Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
It rang a couple times before he answered. “Luca.”
“Constantine.”
There was a pause before he spoke. “It’s been a while. Need something?”
“Yes, in fact, I do. I’ve got a guy down here who keeps evading my net. Thought you might be of some help.”
“Not sure why.”
“Because it seems all his cronies are French.”
“Ah, I see. What’s he dealing?”
“Illegal transplants. Organs on the black market. Shit like that. Targets young people, and they just disappear. Every time I get close, he changes the tactics of his operation. None of his men roll on him because he doesn’t let them know anything.”
“Then he must pay them a lot not to ask questions.”
“Yeah, probably,” I said. “All I have is a name. Vladimir.”
“Last name?”
“Nope.”
Luca was quiet for a while. “I’m sure you heard about the commotion we had up here?”
“You’d have to live in North Korea not to know about it.”
“Well, Bastien is out. I’m the First French Emperor now.”
“Congratulations.”
Luca paused over the line like he wasn’t sure if I was being genuine. “Give me some time to figure it out.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“Yeah.” He hung up.
Chapter 2
Constantine
I texted Aurelia. Let’s have dinner tonight.
The three dots popped up, and her message appeared right away. Alright.
I loved how easy this was. Good, I want you to meet Rocco. Well, Rocco wants to meet you . . .
Well, I met him that night . . .
Eh, doesn’t really count. I’ll pick you up at 7:30, sweetheart.
Okay, see you then.
After I slept a couple hours, I arrived at her apartment and watched her open the door in the sexiest black dress. It had one strap over a shoulder while the other was bare, and it was tight and so short she’d definitely struggle to sit without her ass popping out.
So it was fucking perfect.
I was all over her as always, my hand getting a nice grip on her ass right there in the doorway, yanking up that dress so I could squeeze her ass and touch the little G-string that barely covered anything.
The heat of our embrace was like an anchor that dragged me to the bottom of the ocean, and I felt myself fall as I guided her back into her apartment, kicking the door shut with my boot, then lifting her into my chest.
“Aren’t we going to be late?” she asked between breathless kisses, like she had absolutely no desire to stop.
I carried her into her bedroom and laid her across the bed. “Trust me,” I said as I popped open my jeans and yanked them down. “He’ll understand.”
When we walked into the restaurant, Rocco was seated at a table with a drink, but he wasn’t alone. While I was nailing my girl, he’d picked up a friend to keep him company. A petite blonde with a lot of boobage popping out—exactly his type.
“Told you he wouldn’t mind,” I said as I guided Aurelia to the table with my hand on her waist.
She wore a mischievous little smile on her lips.
A smile so mischievous it made me grab her by the ass.
Rocco cast a quick glance at me before he wrapped things up with his new side piece. Pulled out his phone and got her number before she left the table.
I smirked as we took our seats across from him. “I would apologize for being late, but it seems like we did you a favor.”
Rocco ignored me and extended his hand to Aurelia. “Rocco. Nice to meet you . . . under better circumstances.”
She shook his hand. “Thank you for everything you did that night. Scariest night of my life.”
He gave a slight nod. “Yeah, that was pretty shitty.”
“Did you guys end up getting the guy?”
“I handled Timothée,” I said. “He didn’t cough up anything good. But we know a guy who might be able to help us track down Vladimir. We’re leaving for Paris tomorrow to meet with him.”
“Paris?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’ll be gone just for a day and a half.”
She seemed surprised and a little taken aback, but she didn’t say anything.
The waiter came over, and we ordered our drinks. Rocco was still working on his.
When her disappointment continued to fill the air, I outright asked her what the problem was. “Is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay,” she said with an awkward laugh. “You don’t have to ask my permission.”
“Then why are you being weird?” I put her on the spot in front of Rocco because I didn’t care what he saw. I was always fully transparent with him—except for the intimate stuff.
“She’s scared,” Rocco said. “Which is pretty obvious.”
I turned to look at my friend across the table, my eyebrow cocked.
“She just said that was the worst night of her life, we haven’t caught the guy yet, and now we’re both leaving.” Rocco took a sip of his wine. “You’re good at reading people, but you aren’t always good at understanding them.”