I didn’t acknowledge her, but continued kissing Catarina. Personally, I had always seen kissing as a means to get my dick wet, but with her, I could kiss her all fucking day and not move. It was nearly as good as fucking her.

***

It was amazing how time flew when you were having fun. I had spent the entire morning buried inside Catarina’s warm body, and there was no other place I would rather be. Not only that, we talked. My assumption of her spit fire personality was dead on and I could completely see why Catarina’s family kept a close eye on her. Her personality was like no other I’d seen in a woman, tough on the outside, yet witty and sensual on the inside. A deadly combination.

As she slept soundly next to me, I reluctantly looked over at the clock. Two thirty-seven in the afternoon. Shit. I needed to check in with the boys. They were probably shitting themselves by now, but they knew better than to bother me unless someone was dying.

I rolled slowly out from under the warmth of her body and quickly threw my clothes on. Leaving the room, I took one more glance at the woman tangled in the sheets then smiled. That sight right there was something I could get used to.

Walking down the hall and then the stairs, I went toward the sound of voices. Dan’s—aka Hulk—Brett’s—aka Blondie—Scraper’s, and Dune’s heads all turned as I entered the room, their voices halting with my presence. Dan was the first to smirk.

“What the fuck you smirking at, Hulk?”

Laughter and spit from the left had me instantly turning. Kiera had her hand over her mouth, trying to catch the remnants of whatever was inside from her laughter. I walked over and tossed a towel her way, relaxing a bit.

“Who the fuck is Hulk?” Dan grunted.

“You, asshole. It’s what Catarina calls you.”

He shrugged, not looking disappointed. “I can handle that shit.” He pointed at Brett. “What about him?”

“Blondie.”

“Original,” Dan said, and Brett grunted his response.

“You all right, girl?” I asked, approaching Kiera.

She wiped her face and calmed her laughter enough to talk, breathing heavily as she did. “Yeah. Just didn’t expect you to repeat it so you caught me off guard. How’s Rina?”

Rina—I liked it. It was different, unique, just like her.

“In bed, asleep.” I smirked, damn pleased with myself for sucking every bit of energy out of that woman. She needed to sleep so I could do it again and again...

“You do realize she never sleeps in, like, ever. We can be out till three in the morning, and she’s still up by six.” She eyed me, those sparkling hazel eyes telling me she wanted to say a lot more yet refrained.

“We had a lot to do,” I answered.

“You sure did. I could hear her screams from my room … on the other side of the property!” She laughed, throwing her head back, and I instantly liked the woman. Not the same way as Catarina, but Kiera was definitely not on the shit list.

“What can I say?” I shrugged. “You got any coffee?”

She raised her eyebrows in question. “It’s the middle of the afternoon.”

“And your point is?” I never lost eye contact with her. I could tell she was trying to read me, and I wasn’t sure what she saw, but the wheels inside her head were turning fast. She really didn’t want to see what hid behind my eyes. Even growing up in this world, it was likely to scare the shit out of her.

She must have seen something that appeased her because she finally blinked then turned to the pot I now noticed on the counter. “I’ll get ya some.”

“Thank you. Kiera, do you have a place for us to talk?” I asked her, implying myself, Dan, and Brett.

She didn’t take her attention away from the coffee pot. “You can talk right there.”

“No, I need somewhere to talk.” I emphasized the word in hopes she understood without me having to spell anything out for her. I would rather tell Catarina my position in this organization first, if and when that happened.

“Ahh.” She turned around with a steaming cup of black brew and handed it to me. “Cream or sugar?”

“No. Black, please. Thanks.” I looked over at the guys who weren’t saying a word. Even Scraper and Dune were showing their respect.

“Dune can take you back to the rush,” Kiera said.

“The rush?” I looked to the guys for help, and the only ones who seemed to know what the hell it was were Dune and Scraper. Go figure.

“It’s a safe room. No one can hear your conversations, and there are no cameras like we have throughout the rest of the house, including Rina’s room.” Kiera coughed. Fuck, in her room? Dammit. She continued, “Phone reception inside is shit, but it’s as private as you can get.”

“Your fathers built this place for you two?” Knowing them, they built it for themselves, too. If I had daughters who looked like these two, I would have their asses under lock and key, as well.

“Dad and Uncle Sal designed it together. I’m pretty sure our moms helped because they can’t pick colors to save their lives. Dune.” Kiera cut me off from any other questions.

Dune stood while I eyed her. Just as I was about to speak, I snapped it shut. Something in her stance made me do so.

“Hulk, Blondie, let’s go.”

The guys groaned behind me.

“Come on, boss. Why you gotta call us that shit?”

“It’s funny,” I answered as we followed Dune down the elaborate hallway. The closer we got to ‘the rush,’ the darker it became, windows disappearing with only soft lighting lining the path.

The names really did fit them, but I would only call them that to get under their skin since it worked so well. I had learned life could be taken from you in a snap. My father was swiped away from me, leaving a very deep gap inside me. I would be damned if I lived my life not laughing. Some mistook my laughter for camaraderie, though. They got too comfortable with me and thought we were friends and that I was weak. I was anything but. I refused to be. It was not what my dad had taught me.

“For you,” they both grumbled as we walked into the room.

Sure as shit, the room was definitely a safe room, one of the best I had seen. I had something similar in my house, but not to this degree. Cell reception was still viable and computers were available in mine. Not here. There was nothing except a table and chairs.

“You need anything else?” Dune asked, holding the knob to the door.

“No. We’re good.”

He nodded, shutting the door with a click, leaving us to our solitude.

I took a seat at the head of the table and commanded, “What’s the run down?”

The boys sat next to me, one on each side, and began their spiels about production, shipping, and payment. For once, while I had been gone, it seemed like everything had stayed exactly the way it should, at least with that shit.

My number two, Diego, had been holding the operation together, exactly the way I liked. When I had left California, I had made sure everything was in place, even gave contingency plans in case of problems. Diego’s smart, but I ran the show. Everything went through me. Everyone went through me. It was the only way I could keep complete control and knowledge.

I didn’t get to be the boss’s right hand in an organization where my last name wasn’t the same as the founders by stroking my dick and not taking care of shit. I also didn’t kid myself into believing everything couldn’t change in an instant. It was why I kept any knowledge of my surroundings on point. What I didn’t plan on was the voluptuous, dark-haired raven asleep upstairs throwing me a curveball.

“Anything about Antonio?” I hated even saying that fucker’s name. After one night with Catarina, I wanted to rip him apart all over again. How could a man be so fucking stupid? His loss was my gain, though, and he had better stay the fuck away from her if he wanted to live.

“Nothing new since last night,” Dan stated.