For Logan (Chicago Syndicate Book 5) (17 page)

After we’ve dressed, I snare the grey blanket and nudge her toward the raised round platform on the edge of the rooftop. A yellowish-blue shade covers the horizon.

“Sit.” I guide her to sink down cross-legged.

Then I position myself behind her, casing the edges of the blanket around us as she reclines back against me, and we watch the sunrise.

“Can I see you later?” she asks without turning her face to me.

“Yes, but I’ll have to text you a time. Now that I’m becoming a
Capo
, I have some business to handle with the Syndicate that I was supposed to take care of last night, but I was a bit distracted by you.”

“I’m glad I was your distraction,” she utters.

“I’m going to be distracted by you a lot, cricket.” I tighten my embrace.

“Then you should have my number to contact me.”

“I have your number.” Fishing out my phone from my pants, I unlock the screen with my thumb and tap her name before bringing it up to my ear.

She looks to the side and up through her black eyelashes as I leave a voicemail, “Now you have my number too, and you can call me when I can explore that spectacular body more.”

She lets out a laugh as I store my device back in my pocket and press my lips behind her ear, breathing her in.

Rosa’s curiosity has been piqued, of course, and she probes, “So, are you an official part of the Syndicate?”

“I will be, after I’ve met with Adriano and Luca. I assume I’ll be made head
Capo
, hopefully ranked just beneath Luca.”

As she turns sideways, it appears as if she’s shocked at first, staring at me with wide eyes, but then she wiggles against me.

My dick swells instantly, and I release my arms from around her, letting the blanket drop to the ground. “Cricket, we have to go before I spread your legs and fuck you.” I adjust my hard-on as she smiles before standing up.

Clutching her ass, I give her a sharp bite.

“Ow, Logan!” She leaps to the side, laughing, and slaps me away. “What’s up with the biting?”

“Your ass brings it out in me,” I respond around a grin, entirely relaxed.

In turn, Rosa sashays to the glass doors of the terrace. Without even having fucked her, I’m starting the day feeling more fulfilled than I’ve been in years.

***

A
fter driving Rosa home, I return to Club 7. Luca and
Consigliere,
Carmine, are waiting for me in Adriano’s office when I enter, both sitting behind the desk in their designer Italian suits, and the dark floor-to-ceiling curtains are drawn shut. Carmine is Adriano’s younger brother who works alongside James as counselor now, and since he’s a lawyer, he handles the white-washing of capital and all legal issues.

“Wade, good morning.” Luca gestures to the chair in front of the desk, and I claim my seat as he carries on, “Adriano would be here, but he’s at the hospital.”

“I understand.” Of course, Adriano wants to stay with Cam, who’s still in a coma and unresponsive after two weeks.

“We’re here to officially welcome you into the Chicago Syndicate. We need to discuss the financial aspects that are going to change for you.”

Adriano’s absence has sped up the working relationship between Luca and me, which was strained before, but now that I’ve gained the organization’s trust, even Luca’s accepted me.

Luca explains, “Adriano’s decided on the new hierarchy of our organization. You’re third in rank as head
Capo
under Adriano and me. Carmine and James are now both fourth in rank as
Consigliere
. And all the Syndicate’s regular captains, soldiers, and associates are available to you and working
for
you from now on.”

Carmine continues, “We’ve drawn up your contract.” He slides a document across the glass surface of the desk, and I reach for it. “As a front – mainly to ensure that the CIA believes you’ve infiltrated our organization – you’re the security director of Club 7. Your salary of seven thousand dollars will be deposited monthly, and you’ll receive your first payment today. You’ll also receive a substantial amount in bonuses at the end of this year – within a couple of weeks – as compensation for your work before you were made an official
Capo
. A sum will be deposited into an offshore account; the increased cash flow into your bank account would otherwise raise too much suspicion.”

“Furthermore,” Luca adds, “you’ll get plenty of cash payments. Make sure to spend your money, because that’s the easiest way to launder it. My secretary, Janey, has made several appointments for you in December to view apartments in various high-rises in the West Loop.”

“New apartment?” I look up from the contract I was reading. Currently, I’m living in a mundane apartment in the Loop.

“Yes, you need to invest your money,” Carmine answers. “This is how we live. We enjoy our hard-earned cash and our life. You should too. You’re head
Capo
now,” he states with a grin, reminding me of Adriano.

These men distribute the wealth and purchase loyalty. They bought my loyalty.

“But,” Luca finishes. “Your priority is still finding Dimitri. He must have some connections we’re unaware of who are helping him stay under the radar.”

Setting the document on the desk, I relay my point of view, “Our last option is having Henry go through Dimitri’s system with a fine-tooth comb. After we bombed the Ukrainian mansion the night Cam was injured, Henry and I had to set everything in motion so fast before the FBI became involved that we didn’t have time to check his emails, phone records, or all his numbers. There were a ton of classified documents as well. But I’ll need Henry to work with me for at least a week – full time.”

“Fine,” Luca comments. “This takes precedence anyway.”

“I’ll start today and tell Henry to meet me here. Anything else? I have some business of my own to settle.”

“What kind of business?” Carmine asks.

“My grandmother has Alzheimer’s. I moved her to a private nursing home, but I have outstanding bills.”

Carmine and Luca exchange a glance before Luca informs me, “You do realize that we have associates everywhere? There’s a clinic that’s owned by one of them. If you prefer, you can transfer her there. It’s a place with a trustworthy staff.”

It would be smarter to avoid the troubling team of workers at the current home. “I’d opt to relocate her, but I want to see the place first.”

Luca nods. “Janey will make an appointment for you. If it’s up to your standards, then one of our soldiers will arrange the paperwork for you.”

At first, it unsettles me to delegate tasks. I’m used to taking care of everything on my own. Though, this saves me a lot of time. “That’d be great. Have Janey call me.” I stand up and dip my chin. “I’ll be back later.”

As I descend the staircase in the club, I check my bank account on the app on my smartphone and stop for a second. There’s never been this much money in my account. My mission is accomplished. The agency believes that I’m undercover at the Syndicate, so I have access to classified government documentation and systems, along with the latest arsenal of ammunitions.

While I’ve worked for months to achieve this, all I think about is Rosa. Last night was just a preview of all the pleasure I intend to show her. Wanting to seek her out again, I finish my task quickly and race to Nana to pay off the outstanding bill of her nursing home.

Around noon, I’m contacted while pulling my convertible onto the road.

I look down to where my phone is connected to the car charger and slide my finger across the screen to answer, putting it on speaker so I can watch the road. “Henry?”

“Are you in the Loop?” Henry’s voice booms through the car.

“Yes.”

“I’ve got a lead on Mykhail. He was spotted with a woman in the Loop.”

I’m on alert instantly. “How long ago?”

“Half an hour. An associate saw him going into a store.”

“Text me the address,” I instruct him.

“Okay, I’m on my way too, with Luca. We’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He cuts the call, and I brake at the intersection, veering into the left lane to meet Henry and Luca at the address.

***

I
smash open the door with my fists, stepping into a small, nondescript store that sells tons of knick-knacks. A bell rings, notifying the owner of visitors.

Luca and Henry come in behind me, and there aren’t any customers, so Luca locks the door as Henry and I move to the cash register where a pale-skinned, overweight male leaps up from his seat behind the counter.

Henry points to the upper corner of the room at a security camera.

“Good afternoon,” Luca greets the employee, unbuttoning his charcoal suit jacket calmly. “I’m looking for information about a young man who came in here about half an hour ago.”

Glancing warily between the three of us, he asks, “What man?”

“I’m not in the mood to drag this out,” Luca warns. “There isn’t a customer in here, so I’m sure you remember Mykhail.”

“You’re Italian mafia. Get the fuck out.” His hand disappears beneath the counter, and then his arm shoots up as he aims a Glock at us.

After we all duck, I jump forward, knocking the weapon from his hands as he pulls the trigger. The bullet hits a shelf with antique crystal, which topples to the ground with a loud crash. Snaring his wrist, I slam his palm face-down onto the counter and seize the chrome-plated letter opener that’s lying next to it, puncturing the tip of it into his skin with extreme force.

“No!” he howls in an earsplitting tone. Blood streams down the side of his hand as he drops to his knees, impaled to the counter.

There’s a creak behind us, but Luca swoops around the corner, snatching his gun from the inside pocket of his jacket before he levels it at someone. Another man crouched behind a rack surges up, and Luca hooks his arm around his neck, dragging him out to the cash register.

Breathing raggedly, I keep my fingers secured around the letter opener, and snarl, “Well, now that’s out of the way. It doesn’t matter who we are, but I bet you’re Ukrainian mafia?”

“Did Mykhail come to you for help?” Luca demands, his gun pointed at his captive’s temple as he chokes him for a moment.

As Henry’s going behind the counter and checking the security camera feed on the computer, no one speaks because my guy keeps sobbing in pain. Luca sends me an exasperated look, telling me to wrap this up.

I do as I’ve been trained by the Syndicate and instill fear with a fair amount of intimidation. “I’ll give you one chance to answer. If you lie to me – and I
will
find out – then I’ll return and truly torture you. What did Mykhail want?”

“He wanted to know if we’d seen Dimitri,” he confesses, sweat seeping down his hairline.

“And?” Luca demands.

“We haven’t. We’re not Ukrainian members, just associates.”

“Was he alone?” I ask.

“No. He was with a blonde woman whom we didn’t recognize.”

“The feed’s been erased,” Henry informs us.

“The woman did that,” my man spills easily.

“Did Mykhail say anything about where he’s hiding?” I inquire and lift my arm, pulling the letter opener from the counter with a firm tug and flinging it aside as the man topples backward, sobbing and clutching his bloodied hand in disbelief.

“He didn’t say,” the second one answers. “He left just as quickly as he came in.”

Luca releases his captive and wonders aloud, “So a woman’s helping Mykhail?”

“He has an accomplice,” Henry adds.

“A clever blonde accomplice – it seems,” I conclude before we exit without another word to them.

Rosalia

––––––––

“W
hat the hell is that?” Mykhail asks around a smile, standing before me and pulling a blonde strand of hair between his fingers.

“It’s a wig from an old Halloween costume,” I reply, perched on the edge of my bed with Adam in my lap. He’s eating a banana and absorbed in his movie,
Cars
, that’s playing on TV. “The three of us are going out for the first time, and we need to be careful. I’ll take it off when we get to the realtor’s.”

“It suits you,” he teases, tapping Adam’s nose – he’s ignoring us.

“Should I go blonde? They say blondes have more fun.”

Mykhail angles his head to the side. “I think you had a lot of fun last night since you can’t stop grinning.”

Biting my lip, I look away. Since Logan dropped me off at home, I’ve been cuddling Adam all morning. I’m completely enamored with Logan, a man who’s ranked right beneath Luca. He didn’t just become
a soldier
. He’s become a powerful man, the head
Capo
.

I’ve managed to make an already problematic situation even more complicated as I continue to lie to two men in my life, my father and my lover. Nevertheless, I don’t have another choice. I’m getting much too attached to little Adam and Mykhail.

“Let’s go,” Mykhail decides. “Before we meet the realtor, I have one person I can visit who might know more about Dimitri’s hiding place.”

If we find information about Dimitri’s whereabouts, we can go to my father or Logan and inform them, and then they’ll help me to protect Mykhail and Adam.

****

“H
ave you seen Dimitri?” Mykhail asks in this scant, musty store in the Loop while I hold Adam’s hand.

“We haven’t seen him, Mykhail. The entire organization has fallen apart, as far as we know. All your father’s high ranking men are missing, and most are presumed dead. The Italians have won. Dimitri is MIA.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Mykhail grumbles.

Spotting a video camera in the ceiling, I edge closer to him to whisper, “Mykhail, there’s a camera in here. I can’t be on camera.”

“I’m going to need to check your computer,” Mykhail tells him, signaling to the PC on the counter and gesturing for him to step aside.

After handing Adam over to Mykhail, I round the cash register and scroll down today’s feed on the computer.

“What’s she doing?” the owner comments. He’s obviously threatened by Mykhail and doesn’t come near me.

“Deleting your recording,” Mykhail answers just as I click
delete
and return to him.