Dark Ties (Made Men 9)

“Would it really matter?” she asked her honestly.

“Robert De Niro is actually capable of having a kind face,” Haley stated the difference before the brave face she had put on slowly disappeared. “But what does Desmond Beck do again?”

“He’s just a philanthropist.” Well, I hope. She kept that bit to herself this time.

Haley’s orbs danced between the folder in her hand and the one Nadia still held out, clearly trying to decide the lesser of two evils. “I’ll go with my gut instinct.” She gripped her folder tighter, solidifying her fate with Desmond.

“All right.” Nadia brought the folder closer to her, staring down at the name Dante Caruso. Unlike Haley, her fate had just been decided for her. An ominous shiver went up her back.

Putting on a brave face herself, she held her folder to her own chest. “There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Clearly, you have put your blinders on. You know I can’t get three words out in a row on a good day, much less when I’m nervous.”

“I’ll write down everything you need to say. Just memorize the script I give you.” Nadia already solved that problem. “You got this.”

A quiet sigh of defeat escaped Haley’s lips.

“You’ll see …” Nadia no longer knew who she was trying to convince anymore.

“Are you sure there isn’t a way that you can at least come with me to start the meeting then leave?” Clearly, this was Haley’s last-ditch effort.

“I won’t be able to start the meeting with you, but …” Nadia gave in to her guilt, “if mine finishes early, then I may be able to take over the meeting from you.”

Haley looked relieved as she bounced her head in a nod. “Then let’s go with that plan.”

“Plan?” Nadia had taken pity on her, and it was already backfiring. “It’s not a plan. It’s a maybe!”

Smiling, Haley pushed her glasses up again. “I’ll hold down the fort until you can get there. This will work much better …” Haley nervously spoke the words that would most certainly jinx them. “What could go wrong?”

The two women stared at each other, unaware that the same thought was now going through both their minds.

A million things.

One

All Rich Assholes are the Same

Nadia hated casinos … No, she loathed casinos. Not only were they greedy businesses that preyed on the weak, but they were loud as hell and reeked of smoke. If Haley was in her hell, currently on the other side of Kansas City, Nadia was definitely in hers.

She came up to a huge security guard dressed in a basic black suit who appeared to have been expecting her since he immediately led her into the elevator and punched in a few buttons for different floors that seemed to be a code to take them straight to the top.

The guard wasn’t much for conversing, as the awkward silence filled the air for a quick moment. Getting off the elevator, she followed closely behind the suited man. Now, Nadia wasn’t the nervous type, but she was starting to feel like taking a meeting with a potential mob boss might have been a bad idea.

The guard knocked on a door with a heavy fist.

A dark voice sounded from the other side. “Come in.”

She watched him open the door, and it wasn’t until the huge man stepped to the side to let her enter the office that she was able to see into the room.

Oh God. Nadia swallowed.

“Thank you, Amo,” Dante dismissed him.

Nadia would have only moments until the guard left and closed her into his office for her to gather her thoughts and screw her head back on straight. The man before her was definitely no Robert De Niro … or Al Pacino. Even though he was an older gentleman, probably in his late forties, he was breathtakingly handsome. Hell, if she was honest, his age was what made him even more so. Any girl with daddy issues—and Nadia was one—would be risking it all for one night in his bed.

His dark, tanned skin glowed next to his expensive black suit jacket and white button-up dress shirt. He only had a little bit of speckling gray through his pitch-black hair, but it weirdly made him hotter. It was his piercing icy-blue eyes, however, that had her unable to breathe until the door snapped closed behind her and her time of being jumbled up was over.

“Mr. Caruso,” she got right to business, “thank you for seeing m—”

“I’m afraid we don’t have much time,” he said, looking at his watch before he waved to the chair in front of his desk. “Please sit, Mrs. Brooks.”

“Ms. Brooks,” she corrected him.

There seemed to be a slight surprise behind those icy eyes of his before it quickly vanished. “I apologize, Ms. Brooks.” Again, he repeated with another wave, “Sit.”

Nadia couldn’t help but notice how he told her to sit like it was a command. It was glaringly obvious the man didn’t like to repeat himself, and even though she had only just met him, he appeared to always get what he wanted.