Chapter 4

C.J. smiled brightly when she opened the door and embraced me. “I missed you.” She lived a thirty-minute-drive from the mansion and after the festivities were over, I headed over to her. We hadn’t seen each other in four weeks, which was a long time. I usually tried to return to Vegas every other week for at least a night or two.

“I missed you too,” I said and kissed her lips. She was dressed in a sexy purple negligee that left little to my imagination and her brown hair hung in smooth curls down her shoulders. We both knew what our companionship was about after all. Why try to be coy about it? Despite what Savio thought, I wasn’t in love with C.J. but I enjoyed her company and the sex even more, and it was the same for her. “How are things at work?”

“Rough,” she said. “The last few days were a real shitshow. Only asshole customers. At least, I used the time while I got them off to think about my own bar.”

She took my hand and led me into the small living room of her apartment. It was a comfy but tiny place because C.J. saved most of her money to open her own business one day. I’d suggested to help her but she didn’t want to accept money from anyone else. She was close to having enough money soon, and I was glad when she’d finally stop sucking off assholes for cash. C.J.’s beginning in the business was one of the topics Remo and I had the most fights about.

C.J. was ten years older than me. She and the other girls I’d fucked on occasion had all been older than me. Dinara was the first girl around my age that caught my interest in a long time, another point that made her all the more fascinating. I followed C.J. toward her small kitchenette and accepted the glass of red wine she held out to me. But I was distracted by my thoughts about Dinara, and judging by C.J.’s erect nipples, she was distracted by the very thing I was here for. She stepped closer, taking another sip of her wine before she peered up at me with a seductive smile. I set down my glass and kissed her, waiting for my lust to banish any thought of Dinara.

I put even more passion into our kiss, answering to C.J.’s need. She rubbed herself against me and I slipped my hand under her gown, finding her sopping wet. “It’s been a really shitty week. All I could think about was this,” C.J. admitted in a whisper. I knew she hadn’t been with any guys except for the johns for work in the time since we’d started fucking. She’d always assured me it was because her job didn’t allow for other relationships with men but sometimes, I worried it was more than that. I fingered C.J. until she exploded after only a minute. C.J. sank down on her knees and began sucking me deeply into her mouth until my balls hit her chin. I groaned, my eyes fluttering shut. Over the years, I’d been with several girls, still far less than my brothers, but enough to know that C.J.’s skills were out of this world. An image of Dinara’s challenging smile popped up uninvited. I shoved it away. That wasn’t fair toward C.J.

I still remembered my first time with C.J. vividly. I’d been attracted to her from the start but after the thing with my first girlfriend Harper who’d cheated on me and made fun of my lacking sexual skills, I had been worried about being with anyone again. Of course, I couldn’t really talk to anyone about my issues. My brothers wouldn’t have understood. They’d all lost their virginity at a younger age and fucked their way through enough women to practice when they were my age. I didn’t really want to fuck random girls but I also didn’t want to risk another relationship so I was at an impasse.

C.J. had noticed how I’d constantly checked her out. Eventually I’d asked her if we could spend some time together. At first, we’d only talked but eventually I just wanted more. C.J. was sexy, and she was safe, but I didn’t want to use her. So I’d insisted she showed me how to get a girl off and that’s all we did the first few weeks until we finally fucked. The first few months I certainly wasn’t a good fuck and C.J. probably only enjoyed half of the time we spent together but I was a quick learner and determined to give her a good time.

I kept my eyes on C.J. as she sucked me off, worried I’d see another face again if I closed my eyes or looked away. After I came in her mouth, she straightened and ran her hands through my hair, her expression full of need. We talked and fucked. That’s how it had always been. We weren’t exclusive but we shared a special bond. Maybe it was this bond that made me wonder if I could keep up doing this with Dinara thrown in the mix. There was nothing between Dinara and me, except for rivalry, fascination and taunting, but I wanted more, and I had a feeling she wasn’t completely turned off by the idea.

“Is something the matter?” C.J. asked carefully. She was sexy and she’d had a hard week. So had I. We both needed this. She smelled of her vanilla shower gel, not something Dinara would use. “I’m fine.” I kissed her again and as before she answered with passion and need. We fumbled our way to her couch, already shedding the rest of our clothes on the way.

I tangled my hand in her hair and gently pulled back, considering to stop this after all. Her gaze snapped up, and her lips pulled into a needy smile. Fuck. I gripped her arms and shoved her onto the sofa.

To this day C.J. was the best lay I’d ever had, and much more than that, but these last few weeks all of my fantasies had revolved around a redhead. I knelt before her and raised her heels onto my shoulders before I plunged into her. As always when we met after a long time, we fucked all night until we were spent. That’s when we started talking about everything that bothered us, but this time I had a more important topic to discuss than race car driving.

“What do you know about Eden?”

C.J. lifted her head from my shoulder, looking surprised. “Eden? Why are you interested in her?”

“I’m interested in her backstory. Remo won’t share details with me but I have a feeling something important happened. It might be useful for our fight against the Bratva.”

Lying to C.J. wasn’t something I enjoyed doing, and usually I just skidded around topics she wasn’t allowed to know anything about.

C.J. sat up slowly, looking thoughtful. “Most of the other girls and I kept our distance to Eden. In the beginning because your brother ordered us to ignore her and then later because she really preferred to be on her own. I haven’t worked in the same place as her in a while. I think she’s now stationed in a dingy little club outside of Vegas.”

“You girls talk. Did you never speculate about the whys for her special treatment?”

“Donna was one of the few girls who were there when Eden first appeared in Vegas. She always said that Eden pissed off Remo majorly.”

That’s what I’d gathered. No new information really.

C.J. smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I wish I could help you. Maybe you should talk to Donna. She’s waiting tables in the Red Lantern if you want to go looking for her.”

Talking to C.J. was one thing but going around questioning other prostitutes about Eden would definitely make Remo furious. The more I pissed him off now, the less likely he’d listen to me if I put in a good word for Dinara in case she ever showed up in Vegas to do whatever she had in mind.

The next day, I decided to give Remo another try. I joined my brothers in our gym in an abandoned casino for fight training. Savio had been surprised when I’d asked him if I could drive with him. Nino and Remo were already inside the fighting cage when Savio and I entered the vast hall.

Most people who stepped into our gym, but few were allowed, couldn’t stop staring at the chandelier dangling from the ceiling above the fighting cage. Remo and Nino stopped fighting when they noticed us. Savio and I strolled over to the cage. Fabiano was waiting for his turn and kept himself busy doing bench-presses.

He sat up. “Hey stranger.”

I gave him a short wave. Nino was already climbing out of the cage, making room for Remo’s next opponent. Fabiano rose from the bench but I gripped his shoulder.

“It’s my turn,” I said. He cocked an eyebrow then shrugged and sank back down. “Knock yourself out. Though, Remo’s going to do that.”

“That’s right,” Savio agreed, chuckling.

I didn’t react. I wanted answers, and Remo had avoided giving them to me. In the past we’d shared some of our most honest conversation in the fighting cage. I hoped it would be the same today.

Remo’s smile widened knowingly when I stepped into the fighting cage. It was difficult to trick Remo into doing anything. He was a trickster himself. But I wouldn’t back down this time. I was sick of fishing around in the dark.

“That look in your eyes is a good start for a fight,” Remo said.

I didn’t bother taping my hands, raising them instead. “You ready to fight?”

“Always.”

I was usually a cautious fighter, keeping my defenses up a long time and not one for risky moves, but today I immediately went into attack mode. Remo took me up on my offer and our next few hits bounced off our respective defenses before Remo landed two hard punches in my stomach and one in my kidneys. Then I got my first hit in. I raced more than I fought and Remo was still the best fighter because he made sure to be in the fighting cage as often as possible and not just for training. He fought against real opponents for money. If I wanted to keep this fight going long enough for answers, I needed to bring my A-game.

Ten minutes later, both he and I were covered in sweat and blood. I was bleeding from a cut in my lower lip and Remo from one in his eyebrow where I’d opened up part of his scar marring one side of his face. We did a water break, leaning against the mesh of the cage beside each other.

“Ask,” Remo muttered between gulps of water.

“Why does Dinara think her mother’s dead?”

“Rest is over,” he declared and I barely had time to put away my bottle before he sent a jab toward my face but I dodged the hit.

“Because he thinks he can protect her,” Remo grunted as he avoided my upper cut.

“Protect her from what?”

“From herself, I assume.” Remo sent me a wry smile. “But we both know protecting someone from themselves is fucking impossible, right?”

I hopped out of his arm’s length. Remo had tried to save me from my drug abuse and wrong friends when I was younger. He’d only succeeded when he’d sent me off to New York, away from his protection. Sometimes the risk of falling without a safety net was necessary, that’s what Remo had learned from this experience.

“For fuck’s sake, why can’t you tell me what the fuck is going on?” I growled, sending a hard jab toward his face which he blocked.

Remo tilted his head with a dark smile. “There’s something going on between you and Dinara.”

I glowered. Remo always knew more than he should and he enjoyed it. “It’s none of your business but there’s absolutely nothing going on.”

Yet. Not that I hadn’t imagined it…

“Some people might disagree with you. After all, Dinara is part of the Bratva through her family. You’re fraternizing with the enemy.”

“Like I said there’s nothing going on, and don’t play holier than thou. Fina used to be the enemy too and now she’s your wife.”

Remo’s smile became more dangerous. “You’re right. But I was the one who was pulling the strings when I met her. Make sure you are too.”

“It would help if you could tell me what I’m up against. Is Dinara out for revenge?”

“Once she finds out the truth, definitely.”

I grimaced. “What the fuck did you and Grigory do? I should tell Dinara that her mother is alive.”

“Yes, you should.”

I paused, narrowing my eyes. “What’s your endgame, Remo? I don’t want Dinara to get hurt.”

Remo shook his head. “You have a complicated taste in women.”

“That’s something we have in common.”

Remo chuckled. “Go tell her and see how she reacts.”

“I don’t like this. I don’t want Dinara to become a pawn in your war with Grigory.”

Remo didn’t say anything.

I considered punching his face but he probably anticipated the move. Instead I gave him a smile in turn. “This fight is over. Let Fabiano have a go at you. I need to return to camp.”

Remo leaned against the corner of the cage, his eyes never leaving me. “I’m not the villain here, Adamo. My intentions are pure for not telling you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I climbed out and Fabiano took my place in the cage instead. “The word pure and you are at odds.”

Nino came toward me before I could leave the gym. “You should join us at the pool in the afternoon. We’ll have a barbecue and enjoy the good weather.”

I shook my head. “No thanks, I’ve had enough of Remo’s mind games.”

“He’s not the only one at fault. Whenever you’re here, you’re looking for a topic to fight over.”

“I don’t have to look. Remo and I disagree on many things.”

“He and I do too, but you only focus on your disagreements and try to ignore the good. Remo loves you and always does what he thinks is best for you.”

“I really need to return to camp now. The next race is in only a week. I have plenty of things to set up.”

Nino nodded and allowed me to pass. I felt a pang when I left. But it wasn’t only because of Remo. The next race was the start of a number of races in short succession, all of them without a day for rest between them. I had plenty to organize and make sure my car was in top condition.

And I was eager to see Dinara again.