The Banker (Banker 1)

He gave me a look full of pity. “Even if we could rescue Father, that’s unlikely. They’ll hunt us down until we’re all annihilated. That’s why I’m telling you this plan is stupid. Even if you save Father, what then?”

“And you can really sleep at night letting him die?” I challenged, refusing to believe my brother would be that much of a coward.

He held my gaze but didn’t answer.

“I’m not leaving Father behind. I admit my plan with Cato isn’t the best—”

“He will kill you.” Landon squeezed his glass with his fingertips. “Siena, you don’t know this world the way I do. You don’t understand what these men are capable of. Just because you’re a beautiful woman doesn’t mean he won’t torture and kill you. It doesn’t mean he won’t give you the greatest agony before he finally puts a bullet in your brain. You have a strong confidence that gives you an unrealistic belief that you can accomplish anything. Siena, it doesn’t matter how good you fuck him, he will see right through you. He’s the smartest, most cunning man in the world. I say you drop this approach and we figure something else out.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. Any time I was in that fortress, I knew I was outnumbered. Anytime I was alone with Cato, I knew he could do whatever he wanted to me. “What other option do we have?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Even if I wanted to walk away, I’m working for him now.”

“Then finish the job and disappear.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Then resign. Get someone else to replace you.”

“Don’t you think that would draw more suspicion?” I asked. “Not to mention, piss him off? I already slept with him, so the damage is done.”

If Landon was uncomfortable, he didn’t show it. “And what is his attitude toward you?”

I shrugged. “We haven’t spoken.”

Landon took a long drink from his glass. “Then your plan failed. He’s the same womanizer he was before. No surprise there.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So maybe you can get out of this unscathed. Just finish the job and leave. Keep Damien on the hook. Maybe we can figure out a different plan in the meantime.”

“What kind of plan?” I asked. “They have hundreds of men working for them. What do we have?” Our business, our reputation, and our money had been stripped away from us. Now we were both victims without protection. Our men had abandoned us, and now we were just two lone wolves.

He shrugged. “We have each other—it’s a start.”

13

Cato

When I got out of the shower, Siena had already left. She did the walk of shame and asked one of my men to take her back to Florence. I expected her to still be in bed when I walked out with the towel around my waist. I expected her to stay for a few hours.

But she disappeared the second the opportunity presented itself.

She couldn’t sit still.

I didn’t have to wonder if the sex was good for her because I could feel it anytime I was inside of her. She was so wet the condom didn’t experience any friction. She was so wet I could get my fat dick inside without issue. And she sucked my dick like nothing in the world would make her happier.

But when she got her fix, she disappeared.

I’d never seen that before.

Bates and I had a meeting with our Chinese clients at the estate, and after several hours of crunching numbers, they finally departed the property. More money was in our accounts, hiding in plain sight from their government. Some of it would be used to fund the Skull Kings and their weapons project. Money was taken from some piles and dropped into others. It was the nature of the business.

Bates helped himself to the decanter of scotch then relaxed in his leather chair around the conference table.

I shut the folder in front of me, partially thinking about the money I’d just made and partially thinking about the woman I’d fucked two days ago. Still hadn’t heard a word from her. She hadn’t come to the estate to continue decorating it.

She just disappeared.

“What’s on your mind?” Bates asked. “Money or pussy?”

“What if it’s neither?”

He chuckled before he took another drink. “It’s never neither. Which is it?”

I’d been thinking about pussy a lot more than money lately. “Siena.”

“And what’s new with her? Haven’t seen her around lately.”

“Neither have I.” I ignored my scotch because I wasn’t in the mood for booze. A cigar would be nice, but I didn’t have the energy to get up and fetch one. Giovanni was always two seconds away, but I was too proud to have the man wait on me hand and foot.

“Really?” he asked. “That’s interesting.”

I didn’t do much kissing and telling. Bates knew about my rendezvous because he usually witnessed them directly, but I rarely mentioned them out of context. I’d finally had Siena and assumed I would forget about her now that her name was carved into my bedpost. But I was even more confused than I had been before. “She stayed over the other night.”