Bennett Mafia(95)

“All I have to say is if there’s a chance we can get this one—” She pointed at Kai. “—to a nightclub, I will have died and gone to heaven.”

Kai shot her a look, but continued speaking to the manager. She had stepped closer, bending her head, and oh—what a coincidence—the top three buttons of her blouse were open. I was fairly certain only one had been opened when the first guard bought the table behind us.

Shifting in his seat, Kai reached over to touch my side, but he continued as if he wasn’t aware of the touch. He knew. His fingers pressed into my side before drifting to the top of my leg. He so knew. I caught the faint grin teasing his mouth. He was enjoying this too.

He must have seen me eyeing the manager like a starved hawk seeing a rival falcon on the next perch. And why I was using animal metaphors was beyond me. I needed to get out. Well, I needed to get out more than I had today.

Maybe a nightclub visit was in order…

But no. I had plans.

There was a reason I’d asked to come here, had asked to stay here. I just hadn’t entirely figured out my plan. But glancing at a nearby clock, I saw I still had time.

“Thank you,” the manager finished, nodding before she left.

Kai leaned back, putting an arm over the back of my chair.

I stiffened.

Brooke and Jonah noted the movement, but Brooke didn’t stop talking.

I tried to tune in. She was asking for Jonah’s recommendation on the first shot for the night when Kai touched my shoulder, pulling me back into his side. He moved his head as if he were looking past me, his lips right next to my ear.

“You abandoned me earlier,” he said, his breath tickling me. “I could’ve used your backup.”

I turned my head just slightly so our eyes could meet. “You were handling it just fine. Besides, you left me in the lurch earlier than that.”

“I had work to do.”

He eyed me, daring me to bring up my parting words from our argument.

A flush worked its way up my back, my neck, and he felt it, his hand moving to the back of my neck. His thumb began rubbing in circles, which caused another tickling sensation to vibrate over my skin.

“Is your work done?”

Now he smirked. “You tell me.” He looked meaningfully over his shoulder.

I followed his gaze and gulped.

He saw the clock too.

He knew. Of course he knew.

His thumb kept rubbing. The manager returned with three servers in tow. Each held a tray overhead. The manager set up a long table just off to the side. She spread a cloth over it, and one by one, the servers put the food and drinks on that table. They were setting up a buffet, complete with a bartender who had moved to a portable bar in the corner of our space.

Brooke squealed, heading to the bar right away. “Shot, please! Give me a sex on the beach.” The bartender reached for an already opened bottle, and a guard stepped up. He’d merely looked at the bartender before the manager went over to have a word with her employee. Within a few moments, all the already opened bottles were pulled and sealed bottles took their places.

As this was happening, a guard came over and tasted some of every food on the buffet.

He was testing, and it hit me what was happening. They were making sure nothing had been tampered with.

I had fallen in love with a mob boss.

I’d forgotten for a moment.

A wave of doubt hit me, but just as quickly, it was gone. I’d gone down this path. I had tortured myself over what I was doing. I had decided.

I had chosen Kai.

Jonah said before it was all of them together—one for all. Sitting here, seeing how the people around us seemed mesmerized by Kai, I began to think about power shifts. Everything was balanced out. What would happen if Kai forced one of the illegal trades to grind to a halt in their country? What would replace it? I wasn’t naive enough to think something wouldn’t, or someone wouldn’t. Everyone wanted to make a dollar, and bad fucking people could be ingenious.

That’s why Kai kept Jonah close.

Jonah was good. Jonah was a genius, but so was Kai. The intelligence must’ve been passed on through their mother? No, Kai had said he thought the way his father had. Both his parents must’ve been highly intelligent.

“What’s wrong?”

Kai pulled me from my thoughts, leaning forward in his chair.

Jonah had joined Brooke at the bar. He shook his head as she pushed a drink toward him. The guards had moved back. The servers were gone, the manager too. In our little bubble, we had a small bit of privacy.

“I know you don’t have a hand in the drug business, but if you pushed to eradicate it, what would happen?”

He didn’t blink or pause. He didn’t even question why I was asking. “A new drug would happen. There’s always something new coming down the pipeline. New guns. New drugs. New form of sex slaves. That’s just the tip. There’s gambling. Black market for organs, for bodies, for anything you want. Credit cards. ID theft.”

“Do you control all of that?”

A beat. Two. Then, “I know enough about it.”

I gave him a rueful grin. “That’s all you’re going to tell me?”

“Why are you asking?”

I pressed a hand to my chest, as if to keep it from exploding. “I thought I could help do something. Anything. But learning about it all, I’m left with this helpless feeling of how can anything be made better when the bad is always there?”