Concealment (The Cassano Series Book 1) (17 page)

Victoria

My hair is thrown up into a messy bun before one swipe of pink gloss goes across my bruised lips.

I’m late for my night out with Cicely. Adrian and I talked for hours and made out on his bed until my lips were sore, but he didn’t try to sleep with me.

I think he wanted to ensure I was fully recovered from my hangover first. The problem arose when I needed to leave. He dragged that out a good hour, so here I am late.

I could tell he worried about me being out, but as long as I’m not drunk, he has nothing to worry about. He would feel sorry for the person who tried to mess with me if he saw them after the fact.

Cicely sends a text, stating she’s in front of my apartment, so I hurry out the door.

“Hi, stranger,” she says after I slide into the car.

“Hi, and I’m sorry again that I disappeared for a while. I feel like all I’ve been doing lately is apologizing.”

“Who else have you been saying sorry to?”

“Reggie and some other men who have turned my world upside down.”

I wait for Cicely to take a glimpse at me, and sure enough, she grins broadly.

“Men plural? Damn, you have been busy the last few weeks.”

“I’m only interested in one of them.”

“Better than none. I was beginning to worry you were going to settle on your strange relationship with Reg.” She glances over, visibly panicked. “It’s not Reggie, right, and where to, by the way?”

“Um, no it’s not Reg, and let’s skip Stopper’s tonight. I’m not in the mood to deal with the guys from the station. I imagine a lot of them will be there on a Saturday night.”

“I’m wearing these tight ass shorts because I thought I was seeing Ben. He rubs my leg under the table when I sit next to him at the bar.”

I examine my friend, and she’s in tiny, white shorts and an orange, scoop-neck t-shirt. Stopper’s isn’t the finest establishment, so even on a Saturday night, we don’t have to dress up.

“Ben hits on you?”

“Yes, and I don’t mind. I’m waiting for him to try to rub something else.”

“Cicely! I have to work with him. I don’t want that image in my head.”

“Hey, I can’t live with the dry spell you’re willing to endure.”

She’s correct there. Cicely and I have been friends since high school. She’s an EMT and a bit abrasive. I love her, but guys seem intimidated by her, even more so than they are with me. I think because I’m quieter.

She never gives off the vibe she needs a man other than for sex, so I imagine it’s why she hasn’t settled down.

Craving pizza, she drives to Montesano’s Italian Restaurant off the Strip. One piece will be all I can stomach after drinking last night.

She orders the Pizza Fresca, which is meatless, to help me out.

“Why in the hell did you get trashed last night? That’s not like you.”

“I know.” I pull out my phone. “Just look at these selfies. You know I was drunk when I took photos of myself, especially in front of a public bathroom mirror.”

Scrolling through them, she begins laughing.

“Oh. My. Word. Look at that dress, girlfriend. When did you start wearing evening gowns?”

My phone is handed back before she’s fluffing her short blonde strands. It’s the same cute hair that gave me the idea for wearing wigs at Hotel Submission.

“It’s a long story. Let me start from the beginning …”

Theo

“Can I have a piece of your gum, Uncle Simon?” Miranda asks him in her high-pitched, seven year old voice.

“Uh, not this gum, doll-face,” he replies.

“Uncle Simon is trying not to smoke nasty cigarettes, so that special gum helps him.”

She scrunches her nose. “I’m glad you aren’t smoking those stinky things. They will hurt you.” Her words and tone admonish as she scowls at him, so I can’t help but chuckle.

“Great, another member of this family who is going to lecture me.”

“Miranda, go see if Mommy needs help with Elijah.” Without a word, she’s skipping out of the room, her thick, auburn hair swaying behind her.

“What brings you here on a Saturday? After Elijah shit on you, I thought it would be a while.”

“Ha ha, funny. I need to talk to you about Noah Sanders.”

“Then we need to go out on the patio.”

Simon follows me outside, and we take a seat. I stare in the distance at the city view and take a drink of my iced tea.

“He leaked a little more information about the arms dealings to me,” my brother says too excitedly.

“I don’t know about this, Simon. We’re risking a lot already with the drug purchases.”

“I can handle him. He said he’s only dealing drugs, but I mentioned how I was looking for a connection to buy up some guns. He told me to let him check into it.”

“What did you tell him you need them for?”

“We own a casino. He totally believes we’re doing some illegal things on the side besides the poker games. I’m going to do only small purchases, so he doesn’t get suspicious.

“My goal is to keep gaining his trust, getting him to leak more and more to me about the bigger arms trafficking going on down in Jaurez.”

I look toward our back door. “Simon, Karen cannot find out about any of this. Never mention it. She already struggles with the games going down the way they do.”

“I won’t, bro.”

“Then why did you come here on a Saturday instead of telling me this at work?”

“I also wanted to talk to you about Adrian. He and Vicky had a blowup at Rick Jacobs’s party last night. He was insanely jealous of her being there as Rick’s date.

“Zev said she showed up at Caged, got drunk off her ass, and ended up at Adrian’s. I think she’s quitting her job, so she can date him.”

“And once again, why do I need to hear this today?”

Simon looks out over our backyard and taps his foot. “I was thinking maybe if he dates her, he might come around to forgiving Aggie, which means he might see her and Mom again.”

“How are the two tied together?”

“I don’t know. I caught him looking hard at a photo of Aggie in his office, and I doubt he was doing that shit before he met this Vicky.”

I feel the heaviness in my chest as it tightens. Simon wants us all to be together as a family. You’d think he wouldn’t be attached to Mom since he received the least attention from her.

Instead, he adores her, harboring the least disappointment since Denise being mentally ill is mostly all he remembers.

He also latched onto our sister, Aggie, and hates that she’s back in New Jersey and not here with us. He believes Adrian holds the key to getting her to move to Vegas.

“Leave it alone for now. If an opportunity arises, I’ll discuss it with him, but I think it should be me.”

Simon’s gaze shifts from the horizon to the concrete below his feet. He stares intently, his shoe tapping even faster. I kick his leg under the table.

“Stay and have dinner with us. I’m sure the kids would like it.”

“OK, sure, but I’m going to need a drink to handle Mir. She’s wild.”

“Hmff … like some other little squirt I knew.”

After standing to go back into the house, I mess with my brother’s hair, and he punches my arm as he flips it back in place. I love the loyalty in this family.

Ultimately, it’s what drove Adrian away from his twin, but I believe they will be close to each other again one day.

Victoria

Adrian:
How are you feeling?

Me:
Much better.

Adrian:
Then come stay with me tonight, and be prepared for me to touch you. No vomiting or passing out allowed.

I giggle at the table of the restaurant.

“Who gets credit for that grin?”

“Adrian Cassano wants me to come stay with him tonight. I like him a lot, Cicely, but I’m afraid of what the future holds.”

“You never fear anything.”

“Until now, I’ve always felt my heart was protected. Adrian has somehow stolen a piece, and that lack of control scares me more than anything in this world.”

I look back down at my phone and begin typing, fear controlling my fingertips.

Me:
Let me think about it.

Adrian:
Victoria, no more bullshit. I’m making you mine tonight, so get your superbly shaped ass over here, or I’ll be at your apartment. Take your pick, J. B.

My grin, as wide as the Grand Canyon, illustrates my happiness.

“Girl, I’ve never seen you smile like that. Let’s get you out of here, so at least one of us can get laid tonight.”

***

His smile is a mixture of “I’m happy to see you” and “I’ve been waiting to rip your clothes off” when I spot him in the lobby of Hotel Submission.

He holds my hand snugly as we step into the private elevator to ride up to his penthouse.

There is no Charles or Sampson operating it as Adrian holds his thumbprint on the activation pad.

Leaning back against the wall, he spreads his legs out and clutches my waist. Hands show their determination in a tight squeeze and yank that bring me to him in one swift move.

Gasping, I cling to the front of his royal blue shirt.

“I’ve had enough practice with self-restraint the last few weeks, Victoria. I’m over it, so I hope you’re prepared.”

“You’re my boss for another week, Mr. Cassano.” I end my witty remark with a smirk, but he doesn’t play along as his forehead presses to mine.

“Then I’m fucking my employee.” His lips devour mine, and the intensity of the passion between us has me falling farther against his firm frame.

Solidly, I clutch his shirt, compelled to be closer to a man I should be holding at a safe distance.

His tongue is slick along mine, strokes urgent yet skillfully placed, and I’m longing to be the subject of his dexterity test.

The sultriness from his body and mouth create an image in my mind of his scorching breath bathing my skin.

The elevator stops, and he groans against my lips with disapproval. I strive for air while the yearning for Adrian overruns my own restraint.

Plunging my tongue back into his mouth, the doors close again, but we don’t begin moving. One of his hands shoves into my hair as the other clenches my ass, our tongues tangled wildly.

After several seconds, he pulls away.

“God, I have to get you in my bed.”

“Please say you’re fucking me soon.” I’m dizzy and breathless, out of control, and nothing has ever felt more right.

“Absolutely, baby. More than once.” Pushing me forward, he stands straight from the wall and picks me up.

My legs wrap around his waist, our tongues and bodies entwined as he pushes the button to reopen the elevator.

Luckily, Adrian is the only one who lives on this floor since I’m moaning with need and grinding my hips against him as he opens his door.

My purse drops from my shoulder and hits the wood floor in the foyer. My flip flops are easily thrown off next.

Desperation is not a precise enough word for what my body feels at this moment. Pulling my mouth free from his, I lean back enough to pull my black top over my head and unhook my bra.

Adrian holds me up, his fingers digging into the denim over my ass cheeks. His possessive gaze doesn’t drop to my breasts after I free them from the black lace.

It’s anchored to mine as if he’s trying to express to me everything he’s feeling.

Our mouths collide, tongues darting and stroking while he hurries us down the hallway. My back slams against the closed bedroom door.

“Fuck, sorry, baby.”

“Don’t stop.”

His nose dips into my chest and glides up my neck as I reach down behind me to turn the knob on the door. “I might smell like pizza.”

“I love Italian food.”

I’m smiling as I’m lowered onto the bed. My jeans are undone and slipped off my legs.

Buttons fly from his shirt before it’s jerked off, and I don’t know of anything as equally hot other than my back slamming against his bedroom door.

His jeans and boxers are removed in seconds, but then he stops and stares down at my body. His is remarkable, standing bare before me. All urgency has vanished as a hand gradually sweeps through his shiny hair.

Gnawing on the corner of my lip, I search his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. You’re fucking beautiful, and I’m having a look.”

“That’s sweet and all, but we’re past the ‘look but don’t touch’ stage. It’s ‘hurry up and pleasure your employee’ hour, or as your brother would say, ‘time to be
friendly
.’”

Adrian’s head tilts back during a chuckle, but he’s soon giving me a forewarning look.

“Hell, no. I’m taking my time with you, and if you think I’m bossy outside of the bedroom, you have no idea what you’re in for in here.”

His fists shove into the mattress, causing my body to dip into the bed. He leans over me, and I can’t stop staring at his biceps and the bunched muscles of his shoulders as his nose skirts up my stomach.

“Adrian,” I whisper. Heat rolls over my body like I imagined, and his mouth hasn’t even touched the skin. I might explode on contact.