The Good Bad Man, page 1
THE GOOD BAD MAN
ELLA GOODE
CONTENTS
Summary
Chapter 1
Kane
Chapter 2
Laurel
Chapter 3
Kane
Chapter 4
Laurel
Chapter 5
Kane
Chapter 6
Laurel
Chapter 7
Kane
Chapter 8
Laurel
Chapter 9
Kane
Chapter 10
Laurel
Chapter 11
Kane
Chapter 12
Laurel
Chapter 13
Kane
Chapter 14
Laurel
Chapter 15
Kane
Chapter 16
Laurel
Chapter 17
Kane
Chapter 18
Laurel
Chapter 19
Kane
Epilogue
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SUMMARY
Kane
I’ll admit it. I’m not a good man. I make my living on the shady side of the dollar. It’s the hand I was dealt as a kid with nothing. But, even so, that doesn’t mean I’d put my own kid in a cage and treat her like bait for sharks. There’s something about Laurel Steiner that makes me want to shield her from all the dirtiness in this city. Can this bad man be good enough for her?
Laurel
Everyone in the city has heard of Kane Santino. He’s a big bad man who is all bite, no bark. You won’t get a warning before he smushes you into dust. It just happens. One minute you’re there and the next minute, your building is blown up. My father refused to sell and put me in a cage to lure someone else to save him. Of course, no one showed up. No one that is except Kane Santino. He seems to want to lock me in a new prison. It’s pretty and warm but I don’t know that I can handle a man like Kane. Can a girl like me really be bad enough for him?
CHAPTER 1
KANE
“And here we will put in a five-story fountain.” The architect nods to his assistant, who taps something on her phone. A soft sound whirs from under the model, and suddenly a tiny spigot of water shoots up and flows down the stepped art structure made out of solar panels situated between the crisscrossed escalators. “As you can see, the water will begin at the center of the sculpture and flow down until it reaches the ground floor reflection pool. From there, it splits and swims along these small channels of the larger mandala floor design, where it circles and then is deposited in a well underneath that feeds back up to the top.”
“And the skylights will provide power to the sun panels?” I ask.
The architect nods eagerly. “Yes, it has a zero carbon footprint as the water is refilled by rain barrels on the roof, and the solar panels capture the energy needed to power the engine of the water fountain.”
“Good.” I turn to my land acquisitions manager. “What’s the status?”
The man hunches his shoulders slightly. “We have a hold-out.”
I stretch my fingers to keep from forming a fist. “Ah, is that so?” To the architect, I nod politely. “This plan will do. Send your final invoice. We will start obtaining the bids.”
I usher them out of the office. When it is just my acquisitions manager, I walk over to the plate glass windows with him. “Who is the hold-out?”
“A dry cleaning business.”
“How long have you worked for me, Luca?” I pinch the bridge of my nose, partly in annoyance and partly to block out the too-strong scent of his cologne.
“Eight years, sir?”
“So, long enough that you know we don’t mind getting our hands dirty.” I turn and brush some nonexistent lint off his custom-tailored Italian wool jacket that probably cost him a cool grand or three. “If you want to keep wearing this, perhaps you can be more persuasive.”
He pales but nods and exits immediately.
“We’re getting soft,” I say to no one.
“I could help with that,” announces someone behind me.
I spin around and arch my eyebrows when I spot the architect’s assistant leaning against my door.
“Forget something?”
She pushes upright and strolls across the room, releasing a button on her shirt with each step until it is kept together only because the tails are tucked into the top of her tight, straight skirt. I glance over her shoulder for her boss, but he’s nowhere to be found. The woman stops about two feet away, two feet too close, and reaches her long fingers to grab my tie. I stop her, gripping her fingers tightly in my grasp. Worse than Luca’s cologne. She winces in pain but doesn’t lose her supposedly sultry smile.
“I’m here to tell you that whatever you want, you can have.”
I toss her hand to the side. “I’ve gotten everything I need from your boss. Get out before I fire him for having bad taste in employees.”
A gasp of surprise comes out. “He didn’t send me to you. I came because I wanted to. Don’t you find me attractive?”
“No. Now get out.” I don’t bother to look at her again, instead going to my desk and bringing up the in-dash camera of Luca’s sedan. Three other black sedans trail behind. After a moment, I lift my head to see the woman still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, her shirt hanging open at the sides and a confused expression on her face. I guess she’s never been turned down before.
I often wonder if there is something wrong with me. Sex has never lured me. Maybe that’s why I’ve gotten so far. I have no vices except to succeed.
I pick up my phone. “Ned, please come in here and collect some trash that was left behind by the architect’s office.”
Shortly after I hang up, the door opens, and Ned strides in. Without a word, he grabs the woman by the arm and drags her toward the door.
“Let me go, you asshole. I’m going to sue you for battery. This is illegal!” She howls and curses all the way out. Annoying. I turn my attention back to the cameras. Luca has been a disappointment for a year now. I think it’s because he’s fucking Kimberly Soritz. She’s supposed to be pursuing a marriage with me because that’s what her billionaire daddy wants, but instead, she’s been riding Luca’s dick. They both think I’m clueless. I don’t care, but I do like doing business with Daddy Soritz, so I keep my mouth shut. It keeps her off me.
This little squeeze-out should’ve been easy for Luca to take care of. I switch my camera to the last car and speak into the mic. “Sham, I want you to take the lead. Not L and don’t take any weapons in. There will be plenty of tools to use inside the store. Irons, sprays, steamed water. That sort of thing.” Could easily blind someone or burn their skin off with the dry cleaning equipment.
“Roger.”
Sham jumps out of his car before it even pulls to a stop. He enters the business first, forcing Luca to follow behind. I can’t hear all that’s going on, but I see the shopkeeper back up in surprise as my men enter the business. He waves his hands and then rubs them together in a begging motion.
Sham collars him and drags him into the back room where the equipment is busy churning away. There’s a long iron press to the side. Sham drags the man all the way over to the press and shoves his head down. Another man produces the sales agreement. Sham doesn’t even have to pressure him more than a minute before the dry cleaner signs off on the deal. I turn the camera off with a satisfied smile. Project 438 will start tomorrow. I grab a cigar and snip off the end. I’m about to light it when I hear, “Boss, you there?”
I flick on the camera. Sham is waving at me. “What’s the problem?”
“There’s a girl here. He’s got someone in a cage.” The camera pans to the corner of the room, where a large wire dog kennel sits. Inside of it is a small figure, her legs hugged to her chest. “Should I just leave her here?”
I almost say yes but something stops me. “No. Bring her in. If he was keeping her alive, she might have some value. Let’s not be wasteful.”
Sham gives me a respectful nod, and the camera goes black. Humans kept like pets? And I’m supposed to be the bad guy.
CHAPTER 2
LAUREL
I’m shaking. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get myself to stop. I suck in a deep, long breath, trying to calm down. The trunk of the car I’m in is nicer than the cage. At least I can stretch out my legs partly. I have no clue where I’m going or why the men took me, but I do know who they are. They are part of the Santino crew. Everyone knows who Kane Santino is. Even me, who barely gets to leave my father’s shop.
He’s always kept a tight leash on me. I thought after I graduated high school, I’d be free. How wrong I’d been. The leash only got tighter, and anytime I tried to get away or he thought I was acting out, into the cage I went.
Will I be auctioned off? Sold into the black market? To be honest, I can’t find the will to care. All I do care about is getting this shaking to stop. I let my mind drift and even out my breathing. The darkness of the trunk is soothing. Only the hum of the engine can be heard. Finally, the shaking subsides as does the hum for the engine.
I’m blinded by light when the trunk opens. Hands grab at me, pulling me out. I blink, trying to see where I am, but my eyes don’t adjust until I’m pulled into a house. The marble flooring is cold on my bare feet.
“Can you stand on your own?” asks the man who’s holding my left arm.
“Yes,” I answer. Both
I hear the vase fall, shattering when it hits the ground, the water soaking my feet. “You don’t want to do this,” the one I think I heard the other call Sham says, his gun pointed at me. I point mine right back. The brute of a man I took the gun from is still dumbstruck. “Do you even know how to use that?”
“Yes.” I flick the safety, preparing to do whatever I need to. Father always kept a handgun under the register. I’d seen him play with it before.
“What the fuck is going on?” A deep voice booms through the room as another man strides into the entryway. He pauses. I only catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye. I don’t have to look to know he’s bigger than the two men in front of me. “You’d be dead before you pulled the trigger,” he informs me.
“Maybe that’s the point.” My voice cracks. Not because I’m scared. I barely spoke a few words today, so my throat is dry.
“Put it down, Sham.” The man drops his arm without hesitation, following the order. He keeps the gun in his hand, though. “Now what?” the man asks. I turn my head to get a better glimpse at the bigger man, who seems to be running things. It’s Kane. It has to be.
He’s as handsome as I heard some of the girls giggle about when I was in school. Even if I didn’t know who he was, I can feel the power he easily yields by merely existing. As soon as he entered the room, there was a shift. How nice that must be. To have such a presence that it alone can scare people.
I lift the gun to my own head. Kane’s eyes widen. “I don’t know. You tell me what you think is next.”
“Put the gun down,” he orders.
“I’m not scared of you, Kane.” I have nothing to lose at this point. Kane is deadly, or so the stories go. Who knows what he might do with me?
“Clearly.” He holds his hands up before taking a few steps closer to me. I start to tighten my finger on the trigger, and he stops. “Do you wish to die today?”
“We all die, but you know that. Many die at your hands, I’m sure.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way. If I wanted you dead, you’d have died in that cage.”
“Exactly.” Why hadn’t he killed me then? “There are far worse things than death.” Today, right now for the first time in my life, I have a choice. It’s something I’ve never had before, and I’m not going to let anyone take that from me.
“I don’t care to repeat myself, little bird. Put the gun down.” His tone is firm. For a second, I almost do it.
“Today, I choose,” I whisper, closing my eyes. “Sorry about the vase.” I pull the trigger as a body collides with mine. The gun fires before falling from my hand. I hit the ground hard, knocking all the air out of me. Or maybe it was the force of Kane landing on me that did it. “No!” I scream in his face when air enters my body again. I try to scratch and punch at him before he pins my arms to the ground. I stare up into his dark eyes, unable to discern what I see in them.
“There are worse things than death,” he says in agreement.
“Sir, there is blood,” Sham says. The other man is picking up his gun from the floor. I see a trace of blood slide down Kane’s neck where I must have gotten him with my nails. “Santino, that’s a lot of damn blood.”
Kane releases his hold on me to slide off. “Fuck, get Doc,” he barks at his men. It’s a scratch. My hands stay where he pinned them. I try to lift them, but everything is so heavy now. Kane’s warm hands touch my thigh, and I try to jerk away. “Don’t move.” He pulls my dress back down that had bunched up around my waist. I roll my head to the side when his fingers brush against my outer thigh again. I’m surprised to see a piece of blue and white glass sticking out of my thigh.
Blood seeps from the wound. “I hate blood. It’s the worst to get out of clothing,” I mutter, my eyes starting to grow heavy.
“Stay awake, little bird,” Kane orders.
“I don’t follow your rules, Kane. I do what I want. I make my own choices now,” I whisper before giving in and letting my eyes fall closed, the darkness soothing me once again.
CHAPTER 3
KANE
“His daughter?” I can’t keep the incredulity out of my voice. “He kept his own goddamn daughter in a cage?”
The girl is lying on my sofa being tended to. Good thing the leather is black and the floors are granite. From experience, I know blood can be cleaned off that stone. Doc says she should be fine if she doesn’t aggravate the wound after he stitches her up.
“He said she had sinful tendencies,” Sham informs me.
“We should’ve dusted her father ,” whines Luca.
I notice his suit doesn’t have a single wrinkle or speck of dust on it. I reach for the knot on his tie—“When I told Sham to take the lead, I didn’t mean for you not to do anything”—and tighten. He tries to swallow. I jerk the thin fabric in my fist, and his face grows white from lack of oxygen. “Are you tired of your job? Want to explore your early retirement options?”
He shakes his head violently. I ease the pressure off slowly. “Good. I like you, Luca. You’ve done good work for me in the past. Don’t mess up. We don’t want to be cleaning your blood off the floor.”
Sham keeps his eyes on the ground so he doesn’t give away his annoyance at the other man.
“You can both go,” I order.
“What about the girl?” Sham asks. Luca is interested as well. I’m sure he’ll report back to his lover about my unusual interest in a woman. I don’t care what Kimberly Soritz thinks, but her dad might have a problem. I’ve allowed him to dream of a dynastic match between the two of us for a long time—probably too long. I’ll have to meet with him.
“I’ll question her and decide what to do from there.”
Sham bows and moves to the door. Luca stays where he is until Sham returns and drags the other man out.
“You finished?” I ask the doc. He’s spent a lot of time working on the girl. Too much time for my liking. I peer over his shoulder.
“You’re blocking my light.”
“You once said you could stitch with your eyes closed,” I remind him.
He sighs. “Santino, if you didn’t pay so well, do you think all of us would work for you?”
“Yes. Because you like safety and security, and I provide those for all my people.”
“Right.” He puts in the last stitch and then ties off his work.
“Did you not come to me on your knees and say that you would be forever in my debt if I saved your wife and child, and did I not do just as you requested so that your Edith and Christoff are happy in your home today? Move aside. I’ll finish.” I don’t like his hands so close to her bare thigh.
“Fine.” He throws down the bandage he was about to tape on. “You’re insufferable,” he says as he gets to his feet. He jerks the stethoscope off his neck and pushes it into his bag.
I sit down in his place. “How long will she be out?”
“She’s awake,” Doc says.
The girl’s face twitches, but her eyes remain closed.
“If you need me, I’ll be at home with my precious wife and son.”
“Wait. I might need you to help me break her leg if she keeps pretending,” I lie. Not that anyone would be able to tell. I’m already agitated at the scar the stitches will leave. Not that it takes from her perfection. In fact, her wound tells me so many things about her. She faced death willingly while others would cower. How can that piss me off and intrigue me? I’ve never been more curious about a creature in my life.
