BOW DOWN: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Barone Crime Family) (39 page)

I
stood outside the building
, leaning up against the wall.

This might not have been my best idea ever, but I couldn’t help myself, apparently. I didn’t know this girl, and she could have been a fucking spy or some shit like that, but that wasn’t stopping me. I’d been dealing with enough shit lately, and for once I wanted a little fucking distraction.

And Jessica was the perfect distraction. I’d been thinking about her ever since the moment I walked away from her, and now I was finally going to pick up where I had reluctantly left off.

Nothing was stopping this tonight short of a fucking emergency.

After about ten minutes, a cab pulled up at the curb. She climbed out and I felt my pulse spike in my veins, and that distinct and familiar feeling came rushing back.

She smiled at me, a little unsure. “Where are we?” she asked.

I couldn’t help but laugh. She was wearing shorts that made her ass look fantastic and a shirt that didn’t leave much to the imagination. It screamed sex to me, but it was nice enough that she didn’t feel too dirty, I was willing to bet.

“Never heard of The Bar?”

“That’s what I’m asking. Which bar?”

I laughed again, grinning hugely. We were standing in a mostly empty neighborhood outside a windowless white building with absolutely zero markers on it.

“It’s called ‘The Bar.’ That’s the name.”

She groaned. “That’s awful.”

“Maybe, but you’ll like it.”

“It looks like a prison.”

I walked over to the door and knocked. A second later, a slide flicked across and a man’s eyes looked out at me.

“Fidelio,” I said to him.

The slide shut with a bang.

Jessica sidled up next to me. “This is seriously like a movie.”

“That’s the idea.”

The door slowly swung open. Music flooded out into the street. I stepped inside and she followed me slowly.

The Bar was a new concept place, but I happened to know a guy. We moved into the darkened room and everything was polished wood. It was strangely modern, as if someone had decided to build an updated British pub or something like that. The place was crowded, despite the outside of the building and the relatively remote location. Everyone was young and cool, or older and filthy rich.

I was right in the middle, where I fucking liked to be. Rich but not a fucking millionaire, young but not a douchebag hipster. Jessica fit right in.

“Right this way,” a man said to us as we passed into the main room. We followed him, and he sat us at a little table in the corner of the place.

“How did you even know about this?” she asked.

“It’s pretty popular right now,” I said. “Plus, I’m in the restaurant business.”

She smiled slightly. A waiter came up and I ordered a whisky. She asked for a white wine.

When he was gone, I leaned toward her. “Are you glad you came?”

“Not yet,” she said. “I haven’t decided.”

I smirked at her. “That’s a lie. I can tell your mind is already on what we’ll do after we eat.”

“You mean when you walk me home and you may or may not get a chaste kiss on the mouth?”

“I was thinking I’d take you back to my place, but we wouldn’t be able to wait until we got there. I’d end up going down on you right in the backseat of the cab.”

“Oh really, while the cabbie watched?”

“We’d pay him handsomely, obviously.”

“I don’t know. That sounds pretty gross.”

I shrugged, grinning at her. “What can I say? I bring the best out in people.”

She couldn’t help but laugh as our drinks came. I held mine up. “Cheers,” I said.

“Cheers.” We clinked glasses. “So, you said you were in the restaurant business?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, what is it then?”

“I own two restaurants. And a few other businesses.”

“Like what?”

I smiled at her. “Does it matter? How about you tell me what you do instead.”

“I’m a waitress,” she said quickly, and I suddenly knew she was lying.

But why would she lie about that? Maybe she was ashamed of her job, or maybe she didn’t want me to know what she did. There was a red flag waving in my mind, but I shook my head and ignored it.

Like a fucking moron.

I finished my drink instead. “And how’s working for tips going for you?”

“It’s okay, I guess,” she said. “I’m more interested in this mystery job of yours, though.”

“Of course you are. I’m sure you’re very interested in what I do.”

“I am, but I get the feeling you’re not talking about work anymore.”

“I’m talking about a kind of work.”

“I’d rather talk about something else.”

I laughed and motioned the waiter for another drink.

“You don’t have to pretend like you’re here for some other reason,” I said. “You want to finish what we started. We both know it.”

“Maybe I was just interested in getting dinner with you.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it. I think you’re interested in feeling my lips against your neck again. You’re interested in how wet I can make that pussy before I slide myself between your legs.”

She went to respond, but the waiter came over with my drink. I sipped it and smiled at the blush in her cheeks as he walked away.

“I’m not here for that,” she said.

“You’re lying a lot tonight. But I guess I don’t care. You won’t lie when you beg me for more.”

“How about we eat first? Then maybe you’ll get lucky.”

“Lucky has nothing to do with it,” I said.

We opened our menus and started scanning the food. I wasn’t interested in anything but her tight little pussy, but that was fine. I could play her game if this was what she needed. We both knew what we were doing here, but if she needed to pretend like we were on a real date, well, that was fine with me. I had nothing else to do, and plus, I liked watching her and riling her up.

“So, do you go to that bar often?” she asked me.

“You already picked me up; no need to use stupid lines.”

She laughed. “I’m honestly curious.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I heard some things about that bar.”

“Like what?”

“Rough people go there.”

“Rough people,” I said, smiling at her. “What do you think that means?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe you do.”

“Am I a rough man?”

“Probably,” she said, shrugging.

“You’re probably right. You were looking for that kind of man when you went in there, though.”

“I was,” she admitted. “What about you? Do you work with men like that?”

I frowned, not liking where this was going. She clearly was trying to ask if I was mafia, but she had to know that was a stupid question. Real mafia men didn’t go around telling people about their fucking connections. And people who knew the mafia knew not to ask about that sort of shit.

This was the second red flag of the night.

“I might,” I said, “but it’s better if you don’t ask questions.”

“Why’s that? I’m just trying to get to know you.”

“You don’t want to know me, girl. You wouldn’t like what you found out.”

“Try me. What’s so bad about you?”

“You should be careful.”

“Are you a bad man, Rafa?”

I smirked and leaned forward. “You know I am. And that’s why you’re dripping wet right now, hoping I’ll suggest we skip dinner.”

“I’m hungry,” she said.

“I am too, but I don’t want this shit. I want my tongue on that pussy of yours, and I want to hear you moaning my name.”

She blushed again, and I could tell I was getting to her. “Are you always this direct?”

“I am. I don’t fuck around.”

“What do you want from me then? You just want to finish what we started and that’s it?”

I shrugged. “That’s mostly up to you. Is that something you want? I get you off again and again for one night only?”

“You’re pretty confident.”

“I’ve had practice.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I’m not that kind of girl.”

“Every girl says that,” I said softly, leaning toward her and staring into her pretty eyes. “But once I have you sliding along my thick cock, I suspect you’ll think differently.”

She bit her lip, and in that moment I knew I had her. I knew that if I stood up and left, she’d follow me willingly. She’d do whatever I wanted her to do, and that was exactly how I wanted her.

Begging for it and dripping wet.

As I picked up my drink to let the moment stretch on, my phone started buzzing in my pocket. Annoyed, I silenced it.

But it started buzzing again a second later.

“Excuse me,” I said, taking it out. I stood up and walked toward the bathrooms, answering it.

“What?” I said.

“It’s Vince.”

I paused. “What’s up?”

“You need to get to the address I’m about to send you right now.”

“Why?”

“Ernesto’s boys caught someone. I want one of my guys in on this before shit gets out of hand.”

I grunted. Vince was my boss in the mob, one of the highest-ranking guys in the whole organization. He was on the opposite side of Ernesto, another high-ranking boss.

“Fine,” I said. “What am I getting into?”

“They caught a Spider.”

I paused. “You’re fucking kidding.”

“Not kidding. Get your ass over there and find out what’s happening.”

“Got it.” I hung up the phone. A second later, an address appeared in my texts.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I walked back to the table. Jessica looked up at me expectantly.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “but I have to go.”

“Really?” She frowned.

“It’s work.”

“The restaurant business has weird hours.”

“Yes, it does,” I said. “Come on. I’m calling you a cab.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “I’ll get an Uber. You go.”

I narrowed my eyes and sighed. I hated to fucking get pulled away like this. The only thing I really wanted was to sit back down and finally close this deal, but I knew I couldn’t.

We’d never gotten a live Spider before. They always managed to get away or to kill themselves before we could take them. The Spiders were fucking insane fanatics, and they terrified a lot of the guys.

Not me, though. I understood what they were about. They wanted to destroy one thing, and one thing alone. Human trafficking was their enemy, and I couldn’t really blame them.

“Good luck at work,” she said.

I walked over to her and bent down. Instead of kissing her cheek, I pressed my lips against her ear.

“Think about me tonight when you get home. I know you’ll be frustrated. Think about me when you slip your fingers deep inside that pussy. Think about what I can make your body feel.”

I stood up and she blinked up at me. I smirked and then turned and left without another word.

Fucking shit. My cock was hard as hell as I called a fucking cab. I wanted to get back in there and taste this girl, but I had a job to do.

The cab came, and I gave the guy the address. It was in the old warehouse district, and I already knew which place it would be. It was an abandoned building the mob sometimes took people to, people they needed to question very intensely.

Nobody the mob brought there ever left alive.

H
e just disappeared
, just like that.

After all that flirting and buildup, he had to leave for work. That drove me absolutely insane, but I wasn’t going to let it show. I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction. He’d love that I really was frustrated, and he’d never forget about it.

Instead, I finished my glass of wine and sighed. I had no clue what the hell I was doing with a guy who clearly worked for the mob. I had tried to get him to talk about it, but I was sure he had seen right through that. I’d been a little clumsy about it, and Rafa was clearly not an idiot.

More than that, I didn’t know what he wanted from me. He said he just wanted to sleep with me, but he’d taken me out to dinner first. If this was just some booty call, I didn’t know why he brought me to such an impressive place.

He talked dirty, but he also seemed completely engaged with me, like I was the only important person in the world. It was almost flattering, and it really drew me toward him.

When I was done, I ordered an Uber on my phone. I flagged the waiter to pay, but apparently the bill had already been covered.

Rafa was an impressive man, as much as I hated to admit it.

I got into the Uber and it sped me back home. Once in my apartment, I got into my comfy clothes and sat down on the couch to spend the night watching crappy TV and thinking about my stupid decisions.

Dasha was one of those stupid decisions. I shouldn’t have let her go, but I’d thought she had told me enough to get me started.

As it turned out, she hadn’t told me anything. There was no information on the Spiders anywhere. I’d figured I had just missed it in all my research, but as I started going over everything again, I realized that there simply was nothing about them.

Nothing online, nothing in print, just nothing. It was like they didn’t exist.

And yet she had said they were doing some serious work to save women in the city. If they really were attacking whorehouses and saving sex slaves, how had I not heard about it?

It had been so stupid not to press her. But Dasha seemed intense and scary, like she really was the warrior she said she was. I had no real reason to doubt her other than the fact that it seemed totally crazy for that to be the truth.

I sat there watching television for the whole night, idly scanning the internet for any information on the Spiders, already knowing I wouldn’t find any. The night slipped by, and before I knew it, the clock said it was midnight.

I stood up, yawning, and got ready for bed. I had another long day of digging into the research tomorrow, and hopefully I’d find something. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and then got into bed.

And then started to think about Rafa.

Just like he had said I would, as soon as I got into bed, I began to imagine his face and his eyes staring into mine. He was so damn intense and strong in a way that I’d never seen before. I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but as soon as he got near me, I felt it jolting down my spine. I wanted to give myself to him, even though I knew that was totally insane.

He was still a stranger. He had dodged my questions about his job and basically wanted to keep talking about how he’d undress me. He was smart and he was slippery, but he was also handsome and a really good kisser.

I couldn’t help but slip my hands underneath my panties as I began to picture what could have been tonight.

I knew I would have let him do whatever he wanted with me. He would have slipped his fingers between my legs and found me soaking wet. No doubt he would have made some comment that would drive me crazy, make me mad and embarrassed, but he’d be too busy slowly rubbing my clit. My anger would only heighten the pleasure as that dirty bastard would kiss my neck.

I let out a soft moan as I began to rub my own clit. I realized that I hadn’t gotten off in almost a month, since I was too busy with the damn story. I let out a little gasp as I began to work myself, and my fantasy about Rafa deepened.

He’d bite my lip and spin me around, slowly pulling my panties down my legs. He’d slap my ass and whisper in my ear. He’d make me beg before finally pressing his thick cock between my legs.

Oh fuck, and it would feel perfect; I already knew it. He’d fuck me like a savage, his cock deep inside me as he slapped my ass and grunted dirty things into my ear. I would work my hips, sliding up and down his thick shaft, taking his cock like I couldn’t live without it.

I bit my lip, working my pussy, imagining Rafa’s body against mine. I knew this was what he really wanted me to do, but I couldn’t help myself. It was almost as if because he had commanded me to do it, I couldn’t help but follow through.

Just then, there was a loud knock. For a second, I thought it was just my own mind and my own fantasy. But no; it happened again. I stopped working myself, listening.

It happened again. Someone was knocking at my door.

I sat up, glancing at the clock. It was twelve thirty at night. I had no clue who could possibly be at my door, but I was suddenly nervous.

I got dressed again and got out of bed, frustrated all over again. I walked to the door as the knocking started getting more insistent.

“Okay, okay,” I called out. I made sure the chain was set before I cracked the door opened.

Standing there, illuminated by the hallway’s light, was Rafa.

He looked serious. There was no grin on his face.

“Hey there, Cassidy,” he said.

How the hell did he know my real name?

I wanted to slam the door in his face and run, but this door wouldn’t stop him. I didn’t think anything could stop this man if he wanted something.

“Going to let me in, Cassidy, or are we doing this the hard way?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I was so fucking screwed.