Dirty Indiscretions: A Dark Mafia Romance Read online

  I moved away from the tables, turning my back to the crowd as I touched up my make-up quickly. I had some mints in there, thankfully, and I popped one in my mouth chewing it quickly. I moved it around in my mouth, hoping it would disguise if not cleanse my breath. I took a discreet sniff, before closing and replacing the purse under my arm. But then I just paused and breathed.

  I had stopped at the edge of the crowd, not quite close enough for anyone to pay attention to me. I put a hand to my thudding chest as if my heart would calm down with a few strokes of my fingertips. It wasn’t beating quite as fast as before, but still, it was not back to normal.

  That was dangerous. With the mission I had here, I had to be careful, which meant my heart had to calm a bit. But, why wasn’t it? I ignored my frantic thoughts, practically willing it to calm down and getting the opposite result.

  "Is there anything wrong, ma'am?"

  I whipped my head around, my surprised eyes catching the concerned ones of a waiter. I let the surprise fade away almost immediately, giving him a sheepish smile.

  Dammit! I wasn’t supposed to let people see me so clearly. No one had looked at me with anything resembling interest, and I liked it that way. I didn’t need anyone recognizing me enough to give details about me later.

  My looks were generic, though. Brown hair, brown eyes, a little pretty. I fit the description of a lot of the women present, a few of them even in floor length black dresses, much like me. But I hated taking chances and making careless mistakes.

  "No, I'm fine, but thank you. I was feeling a bit off, and I wanted to go to the bathroom, but I'm afraid I don't know where it is."

  "I could give you directions," he said almost immediately, looking eager to help.

  I held back a grimace, made my lips curve higher in a wider smile instead. "Thank you, but I think I'm fine now. I'm just not used to these parties, I suppose. But I would love something to drink…" I hinted.

  He nodded, all serious, and I had to bite the inside if my cheek to keep from laughing. I was a little disappointed he didn't snap off a salute.

  "I'll get you something right away, ma'am." He turned sharply, back straight, and walked off.

  With the momentary distraction gone, however, the smile fell off my face, replaced by a grim look. I was getting a little too distracted.

  I had to get my head back in the game before I made a mistake that proved to be disastrous.

  Chapter 5

  Luke

  I watched her walk out of the closet, chin held high, back straight, a little disbelieving she could push everything aside that easily. But then she was out the door and closing it quietly, and I was left standing in a closet, alone.

  "Well, fuck."

  What the hell just happened?

  She'd been feeling everything we did together, yet she could walk away just like that, barely five minutes after I made her orgasm a second time. I hadn't forgotten where we were, and I knew I could potentially get in trouble for it, but that concern seemed to have flown out the window.

  Because having her turn her nose up at me, at what we'd just done, only made me want her more.

  I wanted to follow her into that room full of guests that would be a little too curious for their own good, find her and drag her away for some more fun. It wouldn’t get me into trouble, I wasn’t exactly Greco's security, the work I did for him wasn’t nearly so simple, but as far as I cared, any time he dragged me along with him, I was on the clock. That was the mentality I always held, and I was serious about business.

  At least I had been until this woman.

  "What the fuck is wrong with me." I murmured out loud.

  The behavior I was exuding right then wasn’t normal for me. I wasn’t celibate, but when I went for a woman, it was to scratch an itch, because they were nothing more than a needed distraction. Elda, as beautiful as she was, was an unwelcome one, but I wanted her, and I didn’t think I could stop myself.

  We were on my island—technically, not mine, it belonged to the boss, but it was certainly my territory more than it was hers.

  There was no way I was leaving it—or her—for that matter. Not without having more of Elda.

  I smoothed down my clothes, hoping everything was in place. I didn’t want to go looking for a mirror. I smoothed down my hair, combing it back with my fingers, and decided I was presentable. I reached for the closet door and opened it, sliding out as I glanced around.

  There was no one in the vicinity, no one even watching the area, which was why she dragged me there in the first place. It hadn't been quite appropriate for what we ended up doing, but it was private. I took a breath, and walked back into the crowd and mingled like I hadn't been away and had a sexual encounter very recently.

  No one bothered paying attention to me. These parties were all about who had the most influence, the most cash; it was like a contest to them. I had none of the things they were looking for, and I didn’t try to talk to anyone and brag about things that I didn’t have, so I didn’t stand out.

  The people that had seen me before would let their eyes slide off me in disinterest, and there were very few people present, save the staff, that I hadn't met already. Greco didn’t have so wide a group of friends, after all. I'd been told I was good looking, but I was still generic, tall, brown haired and brown eyed with a constant shadow on my jaw, not quite enough to count as a full beard.

  I glanced around again, this time looking for Elda. I found her at the edge of the crowd, taking a glass from a tray a waiter had brought to her. I expected him to leave after that, but he stuck around and they chatted. She was smiling, and I thought she looked amused, but from this distance, I couldn’t be sure.

  The purse that was there under her arm hadn't been before was also particularly suspicious. I couldn’t drag her off for another body search, we were lucky not to have been caught the first time, but twice would be pushing my luck.

  Not that I even cared. If she did come here with intentions other than to suffer through the party, she wouldn’t get the chance to do it, not with my full attention focused on her.

  "Luke."

  I didn’t let the voice distract me, waiting until I felt a presence beside me before taking my eye off her, but not for long. The guy that called me was another one of Greco's men. I knew every single one on sight and by name, but I never let them know that. I knew a lot about the people my boss decided to associate himself with.

  "What is it?"

  "I was looking around for you before and I didn’t find you. Where did you go?"

  I bit then inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t laugh. The suspicion was obvious in his eyes, and he didn’t hide it in his voice. The few of Greco's men I encountered didn’t particularly like me. It was annoying, at first, but then it grew amusing.

  "Where I was, and what I was doing, is none of your business. If you wanted to see the boss, you didn’t need my permission."

  I was seen as something of a pet, for some reason. A cat, to be more precise. Coming and going as I pleased, bringing trophies back for my master only to disappear. The metaphor was disturbingly accurate, save where I carried back dead rats to him. I just did the deed and gave him the reports. But he was happy with my work, and that meant the others walked carefully around me because they didn’t want to risk angering him.

  I could see the guy pale, eyes glancing around as he straightened. "I just wanted to tell you there was an issue in the kitchen."

  I felt my back straighten as well, checking in my peripheral vision to keep track of Elda, then turning to the man in front of me, becoming serious. If something even remotely went wrong and I was too busy having fun to be there, I really would get in trouble, part of the security or no.

  "What happened and why do I need to step in?" I mostly just killed, so it was bad when I was needed in situations like these.

  "It's fine. I found Travers and he took care of it, no one noticed anything. I just thought you should know about it. Talk to Travers if you want t
he details."

  I could feel the surprise on my face as I watched him walk away. It was an understatement to say the people I worked with didn’t like me, even those that had only heard of me. They positively hated my guts, and wouldn't hesitate to try to off me if they thought they had the slightest chance. He didn’t have to warn me, they could have used it as an excuse to make the boss mad and point the finger at me.

  Still, the surprise couldn’t hold my attention long. It strayed back to Elda. She had gone back to the same dance as before, walking around from group to group, pretending to drink and have a conversation and mingle in the crowd. There was no waiter around chatting her up, and I felt something I hadn't realized tightened, loosen in my chest.

  Well, if she was going to play this game, I would, too. I walked further into the room after a quick glance around, melting into the crowd. I did what she did, but since people were barely paying me any attention, I could move easier, keeping my eyes on the only two people that mattered in the room.

  Chapter 6

  Elda

  This is never going to work.

  My fear realized, not half an hour since I decided I wouldn’t get anything done today.

  "Miss Abba?"

  I looked up at the man I was talking to. We weren’t really talking, I’d just joined his group and introduced myself. His eyes were a little too intent for my liking, and I gave him my bland, not interested look.

  "I'm sorry?"

  He smiled, and it looked a little tight. "I asked you a question, I'm afraid I'm still awaiting your answer."

  For a second, I nearly panicked. I didn’t know what the hell we were talking about. And then I realized it really didn’t matter because these weren’t people I planned on seeing ever again. My expression didn’t even change. His brow furrowed in annoyance because it was taking me too long to answer.

  "I'm sorry," I said again, my tone making it clear I didn’t really mean it. "I keep getting distracted tonight. Would you excuse me? I see someone I'd like to talk to."

  I gave him a bland smile to go with the look and turned to leave. I saw Luke, out of the corner of my eye, as he turned to follow me only to be stopped by the woman already standing beside him, who I assumed was his date. He threw a frustrated look my way before turning to the woman, who was a little flushed and glaring, probably to try to appease her.

  I was sure they both got a good look at me.

  Fuck. Cursing, even internally, wasn’t something I did often, but the frustration that brought it on was warranted this time.

  I kept getting distracted.

  I was keeping an eye on Greco. It was the reason I was here. I'd somehow managed to crash a party, uninvited and by myself, on a fucking island with security on both ports and on the water before I even got to the building. Getting through it had taken more than a little effort, it was a minor miracle to accomplish. Even masquerading as part of the catering staff, I could have been caught.

  I would never get a chance to be so close to the target like this again.

  For all that hard work, I was wasting it. I’d had him in my sight as soon as I got back to the crowd. I was lucky he hadn't decided to bow out early.

  But at the same time, my attention kept shifting toward Luke.

  He was back in the room; he must not have waited too long to follow behind me, and he was moving around the room, only unlike before, I was now aware of him. I didn’t even make a conscious decision to look for him, I just lost myself in my head, spaced out, and realized my eyes were traveling the room either watching him or looking for him.

  "Dammit, Luke. What did you do to me?"

  I didn’t realize I'd spoken out loud until a passing waiter stopped close to me and looked at me, confused.

  "Did you say something, ma'am?"

  "No," I said immediately, smiling and lifting my glass up. "I didn’t say anything. It's probably just the background music."

  He was still confused, but he just smiled and walked on. I had to bite the inside of my cheek not to curse out loud, but I did in my head. I glanced around the room again and saw Greco. But then I caught Luke out the corner of my eye.

  It was then I decided I needed to leave. I wasn’t going to do anything worthwhile, not with him here. I wondered just how hard it would be to leave early. I didn’t think I could just sneak out as easily as I snuck in, at least by myself, and no one else looked like they were tired of the party. I looked down at the glass of champagne in my hand, getting the sudden urge to down the whole glass and look for more. But I couldn’t, not on enemy territory. A sip might not kill me—the whole glass wasn’t even enough to get me drunk—but I knew I wouldn’t do it anyway.

  I grimaced, stopping in place, though I hadn't realized my feet were still carrying me around the room. I looked around for the nearest table and went to place the glass on it.

  Somehow, I had to get out and keep my anonymity while doing it. It was either that or I was going to get myself killed soon. But just then, the low, mellow music stopped, and as it did, so did the conversations around the room. I looked around, surprised because I was sure the speeches must have been over already.

  Almost as one, everyone turned to the stage that sat at the far end of the room. I hadn't gone near it, because it was on the other side of the room from where the tables were set, and I didn’t want to be that far away from my purse. And really, no one was getting particularly close to the stage.

  I didn’t know if it was part of the room, or something put in just for the party. It was only about a foot off the floor, with musical instruments set up, though for the past couple hours or so, the music had been coming from discreet speakers around the room. But as I watched, men and women came onto the stage, dressed just as finely as the guests only in matching colors, settling behind the instruments, a man and two women getting behind microphones.

  I had a sudden bad feeling. I was also sure my plan to leave discreetly had just flown out the window.

  Then it came, the call for everyone to get on the dance floor as the musicians started a tune, the singers leading the music. It was interesting, at least, but I hadn't thought far enough ahead to account for dancing. I didn’t doubt I could find someone to take me to the dance floor, but I didn’t want to dance. Even though I'd thought it a possibility—really, would anyone in this crowd forfeit a chance to show off?—but I wouldn’t be this distracted over one man if I’d thought of it before.

  I looked around, not sure who to choose as a partner. My search was maybe a little frantic, but it was because I was hoping to run away from Luke.

  Not that I even had a chance to, because when I turned, still looking for a partner, he was suddenly there in front of me. He had surprised me, but a widening of my eyes was the only reaction I let myself show. He still caught it, and his lips curved into a self-satisfied smirk. I let my eyes narrow at him.

  "Luke, how nice to see you again."

  "The pleasure is all mine, Elda," he murmured, getting closer and taking my hand. I didn’t resist as he raised it and kissed the back of it. Only, unlike the first time, the move sent a thrill through my body. "May I have this dance?"

  I opened my mouth to refuse—nicely—when I noticed the humorous light in his eyes, saw the humor leaking into his smirk. It stalled me for a moment, and he didn’t wait for me to get my bearings back, just dragged me forward by the hand.

  "Luke!" I hissed his name quietly as he pulled me into the slowly crowding dance floor, but he just chuckled and ignored me. He stopped us right in the middle and turned so we were facing each other again, his eyes practically daring me to say no. I was tempted, for a second, to try and defy him just to see what he would do. But I'd done enough stupid shit for one evening.

  I sighed, and he grinned. I removed my purse from under my arm, holding it in my hand. Then he wrapped his arms around me, surprising me again with how fast he moved. I couldn’t have moved away if I had thought to, he was holding me so tightly against his body.

&n
bsp; I should have complained, struggled even at the cost of making a scene and drawing attention to myself. I didn’t see myself as dominant in my relationships, but if we weren’t equal I didn’t let myself get pushed around by just anyone.

  But I couldn’t move away from him, because Luke had proved that he wouldn’t mind being pushed around by me, either, he let me do it to him twice. I couldn’t help the fluttering of my heart as I slowly brought my arms up to his shoulders, keeping my purse in one hand, the other curving into his shoulder blade.

  Then we were moving, weaving in and out of the crowd, circling other couples without bumping into them, even though I could feel that he never took his eyes off me. I knew how to dance, but that Luke did, and that he was so obviously skilled, was enough to surprise me. I'd intended to ignore his eyes, knowing what they would do to me, but as we swayed to the music, I got distracted again, and it felt, as cliché as it sounded, like the whole room melted away.

  Being this close to him, having his body strong against mine, looking up and meeting his eyes…

  I was completely lost.

  Chapter 7

  Luke

  I hadn't danced in a while. When the boss asked me to join one of his shindigs, usually I was just to stay on the sidelines, though he didn’t give me any limits to what I was supposed to do. But I’d learned to dance long before, and it was like riding a bike for me; I hadn’t forgotten, no matter how long it had been.

  Elda was impressed, I could tell. When I first pulled her to the dance floor, she had that mutinous look on her face, as if she would try to run away if she got the chance. I thought it was funny. But I didn’t allow her the opportunity, and we were dancing, her eyes not meeting mine, even though she must have felt the force of my stare. But then her eyes turned up to mine, opened a little wider, her lips parted, like before when I surprised her, getting to her before she could find some other dance partner.