Denise came back with the appetizer platter and a new glass for Cierra, it hadn't escaped my notice that she seemed a little out of sorts I'll have to have a word with her about her attitude around the customers. Cierra didn't seem too impressed by her either as I noticed a slight change in her body language. "So what's it going to be?" I questioned as soon as we were alone again. She took a deep swallow before lifting her eyes to mine; my gut clenched, there was definitely something going on behind those eyes of hers but even more than that was the pull I'd felt from the first moment I laid eyes on her photograph. She had something in her that pulled at the heart of me and regardless of the reasons for her being here I'm not going to stop until I'd explored all the possibilities. Let's hope we both made it out unscathed. "I'm not sure how to answer your question I don't think I've ever been put in such a position before." "What you're not accus
We ended the night with the understanding that we'd take the time to get to know each other and see if there was anything there to explore. It was a bone for her no doubt, I'm sure she was thinking she'd survived her first face-to-face with the monster and though she hadn't learned anything incriminating she'd found an in; one I'd given her because obviously I'd lost my fucking mind. Sniffing around a damn federal agent. Way to go Mancini she'll probably end up fucking you in more ways than one. I watched her walk away after rejecting my offer to at least see her to her car; special agent Stone has a first class ass.***Cierra*** I spent the next day going over everything I knew about Hank Mancini when I wasn't replaying the events of the night before over and over again in my head. I still couldn't shake the feeling that we were missing something; I couldn't reconcile the straightforward plain speaking sex symbol of the night before with the child trafficking c
"What's up guys your wives kick you out or what?" "Funny bro...so?" Adrien dropped down on the couch while Jaxx went towards the minibar to get some sparkling water. He threw each of us one before settling next to Adrien on the couch. "So what?" Of course I knew what they were after but I enjoyed busting their chops every chance I got. "Don't fuck around bro we know you met with the undercover Fed last night how did it go?" It was always Jaxx's way to let Adrien take the lead, me I'm always the one stirring shit up and making them both crazy. "What, you didn't hack into the system to get a look at the report?" "She hasn't sent anything in yet I'm dying to see if she's as good as they say." "Jaxx you're rather quiet what's on your mind buddy?" "I hope you know what you're doing bro getting close to this chick; why didn't you just tell her you knew who she was and be done wit it?" "How do you know I didn't?"
There, that felt better, as long as I remembered what was really going on here I was fine. Yes the lust for her was stronger than in the past but that didn't mean anything. Nothing had changed, I'm still the same Hank Mancini that I'd been before I'd ever heard the name Cierra Stone. "We'll see, thanks for looking out bros but I'm good, I'll leave the pansy ass shit to you two, speaking of which Adrien that wife of yours a pain in the ass." "Uh huh, and what would you like me to do about it?" "Get her off my ass for one, that'll be a good start." "No thanks, if she's giving you shit that means it's my week off you're on your own brother." "Gee thanks you're all heart if you two can't control your women what makes you think I want that fucking headache?" "Because what we do control makes it all worthwhile, you'll see lil brother it wont be long now." They both thought that shit was funny as they headed for the door. I was already deep in t
I remembered Gracie's warning to not be too cocky going in, how that attitude had caused many others before me to fail. Looks like this one was going to take longer than expected. It was going to take all my considerable skills to bring down the great Mancini, if that were even possible. The question is did I want to? Yes I had a job to do but was I really doing that job if I let others dictate what I should believe? Something inside of me was very against the idea of his being guilty of the things we'd put on him; if he wasn't guilty of the list of criminal activities we suspected him of then what? Because when all was said and done Hank Mancini has been up to something for the past decade or more; problem is no one seems to know exactly what that was. I spent the next few minutes on the phone going over strategy with my boss while feeling slightly sick to my stomach. I had a weird feeling that I was about to embark on a very twisted journey full of pitfalls and stumbl
I had to set things up with my guys before going in because once I boarded the ship I had to be in constant motion and we couldn't afford to miss a step once we got the ball rolling. There was most definitely going to be firepower exchanged; my job was to see that none of the innocents were caught in the crossfire. I hated losing any of the unfortunates on my watch and so far I've been lucky where others haven't. This cargo was made up of young girls who were bound to be terrified; one of my operatives is a female who specializes in these matters, we've done enough of these runs that we're almost expert by now but there was always an unknown element that could pop up out of nowhere. In the old days we would've just rushed the shit and taken the hostages by force, there would most likely be lives lost, among them some of the victims. These days we handled things with just a bit more sophistication; I have accrued a reputation as a dealer so to speak, I'm known all over
Pretty soon I was sitting around the table with dignitaries and men in high places brokering deals between nations, all hidden from the watchful eye of the public of course. It was then I learned my distrust of government agencies, I saw the way they did things, how they were willing to cut deals with unsavory characters in order to bring down what they considered to be the top dog. I believe in making them all pay. When I'd first been approached by Wilson I'd been very suspicious of him as well; it had taken him almost a year to wear me down and it was only after the realization that the thing I'd created had become bigger than I that I'd given in and called Wilson. When I'd met Jace, Jace was more into the physical aspect back then than I, I was the brain to his brawn. I'd learned more then about the secret society that worked behind the scenes, an organization that had been in existence for centuries, governed by men of certain families of which Wilson's was the lea
I received the signal from my men aboard the ship that they were approaching the harbor. Jace was already in place on a boat a few slips away from where the ship was supposed to dock. The Coast Guard as earlier prearranged was out of sight and the harbor clear of even light traffic. I stood on the pier a lone figure dressed all in black a very B movie cliché to be sure. As they pulled in and went about the business of dropping anchor I communicated with the Captain who would soon become the first casualty of the night. I saw the spray of blood across his chest before his body dropped. Good job Jace. There was suddenly a lot of movement on deck, which is what we wanted I went into motion while chaos ensued on board. I knew where the cargo hold was and that's where I was headed, my only interest in getting those girls out of there. The rest of my team was in charge of keeping the enemy occupied. They had no idea where the attack came from, as there had been no o