Page 2 of Dangerous Games

“Look, we’ve been waiting for an hour. What the hell happened?”

“Yeah, boss, there’s a shipment coming, and we need your signature on the paperwork or—”

“Shut up,” I snap, leading them into my office. I click on the lights and sit behind my desk. No one rushes me, and no one tells me how to do my job. Besides the fact that I can’t tell them a single thing about Jimmy Slater or his task for me. This is an inside job; I know that much is true, and I don’t have the means to sniff it out entirely by myself. Only, I don’t know who to trust, who is loyal. “Sit down.”

Nick and Leo sit across from me, both of them with resting bitch face, but I don’t care. I’m in charge here and they do as I say. Nick crosses one leg over the other and leans back like he owns the joint, and Leo shakes his head, haughty and about to be taken down a notch. I unholster my gun, tucked there safely after I nearly made Jimmy deaf, and lay it on the desk. That sobers them and they look less hostile.

“The guns, they’re due in tomorrow. Who is on that shipment?”

“We heard it’s going to be the same guy as last time.” Nick’s report doesn’t please me, but I’m not surprised. The Armenian arms dealer we work with has gotten sloppy and can’t be trusted much longer.

“Put three extra men on it then. We can’t afford a slip up. And Leo, I want you on the roof. Put the rifle on the truck. If something goes down, blow the tires first. If he doesn’t stop, aim for his forehead.” Leo nods, they understand my instructions and I know they will follow through, even if they are part of the problem here. “Now, where is the paperwork?”

Nick reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a folded bundle of papers. I take them and unfold them to see the order for seventy AR rifles is in order. I scrawl my name across the bottom and push the papers back to him, and he puts them back into his pocket. This crap is getting old, and I’m ready to move up, let my brother Sven take this over so I can do the real work of running this family, but only once I’ve proven my worth to my father.

“Get out,” I tell them, ready to stew on my anger over Jimmy. They scurry away like scared little mice, and I sit back in my chair and listen to the door click shut. Someone in my organization has hired a man to kill me. I’m not sure if it is Nick or Leo. For all I know it could be one of my brothers too. They each have motive—to unseat me as the next Pakhan so they can take my rightful throne, though I don't truly suspect any of the four of them.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, breathing out a deep sigh. This stress isn’t nearly as bad as some of the situations I’ve been in before, but it’s right up there, and the only thing that takes the edge off is a good fuck. Too bad Nanette Slater is a little out of my reach at the moment, but if Jimmy doesn’t play his cards right, I may just have to leverage her. She’d look really good bent over the end of my desk or spread wide on my bed. And just thinking of that makes my dick go hard.

I pull out my phone and flip through the pictures I took while I was waiting for Jimmy the last few times I showed up at his house. Nanette is in every single one of them, though some catch my eye more than others. Like this one where she’s wearing a tight miniskirt. She dropped something and had to bend to pick it up, and as she did, I got a glimpse of the black panties she wore.

While Nanette is definitely worth feasting my eyes on, she’s more valuable than that. Jimmy has a soft spot for her. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. She snapped at him about not feeding the strays and the very same day he removed the food dish from the front porch. Maybe I could use that weakness against him, force him to cooperate with me and maybe enjoy something I want on the side too.

Right now, Jimmy is a liability. He knows too much about me and my organization. If he were to rat, I’d go down, plain and simple. I need some insurance that he’s going to do what I say, and Nanette might just be what I need. The minute he pulls that trigger, he will be just as guilty as me though, and that’s what I’m counting on. Once he’s done, he’s done. He would go down as hard as I did if he ratted. And maybe Nanette could be just the thing to force him to finish what he started.

One thing is certain, I have to root out the mole and protect myself or there will be no organization left. At least not how it is today. My life depends on it, and so does my position in this family and I know Jimmy Slater is the only man who can do this. With my help of course. And maybe a little nudge from the goddess he calls his sister.

2

NANETTE

Ican’t believe the dark purple bruise on Jimmy’s ribs. Whoever did this is going to pay. The cut they left from the toe of their boot is deep enough that he should have had stitches and I wonder if they had a blade affixed to it to do this on purpose. I click my tongue and sigh. He should have gone to the ER.

“Jimmy, this is insane. Who did this to you?” The wound is an angry red, filled with pus. It’s rimmed by the stark white of bone.

I dip the rag into the water and tear it off with a firm pull. Bubbles dance up the sides and disappear into the steam. The water is near boiling and the rag is soaked through with dark red blood. The instant I put the rag on him he screams and rips it off, splattering the water onto the floor.

“God, that hurts. Can you watch it?” Jimmy snaps at me but this is for his own good. If this thing gets infected, he’ll be sorry.

“You should have told me when this happened.” The water in the bowl is so soiled with his dried blood already that I’ll need fresh water to finish this.

“You’re just going to reopen the wound.” Jimmy pushes away from me and takes the bowl, dumping the water out, and when he grabs the cloth, I try to hold onto it for a moment, but he is stronger than me. “Just give it to me, Nan. I’ll do it myself.”

I relent, letting go of the rag, and watch him wipe the tender skin of his ribcage until the blood is gone. The cut isn’t as bad as I thought it was, though I still think it needs stitches. It will scar too, but not as bad as the scar that runs along the left side of his body. It still speaks today about the horrors we went through.

He sits back down next to me at the kitchen table, and I spread antibiotic ointment onto the wound then apply a large gauze bandage, wrapping the gauze all the way around his body so it doesn’t come loose. When it’s finished, I sit back and look at my masterpiece. I’m no nurse, but that should at least keep it from getting infected.

“What did you get yourself mixed up in this time?” I lean back on the old metal chair. The green vinyl is torn, evidence of a better life at some point. Jimmy is a clean man, but he holds on to the past. These particular chairs were in my parents’ house before they passed away. He had to have them, said they held memories. I say they need to be thrown out like the past—forgotten and never to be remembered. I never understood how some people have fond memories and wish for yesterday. My yesterday is about as enticing as a Russian gulag.

“It’s nothing, okay? You just need to stay out of this one.” He pulls a shirt on over his head and then finger-combs his hair. He’s hiding something, and it’s probably dangerous. He does this when he’s stepped across a line. He wants to protect me, but he can’t. I always end up finding out and a lot of times I have to help. “I know what you’re thinking, Nanette, and not this time. You’re staying as far away from this as possible. You should probably leave before—”

The front door slams shut and Jimmy jumps. He swallows hard, and I see the fear in his eyes which makes my heart race too. He sits a bit straighter as we hear loud footsteps coming down the hall. I rise, hoping to cut off the unwelcome visitor and send them away, but before I get to the kitchen door, the man is here, towering over me. His broad shoulders fill the doorway, and there is no room for me to pass by him. The man’s arms feel like steel as he blocks my way.

“Who are you? Why did you just walk in?” I stand with my arms crossed over my chest indignantly and he offers a half grin, as if I am a flea on a dog’s back. He’s intimidating, but wow is he good looking too. I don’t know whether to swoon or defend Jimmy. The man is tall and broad, his body is made of ridges and valleys with swells of muscle in all the right places. His hair is a mess of dark brown waves. Though he is far, I can still smell his aftershave. It is subtle, sweet tempting. He’s dressed in all black, and the only spot of color is the scarlet of his lips when he frowns at me. I have a feeling this is the bastard who gave him that boot mark.

“Tame your dog, Jimmy, before I have her removed to the sausage factory.” The man’s voice is buttery and smooth, a deep baritone that reverberates through me. I’m drawn to him despite my apprehension. I’m also slightly scared of him. He’s huge, and he’s a bit older than me, maybe ten or fifteen years. That means he’s got wisdom and for Jimmy that may spell trouble.

“Look, Dom, that’s my sister. She’s got nothing to do with this.” Jimmy trembles as he stands. He reaches for me and pulls me backward, and I go willingly. He wants to defend me; he always has. He tucks me behind his back and his head cocks to the side as he raises his hands defensively. “You can just let her go before we chat. She doesn’t need to be involved.”

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