Their Sweet Desire (Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 3)

He had such a short fuse. My mouth is going to get me knocked off next.

“One phone call and it’s over. You know that, don’t you? One fucking phone call. I’m trying to secure a future for you. For us,” he said. His thick Brooklyn accent added to his threats. He used his free hand to run his fingers through her hair. He stared at her lips. She smelled the strong scent of espresso on his breath with each exhale. She lifted her chin. He was not going to intimidate her any further.

“There isn’t an ‘us.’ There never really was. I can make a phone call, too. Now get out. Don’t break in here again, or I swear, I’ll call the cops.”

She thought about her cousin, Leo, the cop and she thought about her uncle Vincenzo. Leo would help her. But then he would worry. He would insist that she move in with him and his buddies. If she denied him, then he’d call Uncle Vincenzo. No way. Not happening. Or worse, Vince’s family, the Saggarettis, would go after him. She couldn’t do that to her cousin, or her uncle for that matter. She had to handle this her way. By being strong, and firm.

Vince shoved away from her, but not before squeezing her a little harder than ever before.

“I’m not afraid of your uncle and neither is my family. So don’t threaten me with calling him. This isn’t over. You’ll come around. I can protect you. You’ll see.” He walked back to the table, lifted the red demitasse cup to his lips, and downed the remainder. He placed the cup back down and then looked at her. He didn’t say a word, and it made her feel more frightened than ever before.

“We’ll talk soon,” he finally said. He always had to have the last damn word. He consistently tried to push his dominance and control over her, and it really pissed her off.

After he walked out, she locked the door, using the dead bolt and securing herself inside. Tomorrow she would call someone to change the locks. That should keep Vince from getting in here again.

He wouldn’t break her down. She could handle this. Just like her grandfather did in the old days. Just like her grandfather had warned her. He told her that Marty Mollicone, Vince’s uncle from his mother’s side of the family, was interested in the building where Bliss was located. Her grandfather told her that there had been some threats, and then one day he was shot down, and it was made to look like a drive-by shooting. Except drive-by shootings didn’t happen in SoHo. At least not in this neighborhood. There weren’t even any gangs around, aside from a few Italian and Puerto Rican kids who fought now and again, and always over girls. Her family had connections, too, but they were above this petty bullshit. Unless Vince and his family hurt her or the business. That would be a different story entirely. Her uncle and some cousins were involved with various nontraditional professionals. Well, they were gangsters, and loan sharks. She wouldn’t go to them for help. She wouldn’t want to owe them anything. But they did adore her. She was the youngest of all the cousins, and she was Antonio DeLuca’s daughter. Her grandfather and her father were legit, and it got them killed. She was going to break the cycle. She had to keep fighting and remain in control, no matter what.

She fell into the chair by the table and covered her face with her hands.

There was a time, that I thought Vince really loved me. How could I have been so stupid? I have no luck with men. I’m destined to be alone, or at least better off with noncommittal relationships. Never again. I’ll never share my desires or my dreams with another man again. Never.

Chapter 1

“Will you get it together, Toni? I swear, you’re such a worrywart. It always works out doesn’t it?” Tina Kelly asked as she wiped down the counter after another group of customers exited.

The place was busy today as usual. Toni gave Tina, her assistant store manager and best friend for life, a look. “You would think after all this time, I wouldn’t worry, but I do. Adding to the menu with these new baking items could make the kitchen get backed up. That means a lot of prep work for me, and Charlie might complain.”

Toni wiped down the fluffy pink chairs and pushed them back under the dark black table that sat five. She loved her little retro café shop in SoHo, New York. It was hip, yet it was totally down to earth and filled with her homemade recipes. She could seat sixty people in the place, either by the coffee bar or near the front window that faced all the little shops and the main street. There was the subway station half a block to the right, and a bus stop directly to the left. There were always people coming and going, but the businessmen and women frequented her place the most.

“Hey, do you think I should change the decorations around the fireplace yet? It’s March, and spring is right around the corner,” she asked Tina.

“Not yet. That setup you have with all the candles is beautiful. We get compliments every day,” Tina replied.

“Yeah, leave it a bit longer, Toni. I’m going to visit the grandkids in Florida for three weeks. I expect some lovely vibrant colors on that fireplace mantel when I return.”

Toni smiled at the regular. “Okay, Mr. Williams, I promise.” Toni made her rounds to check on the customers until she heard the door open again. She greeted her guests.

She tried her hardest to not think about the threats she had received. She didn’t know who was behind them. Scratch that, she had a pretty good idea that Vince??s uncle was behind them. But no proof, just an accusation on her part. What she did know was that her parcel of land and her building was a prime location for any food-type business. There had only been two threats so far. If there were others, then she would have to tell Tina, and perhaps notify the police. Her cousin, Leo DeLuca, was a detective in the south Bronx. He would help her if she called him. She wouldn’t contact Uncle Vincenzo. That man moved quickly and with forcefulness. It wasn’t necessary and she hoped it never would be. Her father’s brother was “old school” when it came to family and respect. Plus, she was his favorite niece.

So why was she feeling so uneasy? Business owners got threats all the time around the city, especially when someone wanted to buy them out or move in on prime territory. No way, not her. She had her life savings invested in the place, and although she was ahead of the game, and finally making money, there were no guarantees in life. She needed this place, and it meant everything to her.

She was scared for the simple fact that men killed her grandfather over this building. Although it wasn’t proven, she knew it to be true. She should really start to worry if a drive-by shooting happened nearby when she was walking home. That would get her to move on to notifying the police and perhaps her uncle.

“Toni, we need another round of zeppoles with the fresh berry platter for table two,” Tina told her as she walked toward the register behind the counter.

Toni wondered if Vince was behind the threats. The idea made her even more nervous. Since she’d broken things off with him six months ago, he had been hounding her to get back together. No way, and not after the way he treated me. He had the nerve to say his father wanted to buy me out. Buy me out? As if? This is my dream. My hard work. All it took was that one smack across my face and things were done. No way would I allow a man to tell me what to do, control me, and make demands on me. He can just kiss my ass.

She suddenly wasn’t too nervous. Hopefully she wasn’t filled with false hope of security from her kickboxing instructor. Those classes were brutal, but at least now if someone tried to hit her, she would give them something to think about.

She still couldn’t shake that feeling that Vince’s uncle was involved. The family may have caused her grandfather’s death years ago, when men like Marty Mollicone could get away with anything. This was a different time, a different era.

She got the platter of fruit and zeppoles and delivered them to the customer who ordered it. After a glance around, she saw that nearly every table in the place was taken. Yep, today was a great day. She wasn’t going to ruin it for herself by thinking about Vince. No, today was going to be a great day, no matter what.

* * * *

Emerson Pierce was shaking his head as he listened to his best friend and business partner Stone Ryder rant on the other end of the line. Emerson just finished up the last meeting he had in SoHo, and he wanted to grab a quick snack and coffee before heading back to Manhattan.

Sure, he could have ordered something and had it delivered right to him to eat in the car on the way back to Manhattan, but he felt like walking a little. He had been stuck in the meeting since six thirty. An odd time of the morning to call for a meeting, but he wanted the deal done and to move on to better things. But as Stone raged on about that conniving bitch, Olivia St. James, he had to pull his cell phone away from his ear. There went having a quiet walk to a local place in SoHo. Emerson found himself walking faster, his Berluti dress shoes clicking on the pavement.