Page 44 of Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia #1)

ASHTON

Alec is standing with his back to the room when I enter his office, staring out the window at the city skyline. It’s a spectacular view, probably one of the best in the city. A view of everything that’s ours. Of everything he’s worked so hard to achieve.

Every one of Alec’s rooms scattered around the city has a view like this. Like he can’t help but admire the empire he’s built, no matter where he is.

“What’s up? You said it was an emergency?” I plop myself down on his couch, lying back and stretching my legs out. My morning workout kicked my ass today, and I’m feeling it from my feet to my face.

“Doc just called,” Alec says. “Viper is finished up in Seneca. He’s coming home.”

At first, I’m relieved. Seneca is a tiny little thing, barely even a city, just a few hours south of where our territory ends in Empire City.

But it has taken months of work to push out the old guard there and expand our little empire.

And every time we came close, something would come up that inevitably sent us back to square one.

Viper’s work there is the culmination of something we’ve all been pushing toward for a long time, a final rinse with bleach to wash the slate clean.

If Viper is on his way home, that means everything went according to plan, which isn’t exactly a surprise. Viper might be insane, but he’s the best at what he does.

Hell, he might be the best because he is insane.

My relief is short-lived, though, as the full weight of what Viper returning means crashes down on me.

Viper doesn’t know about Sydney.

I love my brothers, I really do, all three of them, but Viper never learned to play nice with others, and it has caused… problems in the past. It’s one of the reasons Alec has never really dated, not seriously anyway. We don’t know what he’d do with a stranger in the house, especially a woman.

“How long do you think we have until he finds out about her?” I ask, not even bothering to hide the panic in my voice.

Alec shrugs, his back still to me.

“A few days?” he answers. “A week if we’re lucky. And when are we ever lucky?”

He’s right. We can’t rely on luck to help us out here. Empires aren’t built on luck. They’re built on blood and sweat and more dead bodies than I’d care to remember.

I sit up, feet planted back on the ground. I need to feel grounded, need to feel the world under me, steadying me.

“You’re awful fucking calm, considering,” I accuse, eyes narrowing. Alec is tense, sure, but that’s nothing new. He doesn’t look as panicked as he should be. He looks like he’s doing his fucking taxes.

Me? My leg is bouncing up and down, the muscles twitching in my shoulder, telling me to move to fight . I couldn’t calm down even if I wanted to.

When Alec just shrugs, finally turning his back on the view and settling into his desk chair, it hits me.

I grin.

“You fucked her, didn’t you?” He doesn’t deny it, and I bark a quick laugh. “Holy shit, you did. You fucking dog.”

Alec exhales loudly.

“How was she?” I ask, leaning forward eagerly.

I won’t pretend I haven’t been thinking about it, almost to the point of obsession. The night of the banquet was incredible, but our night together, one-on-one? Fucking outstanding . And I can’t wait for a repeat. I can’t wait for more .

“She was…” Alec drums his fingers on his desk, considering. “She was exquisite .”

I groan, my dick kicking into high gear just thinking about it.

Exquisite.

Yeah, that describes our girl perfectly, doesn’t it?

She’d been so timid, so na?ve, looking at all those toys Alec bought for her. Such an innocent little thing. And I’d been patient, hadn’t pushed her too far—hell, I’d practically been a saint, when all I’d wanted to do was roll her over and show her exactly how I liked it best.

I was being so fucking patient.

But the second she’d slipped that little mouth of hers around the head of my cock, all that restraint had gone right out the window. I’d thought we would have a fun night just for her, a night that was all about her pleasure and figuring out what she enjoyed.

And I’d ended the night fucking her mouth so hard I could come again just thinking about it.

I hadn’t mentioned that part to Alec, of course. We’d both agreed to be gentle with her, introduce these things slowly, over time. You don’t want to scare off an exquisite little thing like Sydney by pulling out the nipple clamps too soon.

But she’d loved my hands in her hair, loved me forcing my cock down her throat. I could see it in her eyes, could feel it in the way her body reacted.

She was going to love all the things I wanted to do to her.

I’m rubbing myself through the fabric of my pants, lost in the memory, when Alec sighs in irritation.

“Keep your dick in your fucking pants, Ashton,” he snaps. “I’m sick of paying to have the couches cleaned.”

I shoot him a grin, but I stop, leaning back on the couch and stretching my arms out on either side of me.

“She’s fair game now, right?” I ask, not looking at Alec to confirm. “You broke the seal. She’s ours now.”

Alec glares at me.

“She’s mine ,” he snaps, tapping his desk. I just grin back at him. “I made it very clear to her that she can draw whatever line in the sand she needs to with the rest of you. Including you.”

I just shrug.

“I don’t mind wining and dining her,” I tell him, waving his concerns away. In fact, the moment I say it, it hits me just how much I’d love it. I’d love taking her out, showing her the night of her life, almost as much as I’d love making her come. I want her to want it. To want me .

I want to be good to her, to take care of her.

Fuck, we’ve barely spent any time with her and I’m already all in.

“I think I’m in love with her,” I admit, grinning up at the ceiling. Alec just snorts dismissively.

“You can wine and dine her all you want,” he warns. “But if she tells you no, that’s that. You’ll have to accept it, brother.”

I laugh .

Of course I will.

But she’s not going to tell me no.

With a little time and patience, I know I can have Sydney however I want. And I want her begging for it, hands tied behind her back, covered in whip marks and our cum.

Groaning, I grip myself through my pants again.

“Focus. We need a plan for how to deal with Viper,” Alec says, pulling us back on track.

Right. I let go again, reluctantly.

“A distraction,” I say. The frenetic bounce of my leg is back. “If we keep him occupied, put him on another mission right away, we can buy more time. Prepare her for it.” Prepare her for him .

Alec nods.

“I was thinking the same thing. And I have just the man in mind.”

Before he can expand on that thought, there are three quick raps on the door. It opens before Alec can tell him to enter, and Seb strolls in.

He nods a greeting at Alec, before his eyes shift to me. He immediately glances down at the erection straining the front of my pants and rolls his eyes.

But he doesn’t call me an idiot. And he doesn’t curl his lip in disgust.

In fact, my little brother seems like he’s in an unusually good mood, and I immediately start forming theories before I spot a copy of The Prince’s Knife sticking out of his bag. My eyes widen and eyebrows quirk a bit when I glance back up at him.

Holy shit. He’s fallen just as hard, and he has no idea.

Poor guy. He doesn’t have a chance with her.

I’ll admit, I skimmed a lot of the book. It was all a bit too complicated for me. I liked the sex scenes, though. Read those a bunch. Even filed away some of the juicier tidbits to try later. But I’ve never been much of a reader; that’s always been Doc’s thing.

“I just told Ash about Viper. Thanks for the heads up on that,” Alec tells him.

I hop up from the couch, ready to head out when Alec fixes me with a pointed look.

“I guess we’re not done here?” I ask, sitting back down.

“What’s up, boss? More psychos to worry about other than Viper?

” I joke. It may not be in writing, but breaking the tension and keeping things light around here might as well be my number one responsibility.

Between all these morose motherfuckers, it feels like a funeral home half the time.

Except Alec’s frown deepens.

“Shit, really?” I press. “More psychos?”

“I wanted you both to hear this.” Alec pauses, like he’s struggling to continue. Considering his job has always been to share bad news and assign the worst tasks, and he has never struggled to do so, the hesitation is starting to freak me out.

“Rip off the band-aid, you’re killing me,” I urge.

“When I was in Empire City, the team shared some surveillance pictures with me.” Alec’s eyes flick over to Sebastian, his gaze laced with concern. “Annika is back.”

With that one name, it feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room. My eyes fix on Seb as he stiffens, shoulders tensing. He stares out the window behind Alec’s desk, his fingers tapping rapidly against his leg.

Fuck.

“I think she’s the one behind all of this,” Alec continues, speaking more to Sebastian than me. “She knows more about Dante’s organization than anyone. And she has her own score to settle with us.”

Sebastian shakes his head. His jaw is clenched so tight, I’m worried he might crack a molar. “No. No, that doesn’t make sense. It wouldn’t be her.”

Alec looks to me, then back to Seb. “I know you want to believe?—”

“‘ He said his name was Dante,’” Sebastian interrupts with a snap.

When Alec and I only glance at one another, not speaking, he continues. “That’s what Giovanni said to Viper. We all heard the recording. ‘ He said his name was Dante .’ Not she. Giovanni dealt with a man.”

Alec’s face is unreadable.

“No one else on your list came up on any of our security footage,” Alec says. He reaches into a drawer and pulls out a glossy 8.5x11 photo, tossing it onto the surface of the desk for Sebastian to see. “Only her. Only Annika.”

Sebastian is quiet as he stares down at the image. Unnaturally still.

“I know what you want to believe, Doc,” Alec says with a heavy sigh. “But if she?—”

“She’s looking at the camera,” Sebastian says.

Alec frowns as Sebastian steps forward and taps the photograph. “She’s looking directly into the camera.”

“What does that?—”

“It means she knows where the camera is,” Sebastian stresses, finger pressing hard against the image as he stares Alec down. “And if she knows where the camera is, why the hell would she let herself be seen by it unless she wanted us to see it .”

I glance between the two of them, baffled as to where he’s going with this.

But what he’s saying clearly makes Alec reconsider. His brows knit together, and he looks at the photograph as if just seeing it for the first time.

“Annika isn’t behind this,” Sebastian insists, tapping the image of her face.

I look from him to Alec, frowning. “Then who the fuck is?”

“I don’t know, I need to think. I —” An alarm sounds from Sebastian’s phone, and he swears as he fishes it from his pocket and silences it.

“I have to go, I have to…” Sebastian stops. Tightening his jaw, he slides his phone back into his pocket. “I have somewhere else I need to be tonight.”

“I need your attention on this,” Alec reminds him as he turns to leave. “Your full attention, Doc.”

Sebastian pauses at the door, his back to us and face hidden when he answers.

“Where else would it be?”