SchwartzHe strode along the corridors of the newly constructed block at the Club. Business was peaking at the Club and it was late evening. Schwartz was frowning as he looked at the phone, trying to make sense of the messages that were landing on his phone. His men tailed him, Big Joe Barron and Leslie Lee. He trusted them. After what had happened with Shark, both Gaston and he were alert.Now he was scowling. Gaston had called, his raspy voice punctuated with anger and wariness.Dmitri was back.*** Sophia.I hurried along the heavily carpeted corridors of the gentlemen’s club called just that The Club.Like it was some iconic building, I thought rudely. Like it was The White House or Buckingham Palace.Egoistical buggers.Just another place where men came to vent their sleazy desires.Yes, the newly opened Fight Club in the lower level attracted a fair share of the revenue. Especially since one of the owners, a burly grey-haired man called Gaston St. Claire regularly participated
SophieI had no boyfriend as yet. When you are plump and shy, you are not really considered to be arm candy material, I guess. Unlike me, Sondra was considered hot. She had begun to go out with a number of boys, each one sleazier than the first.**My friend Beth who was walking with me had been the one who had looked embarrassed. She clutched my arm and pulled me away, adding in a fierce whisper,‘Soph, don’t let it get to you.”But something about their knowing looks and catty remarks rang true.These days, Sondra tended to return home late at night, her clothes bordered on the vulgar. She deliberately kept her blouse buttons open, her skirts rode up her thighs and she looked like a woman, not a girl who was still in her teens.The ugly remarks of the girls left me furious. When I pestered her, she finally admitted that her boyfriend had told her about it. Dragging Beth with me, I had gone to the old bicycle shed where I was told Sondra had been seen heading to.What I saw made me n
SophieThe doctors told me that she was sick, seriously so. She had a form of cancer that was in its last stages, progressing rapidly. No, they could not say for sure how much longer she would survive, forget the chances of recovery!I sank onto the hospital bench that afternoon, weeping as I knew that there was no one I could share my sadness with.With the knowledge that I needed to keep Mamma medicated, I began to work. Soon, I had left school and was working at the local diner. The money was not great, but it brought in enough for me to take care of my mother.***And a few months later, Sondra turned up. The look of weariness and hopelessness on her face frightened us but I was happy to see her back.She had a baby with her, a baby named Patrick.She had no idea who the father was. But she wanted to lead a straight life, she said; she wanted to stay off drugs.She wanted to be a good daughter, but most of all, a good mother, she said.***Mamma was happy. She grabbed my arm when
A few days beforeLucienThe Underground Fight Club was being revived. It had been Lucien’s idea and he had decided he would regularly take part in the fights. But reality struck hard. Once a week was definitely out and this was because of the huge protests from Proserpina. His woman hated the thought of beating up anyone, even for a game, a gamble, in the ring. She was more a Buddhist than anything else, he thought fondly, watching her now as she turned her large brown eyes to him, shock and disbelief on her pretty face.“No, Lucien!’ she cried in dismay, staring at him in horror when Schwartz had accidentally brought up the matter during dinner one night.‘’Please, tell me you are not going to fight anyone!’ The alarm in her voice, the note of desperation made him feel guilty.The Boss watched his wife, saw the look on her face and knew he should have prepared her for the news beforehand. But she was such a gentle soul, he had been loath to tell her. He wanted to protect her from t
LucienHe slipped between the sheets that night and pulled her body to his.“I am sleepy.," she spoke, her voice small and petulantHe slipped his hand over her soft hips and forced his fingers between her legs. Played with her clit. She tried to shrug him away and force her legs together, but he was stronger. And when he dipped his head to nibble on her earlobe, she sighed softly, despite herself.“Lucien!’ she snapped, but it was a breathless sound.He smiled to himself and nibbled at her ear, then sank his teeth into the sensitive point of her neck.“Stop it!’ she cried, trying to sound angry, but the laugh and the want were in her voice, deepening in degree.He turned her over roughly and kissed her, a long, possessive kiss. His hands were busy caressing and squeezing her breasts and nipples“Look, stop it now. I am trying to get some sleep, you...you street fighter, you!' she said, sitting up , trying to sound annoyed.But her full breasts spilled out of her shift, the nipples s
SchwartzA woman slammed into him, and James Schwartz swore as the phone flew out of his hands. He was about to shout at her when she gripped his arms.Startled, he found himself looking into a pixie face, wide eyes on him as the woman whispered frantically.“Please,’ she whispered desperately, digging her hands into his arms, her green eyes filled with terror.He held up a hand, a gesture that stopped his men in their tracks, for they had been preparing to tear the woman away. Schwartz was in the Club, the safest of places for him and the Boss but they still went about with their bodyguards, loyal, trusted men who would not hesitate to lay down their lives for the men they served.But Handsome James was astute enough to recognize real terror when he saw it. The young woman who was hanging onto his arms was terrified, and he was curious to know why she was so scared.She was speaking now, trying not to stammer as she shivered.‘Please, you... you have got to help me.’He raised his br
Schwartz He entered in answer to his mentor's urgent summons.‘Delano?’ frowned Schwartz enquiringly as he entered, his wingmen waiting outside. As always, Schwartz was dressed well, looking sharp in a crisp dress shirt, blazer, and tailored pair of dress pants in coordinating neutral colors—white and navy.Lucien Delano turned to look at his dapper friend and smiled slightly. Lucien himself was a fit two hundred pounds plus, with his graying hair and windowpane oxford shirt and chinos, along with his sports coat and leather loafers, making him look classy on the exterior. But anyone who looked into Lucien’s cold gray eyes would know he was dangerous, the cold gray gaze taking in everything and missing nothing.Now he nodded at Schwartz, indicating that he should wait, and turned back to his work, frowning as he spoke to the dealer in Spain.***Schwartz studied his friend and mentor, his partner, and the man he could trust with his life in silence. His friend was in his early forties
Schwartz had seen Lucien evolve. Having been born to a prostitute, he had been heartless and cold.He had been a brutal man, incapable of loving.His sexual needs were insatiable. He had had a reputation for sleeping with more women than it was considered humanly possible, joked men in private, envious and admiringly. Schwartz himself knew that the core of his friend’s heart was empty. He kept aloof from relationships. He never surrendered completely to any woman.But all that was before Proserpina wafted into his life.When young Proserpina Winters had breezed into his life with her sunny disposition and her cheerful innocence, Garston had been caught unawares.He had fallen hard.At first, he had been his usual self. He had brutally claimed Proserpina for his mistress. But the young woman had shown her mettle. She had been swept off her feet but her love for the older mob boss had been real.So when she had discovered that she was only one in a string of mistresses, she had run away