Chapter 1 - Power Brunch

Adriano

They say power tasted best before noon, hence the brunch meeting. But I was my father’s son – I exuded and devoured power all day, everyday.

The Venetian’s private dining room smelled like espresso, truffle oil, and money—old money, new money, the kind that bled if you cut it.

Floor-to-ceiling windows framed Manhattan like it was something I owned.

On mornings like this, I almost believed I did.

I halted at the hostess desk pocketing my phone. I looked up and smirked…looking at the tall slender blonde with big hazel eyes.

Her skin tight dress show cased her impressive melons and slim waist.

Her eyes widened taking me in, flicking over the Armani suit.

“Kyriakos table – they are expecting me” I drawled.

She smiled and licked her lips…slowly.

She looked down at her bookings pad..”Off course Mr Moretti” she simpered – crimson red lips revealing perfect white toothed dentistry.

Tossing her golden hair back, she stepped around the desk, “Right this way Sir”

I followed, eyeing the sway of her backside appreciatively.

I laughed inwardly, new blood..and yet another conquest before my second cup of coffee.

The Greeks were already seated. Early, on purpose, of course. Paranoid bastards obviously wanted to scope out the place beforehand even though I was coming alone.

I checked my watch anyway, more to remind them that I saw through it.

A subtle insult, a measured one.

“The gents have already ordered. Can I get you anything Mr Moretti” the hostess asked ingratiatingly.

I dragged my eyes over her ample breasts before taking in her badge. “Just an Espresso please Camilla”

I drew out her name and she flushed, I could see her nipples peak against the soft fabric of her too tight dress.

“Y..yes Sir, coming right up” Flustered she bustled off.

I grinned…too fucking easy.

Across the table, Nikos shifted in his seat, his smile stretched too tight, his suit too loud for a room like this.

His enforcers or bodyguards, two big dark-skinned oafs sat silently, eating their breakfast while surreptiously scanning the room.

“You know,” he said, stirring sugar into coffee he wouldn’t drink, “your reputation precedes you, Moretti.”

I arched an eyebrow..lips thinned “Then you already know how this meeting ends.”

Silence. Good.

Contracts lay open between us—security routes, distribution corridors, inventory lists that never mentioned what they actually were.

Weapons moved better when you pretended they didn’t exist.

Mischief needed upgrades, plus we were looking at a second club as well. Manhattan was changing, and predators had to adapt or starve.

“You get your ports,” I continued, calm as a priest at confession, “I get exclusivity for supply east of the river. No surprises. No freelancers. Anyone who tests that arrangement answers to me.”

Nikos laughed softly. “And if we refuse?”

I smiled. “Then you get cut off, the city officials belong to me. I supply the Government as well so I can just whisper to them about any glitches..” I paused on that word..”and you don’t want that kind of attention.”

Camilla arrived with my espresso.. I murmured my thanks but never took my eyes of the disgruntled Greek.

He stared back at me, calculating.

They always did.

They mistook how young I was, the press Playboy for inexperienced. Men like him believed in leverage.

Men like me were leverage.

The pen scratched paper. Deal done.

By the time the Greeks left, all smiles and forced camaraderie, the room felt classier, no low lifes threatening its ambiance.

I unbuttoned my jacket and stood, stretching the stiffness from my shoulders.

Business satisfied something primal in me—the control, the inevitability.

Sex was another outlet where I could really unleash my Dominant animal.

The hostess hovered near the doorway, pretending to straighten place settings already perfect.

She’d been watching since I arrived. Watching me watch the room.

A woman who knew how to make herself noticed without begging for it.

“Mr. Moretti,” she said, voice smooth, eyes bright. “I hope everything was to your satisfaction.”

“It was,” I replied, letting my gaze linger. “You’re new.”

She smiled, pleased I’d noticed. “Is that a complaint?”

“Not yet.”

Her laugh was soft, practiced. “If you need anything else before you leave…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.

I stepped closer, close enough to feel the heat of her, to hear the subtle hitch in her breath. “What are you offering Camilla?”

Her name rolled off my tongue like smooth topshelf whisky.

“Whatever Mr Moretti wants. We aim to please at the Venetian” she whispered, leaning in so her chest almost brushed mine.

“I go on break for twenty now”

The way she said my name back told me everything—how this would go, how easily.

No danger. No complications. Just the simple transaction of want and availability.

“I have a few minutes,” I said. “Show me something special.”

She didn’t hesitate.

The hallway to the private suites was quiet, carpet swallowing sound, discretion built into every corner.

Camilla unlocked a door, glanced back at me with a look that was equal parts invitation and challenge.

Inside the luxurious suite, the city fell away.

No sooner was the door closed behind us I got down to business.

“Lean over the couch Camilla…panties off and pull up your dress. Keep the heels on” I said in my deeper Dom voice.

I saw her full body tremor and smirked.

Too fucking easy.

She did as I asked…good girl.

Her ripe curves and long legs came into view and my cock perked up in interest.

I palmed the lush globes and then gave one a sharp smack, the sound echoing in the silent room.

She moaned and I was hard now, my boner straining against my zipper as I took in the pale pink shading her lush backside.

I unbuckled my belt and unzipped, freeing my erection. Pulling a condom from my wallet, I gripped her hips harshly and entered her warm welcoming sheath in one smooth thrust.

She gasped, my size surprising her but she was wet, soaking actually and clenched around me.

And then I bent her further over the sofa and started jackhammering her pussy, the slap slap of our bodies connecting filling the room.

Reaching around I found her little pleasure nub and started rubbing circles, applying just the right amount of pressure.

She moaned louder know, clenching greedily around me.

She was close, so was I.

With a scream she buried biting at the back of her hand, she came on my bursting straining cock. I let go then…three hard jerky thrusts and I blew my load.

It was efficient. Enjoyable. Forgettable.

I threw the full condom into the waste basket.

I was dressed before she had straightened from the couch, still basking in the post coital bliss of the last flutters of her pounded pussy.

My mind was already fast forwarding to the next thing on my to-do list today.

I was already moving to the door as she started to straighten her clothes.

“You’ll do well here,” I said, because it was true. “By the way, I left you a thousand dollar tip on the bill.”

Her eyes lit up, and she smiled all coy and come hither like this quickie mattered.

I left before she could mistake scratching an itch for interest.

Downstairs, the Bentley was already waiting and my driver Denton opened the door.

I nodded in thanks and slid into the back seat, my reflection staring back at me in the tinted glass—composed, untouched, exactly as I preferred.

Calls were already lining up. There were schedules to review, new business to discuss and other men like Nikos who I had to remind of their place.

Beneath me… always.

And then later tonite, the monthly meet up with the guys plus it was Luca’s birthday.

Note to self, Denton needed to pick up his birthday gift.

He pulled out into mainstream traffic and the city and my busy life reclaimed me.

Still congratulating myself on a productive morning, I didn’t know that today would end with a woman who was going to shake my life to its very foundation.

And little did I know that nothing would ever be the same after that.