Carmine

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I careen through the partying people in the spacious club as the bass pumps in my ears, crossing the center of the black and white tiled dance floor before going up the staircase to the balconied second floor. Irritated and unsatisfied, I rake a hand through my hair and order a water at the bar. While waiting for my drink, I recall that I know the girl from downstairs from when I caught her at the back entrance a week ago.

Shifting toward the balcony railing, I watch the people below dancing as purple laser lights flash around them. The volume of the music lowers when the countdown to ring in the new year begins.

To my absolute astonishment, the girl – who happens to be the first female who’s ever had the nerve to chastise me – comes marching up the stairs I just came from and stands in front of me in a strapless dress that flares at her hips. The lights brighten for a few seconds, and I only now note her exotic features. I’ve fucked women from all over the world, but I have no idea if she’s Hispanic, Indian, or maybe a mixed race? She has a smooth, heart-shaped face and layered, wavy jet-black hair that cascades over one bare shoulder, the long strands flowing over her perky breast.

“Ten, nine, eight...” everyone yells.

I let out a sigh, truly not in the mood for this. “Did you come to ruin the rest of my night as well?”

Her round, greyish eyes thin before she blinks and blinks. Thank god, she’s stunned silent.

“You’re not supposed to be up here, are you...” I start to ask.

“Three, two, one. Happy New Year!” the crowd shouts.

The music turns up again as I say, “Happy New Year,” and casually lean back with one elbow on the railing, still waiting for her to speak.

Her brows furrow and she hisses, “What?”

Insolently, I wave a hand around. “It’s midnight, so Happy New Year. Your social skills need some fine-tuning.”

I’m cut off with a finger pointed at my chest, and I can’t help but smirk, which deepens her scowl.

“My social skills are just fine, Carmine. I can’t believe I actually came up here to give you something back, but because you’re such an ass, I’m keeping it – I want you to know the consequences of your spoiled behavior.”

I freeze and open my mouth but close it. Then I open it again and give my head a little shake. “What...What the hell are you talking about?” I stammer, appalled at her audacity. In the line of work I’m in, I’m not used to being spoken to in such a patronizing way. And I despise the fact that she knows my name. This woman has definitely one-upped me.

“I’ve been fired,” she tells me, and I straighten in shock before attempting to mask it, a play of emotions ranging from guilt to irritation to salacious curiosity chasing each other inside me.

“That wasn’t my intention. I’ll talk to the manager,” I suggest.

“What good will that do? Who do you think you are?” She throws her hands in the air, immensely frustrated, which, in turn, aggravates me.

I try not to groan, because this is getting tedious. “Look, girl, I offered you my help, so tone it down...” I warn her.

But instead of making her cave, it sets her off, and she dumbfounds me with her vehemence. “You have no idea what you’ve done, boy. When you went downstairs, did you know that we could get fired if we were caught with you?! The damage has been done now; there’s nothing you can do.” With that, she struts away while my gaze wanders for a moment to the sway of her curvaceous hips.

On some level, her words bother me, but since remorse is an emotion I rarely experience, I let the boy comment slide. In truth, I’m not aware of any non-fraternization rule, and it figures that when I finally let the brunette who’s been after me for a while seduce me, it leads to an altercation with a different woman. Struggling to not let her bait me, I follow her, snaking down the stairs to the first floor, but she’s pushing through the throng with agile speed. Right before she reaches the door, she turns and lifts her hand, letting a silver watch dangle from her fingers, and I stop dead in my tracks. Immediately, I feel for my watch around my wrist as our eyes lock from across the room. The smile she gives me is slow and crooked and mischievous. And infuriates me to no end.

She fucking stole my watch!

Then she opens the door and dashes out, and this night, which started out boring, has now become something else entirely. Determined, I zigzag around the people blocking my path and go out the same way she did, exiting the building at the end of the hallway and searching left and right down the street but not getting a single glimpse of her.

“Dammit!” She’s remarkably fast; she has to be a runner.

Returning inside, I catch sight of the manager on my way to the elevator, so I call out, “Tez?”

He looks back before turning and meeting me halfway.

“Did you fire the girl with long black hair, Tez?”

“Yes, she’s not allowed to associate with the men from upstairs.”

“I don’t think she even knew who I was, and I had no idea you’d fire the women downstairs for socializing with me. I thought Adriano just didn’t prefer it.”

“Your brother doesn’t want them getting involved with you; it could cause unwanted difficulties. This is one regulation Adriano won’t budge on,” he explains.

“What’s her name?”

“Eva Conley.”

“And how old is she?”

“She’s twenty.”

“I want all the information you have on her.”

“That’s not much. You know we don’t keep files for the sex club business. Henry checked to make sure she’d never had any run-ins with the cops, and since her record was clean, I was allowed to hire her. You need anything else? I have to get back downstairs.”

“No, that’s all. You can go,” I finish before retracing my steps through the club and up to the corner of the second floor where the boss’s office is located.

Meanwhile, I text one of my captains to get Eva Conley’s address from Tez, go to her house to pick her up, and call me when he has her.

Once I’m inside the spacious black and white furnished office, I go into the adjoining security room where footage of the entire club is displayed on a large screen. Luckily, seated behind the computer is just the man I need, our IT guy, who’s the best hacker in town.

“Henry, aren’t you here with my sister?” I ask since he’s dating her.

“Yeah, Mary’s in the club with the rest of the family, but I had to do something for Adriano. He’s on his way up with the other men; we have a problem at the docks.” He quickly finishes typing on the keyboard and stands up after flinging his black rimmed glasses onto the desk. “Your brother and sister were looking for you. Happy New Year, man.”

“Happy New Year. Before Adriano gets here, I need you to find some additional information about someone you already investigated for Tez.”

“Who?”

“Eva Conley. She worked in the sex club.”

His brows hit his hairline, yet he doesn’t probe. Instead, he explains, “So I would have done a check to make sure she doesn’t have a record. If I’m going to look into her personal life, I need to know more about her because Eva Conley is probably a very common name.”

“That’s all I have; Tez can tell you anything else he knows about her,” I reply, and he nods just as we hear voices on the other side of the door, and we move back into the office as Adriano, Luca, and Logan are walking in.

My older brother, Adriano, claims his seat behind his polished glass desk which is situated in front of the arched windows covered by black floor-to-ceiling curtains that are drawn shut. The only light comes from the giant chrome standing floor lamps located in opposite corners of the room and the brightness of the immaculate white walls.

Together, we form the five highest ranks of the Chicago Syndicate – Adriano is the boss, Luca is his underboss, Logan is head captain, Henry is our hacker, and I act as Consigliere/counselor. The Syndicate rules the import and distribution of the purest heroin and cocaine in the state of Illinois, and we have a legion of Capi/captains working below us who instruct our soldiers to take care of the street work.

Our center of operations is here at Club 7, which is a successful dance club in the Chicago Loop that we use as a front to launder money, and the secret underground sex club is where a large portion of the drugs are sold.

“Carmine, Happy New Year,” Adriano greets me as the four of us surround him.

Even though I’m twenty-six and Adriano’s thirty-one, we have a strong resemblance to each other, both of us being just over six feet tall with longish brown hair and the same brown eyes.

“Happy New Year,” I return as he takes his cigs from the desk drawer, fishes one out, and then tosses the pack to me opposite him.

I snag it in the air with one hand and shake one out, capturing it between my teeth and reaching for the lighter when Adriano glides it across the desk after lighting his own smoke.

“We were waiting for you at the bar; the girls are still downstairs.”

As I release a breath, smoke wafts up from my nostrils. “I’ll say hi to them later. What’s going on? Henry said there’s an issue at the docks?”

“Capo John contacted Logan to tell him that the worker at the dock held our shipment. I pay a shitload of money to Roman Bello for his men to let my cargo through every month, and this is the first time we’ve encountered an obstacle.”

“So what happened to it?”

“It’s still at the damn docks, and I need those kilos of heroin and cocaine in order to meet demand. John can’t get a straight answer from any of Roman’s soldiers as to why the shipment was held, and Roman’s smart enough to make sure that no one can reach him directly, so I’ve had to agree to a meet. Only, he’s abroad and won’t be back for a week.” He pauses. “And since I requested a meet immediately, it’ll have to be next weekend at one of his infamous parties...”

I realize all too damn well where this is going.

“...and I need you to take care of it without me because I’m not going there and igniting my wife’s wrath. It’s the only way to speak to Roman right away and get things smoothed over fast. This is the most important aspect of our business, and without a man at the docks, we have no other way to import drugs on the down low, so tread carefully with him. We need him to remain an ally.”

“Fine, but I want backup.” I glance at Luca to my right.

But Luca holds up his hand, touching his wedding ring with his thumb. “I have a wife too – don’t look at me.”

Logan shakes his head. “My fiancée wouldn’t like it either – I’m also out.”

Lastly, my eyes move to Henry as he smiles and relays, “I’m sure you don’t want your sister’s boyfriend to go with you...”

“You guys are so whipped.” I grin, yet a part of me is beginning to wonder what it would be like to not feel so lonely at night in this mafia world. To have a goal in life other than working for the anarchic Syndicate. “So I guess I’m going alone...”

“Just make sure to find out why my shipment has been delayed and wasn’t unloaded immediately. Get a feel for what game he’s playing – if he has an ulterior motive. Henry has intercepted the last payment we made to him.”

“Okay. I’ll attend the party.” I don’t really have a choice since I, as the Syndicate’s counselor, must attend all meetings of this type.

When my phone chimes in, I grab it from my pocket and read a message from the captain stating that Eva Conley doesn’t reside at the address Tez had on file.

Fuck!

“Let’s go back down,” Luca proposes, and as everyone follows him out, I stop Henry by his arm.

“When can you get me that info on Eva?”

“I’ll get on it first thing tomorrow and call you when I know more.”

“Thanks, man,” I conclude before we exit.

Unfortunately, the rest of my evening is ruined as I obsess over the whereabouts of Eva Conley and my watch.

***

A week later, on a fog-shrouded Friday night, I’m parking my metallic black BMW in the driveway of Roman’s modern, glass single-story mansion that’s located in Lincoln Park, and there’s still no trace of Eva. She’s vanished, with no known address, and as far as Henry found in City Hall’s system, she has no living family. Therefore, all I know is that I’m looking for a twenty-year-old who has no ties to anyone.

But for now, I have to concentrate on talking to Roman. So I get my bag from the trunk and ascend the stone staircase into a spotless white foyer where a blonde greets me with a cheeky smile. Many people are milling about as I shuck off my tuxedo jacket and give her my shoulder holster that holds my Smith & Wesson, along with my piece of luggage.

“You’ll get your gun back when you leave, Mr. Montesi. Your belongings will be taken to room three,” she informs as I nod distractedly before continuing on inside.

Every year, the rich come here to fuck, do drugs, and party, but I’m not planning on staying for the entire weekend, which is how long this debauched gathering will take place.

Although I don’t recognize any of the people who stroll down the long corridor toward the double doors at the end of it, I fall in behind them and enter an opulent sunken living room with glass walls that reveal an immense garden and pool. The fireplace is lit, the room dark, and the rich scent of spices is in the air. Crystal vases hold large bouquets of flowers that immediately begin to make my nose itch, and I look for somewhere to stand as far away from them as possible.

On the surface, the crowd of more than one hundred people appear to be upper class, in their black tie attire, sitting on and around the velvet sofa sets in the center of the room. Then there are the exquisitely glamorous women roaming around. Women of all different shapes and sizes – all sexy in their own way, wearing figure-hugging dresses and being overly flirtatious, causing me to assume that most of them are escorts.

Sauntering forward, I snag a glass from a passing waiter’s tray and suddenly stop when I notice the curvy backside of a woman in a floor-length burgundy dress, the tips of her hair ending just above a well-rounded ass. And under the light of the chandelier, her hair is the most unique shade of midnight black, a color I’ve seen only once before. She turns her head, and I recognize her youthful face as one I’m most likely never to forget – the little thief who has me running after her.

What the fuck is Eva Conley doing here? Gripping my drink, I almost break the glass, wondering what I’ve walked into.

She’s standing among a group of men, perusing the room with a perceptive expression, and her gaze passes me before it stops and slowly travels back to my face. I keep my stare locked on her, and her eyes widen as I determinedly move in her direction, halting right beside her. She’s neither short nor tall, but somewhere roughly in the middle, and being this close to her, I note that she has a small dusting of freckles on her nose.

“Gentlemen.” I shake their hands as they greet me before turning to another girl who’s joined the group, and then I smile down at Eva – she doesn’t return the sentiment and starts to search for an escape.

“I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced, Miss Conley,” I say, and she finally looks up at me through her long lashes, the swell of her small breasts on display in her revealing low-cut dress.

She arcs a perfectly plucked brow but remains silent.

Taking a sip of my drink, I gawk at her over the rim of my glass since I’m enjoying how uncomfortable my attention is making her. But when I realize it’s champagne, I lower it and set it on the table beside me because I need to stay clear-headed.

“Stop ogling me,” she snarls in a husky voice, low enough for only me to hear.

The corner of my mouth rises. “Why so shy now? You were so feisty on New Year’s.” When she spins around to leave, I snatch her wrist in one hand and seize her elbow, slipping behind her and leaning close to her ear to hiss, “I want my watch, Eva.”

She straightens her back, but I keep her pulled against me, and just a hint of a sweet coconut fragrance wafts into my nose.

“Where’s my watch?” I demand, jostling her once when she doesn’t respond. There’s something different about the timid way she’s acting now compared to her provocative behavior last week.

Her lips tremble. “Let me go and I’ll get your watch later. Let me go. Now...” She grits her teeth as if it’s such a huge bother to utter her next words, “...please.”

“Who are you?” I muse aloud.

“Who am I? Who are you? Are you stalking me?” she whisper-shouts.

“Me? You’re stalking me; it’s much too coincidental that you’re here.”

Her brows pull together and her confusion feeds mine, especially when a deep voice from behind us says, “I see you’ve met my girlfriend.”

After I quickly release her, we turn in unison and are confronted with Roman with his dirty blond fade haircut, his steely blue stare shifting from Eva to me.

His girlfriend?

Much to my chagrin, I’m once again absolutely perplexed by the turn of events. Events that Eva seems to be right in the middle of. She was working for us, yet she’s dating Roman? We’re being double-crossed, which isn’t a position I enjoy being in, and the more I learn about Eva, the more my anger toward her intensifies.

Not to mention, I’m in the lion’s den alone – without backup or my gun.