Mafia Stepbrother Boxed Set (6 page)

“Home,” Cole said.

The driver nodded, never looking in the rearview mirror at either of us, no hint of a smile on his lips. If he had heard anything, he’d probably go to his grave with the knowledge… which made sense, considering the other things he had probably seen or heard while working for
the family
. “What’s it like to work for the mafia?” I asked.

Cole looked at me for a few seconds and I could almost see his brain working behind his calculating eyes, trying to decide what to tell me, and what not to tell me. “It’s just a business,” he finally said. “Selling alcohol to dry counties, providing intimate partners for people looking for a little companionship, letting people decide for themselves if they want to blow their paycheck on the ponies or the blackjack table instead of having the government decide for them.”

“Drugs?”

Cole shook his head. “Used to, but I convinced Sonny it was a bad business arrangement, and he was able to convince the others. It’s one of the reasons I was given this promotion.”

“What exactly do you do?”

Cole glanced out the window. “You don’t want to know. Boring stuff.”

I put my hand to my cheek, gasping loudly. “Oh no! Not boring work stuff. It’s so… boring, and just so… manly. No, I prefer womanly things, like cooking and cleaning.”

Laughing, Cole looked at me and shook his head. “You look like a million dollars but you’re still a rugrat.” I acted like I was going to slap him and he held up his hands in defense. “Okay,” he said, still laughing. “You win, but it really is boring stuff.”

“I’m supposedly your assistant these days so I need to know something – anything – about what you do. Right now, it just seems like you throw parties and have meetings.”

He nodded. “That’s basically it. When the family is around, everyone likes to say the mob brought crime with them, but the joke is the crime is already here. The gambling, the escorts, the bootlegging; it’s all here. We just put all of it under the same corporate umbrella.”

I chuckled. “Corporate umbrella? You sound like a CEO of some big company.”

Cole grinned. “That’s basically what I am. I meet with people involved in these other businesses and show them why it makes sense to join us. It’s called organized crime for a reason.”

“No horse heads in beds?”

Cole laughed. “I have personally never put a horse’s head in anyone’s bed.”

“If it’s so boring, why carry a gun?”

Cole shrugged. “Because boring is good. If anyone decides to get stupid – and some occasionally do – being prepared is the best way to make sure things get back on track as quick as possible. Sonny likes to call it getting-home-alive insurance.”

“So what’s my job?”

Cole put his hand on my thigh, sending a pleasurable wave of warmth through me. “To make me look good.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”

Cole laughed. “That expression is priceless… but it’s true, sort of. I’m new to this CEO-style stuff. Spreadsheets and monthly totals and growth projections are not my thing.”

“Cole,” I said, suddenly worried that I might not actually be able to do this job, “They’re not my thing, either.”

Cole squeezed my leg. “You were kicking my ass with the tech stuff way back when we were kids, and you took some business classes in college.”

“How do you know that?”

His cheeks flushed red as he looked out the window again. “I… uhhh… kept tabs on you.”

“What? No letters or emails or phone calls… but you spied on me?”

He looked back at me. “I wanted to make sure you were okay so I kept an eye on you, but what was I supposed to say? Hey, Dani, haven’t seen you in ages but I love you?” He glanced at his watch as the limo pulled in front of the house. “I hate to run but I’ve got another meeting to go to.”

“What?” He had switched gears too fast. I looked at him as if he were suddenly speaking a different language, feeling like I was in some weird mental fog, my mind still stuck on the ‘L’ word.

“Meeting,” he repeated. “I need to go.”

“Oh. Okay.” It wasn’t really. I wanted to find out more about this latest piece of information, but I didn’t think dropping the L-bomb would be a good enough excuse to cancel a meeting. Well, it was a good enough excuse for me but I didn’t think anyone else would see it that way.

He leaned over, gave me a quick kiss, and then flashed that panty-melting smile. “It wouldn’t break my heart if I showed up later and you were just wearing that sexy lingerie.”

I blushed. He loved me? My brain just would not let that go. “Maybe,” I said, still feeling numb. I grabbed my bags and climbed out of the car, giving him one last look as the limo drove off.

Chapter 10

I sat on the couch, flipping channels as I sipped a glass of wine. On a big screen, even the news looked like a cinema blockbuster. It was overwhelming. I was still wearing my new dress and boots. The idea of running around in nothing but my bra and thong had briefly crossed my mind but I decided I didn’t want to give Jasper a heart attack. The dress had been easy enough to remove in the limo so it wouldn’t exactly be a challenge to get naked when I was behind closed doors with Cole. The trick would be to get him naked. Next time I’d see more than just his cock, although that wasn’t anything to complain about. Just thinking about holding his thick shaft in my hand, remembering the way it felt when it slid into my mouth, made me wet.

Someone knocked on the door and I started to get up, but sat back down quickly as Jasper marched towards the front of the house, giving me a look that basically said not to step on his toes. I took another sip of wine. I hated to admit it, but I could get used to this kind of lifestyle. It was sort of surprising. I never considered myself the type who would be into the fancy house, nice clothes, and butlers, but I had to admit that it beat the dinky apartment and doing everything myself. I would still wear jeans and t-shirts, though; just not around Abriana.

I heard the door open, and then something crashed down the hall. I ran towards the door but stopped short as soon as I rounded the corner. “Billy.”

He stood in the doorway, fists at his sides. Jasper lay face-down on the floor, unconscious, a little decorative side table smashed beneath him. Billy looked at me. “I thought he was that thug from the other night.” His eyes travelled up and down my body. He smiled. “You look good, Dani.”

“You thought a butler looked like Co – the guy from the restaurant? Are you blind?”

“I wasn’t going to take any chances. The bastard threatened to break every bone in my body… with a tire iron,” Billy said, looking nervously over my shoulder. “Is he here?”

“You need to leave.”

“Don’t be like that, baby.”

“I’m not your baby, Billy. You need to leave.”

He stepped over Jasper. “I wanted to apologize for the way I acted the other night.” He took another step towards me.

“Apology accepted. Now go.”

“Baby, I just want to talk.” Another step closer.

I took a step back, watching his eyes. His voice was calm but his eyes couldn’t hide his true feelings. We had danced this dance too many times. I knew what was coming.

“Dani –” He charged towards me suddenly. I turned and ran.

“Don’t make me hurt you,” Billy yelled, running after me into the living room.

I picked up a lamp and threw it at him. It smashed against his shoulder. “I never made you hurt me, asshole. That was all you.” I didn’t know how he found me, but I knew what would happen if he got his hands on me. I ran down the hall towards Cole’s bedroom, making a possibly dangerous assumption, hoping I was right. Billy rushed towards me as I fumbled with the doorknob. If Cole was in the habit of locking his door, I was probably dead.

The knob turned and I quickly closed the door behind me, running towards the bed. No time to see about locking the door. Billy would just break it down, anyway.

I knelt by the bed as Billy hit the door like a battering ram. Splintered wood from the doorjamb flew through the air as the door flew open, slamming against the wall. He stepped into the bedroom, cheeks flushed, breathing heavy, murder in his eyes. “You’re going to regret running.”

“I doubt it,” I said, pulling a shotgun from under the bed and aiming it at him. I flicked the safety off as he stared at me, thankful for the first time that Cole was in the mafia, greatly increasing the odds of him having a weapon within reach in his bedroom.

Billy hesitated for a second, a flicker of doubt flashing through his eyes, and then it was snuffed out by the typical arrogance he so often exhibited. “You don’t have the guts.”

“Don’t bet your life on it.”

Billy laughed, jabbing his chest with his thumb. “You don’t want to mess with me, baby. I ain’t a nobody any more. I got connections.”

“Screw your connections. Get out.”

He lunged towards me. I pulled the trigger.

Almost in slow motion, Billy’s chest shredded, the anger on his face replaced by surprise. He looked at me, eyes wide with shock, as he fell to the floor. My ears were ringing from the blast but I could hear someone screaming. After a few seconds, I realized it was me.

Jasper came running down the hall, a line of blood trailing down his chin from his lip. He stopped at the door, surveying the scene before him, and then stepped over Billy. He held his hand out. “Madam?”

I looked up at him, and then dropped my eyes to Billy, a pool of blood growing large beneath him. Jasper’s hand gently wrapped around the barrel of the shotgun, and then the weapon was plucked from my hands. He laid it on the bed and then stepped towards me, reaching down to help me to my feet. He held me close, turning my face towards his chest as he walked me around the body on the floor. “You don’t need to see this,” he said gently, walking me out of the room.

Once out in the hall, Jasper reached behind him and closed the door, and then led me to the living room. “Have a seat, madam. I’ll be right back.”

I sat on the couch and looked at the wine glass sitting on the side table, glanced at the TV, showing scenes from a world that was much saner than the one I was living in at the moment. Jasper returned and handed me a glass filled with a light brown liquid. “What is it?” I asked, my voice sounding as hollow and emotionless as I felt.

“Whiskey, madam. Mr. Anderson seems to find it has a calming effect when he has been required to… get messy.”

I took a sip, winced. It burned on the way down. I took another drink, relishing anything that was able to break through the shell of numbness that was slowly wrapping around me, encasing me like a cocoon. Jasper pulled a phone from his pocket as I continued sipping my drink. He stepped away, talking quietly. A few minutes later he hung up and turned back towards me. “Did he hurt you, madam?”

“What?” Who would’ve hurt me, and then I remembered. My brain was already trying to shut it out. I shook my head. “No. He scared me, would’ve hurt me, but he didn’t.”

Jasper nodded, reached into his pocket for a handkerchief, and dabbed at the blood on his lip and chin.

“I’m sorry he hurt you,” I said.

Jasper smiled, wincing from the pain. “I’m quite fine, madam, but thank you.”

“Billy –” I began.

“The situation is being taken care of,” Jasper interrupted. “No need to concern yourself any further with it.”

“He broke Cole’s door.” For some reason, that seemed important. Maybe it was just something to think about that didn’t have to do with blood or guns or dead bodies.

“That will also be taken care.”

I nodded. Of course. Cleaners. That’s what they were called in the movies. I wondered if that’s what those people were really called. I looked over at Jasper, pouring another glass of whiskey at the bar. He would probably know, but it didn’t seem important enough to bother him with. He already had a murder to deal with.

I finished my drink and Jasper immediately plucked the empty glass from my hand, offering me a new one. I accepted it, quickly taking another drink, enjoying the now-familiar burn. “I’m one of them now.” I said to nobody in particular.

“I beg your pardon, madam?’

I motioned down the hall with the glass, sloshing whiskey on the couch. I was as bad as Marietta. “I’m one of them now. Family. A stone-cold killer.” I slammed down the rest of the drink, instantly regretting it as the slow burn in my throat became a four-alarm fire raging out of control. I choked, gasping for air. Jasper immediately ran to the bar and returned with a glass of water. I snatched it from him – spilling some of it to go along with the spilled whiskey – and drank half the glass in one swallow.

“If I may be so bold, madam,” Jasper said as I caught my breath, “There is a very big difference between a stone-cold killer and a person doing what they must to survive.”

I looked up at Jasper. “I don’t want Cole to know about this.”

Jasper frowned. “I can assure you that Mr. Anderson will understand.”

I shook my head. “No. Cole doesn’t find out. Period.”

Jasper nodded as someone knocked on the door. I froze. “Relax,” the butler said, heading for the door. “It’s just the people I called.”

“Make sure they know not to tell Cole,” I called out after him. Cole’s Rugrat was a murderer now, but he didn’t need to know that. I laid my head back on the couch and closed my eyes, suddenly feeling tired. I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up to find out all of this was just a bad dream. Well… not all of it; just the part that happened after I got back here.

I wanted to go back to those precious moments in the back of the limo, or even earlier, when shopping with Abri; just two crime wives out shopping and having a good time. I chuckled softly. Who was I kidding? If I could choose, I’d pick the limo with Cole every time. Shopping with Abri had been fun but lunchtime with Cole took fun to a whole different level.

I felt somebody sit next to me on the couch and jerked awake, not even realizing I had fallen asleep. Cole looked at me, a gentle smile on his face, the loosened tie around his neck giving him a sexy devil-may-care look. The windows behind him showed nothing but darkness. It was evening. I had been out for hours. He rested his hand on my leg. “So how was your day?”