“For being a merciless killer.” She locked eyes with me and took another step closer. Her hand reached out, and she ran her fingers down my chest. “Makes me wonder in what other ways you are…merciless.”
I glanced down
at her hand as it found its way to my abs and then ran up my arm. She traced the outline of my bicep with her forefinger before she wrapped her hand around it.
“Nice,” she said softly. “You like the gym, hmm?”
“I spend some time there,” I admitted.
“I bet you do.”
Without any further warning, I found her lips pressed hard against mine. Instinctively, I returned the kiss, wrapping one arm around her to grab her ass and hold her against me as her tongue pushed inside of my mouth.
I shouldn’t be doing this.
Never in my life had I been in such a situation. I’d never had a relationship that was considered “exclusive” in any way and had always gone with the flow when a woman came on to me. Rarely had I ever turned one down, and that was only when I planned on killing her later.
Jenna was a beautiful woman, and I knew taking her up on her obvious offer would work very much to my advantage when it came to getting the more detailed information I was going to need to bring Greco down. She was close to him and had been for some time. He would trust her with much more than he ever would with me.
I didn’t push her away. I let myself respond to her touch even as her hand moved to palm my dick, which also responded predictably. It wasn’t like I was going to fuck her there in the hallway, so I figured it was still a relatively safe thing to let her do. She made it clear what she wanted—I just needed to drag it out as long as possible.
She pulled away first, taking my lip in her teeth briefly as she did. I opened my eyes and looked down at her with a half-grin.
“You’re an aggressive little thing, aren’t you?”
“I take what I want,” she said simply. “Always have.”
“Not exactly a great place for such things,” I said as I looked around the hallway of the office building. I could see Micah near the doorway, watching from the window. “I have a little work to do, but let’s continue this…‘conversation’ later.”
“Most definitely.” Jenna smacked my ass before she turned and sauntered down the hall. I shook my head slightly before heading to the exit and out into the street.
For the next several weeks, Gavino sent me after a variety of characters in Chicago’s underworld. They weren’t often Rinaldo’s people—there was supposed to be a truce between the families though it was always a tentative one. It was like the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union—a necessity to keep both families operating but not because either organization liked the idea. I found out very quickly that Gavino was reaching into many of the businesses that had been carved out for the Moretti family.
Of course, Rinaldo was doing the same thing.
I had also managed to be far too busy to meet up with Jenna, though she had approached me a couple of different times. There was always someone else about though, so she had made do with lecherous glances from across the room. The couple of times we had spoken, it was clear she was far more open than she should be. With just a little casual conversation and light touches, I had already gathered some information that may very well prove useful. She liked to vent about her job a bit, and some of that venting was more than she should have let on.
At Gavino’s request, I stayed away from Rurik completely. It was clear he didn’t like me, and Gavino’s thought on that type of conflict was to avoid it. I would have preferred to handle it a bit more violently, but I was given very precise instructions to not kill anyone who wasn’t on my list.
I kept out of sight as much as possible. My traveling arrangements were still convoluted, and I either stayed at the apartment with Lia or the hotel room near Quay. I didn’t go out or show my face in public, and thus far, Rinaldo had yet to contact me.
Somehow, my hearing date kept getting pushed back as well, so I hadn’t had to appear in court with my attorney. He’d been leaving messages through the correctional center, but I hadn’t returned any of them. I assumed Trent was behind the court’s failure to offer me a speedy trial, and that was also working out well. I wasn’t sure what I would do if I actually needed to appear in court.
It was only a matter of time before Rinaldo caught up with me, but I was hoping I would have enough time to get the goods on Greco before that happened. I did talk to Trent on the phone but had avoided having to meet him in person. I claimed it was because we shouldn’t be seen together, but that only worked for so long.
He wanted to meet in neutral territory and was no longer taking no for an answer. I finally gave in but picked a place I was familiar with for our meeting—the 676 Bar and Grill in the Omni Hotel downtown.
I knew there was something not right almost immediately.
There was something about the way he walked into the bar that bothered me right away. Feds are usually easy to spot with the way they walk in like they own everything, and that was the sort of stride he had when he walked into the visiting room at the prison, but this time it was different. I couldn’t quite give it a name, but it was somehow lighter—more confident. Like he knew he had a pair of aces in the hole and everyone else was holding shit.
“Tell me what you got,” Trent said as soon as he sat down at the bar.
“Let’s get some privacy first.”
I glanced over to Michele with one “L,” the bartender at 676, and got her attention. She refilled my scotch, got Trent the same, and I told her we were moving to the seats by the window. We made our way over to the grouping of chairs and couches that overlooked Michigan Avenue and sat down.
“Well, asshole? What do you have?”