“Does Nick work at your nightclubs now?” I asked, annoyed that jealousy was snaking up my spine. The thought of Nick spending his nights at clubs with gorgeous, half-naked women didn’t sit well with meat all.
“We’ve had some issues with our liquor licenses and other permits, although things are smoother now that John’s gone,” Michael said. “But now that we’ve moved on to monitoring the bratva, you can’t be too careful.”
I nodded, pushing my food around my plate since it suddenly tasted like cardboard. “He’s been working so much. You all leave pretty early when you visit the docks, and I know you’ve sent him to some meetings in the Bronx with Sal’s contacts.”
“Our very own IT specialist, monitoring our whereabouts,” Michael teased.
“Actually, I need to update you on the dark net private forums. There’s some suspicious activity coming out of Eastern Europe. The IPs are traced to various countries around the world like Poland, South Korea and Brazil, but it could be connected to Sergey Kersna’s organization.”
Michae’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of activity?”
“An uptick in dark web illegal ecommerce drug sites that trade in Bitcoin.”
“Now in English, please,” Michael said, glancing at Mom as she grinned.
“Basically, these are dark net sites where people can order fentanyl, heroin, LSD and all the other crap I know you’re trying to control—well, as best you can,” I said with a shrug. “I can continue to monitor it. The uptick isn’t too alarming for now, but if word gets out that you’ve eliminated human trafficking, Sergey is going to need to find other avenues to replace that income.”
“Noted.” Michael sighed. “I agree with Sal. The world was easier when we had no technology and we just sold drugs in person like normal people.”
“Dear, that’s far from normal,” Bianca said, patting his hand.
“Touché,” he responded with a wink.
“I can sit down with Nick to go over things if you’d rather stay away from the tech stuff,” I said, trying to think of some excuse that would allow me access to the person I missed terribly. “He wasn’t born in the stone age so he might get it quicker.”
“You can’t be a sexy silver fox if you haven’t been around for a while,” Michael said, tapping the gray hair at his temple.
Mom glanced over at me and muttered, “He’s never going to let that one go.”
Grinning, I tilted my head. “The gray is pretty hot. I’ll give you that. But whatever,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. “If Nick wants to go over it, we can, or I can keep monitoring things and just make sure to update you.”
“Let’s do that,” Michael said with a nod. “Nick’s been...distractedsince you all got back. I’d be worried, but he gets like that sometimes. He’s always functioned just as well alone as he does with others around.”
“That’s because he got teased in school for his dyslexia. Kids can be jerks. I get it because I never really fit in either.”
Michael’s eyebrows lifted. “I’m surprised he told you that. He doesn’t confide in many people.”
“Well, when you’re stuck together for weeks, you learn to talk to each other.”
Michael’s dark eyes studied me, a latent curiosity in the depths. “Mmm.”
“Dinner was great, but I’m full,” I said, rising. “I’m going to head upstairs and continue working on my LinkedIn profile. Google isn’t going to hire me if I don’t get that done.”
“I’m so proud of you,” Mom said, patting my arm.
I smiled at her, hoping she wouldn’t notice it didn’t reach my eyes. I’d really hoped to see Nick at dinner and felt despondent that he hadn’t appeared.
Once I was upstairs, I worked on my profile and resume for a while before lying down and closing my eyes. Bringing my hand to cup my breast, I remembered how Nick had touched me in the bathtub after I’d fainted. He’d caressed me with such reverence as emotion and desire laced his expression.
“It wasreal, Alexis,” I whispered, running my thumb over my nipple above the fabric of my tank top, wishing it was his roughened skin. “You’re not crazy.”
Lying there in the dim light, I wondered what the hell to do when the man who consumed your every thought refused to talk to you...
Nick
I stood in the loud club, wishing I was anywhere but here. Hell, at this point, I wished I was back in the shitty cabin with Alexis. At least there, I’d been trapped with a beautiful, witty woman who didn’t make the room feel like it was closing in. Hooking my finger in my collar, I tugged, needing room to breathe.
“Hey, Nick,” a sultry voice said, and I turned to see Scarlett beside me. She’d started dancing at the club years ago, and I’d been smitten by her as a man in my mid-twenties who worked hard and had zero desire for a relationship. Her platinum blond hair, blue eyes and killer body made her look like an OnlyFans model, and that had worked for me at the time. We’d eased into a friends-with-benefits situation that held little substance beside sex.
