I let her parade her tight, gorgeous body around in front of me. And when she was finally done, she collapsed on the couch in a pair of yoga pants and a gray tank top. She smiled at me and stretched out, touching all the clothes she’d decided to keep, which was pretty much everything in her size.
“Thanks for indulging me,” she said. “I don’t know the last time I tried on that much stuff.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I said, standing up. I stretched and watched her before picking out something from the table. I felt the lacy fabric beneath my fingers and let a smile spread across my face.
I’d really have to thank Theresa.
“Try this on,” I said, holding it out.
She frowned at me for a long moment as her eyes moved down to the lacy bodysuit I held in my hand. It looked a lot like the first dress she put on, except it was skimpy lingerie. The neckline was plunging, there was no skirt, and there was no slip underneath.
Just a skin tight, see-through lace bodysuit.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Go ahead,” I said. “I want to see you wearing nothing but this.”
She bit her lip. “Steven, come on.”
“Put it on, Colleen,” I said. “I’ve been patient. And now I want my reward.”
She stared at me, mouth hanging open for a long moment, but slowly she stood up and walked over. She took the lingerie from my hand and I half expected her to throw it on the floor.
Instead, she walked to the steps and climbed up. I watched her go, my heart racing with excitement.
But as I went to sit back down in my chair, the phone began to ring. I cursed and took it from my pocket. I was about to turn it off, but it was Luca’s number, and I knew I couldn’t ignore my Lieutenant, not when we were on the verge of a real war.
So I answered it. “Yeah?” I said.
“Steven.” Luca sounded harried, a little out of breath. “Something went down.”
I stood up, at full attention. “What’s going on?”
“We got a message from the Club,” Luca said. “One of their soldiers dropped it off at your deli twenty minutes ago.”
“Why didn’t you call me right away?”
“We needed to find a DVD player first.”
I was silent for a long moment. “Why would you need a DVD player?”
“Because it’s this movie,” he said. “Shit, Steven. You should see it.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“It’s this… this guy named Finn,” he said and a shiver ran down my spine. “Finn Colley. He’s tied to this chair and it looks like he got beat up real bad. Blood all over his face, right? Then the camera jumps to Mathis Colley, you know, the fucking Club guy. And he says that if we don’t pay him tribute, he’ll start cutting pieces of this Finn Colley and sending them to you.” Luca is quiet for a long moment. “You still want a video?
“No,” I said. “I’ll see it later.”
“What should we do?”
“Nothing for now,” I said. “Don’t move. Don’t do anything. I’ll call you back.”
I hung up and stood there, staring at the floor.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
I heard footsteps on the stairs. I looked up as Colleen came around the corner and stared at me, standing with her hands behind her back.
“Fuck,” I said again.
She looked incredible. Her breasts were pressed together and I could see her pink, hard nipples through the lace. Her hair was down around her shoulders and she was giving me this look that made my heart race. I took a step toward her, my body yearning to touch her, but I stopped myself.
She tilted her head. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
I clenched my jaw. “Fuck,” I said.
“What’s wrong?” she asked again and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You’re freaking me out.”
“Here,” I said, grabbing a sweatshirt from the table. It was a size too big but I threw it to her anyway. “Put that on and sit down.”
“Oh my god,” she said, catching the sweatshirt. “You fucking asshole. You don’t like this?”
“No,” I said. “Shit, no, that’s not it. My Lieutenant just called.”
She hesitated then pulled on the sweatshirt. “Did something happen?” she asked.
“Sit down,” I said.
“Just tell me,” she said. “I just put on all those clothes for you, then that lingerie, and you tell me to cover up, and—”
“It’s about your dad,” I said. “Sit down, damn it.”
She stared at me, her eyes wide. She took a few steps to the couch and slowly sank down.
I paced around in front of her for a second. “Fuck,” I said. “All right, listen. Your uncle has your father.”
“My uncle has my father?” she asked. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means he knows I have you and he took your father for revenge. I don’t know why, or what the fuck he’s thinking. But he… beat him up a little.”