BOW DOWN: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Barone Crime Family) (8 page)

I
could still feel
him as a pleasurable ache when I woke up the next morning. I stayed in bed later than I normally did thinking about the way Wyatt took me, pressing me rough against the wall and fucking my ass, never asking for permission, just knowing that I wanted it.

And god, was he right. I’d never had a man inside of me like that before, and yet it felt so incredibly right with him. Somehow, letting him take me however he wanted was natural and exciting, something I’d never experienced with a man before.

It wasn’t like he was the first person I’d ever been with. Just because I locked myself away in my bedroom, didn’t mean I never had any visitors. But Wyatt was the first one that felt like he was fully in control. Normally I was the one making the first move, being the one to take charge. I was always the one on top.

But not with Wyatt. He could take me and control me in ways that I’d never understood before.

I got out of bed and padded out into the hallway. I went into the bathroom and did my normal morning routine. As I came out, Kasia was stepping out of her room.

“Lou,” she said. “I need to talk.”

I sighed. “Coffee first.”

“It’s important.”

“Coffee first.” I walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Kasia followed me. I made some coffee while she sat at the table, clearly annoyed and taking it out on a banana.

Once the coffee was done brewing, I drank a big sip and sat down.

“Okay,” I said.

“I found a mafia spot,” she said. “It’s perfect.”

“Are there girls?”

“No,” she said. “Well, it’s a strip club.”

“Strippers aren’t sex slaves.”

“They’re being taken advantage of.”

“Not exactly. Is that all?”

“No. It has guns. Lots of guns. And money.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

“I have a girl on the inside. She feeds me information. Told me late last night that she saw the cash and the guns hidden away in the basement.”

“I don’t like that,” I said. “Feels too convenient.”

“I trust her.”

“I know. And I trust you.”

“This is good. We can take this place. They aren’t expecting it.”

“How well protected is it?”

“Not very well at all.”

“Why wouldn’t they guard a bunch of guns and cash?”

“Probably because they think we don’t know about it.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “The mafia is arrogant, Kasia, but are they that arrogant?”

“Yes,” she said. “They are.”

She was probably right. I’d been in the mafia for a very long time, and especially in the Barone family, there was this sense that they were invincible. The police were paid off, their enemies were smaller, everyone was afraid of them. A lot of the guys felt invincible, especially the men at the top.

But they weren’t so stupid as to leave a big cache of cash and guns unguarded. That was just stupid.

Still, Kasia was rarely wrong. She was my second in command for a reason. I trusted her judgment on things like this, and she was very good at getting information from women all over the city.

“Are you sure?” I asked her.

“I’m sure, Lou.”

“Okay then. Do it.”

I knew that was against my instincts, but I had to trust Kasia. I couldn’t manage absolutely everything, and had to delegate certain tasks down to my inferiors. Kasia was good at what she did, and I had to trust that she’d make the right decision.

“Thank you,” she said, standing.

“Keep it small,” I said. “Take five girls. No more.”

She frowned. “Okay.”

“We can’t risk more on this. Take your five best.”

“That will be enough.”

“Good. Get it done.”

She nodded and left the room.

I sighed, sipping my coffee. It wasn’t easy running a damn mafia on your own.

I got up after I finished my coffee, went back into my room, and got changed. I put on my black jeans and my black t-shirt, and then headed back into the elevator, riding it down. I got off at the third floor and walked down the hall.

Brooks was sitting alone in the kitchen, reading a newspaper.

“How are the girls?” I asked him.

He shrugged. He had been on duty the night before, watching over the new girls.

“Fine,” he said.

“The dying girl?”

“Better, actually.”

“What’s her name again?”

“Katy.”

I leaned up against the doorframe. “I need something from you.”

He looked at me. “What’s that?”

“Wyatt Carter’s assistant, Ethan. I need you to find out about him.”

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know yet. Find out everything you can. Follow him if you have to.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t get caught.”

“I never do.” He grinned at me.

I smiled back and then headed back down the hall. I paused outside of one door before softly opening it.

Inside, the girl was wrapped in the sheets, her IV still stuck in her arm. Her eyes fluttered open, piercing and blue. I sat down in the chair next to her bed as she sat up.

“I’m Louisa,” I said to her.

“I know.”

“How are you feeling?”

“A lot better.”

“Good.”

“Thank you. For all this.”

“I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”

“I would have died in there.”

“Yes, you would have.”

“They didn’t care about us. We were just cattle to them. We fucked and they got paid. And then when we weren’t useful anymore, they killed us and threw away our bodies like trash.”

I put my hand on her leg, smiling softly. “You’re safe here.”

“I know. But I hate them.”

“We all hate them here. I want to bring them down.”

“I want to help.”

That was what I wanted to hear.

“Tell Kasia that the next time you see her. She’ll help you.”

“Thank you.”

I stood up. “Stay or go, it doesn’t matter. But whatever you do, don’t waste this second chance.”

“I won’t.”

I smiled and then left her room, heading back to the elevator.

Katy was pretty, just like all the girls we saved. The mafia didn’t waste time buying and selling ugly girls.

But she was right about one thing: they didn’t care about her. The girls were just cattle to them.

I was going to change all that.

I
could still feel
her tight body against mine all the next morning as I worked in my hotel room. Ethan hadn’t come back yet, but that wasn’t surprising. He likely was still awake, disposing of the body.

I ate breakfast, drank coffee, and sent emails. That was basically the majority of my job anymore: I wrote emails and made decisions. I didn’t write briefs anymore or get involved in particular cases unless there was something incredibly high profile. That was unusual. Mostly I shook hands and looked busy.

Louisa might change all that. Once we got started, we were going to take this thing all the way. My first move, though, was to meet with Chief Frank Herbert to pretend like I was discussing the Spiders.

Around midday, the apartment door opened. Ethan came in, looking tired. His shoes were muddy.

“You look like shit,” I said.

He sighed. “Dumping a body isn’t fun.”

“I take it he’s gone?”

“He’s gone.”

“Do I want details?”

He shrugged. I watched him walk into the kitchen and pour himself a coffee.

“Not going to sleep?” I asked.

“I have work to do.”

“Take the day off.”

“No rest for the wicked.” He grinned.

“At least shower.”

“I can do that.”

“I have the meeting with Herbert in an hour.”

“I can come with you if you want.”

“That’s okay. Do whatever you need to do.”

He nodded and disappeared back into his bedroom. For the hundredth time I mused about how strange Ethan was, but the man could get a job done.

Myers was gone, and I had killed him. Well, I killed him by proxy. Ethan actually did the killing, though I had no clue how. Probably shot the guy. I didn’t really want the gory details, but I was a little morbidly curious.

A half hour later, I got up from my desk and made my way downstairs. My car was waiting for me, and I climbed in back.

The Chicago PD’s main offices were in a large building in the middle of downtown. You would never have guessed that it was the Police Department unless you were looking for them.

Herbert was expecting me, and I didn’t have to wait long. He let me into his office with a smile and a firm handshake.

He was an older man, in his fifties, with a big bushy mustache, probably a throwback to the days when all cops had a mustache. He looked like a cop, which made me wonder why all cops seemed to look exactly alike. Was there something in the water they drank that made them all have that look? Maybe it was just the way they carried themselves.

I never trusted the police when I was young. Nothing good ever came of calling the cops back then, I was a fucking hoodlum, and never really imagined that I’d get involved with being on the side of the law myself.

Lawyer and cops had a loose alliance. We weren’t exactly working for each other, or not really. We were both serving the truth, though in our own ways. Cops felt like they had the moral superiority because they were out walking the streets every day. Lawyers thought cops were glorified jocks and that they were the real keepers of law and order. Neither was fully right.

“Wyatt,” Frank Herbert said.

“Frank.” We walked into his office and I sat across from him.

“I was surprised when my secretary said you requested this meeting.”

“I’m in the city, so I thought I’d drop in.”

“Well, I’m happy to have you. What did you want to talk about?”

“A few things.” I looked around the office, mentally cataloguing anything useful. “Mainly, though, I wanted to talk about the Spiders.”

His face fell. “I don’t know much about them.”

“Well, I’m sure that’s partially true.”

“What are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything, Frank. I just want to know what’s going on with them.”

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. “It’s a group of vigilantes. They’ve been attacking some whorehouse spots, liberating the girls, that sort of thing. For the most part, they’re harmless, unless you’re in the sex trade.”

“Have you made any arrests?”

“No. They’re hard to get ahold of.”

“I see.”

“Are you coming here to ask me to go after them?”

“No, I’m not. I’m just curious about them.”

“I wish I had more to tell you. We don’t even know who their leader is. We’ve never actually picked one up.”

“You’d think you’d know more about a group with their resources.”

“You’d be shocked at how secretive they are, Wyatt.”

“I believe you.” Good old Louisa, confounding the police.

Could it really be that the cops weren’t going after the Spiders because they were incompetent? I’d been assuming that it was because they were paid off somehow, or maybe because someone was a believer like Louisa suggested.

Maybe it’s because they really can’t find them. Or maybe it’s a combination of all three.

“There’s another thing,” I said. “You know about the south side drug gangs?”

“Sure do. We’ve been bringing those assholes in for years and they always manage to get off somehow.”

“Crack down,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow. “I’d love to. But the charges don’t stick.”

“They’ll stick. I’m promising you that. Crack down.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay, Wyatt. I don’t want to know any more than that.”

“Good. That’s all you need to know.” I stood and we shook hands again. “Thanks for your time, Frank.”

“Sure.”

I turned and left his office.

As soon as I was outside of the building, I called Louisa’s number. She didn’t answer again, forcing me to leave another voicemail. “Come to my hotel tonight at eight. I had a nice chat with the chief just now.” I hung up the phone.

It was time to make moves against Arturo. I didn’t know whose side the cops were on, but it seemed like they were going to stay out of the war no matter what Arturo wanted.

I dialed another number. A young woman answered the phone. “Arturo Barone’s office.”

“This is Wyatt Carter. Is Arturo available?”

“Not right now. He’s in a meeting.”

“Tell him I phoned. Tell him I spoke with the chief, and to call me back.”

“Okay, sweetie.”

I hung up and slipped my phone into my pocket.

Moves within moves. I was setting us up for something, and I hoped that Louisa was going to be able to handle her side of things.

It was too early to doubt, though. We’d make it work.

We had no other choice.