“That’s her. She’s down there now, but she can’t really talk because it’s so busy.”
“Then we’ll wait until the crowd dies down. I’m not leaving until I talk to her.”
Closing Time
Dru nervously made her way toward them as they sat on the leather couch. Well, Caden sat. Lorenzo leaned. He was drunk but in enough of his right mind to stay behind while Caden talked to Dru. After their conversation was over, Lorenzo thought Caden was going to take him to a bar on the beach. What he didn’t know was that Caden planned to tell Ian to take his ass straight the fuck home.
“We meet again,” Caden said as he stood, to which Dru smiled softly.
“Hi.”
“How are you, beautiful?”
Instead of responding, Dru shrugged and avoided his eyes. Caden didn’t think it was possible, but she looked more beautiful then than she did earlier at the grocery store. The formfitting black crop top and high-waisted shorts accentuated her shape, making his eyes bounce from her breasts to her waist to her hips. It was taking everything in him not to take her by the wrist and turn her so he could have a full 360 view. Regardless of how nice her body was, his eyes couldn’t help but return to her beautiful face.
“Lorenzo said you’re looking for work,” Caden continued, motioning for her to sit in the chair that was to the left of the couch.
“Well, yes, but I’m not sure why he’d tell you. I was hoping to make some deliveries for him to make some quick money.”
“How quick? And how much do you need?”
Dru looked at Lorenzo, not replying until he nodded and silently assured her that it was okay.
“I need ninety thousand dollars in less than thirty days.”
Lorenzo grumbled, sitting upright. “What have you gotten yourself into, little one?”
Her head shook as she pushed back her tears. “It’s not me. Well, I guess it’s my fault.” With a sigh, she covered her face as her elbows rested on her thighs. “I made a deal with someone that I shouldn’t have. I trusted him to handle something for me, and he did, but now he’s asking for an amount we didn’t agree on.”
“Has he threatened you?” Caden asked, leaning forward and pulling her hands down by her wrists.
“Yes,” she whispered, blinking back tears.
“Who is it?”
Sniffling, she caught a tear before it could slide down her cheek. “Galloway.”
Caden and Lorenzo looked at each other. They were more familiar with Galloway than either desired to be. Galloway’s legal business was security, but in The Syndicate, he employed hitmen. Not too many respected him because of the rumors about him being into human trafficking. And it wasn’t just for sex. Galloway was rumored to sell body parts, do kidnapping heists, sell people at mafia auctions, and for employment contracts in exchange for a percentage of their profit.
The last time Caden and Galloway crossed paths, it was because Galloway had allegedly kidnapped his cousin. The only reason Caden allowed him to continue breathing was because his cousin had been returned, and there was no proof Galloway was behind it. Had Galloway not been made aware that Shantaewas related to Caden, there was no telling what would have happened to her.
“I need you to start from the beginning,” Caden demanded, “and don’t leave anything out.”
Again, her eyes shifted to Lorenzo, as if he was a safety buffer that she wasn’t willing to cross unless she absolutely had to.
“It’s cool, little one. Being honest . . .” Lorenzo and Caden locked eyes.
“You can tell her,” Caden granted quicker than usual. He never wanted people to know who he was in The Syndicate, but there was something about Dru. Something that told him she’d find out, eventually, before she became his wife. If she needed to know now, to allow him to help her, so be it.
“I work under Caden in The Syndicate. Anything you tell me, I’ll tell him. Anything I offer you will come from him. You can trust him, and you’re just as safe with him as you are with me.”
Her head slowly turned in Caden’s direction. “You’re in The Syndicate?” she confirmed, voice light and low.
“Yes,” Caden admitted. “I have a chain of pharmacies as well, but yes. I’m a part of The Syndicate.”
“Then you . . . my mother . . . she makes runs for you.”
“She’s a supplier too,” Lorenzo shared.
