Shit, I’m doing it again. I can’t think about Katarina right now, not that she’s ever far from my mind. I wonder at least a hundred times a day when she’s gonna swoop in wearing obscenely tight jeans and a low-cut shirt to plug some dickhead who was stupid enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m not complaining. Watching someone get the shit kicked out of him by a girl who looks like a Victoria’s Secret model is hot as fuck.
And since Nico and Viktor have formed this Italian-Russian mob boss partnership thing, she’s been showing up on the scene more and more.
Looking hotter and hotter.
I grasp the countertop that I’m leaning against and swallow hard.
My fucking life is hanging in the balance right now, and all I can focus on is her.
It’s not like I can’t occupy myself with others. There are always others. I work at Nico’s nightclub, Culaccino, and believe me, there’s plenty of pussy on display in that sex den. But it’s too easy. There’s no challenge in getting laid there. Yeah, I can get off, but it’s boring.
I didn’t always feel that way, though. Not until Katarina Ivanov torpedoed her way into my life. She ruined it for every other female out there for me who was ready to drop her panties and spread her legs.
I have to stop these X-rated images from flying through my mind. If Viktor could see what’s wallpapering my brain right now, I’m sure he’d happily take one of the knives in the butcher block to my left and stab me in the eye—and maybe even the dick, for good measure—with it.
“Thanks for coming, Viktor.” Nico places his phone on the table and looks over at me. “Are you joining us?”
“No offense, but I feel like I need to be standing to hear what comes next.”
A smirk plays at Viktor’s lips. “What’s the plan?”
Nico stares at me for a few seconds before speaking. My heart hammers. He’s got a plan. That’s a good thing. It doesn’t guarantee I’ll survive, but hearing that there actually is a ‘plan?’
Promising.
Nico turns back to Viktor. “Everything is set up for the horse farm. Groundskeepers, on-staff veterinarians, trainers, insurance, stable hands…they all have business accounts set up where we’ll wire their salaries, cushioned with our cut. We’ll purchase horses under the new shell company and start paying salaries and insurance premiums to the crew to justify the care and maintenance of the animals and farm.” He points a finger to me without stopping for a breath. “Rocco will oversee the operation from here.”
“Who, whoa, whoa.” I hold up my hands. “I thought this was a meeting to discuss how the fuck we’re gonna handle the Cinque family and keep them from slicing me into carpaccio. I already have a job, remember? I was only kidding about you sending me out here to die.”
“I’m sending you here to keep that from happening. That’s what this meeting is about,” Nico replies in a serious voice.
“Wait, so I’m just supposed to become a cowboy now? Leave the city to herd fucking cattle? What the hell is next? Are you gonna throw some flannel shirts and a Stetson at me, too? How exactly is this supposed to preserve my life?”
“Nobody said anything about cows, although…” Nico rubs the scruff on his chin. “That’s not a bad way to expand the business once things get going. Definitely keeps us off the radar if we become ranchers…”
“Oh, come the fuck on!” I slam my hands on the counter. “Is all this really necessary?”
Nico rises from his chair, the legs scraping against the floor. “I don’t know, Rocco. Do you like the idea of your mouth being pulled through your asshole? Is that a nice visual? Because I can guarantee that would be a picnic compared to what the Cinques will do once they find you.”
“They haven’t gotten to me yet,” I grumble, pulling off my baseball cap and shoving it on backwards. I do that a lot when I’m stressed. As if the position of the goddamn cap can change my suck-ass predicament.
“They’re coming,” Viktor says in a low voice.
“Look, I got what you needed when I was out in California. Now you know where their operations are. You know who’s running shit out there.” I pause for a second, struggling to keep my voice calm, but damn, it’s hard. “I did what Grandpa Vito asked me to do. I went to the Cinques, pretending that you guys kicked me out of Jersey, that I was pissed off, and wanted revenge. They bought it, and I got in deep enough to find out who put the hit on your family, Vik. Now they’re after both of us. So why are we sitting around holding our dicks waiting for them to show up on our doorstep? Why don’t we just take them the fuck out already?”
Nico lets out a deep sigh and rakes a hand through his hair. But he says nothing.
That means he doesn’t want to show his hand.
Well, screw that. My ass is on the line. I did what I had to do for the family. But is the family gonna do anything for me? That’s the big question.
“Nico,” I say, struggling to keep my voice even. “I don’t want to talk about horses. I want to know why I’m here.”
Viktor turns his penetrating gaze to me. “You’re here because you’re going to do a job for us.”
“No disrespect, Vik, but I think I’ve done plenty.”
Nico grits his teeth and glares at me. “Sit the fuck down, Rocco.”