Chapter 7
THE BOYS—Val, D, and Matteo—walked in as I stood with Dan and Brett at my side in the rush. I would have liked to have Diego on speaker for this meeting, but that wouldn’t be happening in this room. The glares from Catarina’s brothers and cousin stabbed me like knives, but I would deal with their problems later.
“I got a call from my ex-wife. Apparently, my uncle paid her a visit in California,” I told the men at the table.
“Zan’s on the West Coast?” Matteo asked with puzzlement on his face. I hadn’t told anyone of the meeting with Vinny yet, as I kept that close to the vest. It was now time to get it all on the table.
“He skipped town and headed to my home turf.”
“What did he want with your ex?” Val questioned calmly for once, surprising me.
“That’s the thing. Nothing except to call me and tell me he stopped by.” I tilted my head. “So, he wants me to know where he is, but I already knew because he hit up Vinny to join him, and Vinny told me. I know Zan. He has something brewing there, and I need to get back and find out what it is.”
Fuck, that was the last thing I wanted to do. Even though I knew it was coming, I didn’t realize it would be this soon.
“We’ll look on this end,” Matteo stated firmly.
“Good.” I rubbed my hands over my face in frustration. “Zan appears to be unstable. With that shit with Johnny and now disappearing to California and visiting my ex, I don’t know what his next move is going to be. I need you guys to up security on Catarina and Kiera. I don’t know what the hell he is capable of at the moment, but I need to get there and find him.”
“You staying here tonight?” D asked, looking more self-assured than I had seen in a long time. He might actually be growing up, and the fact he could keep his temper in check was a deep plus in comparison to his brother.
“Yes, Dan and Brett will be with me, and we’ll set the alarms at the house. I know the girls go to work tomorrow. What’s security like there?” I pressed my fingers into my nose and breathed in and out calmly. Catarina was my first priority. She would be safe at all costs.
Matteo, Vino’s oldest, spoke up. “Security is tight, but I’ll put a call in to the head and make sure it’s stepped up. There are two main entrances to the building, and both have guards. As soon as a person steps foot in the building, their face is digitally recorded into the computer software that runs for any recognition, and there is always someone manning those computers. Most of the time, two people. People go through metal detectors and a 3D machine that circles them and can pick up a speck of metal up their asshole. State of the art.”
I expected nothing less with Matteo’s knowledge. Sal and Vino had put most of their boy’s good heads on their shoulders.
“Good. What about meetings offsite?”
“Not allowed. All meetings happen on-site. No exceptions. If Billy Billionaire wants to invest in Lambardoni, he comes to us. We never go to him.” Nice.
“Do Catarina or Kiera leave the office during the day?” One might call this overprotective; I called it diligent.
“They may go out to lunch sometimes, but normally their assistant picks it up for them,” Matteo answered. “I’ll make calls to make sure they keep their asses there.”
I grunted. “Great. This isn’t gonna be pretty, and boys, just because he’s my uncle, that doesn’t mean shit when you break trust. My loyalties are to this family.”
They nodded in understanding.
It was after two in the morning before we broke the meeting. I knew I would have to call Vino first thing in the morning to update him. Scraper and Dune showed everyone out while I stopped Dan and Brett.
“We stay here.”
They grunted then headed to one of the many spare rooms in the place.
“No. She said for you to leave,” Scraper chimed in. The man had fucking balls that was for sure, but at least he was loyal to Catarina. I had to give him that.
I got in his face, our noses almost touching. “I’m staying and so are the boys. Shit’s going down. Even if it wasn’t, you couldn’t stop me from being with my girl.” As I said those last two words, I mentally froze. Yep, fucked. Maybe I could just throw her over my shoulder and take her with me. Yeah right. Sal’d have my ass in a sling for that one.
I walked up the staircase then turned the handle to Catarina’s door. Locked. I smiled and pulled out my phone, sending Dan a quick text. Seconds later he was at my side, handing me what I needed then dashing back off. I picked the lock with ease, opened the door, and my eyes darted to the bed. I blinked.
She wasn’t there. I moved to the bathroom, nothing. Damn hellcat was what she was. She was livid after the call from Maria and she had every right to be. Hell, I was pissed about it. It fucking ruined what was one of the best nights of my life and that’s not even including the sex. I was mesmerized by everything that was her. The way she glowed in the moonlight, her hair shining. The way she fought me at feeding her briefly and I knew why. It was exactly why I did it. I wanted to show her without being balls deep inside of her that I cared about her, that I wanted to get to know her better. That what we had, this connection that I knew she felt, I felt it too. Then one damn phone call ruined it all.
Kiera. She had to be with Kiera. I knew she hadn’t left the house, because Scraper was here. She went nowhere without him. It left either the spare bedrooms that were a possibility, or Kiera’s room. After what happened, I’d put a shit load of money it was Kiera.
I called Dan. “Which room is Kiera’s?” I asked as I moved across the expanse of the house. It really was pretty huge for just two women.
“Second room on the left.” He said and I shut off the phone, putting it in my back pocket.
I opened the door and two figures popped up from the bed as I entered into the room.
“Don’t fucking move,” was growled from the bed as two guns were pointed at me, bringing me to an immediate halt.
As I raised my hands in front of me, showing I had nothing, Catarina wiped her face, seeming to clear the sleepiness.
“Jag?” She paused. “What’s going on?” She lowered the gun and rested her hand on Kiera’s arm, lowering hers.
“Came to get you and take you to bed.” I moved closer to the bed, seeing her hair was tousled from sleep, and her eyes were still a bit groggy.
“That’s sweet. I’m not leaving. Now go. I’m tired,” she barked and lay back down, ignoring me as she put the gun on the headboard of the bed.
Fuck that shit.
I moved swiftly, picking her up in my arms.
“What the hell are you doing?” she snarled, trying to wiggle out of my grasp, but I only gripped her more tightly. She wasn’t going fucking anywhere. No way in hell was I allowing her to spend the night here when I knew I didn’t have much time with her. I wanted her warm body against mine, where I knew I could and would keep her safe.
“We’re going to bed.”
Her movements become fiercer, but I ignored them.
I moved swiftly through the house, shutting the door to the bedroom with my foot and placing her on the bed.
“You can go now.” She glared. All of this fucking shit was because of Maria. I was sure, in her warped woman head, she was placing me in that fucker Antonio’s spot, making me a big fucking cheat. That comparison had to be a bit raw for her.
I locked the door and stripped my clothes off.
“What are you fucking doing? I said leave.” She moved up the bed to the headboard. She was trying desperately to look hard and tough, but I could see her eyes traveling up my body, and the flash of desire in her gaze was calling for me. Only me. But behind the desire was a depth of hurt that I wanted to erase.
“Bed.” I grabbed her then, before she could resist, crashed my lips to hers. The fight immediately left her limbs. Her once scratching hands were now around my neck, pulling me to her.
I moved away from her lips and stared into her beautiful blue-green eyes. “I don’t cheat. I’m a lot of fucking things, babe, but a cheat is not one of them.” Now my ex, on the other hand, couldn’t keep a dick out of her to save her life. Instead of explaining that, I crashed my lips back down to hers because that would seriously fuck up the moment.
Clothes flew, and then I was buried balls deep in Catarina. For once, everything seemed right in the world when she looked at me with those adoring beautiful eyes.
***
“Where the hell are you going?”
Catarina’s sexy as hell ass was swaying in front me, each hip thrust making my dick hard as steel.
She didn’t bother turning when she replied, “Work.” She closed the bathroom door behind her.
I definitely needed sleep, but I needed Catarina more. She was obviously still pissed off and I couldn’t have that. I jumped out of bed and turned the handle, noting it was locked. I smiled and shook my head, reaching over for my tools. Within seconds, I was in.
The bathroom was steamy from the heat of the shower. Through the glass, her silhouette stood in perfection. My dick instantly pointed north and was ready to play.
I opened the shower door to the sound of a gasp from Catarina as her hair cascaded down her back in a flawless sheet, water dripping from every single inch of her delectable body. I took the puff thing from her hands and, without a word, began to wash her body. For once, she didn’t complain.
“Turn.” I moved to her back, washed the butterfly and then moved down to her legs, the water instantly washing the soap from her body. “Hands on the tile.”
“I really don’t have time,” she started, making my hopes of her keeping quiet vanish.
“You fucking do. I need breakfast before you go.”
Her body quivered as she complied, spreading her legs and giving me a beautiful shot of her pussy. I knelt down and sunk my face into the crook of her ass then annihilated her pussy. As I licked every crease, including her asshole, she panted and mewled. It was such a fucking turn on. I raised her leg to get better access, and she gripped one of the bars in the shower tightly, balancing herself.
“Oh, God,” she moaned, throwing her head back.
When I pulled her clit into my mouth and sucked hard, her body set off as noises from Catarina filled the shower. I rose quickly and sunk into her heat. Having her surround every fucking inch of me was heaven.
The noises kept coming as I pummeled fast. My grip on her hips was so tight she would be wearing my bruises for a few days, and damn if that thought didn’t send my hips into a piston. I reached around and rubbed her clit, hard and fast, she tightened around my shaft, setting off again, and I followed.
After cleaning her up a second time, I left her to get dressed. I would love to fall back into bed, but I had shit to do and so did she. I texted Dan for my bag, which he said was by the door already. I quickly changed and headed downstairs.
Walking into the kitchen, I already smelled the hot brew I needed to awaken. Dan and Brett were at the table, gorging on cereal.
“Hey, boss,” they said in unison, continuing to eat, not skipping a beat. I grabbed a cup and sat with them.
“We’ll more than likely have to go after the meeting today, so be ready to pack shit up.”
As they nodded and continued eating, a wave of despair hit me. The previous night was more than likely the last night I would hold her in my arms. I closed my eyes and shook the thoughts from my head. I had known this was coming. It wasn’t a big deal, right? She’s just a woman. Right. Keep telling yourself that, asshole.
“Make yourself at home,” Catarina called from the hallway, looking absolutely edible in her skirt and dress shirt.
“Don’t mind if I do,” I smiled, but even I could feel it was forced.
“Look, I’ve gotta go. Kiera’s running late, and Dune’s bringing her in a bit. I have a meeting, so I gotta run.”
I moved fast, blocking her path. “I’m taking you to dinner tonight. Be ready at seven.” I couldn’t leave without one more night with her, one more way to show her that I’d be thinking about her. I knew I was changing up the plans I told the guys, but they’d deal with it because I wasn’t ready to leave her yet.
“Fine,” she huffed. I could see part of her was still wondering about Maria, but she was at least willing to give me the benefit of the doubt.
“Forget something?”
She looked over her body and at her purse, opening it up and rifling through the contents.
“Nope.” She began to move away.
Grabbing her arm, I twirled her around and kissed her beautiful lips, tasting her strawberry lip gloss, which I kept eating up.
She slowly pulled away. “I have to go.” She gave me one small peck, and then out the door she went.
I slouched down in the chair. Fuck. I could get seriously used to that.
***
“What are you going to do about this shit?” Vino questioned from the head of the table, throwing papers in front of us.
I looked briefly, but it was just more proof that Zan was trying to fuck us over.
“Take him out. I’ll get the boys and do it fast.”
“Good. And Damian?” Vino asked. Damian was Zan’s kid, and while he didn’t work directly for us, he did work for his father as an extension. If Zan was going down, so would Damian.
“Same as Zan,” I replied, lacing my fingers together in front of me.
“Have Vinny or Diego pull up any of Zan’s associates. They’ll need to be dealt with as well,” Vino snapped, obviously pissed.
I nodded, keeping my thoughts in check.
“You leave today, yeah?” Sal asked, raising his brow, and I could tell there were so many questions running through his head. I knew it was coming.
“Tonight,” I answered.
“Good. Everyone out. I want to talk to Jag.” Sal dismissed everyone except Vino.
I steadied myself, readying for what might come next. He knew I’d been staying with Catarina and with me leaving I was sure he had a lot to say.
“You tell my girl you’re leaving yet?” Sal asked as soon as the door had clicked shut. His eyes conveyed he wasn’t happy about this situation at all. That the thought of me hurting his little girl in any way pissed him off. Little did he know leaving her didn’t sit right with me either.
“I’m taking her to dinner tonight, and I’ll tell her then.” Even thinking of telling her gutted me. I wasn’t ready to leave her yet and after what happened last night it was horrible timing.
“I understand you’ve been spending your nights with her. Will there be any problems?”
Problems. Not for the business, but…
“No, sir. Everything will be fine.”
He lifted his chin in response, but I knew nothing would ever be fine again, at least for me. Not if I didn’t have Catarina in my life.