Page 72 of Reckless Woman
Rick stills and straightens. For a moment I think he’s going to hit me harder than I hit Dante yesterday.Well what d’ya know?He likes this woman far more than he’s letting on.
“Do you really think I’d entice ‘some broad’ into the devil’s lair?” he says eventually. “Anyway, what the hell were we supposed to do for six hour plus? Play chess?”
“You’re playing with his patience,” I warn, sensing the storm clouds gathering over this evening. “And there isn’t a whole lot of that to spare right now.”
“I thought fatherhood was meant to bring joy and happiness? Good thing I bought him a gift.”
It didn’t to him.
Rick’s ex-wife recently dropped the bombshell that his three-year-old son isn’t his. That kind of revelation does more than shatter a man’s ego; it sends him running into the arms of the nearest bartender to tape it back together.
A bartender who still looks Russian.
“He told me about your kid,” I blurt, without thinking. “Tough break. I’m sorry.” I mean it genuinely, but he doesn’t take it that way.
“Shove that fake sympathy up your ass, Grayson,” he snarls. “Go bore your new wife with it. I’m not interested.”
“Jesus,” I mutter, taken aback by his reaction. “Try and keep the attitude zipped up with your pants for the next hour, or so. Eve’s back at the house, and she’s expecting you.”
* * *
I’m lockedin Dante’s office for the rest of the day, with too much bourbon and heated speculation.
The Italians are giving us hell in New York, and it looks like they have generous benefactors to fund their mischief. Dante’s convinced it’s a Bratva uprising led by Benni Morozov, the guy with links to Sevastien Petrov’s old organization. He’s convinced that he’s the same bastard who’s behind Vindicta and Viviana, too.
I’m still placing my bets.
To me, it’s a chain of events that’s too personal—designed to strike at the heart of us, and then ripple outward to affect the cartel and our other business interests. The defection of his niece is big news already. Our stronghold over South America is starting to look shaky. Dante’s dragging his heels, but he knows, sooner or later, he’ll have to make the move out there. Either that, or he promotes one ofLos Cinco Grandesto oversee and enforce Santiago Cartel law on his behalf.
There’s one problem there. Loyalty is in short supply, and he doesn’t trust anyone beyond the confines of his island anymore.
We debate and we drink like we’ve always done, but Vindicta’s motives have us chasing our tails and fraying our tempers. It’s formed a discord within our organization that doesn’t escape any of us.
* * *
I don’t seeAnna again until dinnertime.
I find her sitting alone at the oval table on the balcony terrace, staring out at the ocean with thoughts that are just as deep. She’s wearing some kind of purple sundress and she’s tied her long blonde hair into a high ponytail. The end result is lots of exposed tan skin on display and a twitching cock in my pants.
Unable to resist, I drop a kiss on her bare shoulder to announce myself.
She flinches.
I regret it.
“I’ve been looking for you,” I say tersely.
“And now you’ve found me.” She stares out at the ocean again.
“We need to talk.”
She sighs. “I think it’s a little late for clichéd conversations, don’t you?”
Holding my temper, I yank out the chair next to her. “It’s time to deal with this and move on, Anna. You’re my wife. We won’t have kids, but our lives will be—”
“Sure.” She swings her face toward me and it’s just as expressionless as mine usually is. “Whatever you say.”
My hand clenches into a fist. If everyone else wasn’t kissing cheeks and ass just beyond the bi-fold doors, I’d be bending her over this table and making her feel me again, reminding her that we’re so much more than the listing ship she thinks we are.