Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“Working for him? You?” Her eyebrows raise. “I find that hard to imagine.”
“And why’s that?”
“Don’t get angry, darling, it’s only that you’re much too nice.”
“You don’t know me.”
“No, perhaps not.” She tilts her head like she’s reconsidering an opinion. “It is only that Peter doesn’t seem like the kind of man to keep wounded puppies around.”
I take a breath and finish my champagne. “Maybe that’s why I’m here. I’m tired of being a wounded puppy. Maybe I’m trying to be strong for once in my life.”
“Interesting.” She taps a fingernail against her glass and raises it. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, yes? That’s the saying? To that then.” She drinks.
I stand and chat with Katarin for a little while longer and have a second glass of champagne as Peter talks to the men. I watch him speaking directly with Balaska and I know they’re talking about me and Reina and the deal. I catch Balaska’s eyes more than one: he’s a slim, austere, intense man with a stare that makes me want to burst into flames. After a while, Peter shakes his hand and comes over. “We’re finished,” he says in my ear, then to Katarin, “It was lovely seeing you.”
“Likewise, I suppose. You’re keeping this one out of trouble, yes?” She gestures toward me.
“I’m not sure I could do that if I tried.” He steers me from the group, back out the door, down the stairs, and into the main section of the club.
“What happened back there?”
“Balaska isn’t happy about your involvement.” Peter’s hand on my lower back sends a thrill deep into my core. I try to ignore it, but whenever he gets this close, it’s like my pulse doubles and I can’t think straight. We pause on the far side of the club near the door in the shadows behind a large group of single girls doing shots and laughing. “He thinks you’re a liability.”
“Did you explain to him why I’m not?”
“I told him it doesn’t matter, so long as we get the deal done.”
I nod and look away. “You never did tell me what the deal actually is, you know.”
He moves closer, his hand lingering on my hip. When I try to pull away, he stops me, staring into my eyes. “Don’t move. You’re my girl for tonight. Think of this like hiding in plain sight. There are people watching, Adrienne. People from Balaska’s family and from a dozen other families. We need to be careful.” I shiver as he grips me tighter and moves down, his big body controlling mine. His lips brush my neck and move to my cheek like he’s kissing me, but instead, he speaks. “It’s all about heroin, my darling. The French Connection. Good, pure heroin in exchange for high quality marijuana. That’s the deal we’re trying to work out.”
“That’s it? This is about drugs?”
“Drugs and money and building a new international alliance. The Russians left a vacuum and the Florakis family isn’t here to make demands anymore. That means Balaska thinks he can make a play for power and choose his own partners. Controlling the heroin trade is the first step.”
“Why you? Why not send someone from his own family to do all this?”
His fingers brush my hair back and graze down my collarbone. Each touch is electric and wild. “I’m a neutral third party.”
“Except you’re working for Balaska. Why not use his own people?”
“He doesn’t trust his own people. And yes, I’m working for him, but picture me like a contractor.” He touches down my side and along my lower back again as his mouth brushes mine. “I’m doing a job and getting paid for it. Beyond that, I owe him nothing.”
“And my sister? How’s she involved?”
“She works for Le Milieu. She’s their representative here. And I’ll admit, I’ve worked with her in the past.”
I pull back, eyes narrowed. “You what?”
“Relax,” he says, giving me a smile that makes me want to stab him in the throat. “We worked together. She had some stolen goods she wanted to move in America and my family happened to know some solid, discreet buyers. That’s all.”
I grind my jaw. “You didn’t mention that before.”
“You weren’t working for me before.” He pulls me tight against him, my hands flat on his chest. “Any more questions?”
“I think I’m done for tonight. You can let me go now.”
He holds me for a moment too long. His left hand brushes down my hip and grazes over my ass, and I’m about to tell him to go to hell, despite the cascading tingling pleasure that overwhelms my spine, before he finally releases me.
I step back and adjust my dress. The look he gives me could melt steel—he’s staring at me like he really does want to pin me back into the shadows, rip off my clothes, and feast on me.