High Stakes Seduction - Book 4 (5 page)

Chapter Thirteen

ANTONIO

“He’s the cutest little thing, but sometimes, I just want to send him back to the boutique for another massage because I don’t think he’s worked out all his stress yet. I want him to stop yapping at every cat that appears on the television screen. Let’s stop at the pet store on our way home. I want to get you a puppy, Tony.”

I stopped chewing at the inside of my cheek long enough to answer her. “I don’t want a puppy, Naomi.” I hadn't really been listening to her incessant chatter about her damn dog. Maybe
she
needed a massage to stop
her
yapping. Thankfully, the cab pulled up in front of the restaurant a moment later.

“Please, Naomi, just do as I’ve asked in this meeting, all right?”

I opened the door and got out. I didn’t have to turn around to know that Naomi was preening beside me, waiting for me to come around to open the door for her. For a moment, I considered just walking off and leaving her in the cab, or sending her home.

But I needed her. She looked the part, acted the part, and now that I'd brought her in, she was an integral member of the plan.

I gritted my teeth, walking around to her door and offering her my hand.

“I’ll be good,” she cooed, leaning against me. “Just remember, you owe me.”

Chapter Fourteen

Chez LaRocca, a new fusion cuisine restaurant that I’d invested in, was not very busy. They'd kept their grand opening on the down low, inviting only specific clientele at first to help build their exclusive reputation through word of mouth, rather than with big fan fare. It wasn’t my place to question the owner’s marketing strategy, which, despite the sparse seating, actually seemed to be working in a slow and steady fashion.

But for now, the fewer people around, the better I liked it.

I guided Naomi to a table in the corner where the others were already seated. The pasty-whiteness of Walker's face belied the two-week tropical cruise he'd shared with me. I probably wouldn’t have fared much better myself if it hadn’t been for Angela accompanying me.

In retrospect, I doubt I could have made it through that trip at all without punching something—or someone—if it hadn’t been for her. I was lucky she'd come to me about her sister's operation just before the cruise. And luckier still that she'd agreed to come along. She'd given me an excuse not to spend the entire cruise dealing with dirty politicians and corrupt businessmen.

It was as much a surprise to me as it was to her when I suddenly invited her along. I don't know what stroke of genius had popped that idea into my head. Maybe it was my own sense of desperation.

I'd fully intended to keep things cool and business-like between us, just enjoying her company as a mild distraction. Not that she wasn't lovely to look at. She had that youthful freshness that was more a part of her personality than her age. And lord knew it was getting harder and harder to keep her off my mind.

I smiled a little to myself, recalling the morning she’d stepped out of her room wearing that temptingly sexy, flimsy, purple lingerie. . I had wanted her so badly, it took everything I had not to just give in and grab her right there. Talk about painful,
in more ways than one
.

The music in the background reminded me of Angela swaying on the veranda in the moonlight, slipping off her clothes, piece by piece…

My cock twitched in my pants and I slid a hand in my pocket, casually readjusting myself. I had to stop this, I had business to attend to; I couldn’t think about her warm smile and soft skin; I needed to shove away the memories of how tight and warm she was as I slid inside her, the soft sounds she made, the way her hands curled in my hair when she came…

Dammit
.

Regardless of my need, or hers, or anything that happened between us, she's still an innocent. She has nothing to do with this and I don't dare expose her to any of it. Not yet. It's too dangerous, and there's too much at stake. All I can do is try to keep her out of this mess and hope that in the meantime she won't come to hate me too much…

“Mancini!” Walker said in that insufferably whiny voice of his.

“Always so punctual,” said a voice behind me. I turned to find Carmiante heading toward us, evidently just coming back from the men's room.

“His daddy taught him well,” Naomi drawled, extending a hand for Carmiante to kiss. "So nice to see you again, Jorge. Gentlemen." She smiled around the table.

"Naomi. Delighted as always," Carmiante smiled his unctuous smile, the smugness of his lips giving him an edge of cruelty. None of the ’gentlemen' failed to notice her ample cleavage as she leaned forward to greet each of them in turn.

Subtlety. Not exactly Naomi’s strong suit.

Yet another reason why I wished Angela was here with me instead. But I couldn’t take that kind of chance. I doubted she'd ever really understand this crowd and I couldn't deliberately put her in danger. Besides, familiarity, real or imagined, was something Naomi was very comfortable with.

“We don’t have much time this evening, gentlemen,” I said, trying not to sound as eager to have this done and over with as I actually felt. I pulled out a chair for Naomi, then sat beside her.

“Let’s get right down to business then,” said Lorenzo Cartoli. I noticed him eyeing the door. His political career had skyrocketed in the past eight months, largely thanks to these same "gentlemen" seated around the table. In fact, he was currently pretty much in line to be our next mayor. The irony was that he couldn’t be seen with them too often, even if we were seated way in the back of the room.

“Can’t we order a few drinks first, gentlemen?” Naomi purred. “We
can
be civilized, can we not?”

Carmiante waved a waiter over to take our orders while Naomi dominated the conversation with inane chatter, openly flirting with each of the men.

“I would love to play poker with y'all some time,” she said. "If Tony, my Man, would lighten up some." She leaned over to jab me playfully in the arm. I smiled at her, playing her game, but my hand tightened into a fist at my side.

The waiter brought our drinks and Carmiante managed to wrestle the conversation from Naomi long enough to turn to business.

"The way I see it, we can either convince Stephens to play on our side, or we set him up as a fall guy."

"But you can't do both at the same time. And what are the chances he'll come along willingly? You only have so much time." I let my position be understood.

"Well there's a third option—that's to make sure he doesn't win the upcoming election." Carmiante stared meaningfully at Cartoli.

"But do we have enough pull to carry that off? Who do we know at City Hall?" Walker asked.

“The D.A.'s annual charity barbeque is in two weeks. You know Stephens will take the opportunity to push hard for votes to keep him in office as the D.A." Carmiante looked around the table. "And he's likely to be successful if we don’t set things in motion now.”

"Gentlemen." Naomi piped up. "Why are you so worried about the D.A.?"

The men looked at each other without saying a word.

"He's, um, making decisions that interf… make it difficult … for us … to … to do business," Walker offered.

She looked around, then leaned back, crossing her arms beneath her breasts, increasing her cleavage to ensure she had their attention. "Hmm…” she began, biting her lip. “I'd have thought a bunch of smart gentlemen like yourselves would know how to handle someone who doesn't want to cooperate." She turned toward me.

"Tony, you have plenty of connections,
don't you, darlin'
?"

I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to see how far she would push things on her own.

When I didn't respond, her face twisted and she turned back to the table. "Well, gentlemen, if you don't know how to take care of your little problem, I'm sure I can offer you some help." Her eyes narrowed as she tapped the stem of her glass with her nails. "For a fee, of course."

"
You
can
help
?" Walker snorted. "Who said we needed help?"

"That's enough, Walker," Carmiante cut him off. Walker glared in silence as Carmiante continued. "I think it's time to order dinner. Now."

"Fine with me," said Cartoli. "Then maybe we can finish up the business at hand."

“Yeah,” said Carmaiante, eyeing Naomi curiously. “And it might be worthwhile to hear what the little lady has to say.”

***

We moved through the meal quickly and relatively smoothly. I was grateful to sit back and just observe the others. The undercurrents were fascinating, but I wasn't sure how much information I would glean from this meeting, and I needed to keep my options open. For that, I did need to pay attention.

As expected, Naomi somehow managed to keep the small talk going, even after her declaration. She deftly turned the conversation around to herself several times, but always in a light-hearted way, even going so far as to use her cleavage at times to earn an almost appreciative forgiveness from the men.

I didn’t find her display particularly entertaining, but it kept the attention off me, and in some ways it played into my hands. I still hadn't shared much with her—there was time for that later, if necessary.

But there were so many other places I'd rather have been, and other people I'd rather have been with. I'm afraid I let my mind drift toward some of those more pleasant people and places… most specifically my sweet young associate.

Cartoli leaned forward. “And what do
you
think, Mancini?"

My eyes darted suddenly to his. "Does it matter?" I asked, stalling as I mentally sorted through the last several minutes of discussion that I'd been too distracted to pay attention to.

"That depends. What’s your plan, Mancini. You do have a backup plan, don't you?"

I watched him carefully, trying to determine if he was baiting me or legitimately asking for my ideas.

Walker banged a fist on the table, rattling the cutlery. “Dammit Mancini, why are you being so vague. Have you got some place better to be?”

Yes, actually I do
. I realized I was toying with my Rolex and stopped myself.

“My apologies, gentlemen,” I said, pushing back my plate. “Still a bit jetlagged I suppose. Everything is ready on my end. We just need the go ahead from Jorge’s people.”

Jorge returned my nod. “The shipment is arriving tonight.”

"And you, Lorenzo?"

"I can get the ball rolling with a simple phone call."

I was suddenly very tired, and very much in need of air. “Good. Then you don’t need anything else from me,” I said, rising.

“But I'm not finished yet,” Naomi complained.

“Then by all means, stay,” I snapped. “I’m sure any one of these gentlemen would be happy to take care of you and see that you get home.”

Naomi looked up at me sharply. For once, I think she was actually speechless.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Mancini,” Cartoli said, getting up from the table. “You better not be backing down on this.”

Carmiante remained seated, but he had that cold, slimy look in his eyes. The one Angela had read the first time she’d laid eyes on him. “Mancini’s not backing down,” he said with cold confidence.

I eyed him darkly, holding back a sneer. “No,” I confirmed, “I’m not backing down. But I am leaving.” I turned to Naomi. “Are you coming?”

"Well, this has been an…
interesting
evening, I'm sure." She smiled at the men who had risen when she stood. "Don’t forget, gentlemen. I
am
on the Children's Academy Board with your
dear friend
the D.A. And I still have my own contacts. Just because Roger is gone,
his
family is still
my
family.” Her smile turned into something else… something calculating and raw. “And you know how important family is."

Chapter Fifteen

Thompson leaned against the limo, a welcome sight as I stepped outside. I was surprised at my relief in seeing someone I trusted, someone I knew I could count on.

“I want to apologize again for pulling you away on your day off, Thompson.”

“It’s all right, sir,” he replied with a nod. “Emily understands.”

I winced. Thompson was as loyal as they come, but taking him away from his daughter was unfair of me.

“I want you to let me make it up to you both, Thompson,” I said. He was about to wave me off, but Naomi walked up about then, interrupting us.

“Are you guys just going to stand here and shoot the breeze? Or are we going to get going?”

I could see Thompson holding back a scowl. He had never been fond of Naomi—and that was putting it lightly.

“I’ll get the door for you,” I said, reaching for the handle.

She stopped me. “Isn't that your driver’s job?” she asked icily.

Thompson lowered his head to hide another scowl. I saw his jaw tighten as he opened the door for her. I went around to the other side, catching his eye over the roof of the car.

Thompson would never question me. But his face, being the open book it was, expressed his emotions well enough.

***

Inside the limo, Naomi rolled up the privacy window and turned toward me.

“What’s wrong, Tony?” she cooed, walking her fingers up my chest. “You’ve been really out of sorts since you came back from the cruise. I knew I should have never let you go away without me…”

I looked away from her, slightly bemused by her behavior at dinner, but trying not to let my irritation get the best of me. I guess I knew her just a little too well.

"Did you miss me terribly?" she gave me her sweetest coy glance as she stroked my cheek.

Same old Naomi. I considered her face for a moment, seeing the icy edge underneath the beautiful mask. I still wasn't sure how much information I wanted to share with her, or even how far I could trust her, if at all. "It was certainly not the same without you," I told her honestly. 

"Oooh. Darlin', you know that's what I want to hear. I'll bet you're just tense from being gone so long and being away from me." She slid her hand down my chest. My stomach muscles involuntarily tightened as she continued south.

With a small shock of surprise, I realized Naomi’s hands were deftly undoing my pants. She'd already loosened the belt by the time I understood what she was up to.

"No, Naomi. This isn't the place." My hand grasped hers gently but firmly.

"Pooh!" she narrowed her eyes. "I know what you like, and you've never complained before."

I looked at the woman beside me. She was insatiable when there was something she wanted. And she could be vicious if her fur was rubbed the wrong way.

"You didn't meet some little island honey on the trip, did you?" she asked me wickedly, licking her lips.

I removed my hand from hers, for once not quite sure how to play this.

"Cuz, it wouldn't matter if you did, Sugar. You're mine." With that she unzipped my pants and pulled out my insubordinate dick. It seemed to have a mind of its own, standing rigidly at attention.

I closed my eyes, knowing that if I stopped her, I would likely screw up the whole deal. And there was too much at stake here. She was back in my confidence, so she thought, which to her meant she was back in my bed. I had to be careful not to do anything to imply I was no longer The Man she'd been involved with before Roger.

I knew it was a dangerous game I was playing, a razor-thin edge I was balanced on. We had too much history for me to feign ignorance. Even if all that was before—before I'd discovered what a gold digger she was. The cold, calculating, money-and-power-hungry vixen who would stoop to nothing as she clawed her way to the top.

I didn't dare let that loose. Not yet. So instead, I gave in to the moment. Maybe it was the coward's way out. Certainly I was her equal in most things, and I could have stopped her. But I wasn't willing to face the consequences, not when we were so close.

So, I gave in. I surrendered; forcing myself to forget who was on the other end of those long fingers pulling along my shaft, and those ravenous lips that were so eager to devour me.

And, in spite of the battle going on inside myself, my body was responding—even as I watched, as if from a distance. The lips on my cock, the slightest hint of teeth, nibbling gently, teasing me. The fingernails on my balls, pulling, gently pulling.

I moaned, closing my eyes involuntarily. But this time, I saw Angela's face. It was her smile, her lips surrounding my cock. It was Angela taking me deep into her mouth, sucking lightly as she drew me out again, stiffening my erection even more. Her tongue teased its way along the underside of my shaft, and her fingers began stroking me faster.

Now it was her turn to moan softly as I responded to her touch, her lips. She coaxed me closer and closer until the pressure was unbearable and I cried out with release. "Cara…" I whimpered, unable to stop myself.