, I’ve aspired to be a police officer like my father, despite the naysayers. I wasn’t smart enough, fit enough, or emotionally stable enough after what happened to him. People gave me the same look as Detective Reader. A blonde bombshell can’t do a man’s job. Their lack of confidence in me only fueled my determination to prove them wrong and make my father proud. I showed them at my last station, and now I’ll show Detective Reader as well.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner. You’re perfect for this job. You look just like one of the club bunnies that follows them around. Here is the file we have on them. They primarily work at their club, Queen of Hearts, but occasionally at The Joker, a bar on the outskirts of town. I need a man or woman on the inside, watching their every move,” he emphasizes, narrowing his eyes.

“Club bunnies? Who are these guys?” I ask out loud, trying to understand more about this strange assignment. “How do I do that?” I expect he’ll give me more detailed instructions for a job as important as this.

“You’re a smart girl, top of your class, right? Work it out,” he responds, tossing a USB stick across the table to me. I snatch it up, my mind racing with questions. “Keep this to yourself. I cannot trust everyone in this office, so until I identify who might be collaborating with the Riveras, we must keep this case confidential between us… Got it?” His beady eyes narrow in warning. He’s intimidating, and I definitely don’t want to get on his bad side.

He can’t trust other officers working with us? That thought is a little unnerving. What kind of organization are these boysrunning. Guess he did list off corruption as one of their skills. I nod in agreement with him. I can work this out, I know I can. But why do I feel like a lamb being thrown to the wolves? Is it the lip twitch or the constant finger drumming?

“Follow me,” he snaps, making me jump. I stand and follow him through the cubicles until we reach an empty one. “This is your spot. I want a progress report next Monday. Don’t disappoint me, or I will have you transferred,” he warns, with literal spit flying from his mouth. Then he storms off to ruin another poor soul’s day.

I wipe my face to remove the saliva and slump down in my chair, pondering what I’ve just gotten myself into. He didn’t mention murder, but I can only imagine that would top the list. These guys are into some serious shit.

“What did you do to him?” A young guy, who doesn’t look much older than me, rolls his chair back, leaning toward me with an outstretched hand. “I’m Caleb Cross,” he says, offering a friendly smile. He looks pleasant, sharply dressed in a navy-blue suit, with neat light brown hair kept short and warm eyes.

Thank God they’re not all like the boss. I shake his hand firmly. “Arabella Hamilton,” I introduce myself with a smile.

“Nice to meet you, Arabella. You’re shaking; are you okay?” He assesses me, like he actually cares.

“Yeah, I think I’m just in shock. Is he always so unpleasant?” I ask, eager for any information that might help me navigate this new workplace.

“Actually, I think you caught him on a good day.” Caleb laughs, trying to lighten the mood and make me feel more comfortable.

I give him a worried look. “If this is his good day, I can’t wait to see how bad it gets,” I mutter sarcastically as I open my computer and plug in the USB with the Rivera file on it.

“Just ignore him,” he says with a shrug. “That’s what I do.”

“Noted.” I nod, appreciating the wisdom from a colleague. He rolls his chair back to his desk, and I follow suit, diving into the file and preparing to immerse myself in the complex underworld of the Riveras.

An array of images of the Rivera brothers stare back at me. No mugshots in sight, these are all surveillance or candid images taken from someone who was watching from afar. I study each of them. Leo is the oldest of three brothers, according to the file. Well dressed in a suit, with dark, almost-black hair and an icy glare that tells me he doesn’t mince his words. He’s the one in charge.

I click over to the next brother, Jett. His coloring is lighter, and he has a more athletic look about him, always in a T-shirt and jeans or workout gear with a cap. His eyes are more piercing than deadly, but there is something about him that still feels threatening.

Then there is Kobe, the youngest, with dark hair and blue eyes, they’re not threatening; his eyes smile, and he carries a playfulness to him. In all the images of him he’s laughing or smirking while he talks. It’s easy to see why Detective Reader referred to their followers as “club bunnies.” These men are incredibly attractive, ruggedly handsome, with impressive buff physiques.

Despite the file being created a few years ago, there are no charges against them. Detective Reader obtained a search warrant for Queen of Hearts after a series of drug overdoses resulted in deaths about eight months ago, but the search yielded nothing of use.

I focus on the images of their club, Queen of Hearts. It appears dark and moody, but also quite expensive-looking, with gold trim and red velvet couches. These guys are far from your average underworld bosses. Curious, I jump online to look into them further. Their businesses mainly comprise of clubs andrestaurants, all quite popular within the community. Newspaper stories describe their venues as the place to be on a Friday night, with lines stretching for two blocks as eager patrons wait for their chance to rub shoulders with the rich and famous. It’s quite different from what I had initially pictured when Detective Reader talked about them. I had been expecting some shady-looking clubhouse run by tattooed men riding motorcycles. This is a whole new ball game.

It also seems, on top of their businesses, that the two younger brothers are heavily involved in the MMA scene, Jett as a fighter and Kobe looks to be his trainer. On the surface, they present themselves as entrepreneurs, running opulent businesses that are beloved by the community. But I’m skeptical and don’t take things at face value. It’s when you dig that you find the real, hidden information. The underbelly of this town and all the illegal activity they are up to. Detective Reader must be interested in the unseen, as I don’t find any other motive to investigate them apart from the failed raid last year. It’s like he’s going off a hunch, a reputation that hasn’t been justified yet.

This case already feels more complicated than I expected, and If I want to get to the bottom of what’s really going on, I need to be one of them. No one knows me in this town. I’m the perfect person to slip into their world.

CHAPTER 2

ARABELLA

After waiting in linefor nearly an hour, with the young and beautiful people of Palm Springs, I finally reach the front of the line. I flash my best smile at the burly security guy guarding the door to Queen of Hearts. “ID,” he mutters gruffly, like my presence is an interruption to his night.

I pass him my fake ID, and he eyes me skeptically. Yes, I know I look young; I’ve heard it a million times before. Holding my breath, I wait for his decision, knowing that this ID isn’t legit. I’m undercover, and this is my alias, Bella Jones. He could kick me to the curb right now and I would have to go back to the drawing board.

He passes the ID back to me and motions with his head for me to enter the club. I breathe a sigh of relief as I pass him. This is the first step of my plan, and truthfully, the only one I had. I’m here tonight to scope out the place and look for an opportunity to get close to the Rivera brothers. I’ve dolled myself up to look like the women who frequent this kind of place, with my long blonde hair styled in loose waves down my back. I’mwearing a fitted white sheath dress that accentuates my long legs, especially when it’s teamed with the highest stilettos my minimal wardrobe holds. I even indulged in a little makeup, with dark smoky eyes and red lips to set off the look. I look good, and it gives me the confidence I need to pull tonight off. All day, I’ve had one thing on my mind: bringing down the Rivera brothers. A lot is riding on this assignment, and I need to prove that I can do it. For myself and my dad.

The vibration of dance music travels through my body, and I sway my hips to the beat as I take in my surrounds. From the looks of it, downstairs is mostly a massive dance floor with the ratio of women to men seventy:thirty. The men are well dressed in suits and dress pants and the chicks wear cocktail dresses and stilettos. The waft of the kind of perfume I could never afford to own travels through the air. I have been out in some pretty fancy places in LA but never somewhere quite like this before. I can see the attraction. I feel more affluent just standing in this place.

Across the lively room I spot one of my targets at the bar, chatting up some chick who looks like a Barbie, with fake tits, fake tan, and even faker hair extensions. It’s obvious from this far away that she is phony all over, but she’s clearly caught his fancy. So, I guess she’s doing something correctly. My boss was right; he has a type. I thank my lucky stars I wore my Wonderbra tonight, because my B cups need a little extra boost to compete.

After doing my research, I now understand why Reader assigned me to this job. These guys have a weakness for women, especially pretty ones. Everything my boss dismissed me for when I first walked into his office is precisely why I’m here. It’s insulting, but I can’t afford to be sensitive right now. I have the job, and I just need to prove that I’m more than just a pretty face.

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