Whatever You Need: (A Chicago Mafia Syndicate) (Castaletta Book 2) (8 page)

Chapter 14

Demetri

The conversation from the night before with Izzy plagued me all night and half the next morning. It wasn't anything to do with Audrey. I didn't care if she had a few secrets or a past. She was a whore in our prostitution ring. If there was an issue with the girl, Sandra would have already said something. The problem wasn't Audrey, it was Izabella.

I was hot that she'd taken another flight home from New Orleans instead of simply calling me and telling me that she wanted to go home. I wasn't going to stay gone all fucking night. I just needed to breathe, to remember
why
I wasn't going to dive head first into a fiery relationship with the beautiful thing.

My cock twitched in my slacks at the thought of just being around her. She was killing me slowly, draining my resolve and leaving me wanting to act like the Casanova I once believed myself to be.

It would be so easy.

Wake her up with my mouth pressed to her warm, wet center. Lick at her entire body until she came long and hard for me. Fix her breakfast and pick her a few fresh flowers from the garden outside. Dote on her and take her anywhere she wanted to go only to get her back in the bedroom as the night fell to worship her beautiful body again.

It was everything I wanted in my life, and yet I'd chosen differently. Joe was my first priority and with all of the distractions I had moving around me, there was no damn way I was giving into her. It would be our downfall. All of us.

"You look like a man who's seriously lost in thought." Nate walked by me as I stood in the hallway at the Castaletta Mansion, my back against the wall, arms crossed as I stared into nothingness.

"What?" I stood up and turned to face him.

"You wanted to see me about security?" Nate glanced over his shoulder. "Come on. It's my lunch break. Let's go outside and talk."

"Alright." I followed him out, ignoring his probing question about my troubles. No one needed to know all my shit, and yet something told me Nate was perceptive enough to already understand all too well. Hell, the last time we spoke, he brought up Izzy. Everyone did around me. Guess I wasn't nearly as collected as I hoped I was.

"So what's up? You sounded tense yesterday when we spoke. Something I can help you with?" The ex-Navy Seal dropped down on a stone picnic bench that Joe had built for all of us when we were kids.

"We need a rat in the Kallup camp." I sat down across from him.

"Sign me up." He pressed his arms to the table between us. "Is that what you need from me?"

"I would imagine that they already know who you are. If they're not total idiots, they should." I lifted my eyebrow. "I wanted to know if you know of someone that might be able to do this for us."

"Let's see if they know me first. How about that?" He tapped the table between us. "I have a cousin that does stage makeup. I'll talk to her about getting me a few tats, putting a nasty scar on my face and I'll go hang out where they hang out."

"Hmmm... that might actually work." I brushed my fingers by my lips, trying to discard the idea that Drake could fill in for Nate if Nate took on this new assignment. I needed someone as strong and smart as Nathaniel to be head of security during the same time. There was no way he could do both. It would be too damn risky.

"Let's give it a whirl." He glanced behind him and sighed. "Who are you going to get to watch the family?"

"I'm not sure yet. I need to look at the list of guys we currently have to see if one of them could handle it for us for a little while."

"I have a brother who knows his shit if you're interested in help. I'd not trust too many people to watch over the family during this time, but Timothy is my twin brother. He's fearless and loyal as hell."

"That's good to know." I patted the table and stood up. "I'll get back with you on it. I'm a little bit leery about not having you around the house with so many potential threats facing us, but someone's gotta go undercover, and it can't be any of us. Those bastards know us."

"Including Izzy?"

"Hell yeah. Thomas Kallup has had a hard-on for Izabella as long as I've known him." I rolled my shoulders and breathed in deeply, trying to enjoy the serenity that nature was working to offer me.

"Well, that's fucked up." He smirked. "Not that I'm surprised."

"You getting sweet on my girl now too?"

"Nope. I mean, who isn't sweet on her, but I've said it before and it's probably worth saying again. She's only got eyes for you man. Stop dicking around."

"It's not that easy, Nate. I have to keep the whole family safe. If she belonged to me, I'd live and die for her and only her."

"And that changes things now because?" He lifted his eyebrow, challenging me.

"If she messed up now, I still have enough objectivity to send out the hit on her." I slipped my hands into my pockets and glanced around the yard, picking up on several guards walking the property.

"Liar. You're such a fucking horrible lair. They didn't teach you that in Mafia school?" He chuckled.

"That obvious?" I winked and walked back toward the house. "Touch base with Timothy and
see
if he would be interested in a job like this one, but please don't give him too many details. I'd hate to have to break your knees or maybe even his."

The laughter behind me left me feeling good, although maybe it shouldn't have. There was a day in the past when my threats scared the shit out of everyone around. Was that day long gone, or had my relationship with Nate just grown into the friendship I needed it to be?

Probably a bit of both.

*

I sat in Marco's office waiting to talk to him as I worked through the benefits and the detriments of having Nate take up the position with the Kallups. Either way we decided to go, I was going to have a rat in their camp before the end of the next week. We had to know what the fuck was going on with them.

Glancing up at the clock, I let out a long sigh. I needed to apologize to Izzy for acting like a childish prick. I'd asked her to run down to New Orleans with me on a trip that had nothing to do with her, and haven't given her more than an hour to decide, pack and get on the plane.

She'd been great about all of it. All of it. Even the staying in the same room together.

"Fuck me tonight."

I groaned and closed my eyes as white-hot need pumped through me. Why hadn't I told her yes? She would consider my silence a denial. It was simply me almost biting off the tip of my tongue in an effort to not respond with the first thing that came to mind.

In every opening of your body.

My phone buzzed on the desk next to me, rescuing me from my nefarious thoughts. Marcus.

"This is Demetri DeMarco."

"Hey, Demetri. It's Marcus Blaine. I just wanted to let you know that Zak is coming with me, and both of us will be up there first thing tomorrow morning. You got a place for us to stay or should I start looking for something?"

"That's great news. We have several apartment complexes that we own. You can pick the best layout in any of them. I'll have Eddy call you later tonight. He's our real estate guy. You and Zak can each get one, of course."

"Perfect. Hey man, thanks again for your help earlier this week."

"Of course." I tapped the desk in front of me and let my eyes run over the overabundance of paintings on the walls. "Tell me about this new drug I keep hearing about. Zandra, maybe?"

"It's the latest move on the black market. We dabbled a little with it down here under Victor Parence's watch. It's strong shit, man. Knock you on your ass and have you humping any- and everything, including family. You gotta be careful where you use it and who's around you when you do."

"Interesting." I couldn't help but let my imagination go wild with the idea of taking a little bit of it while Izzy was locked in a room with me. At least then I'd have a way to get what I wanted most without having to fess up to wanting it so damn bad.

"Interesting as in you want me to score us some, or as something we'll eventually look into?" Once again, I was glad that Marcus was a straight-forward kind of guy.

"As in I want some. Get us a sample and let's see if it's something we might want to buy, sell or even manufacture. I'm pretty hands off with most of the rings if shit is going right, but you'll learn my style soon enough it would seem."

"I'll get us a bag of it before I leave tomorrow morning. I'll be forward with you, Demetri. I've been playing bitch for a little too long and probably have a bit of a chip on my shoulder that needs to be knocked the fuck off, but I'm just at a point in my life, at my age, that I'm willing to work hard, but I'm not the errand boy anymore."

"I can appreciate that myself." I cleared my throat and stood up. "It's your ring. As long as you and I agree on your decision making overall, there's no reason to feel anything but in charge."

"Perfect. See you in the morning."

"Until then." I hung up and texted Edward to connect with Marcus to get him and Zak a place to stay until more permanent arrangements could be made. Everything was moving so fucking fast, and yet it was a good thing. I needed more hands on deck seeing that we were about to sending someone to the Kallup camp, and soon discover what happened with Vivian.

"Speaking of Viv." I got up and walked out into the hallways. The smell of garlic filled my nose and caused my stomach to rumble, but I ignored it. I would eat later. I had a few more things to wrap up before the day got away from me.

"Joe?" I knocked on the door softly. "Don Castaletta?"

"Come on in, D." The deadpan sound of his voice was concerning.

"Hey, boss." I opened the door to find him holding a picture of Vivian. "You up for a quick update?"

"Whatcha got for me?" He lifted the picture toward his face and kissed it a few times before setting it back near the edge of his desk.

"Marcus Blaine and his associate, Zak are coming in tomorrow morning. We're going to rest out a new ecstasy drug and most likely will move into production on the product in three to four weeks if it's as good as everyone says it is."

"Where are they staying?" He leaned back in his chair and watched me closely.

"I have Edward hooking them up with an apartment."

"Excellent. What else?"

"Edward and Daniel have been working with Sandra and one of the girls at the house to find out who's beating up on the girls. We should have DNA tests back shortly. Izabella called last night and said they were taking in the blood samples now."

"Someone got blood samples of the guy and didn't take his head off? Why the fuck would they do that?" He sat up straight in his chair and leaned forward.

"Because it was the girl that went undercover for us. I guess she ran when she heard another group of men coming into the house, but she made sure to scratch the guy who picked her up from Sandra's place. I spoke with Daniel about it late last night and got the details. Hopefully we'll know something today. The guy is moving around, but his voice registered with the technology that Edward put on the phones at the whore house."

"Excellent. Let's shut this shit down as fast as we can."

"That's the plan."

"Tell me about this girl that went undercover. Did she do a good job? Fuck things up? What?" He nodded toward the seat in front of him. "And sit the fuck down. You're making me feel antsy."

I smirked and dropped down in the chair closest to me. "She did a great job. I've yet to meet her, but Danny and Edward are pretty impressed with her. Izabella, not so much."

"What's Izzy got against the girl?"

"Probably the fact that she's a girl." I shrugged and nodded toward the picture of Vivian. "What has Marco found out about Vivian's death or where Freddy is?"

"Not much. These bastards know how to cover their tracks pretty well." Joe ran his fingers down his face and let out a long sigh. "I should have you look into it, but to be honest, it really needs to be me. Book me a flight to California."

"What the fuck are you wanting to do in California?" Every muscle in my body contracted. There was no damn way I was sending my Don out to Adam Cooper’s territory unattended. He was a tough bastard, but Joe against another syndicate wasn't going to work. There was no way I was willing to do it either.

"I wanna meet this little bitch that thinks he can send his thugs onto my turf and start pushing us around. His father was a smart man and knew not to fuck with us, but this little prick? Naw... he needs to learn a lesson and soon."

"Alright. I'll set something up with them, Joe, but I'm going with you, and knowing your daughter, she's going to."

"Whatever. Just make it happen sooner than later." He slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Now get out. I'm tired as shit."

"Alright, boss. Call if you need me."

"Right, I won't." He waved me off like he used to when I was an aggravated teenage boy after his daughter, and he was nothing more than my biggest hero.

Chapter 15

Edward

"Finding anything?"

I glanced up from Sandra's office to see Audrey standing in the doorway. The jeans and t-shirt she wore looked good on her. Normal.

"Yeah. I got the make and model of the car." I glanced back down at the monitors and pushed a few buttons to make the tape rewind. "Come here and you can see what I'm talking about."

She chuckled. "Eddy. I was in the car. I already told you the make and model."

"Alright, smarty-pants. Get over here and tell me you also got this in the middle of your showdown with the bastard." I pointed to the license plate and wagged my eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, you got me there." She leaned against the desk, her leg brushing subtly by mine.

"Ha! You're not as brilliant as you thought." I winked at her and turned back to the screen.

"Thanks for killing my self-esteem today."

"Oh no, I didn't mean to do that." I reached for her as she turned to walk back toward the door. She paused at the opened and glanced over her shoulder, her expression unreadable. "Any information on the DNA results?"

"No, but I'll check in with Izabella is she doesn't call me soon." I glanced down at the screen as she walked out. "Why didn't I notice how cute she was before?"

Right. She was wearing slutty clothes, which never did it for me. I wanted to imagine far more than I got to see. At least at first.

"Where's Danny?" Sandra stopped by the open office door.

"He's working today on a new shipment. You need something?" I pressed a button to pause the feed again.

"Just someone to look at my pistol. Something is fucked up with it." She growled and walked back down the hall.

"Call him. He'll come out when he's done." I turned back to the computer as my phone buzzed. A text from D to help the new drug guys get a place and then a call from Izzy rolled in. "Ugh. Damn. I'm not going to get anything done out here today." I picked up the phone and barked into it. "What?"

"Bad time?" Izzy voice was smooth and forced me to pay attention to her and only her.

"Never for you." I licked at my lips and tried hard not to think about the night before. All I needed was to walk through the middle of a whore house with a big ass hard-on. It was like a mating call for those girls who ate men for breakfast lunch and dinner. Not all of them were like that, but Sandra had a few that-

"Eddy? You still there?"

"Yeah, sorry. What's going on?"

"I just talked with Jonathan. The DNA results show that we're dealing with Derrik Kallup. I'll call Demetri, but I wanted to start with you first."

"Shit. That's a good and bad thing, I guess. Seems like all of the evidence was pointing toward them, but how stupid can you be?" I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. "What's the next step in the plan?"

"I'm sure it's going to move to mine and D's responsibility. You figured out who it was hurting the girls. It's time for D to make the call and me to pull out my weapon."

"You make that sound so damn sexy, but I hate the true meaning behind it. Isn't it better for all of us to deal with this one? There's a lot of Kallups in Chicago, Izzy."

"Only seven that have bound together to wreak havoc on my family. That's a play day in the park." She laughed softly.

Why I thought she would ever let anyone protect her was beyond me. She was more stealthy and deadly than all of us put together, but I wished like hell that she wasn't.

"Let me call D. It was my job to wrap up, and I appreciate you help, but let me take this one, okay? I'm sure he'll buzz you when he's ready for the massacre to begin, but until then..."

"Sounds good. I'll be in touch soon. Thanks again for last night." She made a kissing sound and I smiled.

"You unruly bitch."

"You love sick pussy."

I laughed and hung up, hating her for pinning the tail on the donkey perfectly. I dialed D's number and half-expected it to go to voicemail. The guy seemed to always be knee deep in something.

"This is D."

"It's Edward. We got the results back from DNA. It's Derrik Kallup's blood. He's in the system's records of course, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't working alone."

"Dammit. The Kallups never work alone. None of them are strong enough, or smart enough to pull off anything without the rest of the group. It's part of their strength."

"Awesome. Where do we go from here?" I knew he didn't need my sarcasm, but I didn't need a lesson on the Kallups. I was tense as fuck at the thought of D sending my girl over there to even up the score.

"You work on another set up from your end and I'll be tracking them from mine. I would have loved to just grab my weapon and called a couple of you guys to join me in busting up their fun, but they stay hidden really well. I have no clue where the bastards are, but we're about to put out a city-wide search."

"Alright, you want me to use Audrey again? Is that the plan?"

"No. Use another girl. Jenny, maybe. You're going to let her go with the guy that you think might be Derrik and follow them. Don't let her out of your site. I'd assume the bastard that takes her will lead us right to the rest of them. It might not be their hideout, but it will give us access to all of them."

"You really think this idiot is going to make the same mistake twice? I think you're underestimating them pretty badly here, D."

"We're both going to be working on it. If they don't come after another girl, then you win... they're not complete idiots. If they do... then I win."

"What are we winning?"

"How about the loser leaves Izzy alone forever?"

"You talk to her about that?" I smirked, hating the bastard for even trying to shove me farther away. It wasn't like he was ever going to get off his sorry ass and give her what she needed in a relationship.

"Nope. She's not the kind of woman that will ever choose the best thing for herself."

"Alright buddy. I'm getting back to work. No deal on Izzy. She's about all I have to look forward to most nights of the week. Talk soon!" I hung up on the cock and glanced up to see Audrey watching me. "What? He's an asshole."

"I see that." She walked in and took the chair across from me. "What's the plan on catching this guy?"

"We're working on it. I don't think you have to do anything else, but if you're interested in a job with the family, just let me know. I think you'd do well with them. You're a tough cookie."

"Do men thing that women enjoy being called cookie? Do I look like a floury sugar ball with chocolate poking out of various parts of my body?"

"Um... what?" I laughed loudly at the look on her face. She was the most sardonic woman I'd ever met in my life. She'd put Izzy to shame in her unwillingness to entertain anyone or anything she wasn't into.

"I am interested in working for the family, but for now, I don't think I should be done with the search for this guy. I'm strong and I'm fast. I can help you figure this out, and I'm the toughest girl you have."

"He's also seen your face." I moved my hand around my face as I widened my eyes. "Your face... you know, this pretty thing."

"Ha, ha." She leaned back in her chair and put her feet on the desk. "I'm not leaving until you let me help you."

"Alright. Be that way." I shrugged and pressed a button on the computer. "You can help by going to find Jenny. D wants to use her as bait. They guys have already beat up on her a little, so they might be quite interested in finishing the job."

"Jenny isn't here." Sandra walked into the office and stopped beside Audrey’s chair. She reached down and tapped the younger woman's boot. "Feet down, please."

"Of course. Sorry, Sandra." Audrey blushed, making her look far more young and innocent than she probably was.

"Where's Jenny at?" I stood up and stretched.

"I don't know. I was going to give her a few more hours and then call D." She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself. "She's never late on getting back in the morning."

"When did she leave?" I sat back down and opened the camera files for the night before as Sandra confirmed my suspicions. "We'll just look it up. Easy enough."

"I feel sick about it for some reason." Sandra started to pace the floor. "If anything happened to one of my girls, I don't know what I would do."

I watched Jenny walk from the house toward a dark brown bronco and sighed with relief. "Different car than our guys."

"Of course it would be a different car, Eddy." Audrey got up and walked around to my side of the desk. "Moving the camera back to see if we can get a visual on the guy."

"Good idea." I glanced up at her, liking her a little more and more each time I got to talk with her. She was growing on me. Scary thought.

I slowed the camera down and pulled in the focus on the guys face. "There. Recognize him."

"Shit. That's him, Sandra. That's the guy that attacked me."

"What?" Sandra face drained of color as she dropped down into the chair beside her. "No. Do something, Eddy. Find her. He's had her all fucking night. No."

"Shit." I grabbed my phone and called D.

"This is-"

"Dude, we got a problem. The same fucker that took Audrey and tried to rough her up grabbed Jenny right from under our noses last night."

"What?" D barked into the phone. "Put me on speaker. Now."

I set the phone down with shaky hands and pressed the speaker button. "You're on. Sandra, me and Audrey are in the room."

"Sandra, what time did she leave and have you spoke with her since?"

"She left at nine. Right around nine-fifteen." She was choking up. "Find her, D. I can't lose one of my girls. Please find her for me."

"What do we need to do?" Audrey jumped in before I could.

"I'm going after these fuckers. I'll grab Izzy and we'll head out." D's voice was tight with tension. "Edward, get Jonathan on the phone and tell him to track the car from Sandra's place through the city until it stops. Give him all the details that he needs. Do it now."

"I'm going with you." Audrey leaned toward the phone. "This is Audrey."

"No, you're not." The phone went dead, leaving the three of us looking at each other.

I snatched up my phone and walked toward the door as I called Izzy and explained what we needed. She didn't hesitate to get off the phone with me and call Jonathan. I got a text a few minutes later as I was pacing in front of the whore house and panting like a smoker who'd run his first marathon.

I felt helpless. Completely and utterly helpless.