The Deadliest Sin Series Complete Collection, page 45
I grin at him and shrug. “Now, that wasn't so hard or painful, was it?”
The door to my office opens, and Kat saunters in on her high heels with a grin that promises all sorts of wonderfully dirty things. In the couple of days since I last saw her, I’ve been touching base with Arden about what he’s been able to find on Kat and the mysterious Rowan or where to find Rose. But so far…nothing of any value has come to me. That’s made me tense.
Seeing Kat and knowing where my dick will end up has some of that tension dissipating.
I motion for her to come over to me. “What's that look for?”
She makes her way around my desk and set her purse off to the side before she slides up onto it in front of me. Her skirt rides up her thighs, exposing her bare pussy only a foot in front of me. She widens her legs slightly so I can shift forward between them and wrap my arms around her waist. “I just got done at the new house.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And?”
“All the girls have settled in well and seem eager to get to work. I anticipate being able to open within a week.”
I grin at her and brush my thumbs up the inside of her thighs, making them quiver under my touch. “That is excellent news. And I have some of my own.”
Her eyebrows wing up. “Oh, yeah? What's that?”
“I secured the cooperation of Senator Mason.”
“Oh, really?” A slow smile curls her lips. “What did he agree to?”
I shrug nonchalantly and lean down to press a kiss against the top of her right thigh. “Whatever we need. With where he’s been putting his cock, he’s not really in any position to be denying us anything, now is he?”
She grins and shakes her head. “I guess not considering what we have him doing on tape.”
The very things I want to do to her right now. My cock grows in my pants, pressing against the zipper. I shift forward between her legs, my hands gliding even closer to the apex of her thighs.
“With his assistance and the continued cooperation of the Italians, we should have no problem expanding into other areas of the city, maybe even the state.”
She waves her hand around the office. “What about this place?”
I pull back slightly and look at the unfinished room. Bare drywall covers the walls, but at least I can work here while they finish it out. “What do you mean?”
“What do you plan on doing with it?”
I snort and shake my head. “Nothing. Other than the minor improvements being made during the cleanup, I don't plan on changing much here. There's no point. If we're going to keep our business relationship a secret, then making this place as upscale as the others wouldn’t make any sense.”
She nods slowly and runs her hands through my hair, dragging her nails against my scalp. I groan and lean into her touch.
Her lips press against my forehead. “True, but I think you might be missing out on a good opportunity here.”
“Opportunity for what?”
“Expanding into strip clubs. There's a lot you could do with it.”
I run my hands up her thighs again, and she shudders. “I don't want to talk about business right now. There's a lot of things I could do to you and want to right now.”
She chuckles and digs her nails in the back of my neck, dragging me closer between her legs. “Oh yeah? What do you have in mind?”
I lick my lips and brush them against her thigh. “Well, for starters…I'm going to eat your fucking pussy until your legs shake so hard you can't move.”
She grins at me and pinches my ear. “Promises, promises.”
I dig my fingers into the flesh of her ass and drag her to the edge of the desk. “You know I always keep mine.”
“Oh, I know you do, Michael. It’s one of the reasons I got involved with you in the first place. I knew once you committed to this partnership, you would ensure we got everything established and ready to go flawlessly.”
I reach forward and brush my fingers through her wet folds. “The most flawless thing here is this.”
Her hips twitch at my touch, and I push up her skirt around her hips and lean forward to drag my tongue through her wetness. She groans and arches back, digging her nails into my neck and scraping them along my scalp.
Fuck yes!
The taste of her arousal coats my tongue, and I roll the tip of it around her clit while my cock twitches, begging to be released.
But not until I make her come first.
She deserves it.
Things are finally on track, and it's only because of her. Because she came into my life and opened up this whole new world to me. If not for Kat, I would have struggled to find ways to get to my competitors, to work around law enforcement and the government red tape here. Now, I’ll have free rein.
I slip two fingers inside her and curl them up to find her G-spot. “You better hold on, kotele.”
She digs her hands into me, and I set to work, fucking her with my mouth and fingers until her entire body quivers. She gasps and jerks against my hold, her hips rolling in time with my tongue. One of her hands disappears behind her to brace herself on the desk as her orgasm starts to mount.
With a strength I didn’t know she possessed, she shoves my face against her harder, the pants falling from her lips coming faster. “Fuck, yes, Michael. I'm gonna come.”
And as soon as she’s done, I'm going to plunge inside this wet heat and fuck her until she can't walk.
Her orgasm slams into her, and her body jerks up and grinds against my face, wave after wave of pleasure coursing through. She releases a final gasp and sags slightly.
I give her pussy one final lick, pull my fingers out, and start to lean back when the familiar cold press of the barrel of the gun against my temple stops me.
KAT
Despite a gun pressed to his temple, the corner of Michael’s mouth quirks up, and he raises a dark, menacing eyebrow. “I'm all for some kinky play in the bedroom, kotele, but this goes a little beyond what I'm comfortable with.”
I offer him a sardonic smile and press the barrel harder against his head. “I'm not playing, Michael. I'm done with games.”
“A little late for that, isn't it? You’ve been playing one for a long fucking time, it seems.”
It’s not something I enjoy. Not in the least. I would much rather be direct and honest, but that isn’t always possible, especially in this business with these kinds of people.
I shrug. “The situation necessitated it.” As it so often has in the last couple of years. “I had to work with what was available to me.”
It took so long to get here…I thought it might never happen.
But the heavy steel in my hand and the determination in my heart are unwavering. And I have to give Michael credit; he doesn't quiver or cower, even with the barrel of the gun pressed to his temple, staring down death for a third time just since I’ve come into his life—he doesn't even blink.
In fact, the corners of his mouth twitch up again. “It's not that I haven't expected this, Kat, but to do it now with my cock as hard as granite and the taste of your cunt still on my tongue is pretty cold…even for you.”
I shift the gun, pushing the muzzle against his forehead, driving his head back until he's against the leather of his chair. “You have no idea how cold I can be, Michael.”
He considers me for a moment, searching my eyes for something. “So, have you been working with Rose the whole time?”
I growl at him and shift to close my legs. “I don't give a fuck about Rose.”
His shoulders rise and fall. “Then why? Why the ruse? Why wait so long when you've had plenty of chances?”
He motions around the room, and I keep my eyes on his hands. There’s no way I’ll allow him to reach for a weapon.
“The first time you were in this office, you had a gun in your hand and could've taken me out then. You killed one of my men without even blinking. Why not me?”
I flash him a grin. “What fun would that have been? Besides, I needed you, Michael. You served a very specific purpose, and now that the purpose is complete, I can do what I've wanted to do for so damn long. End. You.”
His dark eyes assess me, scanning every millimeter of my face like he’s seeing it for the first time. “Who are you?”
My lips curve into a genuine smile, the first I’ve given him since I first walked into his life as Kat. I’ve waited a long time to tell him this. It will hurt him more to know the truth before he dies. And even if he doesn’t care, he needs to understand why. “When I worked here and danced on the pole out there, I was known as Kitty.”
He narrows his eyes on me. “You danced here?”
“I did a hell of a lot more than that.” These words have sat on the tip of my tongue for so long. I’ve practiced them a hundred times. Yet, I have to speak despite a dry throat. “My real name is Brynn Katherine Walker. Or it was. Now, it’s Brynn Katherine Gashi.”
Recognition flashes in his gaze, and his body tenses.
“That’s right.” I swallow thickly against the emotion threatening to clog my throat. “Aleksander was my husband.”
Not for long.
Not nearly long enough.
Because of the clash of this damn monster and Aleksander’s own wrath.
“And you led him to his slaughter. You set up my husband and your brother to ensure total annihilation. All because you envied what they had because you wanted it for yourself. Well, I hope it was worth it. I hope all the bloodshed and the lies and the terrible things you've done to get here felt amazing while they lasted.”
He shakes his head and lets out a mirthless chuckle. “I don't get it. What did you need from me so badly that you had to drag this out?”
“This.” I wave my free hand around his office. “I want what belonged to Aleksander and rightfully now belongs to me. And I want all of Chicago.” I lick my lips and issue a frustrated growl. “That bomb was supposed to take care of it. Was supposed to wipe out everyone in one fell swoop.”
His eyebrows fly up. “You set the bomb at that meeting?”
“Well, not me personally…but you see, Aleksander still has a lot of friends. A lot of people who weren’t very happy with what you did to him and your brother. When I traveled to Albania to bring Aleksander's body home, I met a few of them.”
That trip served another purpose, too.
It helped me establish Kat’s identity. She disappeared from the States—traveling and staying places that don’t keep good records. Something a lot of young people do. Easily slipping between European countries.
I had to make my way to Albania without any red flags going up with the Dragushas or Berishas, the families now in control there. Who knows what they would have done if they had known The Dragon’s wife had returned? I needed to make my way there in secret and contact Aleksander’s remaining family to figure out how to proceed.
And it worked flawlessly.
I went from nursing school and being taken care of by Aleksander to plotting a way to step up and take over his business while making sure those who were responsible paid. It meant completely leaving my old life behind. But there wasn’t much left of it anyway.
“Shit.” The single word drops from his lips as the puzzle pieces all click together in his head.
“If only there hadn't been faulty wiring on the bomb, the city would be mine.”
“You leaked the information about the meeting to my man to get me there.”
I shrug slightly. “If you hadn't shown up, I would've taken you out another way. It was too good an opportunity to pass up to take out the Russians, Italians, Irish, and the Colombians all at once. But since it failed rather miserably, I had to come up with another plan.”
“So…you created Kat.”
I smile and nod slowly, the months of hard work coming back to me. “Fake identity. Fake background. Eye surgery in Europe to insert colored contact lenses to change my appearance. All of it designed to reel you in, and you fell for it hook, line, and sinker.”
“And then you tried to kill me. You were behind the shooting and the explosion here?”
“No.” I shake my head and lean back slightly, never taking my eyes off him. “I wasn’t ready for you to be dead yet. Those attacks were actually very problematic for me and my plan.”
“Then who was it?”
A smile pulls at my lips. “Your new enemies in Albania, the Dragushas and the Berishas. They heard about our little endeavor and weren’t too happy with the idea of us taking girls from them.”
“Then why aren’t they after you, too?”
“Because I’m smarter than you, Michael. Instead of making enemies, I made friends. It took longer than I had hoped, hence the second attack here. But once they learned who I really was and how determined I am to take back what was Aleksander’s, I came to an agreement with them, one that will allow Esad and his crews to continue their work while the Dragushas and Berishas get a cut. It’s not ideal. But it’s a small price to pay for what I want.”
“You could have had it months ago if you had just let them kill me.”
I shake my head and sigh. “I wish it had been that easy.”
But nothing has been easy for me for a long time. Not since Aleksander was taken from me.
“If I had simply walked in here and killed you, or if I’d let them take you out, no one would've taken me seriously. No one would've respected me or allowed me to stay sitting at the head of this family. Regardless of who I married.”
I grin at the man who has managed to get me exactly where I need to be through his reputation for ruthlessness. Esad is bringing in girls. Senator Mason is at my disposal. And Michael’s crew now know me and what I’m capable of.
“Now, you've given me legitimacy, Michael. By partnering with me. And your men know I'm lethal. They’ll fall in line once you're gone. No one will oppose me because they want you gone as badly as I do.”
Our Russian and Irish counterparts only went to Michael because they were desperate to protect their organizations from Rose. They won’t care that Michael’s gone, not when I promise my business won’t interfere with theirs.
“I'll play nice with the Russians, and the Irish, and Rose and Valentina as long as I have to in order to consolidate my power, and then, I'll use your plan to take them all down one by one.”
KAT
Michael’s lips, the ones I’ve kissed so many times in the recent past, curl into a real smile. It’s the last thing I expected from him. “I have to say I'm impressed.”
“Why is that, Michael?”
He shrugs slightly, but I keep my eyes on him and where his hands are at all times. “What you did took a lot of balls. To walk in here and stare down the man you hate that badly, to fuck me repeatedly and pretend you enjoyed it.” He raises an eyebrow. “But you weren’t pretending, were you?”
I swallow thickly, my body heating at the memory of his mouth on me, his cock inside me…
“It's okay, kotele. You can admit it. You can admit that I'm not as bad as you thought I was and you actually enjoyed fucking me.”
My physical response to him doesn’t override the burn of hate in my blood. Powerful and ruthless men are like crack to me after being with Aleksander. A traitorous body won’t save Michael now, though.
“It doesn't matter. The truth is, you killed Aleksander. You fed his hate and set him on a collision course with Lorenc that would take them both out. Your own brother.”
He slams his hand on the chair. “A brother who abandoned me. A brother who didn't give two shits about what happened to me, who only cared about protecting himself. What kind of brother is that?”
“Sometimes, we have to do bad things to survive. You may have killed your grandfather for survival. But what you did to Lorenc and Aleksander was pure envy. There's a reason they call it one of the deadliest sins, you know.”
He barks out a laugh and shakes his head. “Ironic, coming from you.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you are making a living off lust. You danced on that pole like a whore. Probably ended up in bed with Aleksander to make more money—”
I smash the gun against his temple. His head splits open, blood pouring down the side of his cheek. He cries out and presses his hand to the wound.
Seeing his pain brings me more joy than it should. Watching him suffer after the shooting was one of the greatest thrills of my life. “Yeah, I prey on other people's sin, Michael, but it's not my own. And Aleksander loved me.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself, Kat. Your brain is clearly so twisted, you don’t what’s real and what isn’t.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, it seems to me you're taking this out on the wrong person.”
“How do you figure?”
He points to himself with the hand not pressed to his bleeding head. “I'm not the one who killed Aleksander. I'm not even the one who killed Saban and started the war between the Gashis and the Morinas. You should be hunting Konstandin and Rea. Their betrayal of Tarek is what started all of this. They're the ones who killed Aleksander.”
Anger tightens my chest and my hand around the grip of the gun. “Konstandin and Rea will have to answer for their sins, too. But don't act like you're innocent in all of this. You’re far from it. You set things into motion, knowing what the end result would be. You wanted Aleksander's power, his territory. You wanted what was his. And you were willing to do anything to get it.”
He grins at me. “You told me that's what you liked about me. You said that we were one and the same.”
“We are. We just have very different goals. You wanted to possess this. You wanted to control. You wanted what your grandfather lost, and you were willing to get it at any price. You were willing to betray your brother. You were willing to betray Rea and Konstandin. And you were willing to betray my husband when he embraced you into his organization and brought you into his fold.”
