For Cam (Chicago Syndicate Book 4) Read online

  When he swirls his tongue over my center, I lose all sense of time while sucking him. I hear Adriano groaning as I pump his cock, and I moan when his thumbs spread me and he fucks me deeper with his tongue. Grinding my pussy against his face, I arch off the desk, and his cock pops out of my mouth when I thrash my head as I explode and a million stars endlessly rain down on me. Trembling in the aftermath, I go slack as he licks me with the flat of his tongue, and after infinite quiet minutes of him slowly lapping me, I’m so sensitive I could climax again.

  Then Adriano stands up straight and kneels, cradling my head and pressing his lips to mine in an upside down kiss to entwine our tastes. It’s dirty. It’s obsessive. It’s us. I can’t help but whimper in reaction to him.

  “You’re the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted,” he whispers against my lips.

  Unluckily, we’re interrupted by a knock on the door.

  Startled, I sit up, but he swirls me around and positions himself between my legs, looping his arms around my waist.

  “It’s locked,” he says to me and then shouts, “Yes.”

  A guard speaks from the other side of the door. “Adriano, Tez called. He needs to talk to you. It’s urgent. I have him on the phone.”

  Adriano fastens his pants and drops his forehead to mine when he sees my dejected face.

  “I’ll be there in five minutes,” Adriano calls out, and then he tells me in a desirous tone, “We’re finishing this tonight, or I’m going to have the worst case of blue balls.”

  I let out a laugh and press my body into his.

  “Don’t entice me, Cam. Or I’ll quickly fuck your ass before I go.”

  I feel a grin tugging at my mouth. “Maybe I want that.”

  His hand closes around my neck with slow deliberation. “You’ll probably be the death of me.” A thumb nudges up my chin. “Aren’t you satisfied yet, Cam?”

  Smiling, I admit, “Oh god, I am.” And I jump off the desk.

  He chuckles and swats my ass when I bend down to retrieve my clothes. This is what I love most about Adriano; he’s intense and authoritative but always with a devilish charm that melts even the most jaded of hearts.

  Adriano takes my panties and pockets them with a grin. “Mine.” And he hunches down, taking my bra and dress in his hand. Then he looks up and kisses me between my legs as I caress his hair.

  With gentle efficiency, he clothes me again. As we stare at each other in this soundless moment, we don’t need words to convey our feelings.

  When I’m decent again, he sifts my hair behind my ears like he knows I want it and frames my cheeks. “What are you doing today?”

  “I have to go to the shooting range, and then I’m meeting your brother. Carmine needs me to sign some papers from James. And later tonight, I have self-defense class with Fallon. I’ll grab some dinner with her. You?”

  “I’ll be late. Meetings at the club all night.” His touch softens. “I’m taking you out to dinner this weekend. I promise.”

  “It’s a date. As long as you don’t engage with any skanks at the club,” I warn, only half kidding. We’ve had several incidents of employees flirting shamelessly with Luca and Adriano, and he knows I don’t like it.

  “Never, Cam. You’re all I need,” he assures and secures his arms around my middle.

  “I love you...” Unexpectedly, I feel his arousal prodding my stomach. “You’re still hard?”

  He doesn’t even attempt to hide his signature smirk. “I was fucking you in the ass against the window in my mind while I was dressing you.”

  I smile, gesturing toward the bulge in his pants. “I’ll go so that you can get that under control.”

  His mouth slants over mine, and he gives me a tantalizing kiss that holds a promise of what’s to come tonight, when we’re alone.

  “Don’t go anywhere without your gun,” he orders.

  “Yes, boss,” I mock salute, feeling his eyes burning into my back as I walk out the door.

  ***

  I’m in the car with Fallon next to me as we drive to Francitalia to have dinner after self-defense class.

  Fallon’s phone beeps, and when she checks it, she blurts, “Oh, shit. I accidentally also made plans with Wade tonight. Do you mind if he joins us for dinner?”

  “No, that’s fine.”

  “He’s at my apartment. Can we pick him up, or should he meet us there?” she asks.

  “We’ll be passing your building, so we might as well just pick him up.”

  “Ok, I’ll text him that we’ll be there in five minutes.”

  My phone chimes and I answer, “Hello.”

  “Cam, it’s Rosalia.” My twenty-one year old, younger half-sister, James’s other daughter.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “I’m in trouble...” she starts.

  “You’re on speaker, by the way. I’m in the car with Fallon,” I warn.

  “Anyone else?”

  “No.”

  “I need you.” There’s music playing in the background.

  “What’s wrong? Where are you?” I demand, anxiousness crawling up my spine.

  “I don’t feel good. I think someone drugged me.”

  “Rosalia, where are you?” I repeat with bite and hit the gas when the traffic lights switch to green.

  Checking the rearview mirror, I signal to the right, braking in front of Fallon’s high-rise where Wade’s waiting.

  “I’m in Ukrainian Village,” Rosalia replies in a caught tone.

  “What?” I chide. “What part of Ukrainian Village? Please don’t tell me you’re at their sex club?”

  “Um...Yes, I am and my father can’t find out. Can you help me?”

  Wade opens the door, and Fallon whisper-shouts, “Get in.”

  “Are you alone?” Fallon asks as I pull out onto the road again and race toward West Town where the Ukrainian Village neighborhood is located.

  “My friend ditched me,” Rosalia explains quietly. “I’m in the bathroom now.”

  “Okay. Stay there,” I order firmly. “I’ll call you back when I’m close by, Rosalia.”

  With one hand on the steering wheel, I disconnect the car charger and instruct Fallon, “Put Ukrainian Village in the GPS.”

  Fallon snatches my phone from my hand. “Fine, but you watch the road. Should I call Adriano?”

  “No! If James finds out, Rosalia will never be able to leave the house again. We have to help her.”

  Wade leans forward between our seats. “Hello, ladies. Never a dull moment with you two.”

  “Hi, Wade,” I retort. “Make yourself useful and find me an address.”

  “Yes, ma’am. What’s Rosalia gotten herself into?” Wade asks while taking out his smartphone from his pocket.

  “She’s at the Ukrainian sex club,” I reply.

  Wade’s eyes grow so wide that the whites are clearly visible. “How the hell did she end up there?”

  I blow out a sigh and change lanes. “I have no idea.”

  In the rearview mirror, I detect a black BMW following me, so I switch lanes and step on the gas. The BMW waits, and when I don’t switch back, it moves into my lane and starts tailing me again.

  My phone rings, and Fallon utters, “Uh-oh. It’s Adriano.” She holds it up for me to see his name flashing across the screen.

  “Answer,” I say, and she taps the screen.

  “Cam, where are you going?” Adriano sounds controlled but not calm.

  “Rosalia’s in trouble. I have to go pick her up.”

  “Where?” he demands.

  Fallon looks at me expectantly, and Wade merely smiles.

  “Ukrainian Village.”

  “What the hell is she doing there?” Adriano responds in a sharp tone.

  I hear Luca’s brusque voice in the background. “Did she drop off Fallon?”

  “Fallon’s still with me,” I fill in.

  “Hey! Thanks for ratting me out.” Fallon’s brows rise, and she grins. “He’s going to flip.”


  I tune her out and say, “I don’t know what the hell she’s doing there. But she thinks someone drugged her.”

  “Where is she exactly?” Adriano asks tersely.

  Again, I hear Luca, and then Fallon’s phone rings.

  Fallon releases a heavy breath, and it instantly becomes chaotic with two people on two phones while I try to follow the GPS directions.

  I honk when another car drives too slowly in the left lane. “Move, asshole!”

  “Cam, the soldier can get her.” Adriano’s voice is uncompromising.

  “Then James will know what happened within seconds and he’ll overreact.”

  Next to me, Fallon’s talking heatedly to Luca, “I’ll be fine. Wade’s here as well.”

  “They involved me without my consent,” Wade pipes in, loud enough for Luca to hear.

  “Okay, everyone shut up!” I yell, racing past cars. “Adriano, put me on speaker. Fallon, hang up.”

  “Luca, listen in with Adriano,” Fallon says and disconnects her phone.

  “Cam, answer me; where is she exactly?” Adriano repeats icily.

  “The Ukrainian sex club,” I confess.

  “What?!” I hear both Luca and Adriano roar.

  “Fallon, you stay in that car or so help me god...” Luca manages to grind out.

  Fallon and I glance at each other, and she answers, “Fine.”

  “Adriano, Luca, we’re just going inside, getting her, and then we’ll be out.” The black BMW is still driving behind me, so I ask, “Is there a soldier tailing me, Adriano?”

  “Of course,” he replies unapologetically. “They’ve been ordered not to lose you for a second or else I’ll shoot them.”

  “Jesus Christ, Adriano! How many men are constantly watching me?”

  Suddenly, it’s silent. I store this for later because I promised to call Rosalia back.

  “Never mind. I’m going, and you can’t stop me,” I state.

  “Camilla, don’t you dare go in there alone,” Adriano orders in a dictatorial tone he’s never used with me before.

  “I’m not alone,” I defend. “Wade and the soldier that’s tailing me are here too. I have to call Rosalia now.”

  “Don’t fucking hang up on me,” he warns.

  “I’ll call you back as soon as I’ve found her and we’re back in the car. Or the soldier behind me will beat me to it. I love you. Don’t be mad.” The words tumble out in a rush, and I seize the phone from Fallon’s hand and end the call.

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to be you now,” Wade comments.

  “It’s not easy living with our men,” I mumble, and Fallon leans her head back against the headrest.

  Within ten minutes, I’m passing what seems like the tenth church or cathedral in West Town while I try to find our destination.

  “Take a left here, Cam,” Wade directs when I almost take a wrong turn.

  “Call Rosalia,” I tell Fallon, and she presses on speaker again.

  “Cam?” Rosalia asks hopefully.

  “I’m almost there. Can you go to the front entrance?”

  She slurs, and I can’t decipher her words, so I cut the engine in the first vacant spot I see and we all jump out in front of a mundane looking bar.

  “Follow me.” Wade leads the way inside.

  People stare at us as we pass them. We do make an odd threesome. Wade in his designer suit and Fallon and I in plain jeans and casual tops because we came straight from the gym.

  At the far end of the bar is another door that’s guarded by a buff man. Wade says something to him, and he allows us entry.

  Then we emerge into another world. A Slavic melody is playing in this lavish room that’s decorated in bold shades of yellow and blue. I see the Ukrainian flag with those bright colors that clash beautifully in this erotically charged atmosphere, and around us, people are dancing, kissing, and grinding.

  “She’s not answering her phone anymore.” Fallon comes up next to me, her eyes darting around as well.

  Wade flanks my other side. “Where was she earlier?”

  “In the ladies room. We should split up,” I suggest.

  I catch the attention of a tall blond man with sky-blue eyes that pierce through me, but I pay him no heed.

  “Are you kidding me?” Wade counters. “I don’t want to be on Adriano and Luca’s death list. We remain together. Stay with me.”

  We shadow Wade while inspecting the room.

  “This place is mesmerizing,” Fallon mutters.

  “I know. How the hell did Rosalia get in here?” I wonder out loud.

  “I guess she has some bad friends,” Fallon replies while surveying the dance floor.

  As we careen through the crowd, I take her hand in mine so we don’t lose each other.

  “She just texted that she’s still in the ladies room,” Fallon informs us and starts to search for it, but I’m taller and can see a bit over the throng of people.

  I halt Wade by his arm, and he turns his head to me, so I beckon toward the back. “Bathroom.”

  Passing a booth area with sapphire draperies, we finally reach the ladies room.

  Unceremoniously, Wade pushes down the lever and ducks inside.

  “Rosalia!” he shouts.

  “Hey, this is the ladies room!” a slender brunette protests.

  “I apologize, ladies.” He smiles, and they practically melt. “But I’m looking for my friend who’s not feeling well.”

  “Oh, there’s a girl puking in the last stall,” she mentions before she saunters out.

  Wade bangs open the white door, and we find Rosalia sitting in the floor with her head resting back against the wall.

  “Oh god, Rosalia!” I hunch down, combing back her sleek, long black hair from her face.

  Her unfocused eyes open sluggishly. “Cam.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  She leans in close and whispers loudly, “Better, after I threw up.”

  Wade, who’s in a hurry like I am, orders, “Come on. Get up.”

  Affronted, Rosalia points her thumb at him. “Who the hell is he?”

  “He is here to save your ass.” Wade bends down to seize her by her upper arm and hauls her up as if she weighs nothing.

  “Hey, careful! Oh, I do know you,” she chatters with a smile. “You’re Leonardo DiCaprio.”

  Wade groans while I attempt to hide a grin, and he ignores her. “Cam, you leave with Fallon first, and I’ll walk out with Rosalia.”

  Rosalia is gawking at Wade, grinding her teeth.

  “She’s high on ecstasy,” Fallon points out. “I’ve been drugged before, and teeth grinding is one of the side effects.”

  “Probably so.” Wade steadies Rosalia and pulls her into his side. “Try to walk like a normal person.”

  “Yes, Grinch,” Rosalia says seriously, making me chuckle.

  Wade shoots me a glare. “Camilla, we’re on Ukrainian Mafia territory, and we need to get out without being spotted. If anyone recognizes you as the Capo crimine’s girl, we’ll have a big problem.

  Fallon’s eyes widen. “Oh, shit. We’re on Mafia territory?”

  “We’ll be fine,” I insist. “Let’s go. Stay with Wade, Rosalia.”

  As we walk out, I sense someone’s watching me, but I don’t see anyone paying me any attention, so we hurry out of there without stumbling upon any trouble.

  “Give me the keys,” Wade demands at the car and dumps Rosalia into my arms.

  After I throw him the car device, he clicks the beamer open, and I deposit Rosalia in the back seat and join her. Wade returns us to the Loop while Rosalia just prattles on and on.

  Fallon angles her body to face us. “How did you get into that place, Rosalia?”

  “Mykhail’s father is the owner. He goes to my college. He’s an asshole because he ditched me for a blonde.”

  “Did he drug you?” I ask.

  “Probably.”

  “You need new friends,” Wade mentions.

 
; “Says the Grinch who hangs out with two women on Saturday night,” Rosalia throws back.

  Wade simply snorts in return. “Is that supposed to be a jibe, because it isn’t. It’s actually a nice compliment.”

  Rosalia wants to retort, but I interrupt their banter. “I’ll take care of your friend. Don’t meet him again.”

  “I wasn’t planning to. And thanks for helping me.” She hugs me tightly, and her mood shifts to uplifted within a second, maybe another side effect of the drugs. “Now, since I’m high and not feeling nauseous anymore, what are we going to do?”

  Wade and Fallon’s gazes clash. Fallon and I are on edge because we know we’ll encounter trouble at home. Wade’s visibly annoyed by Rosalia’s constant blabbering.

  “Where should we go?” Wade addresses me.

  “We can’t drop her off at her house in that condition,” Fallon says but states it more as a question.

  “No. We can take her to Club 7,” I offer. “We’ll let her sober up and make sure the guards see her there so that they can verify her alibi with James.”

  Again, like a switch, Rosalia’s mood changes, but this time, she turns serious. “Wait, will Adriano be there? Does he know you had to bail me out?”

  “Yes,” I reply. “Why? He won’t say a word.”

  Rosalia makes a scoffing sound. “Only if you’re intact. Everyone knows he’ll go ballistic if anything happens to you. You’re like his kryptonite. No, his reverse kryptonite. You make him strong. And kryptonite makes Superman weak. So yes, you are his reverse kryptonite.”

  “Strangely,” Fallon cuts in with a half-smile, “I do understand what she means.”

  “Are you still talking?” Wade mumbles to Rosalia.

  She rolls her eyes and rears back against the seat while I watch the clouds drift by, assembling my plan.

  “Adriano’s going to be furious,” Fallon states to me.

  “I’ll handle him.”

  ***

  As soon as we’re inside Club 7, which has just opened its doors for the night, a guard escorts us up the back staircase toward Adriano’s office.

  Rosalia’s surprisingly quiet, and I realize she’s just as on edge as the rest of us. She knows how this world works and is also bracing herself for Adriano’s wrath.

  As we move past seating areas on the carpeted second floor, the dancing crowd is visible below. We head to our destination, and the door is pulled open by a seething Luca before I’ve even knocked.