Lucien Delano had been a playboy, a macho alpha, a Dom, moving from woman to woman but he had always instructed Danielle to make sure that the women he bedded were clean and not one of them was allowed to get pregnant.
The young teenager who had crashed into his life had been the only one he had not asked Danielle to” take care of.’
And she sometimes wondered if he had deliberately knocked up the young girl, knowing that she might end up being his exclusive Woman…
*
After a lot of turmoil and kidnapping and disappearances, things had worked out for them and the two were still as deeply in love with each other as they had been years ago. She knew that they could barely keep their hands off each other, having seen them sometimes, making violent love, even in the middle of a party, when the Boss felt the urge to f*ck his beautiful wife, he would drag his sensuous wife out, to the balcony, the garden, the storage room, anywhere he could get, and take her in his feverish, savage way. Once, Danielle who had stepped out for a smoke during a party had seen them and moved away quickly to hide behind the large potted plants on the terrace. But the sight of the Boss fiercely ramming his c*ck into his lovely wife as she gasped softly, her body half bent helplessly over the railing, had stayed with her …
But it was not just the physical storm brewing between them; Danielle knew that this was the first woman who had managed to make a difference in the Boss’s life. The man who had been cruel and almost barbaric, was now finally showing signs of being a human being, she mused pensively, They were still so deeply in love, she knew that many people, particularly the former associates of Lucien, were jealous of him, envying him for the bond he shared with his wife.
Yet, though the Boss was not the kind of person who could enunciate his feelings for his wife, Danielle knew that the man was besotted with her.
*
They had reached the ground floor now and Danielle walked out, taking quick decisive steps. It was her job to ensure the smooth running of the Clubs, a job that saw her work late hours and sometimes, stay over at the suite of rooms Lucien had arranged for her. But she loved it. She had been with the Don for so many years, managing his flagship Club in the city, that she could not think of any other career. And yes, the Mafia Don paid her handsomely so why would she ever complain?
There were the perks too, of course; an all-expenses-paid vacation to anywhere she pleased once a year, with her partner Grace. And the Mafia Don never stinted on expenses for those in his close circle. She naturally enough, was fiercely loyal to him.
And then there was his Woman; she loved Proserpina like a kid sister and had seen the naive, wide-eyed teenager grow into the woman she was now, the wife of the powerful Lucien Delano, mother of his brood of seven children. And still, more in the making, if the look in the Bos’s eyes this afternoon was any indication, she thought drily.
*
Making sure that all the matters that Lucien had entrusted her with had been done, she headed to her office. It was a chrome and metal place for Danielle did not fancy any woodwork. Now, she clicked on the laptop as she went through the list of the names and the other details of the newly hired staff and those members of the staff who had been with them before, imported from the first Club, the one in the city.
A number of names on the list had been encircled in red; the people she had to meet to confirm their identity before they were finally taken in.
She read the names:
Penny Hawkins
Gail Hurst
Sidney Fisherman
Ava Morrison…
The list had already been gone over with a fine toothcomb by her assistants and a few names had been rejected because they had suspicious antecedents.
Now, with a sigh, she tossed her pen down on the table, glancing at the screens on the monitor at her elbow which followed the action on the various floors. Although they had a devoted security team that spent hours sitting before the camera screens, Danielle had insisted on having a set of the camera live feeds projected onto her screen as well.
Lucien had made sure that cameras were kept everywhere in the halls, the corridors, and the general areas but not in the private rooms. Danielle chewed the end of her pen as she scowled. Might have been a good idea to have one in there too, ok, not the bedrooms per se, but the living areas, surely?
But the Don had shot the idea down impatiently.
‘We have the BDSM rooms in the basement for voyeurism,’ he had stated coldly and Schwartz had seemed embarrassed when she had brought it up.
But she still felt that it was permissible.
Not one of the Rudenko people could sneak in and hide in a room, then.
*
The door flew open and Ria Delano bounced in, looking vital and cheerful
The girl was positively glowing and Danielle suspected that the young Capo with his muscular body and handsome face, was the reason. Now she accepted the hug and kiss that Ria bestowed upon her enthusiastically before she settled down to chat with Danielle.
After a while, the older woman asked, puffing on her cigar,’ And where is your heartthrob?’
Ria flushed, turning a delicate pink, and looked so much like her mother in that instant, despite the coloring she had inherited from her father.
‘I thought You would tell me,’ she replied with a sassy grin.
*
Ava Morrison
In the apartment where Ava Morrison lived, the young woman was humming as she went about her task of watering her potted plants which were perched precariously on the window sill. It was a modest house, one she had inherited from her mother who had passed a few months back. Ava had been her only child and she had moved back to Hollowford from LA three years before, following a failed marriage and a painful divorce.
Plump and with auburn hair, she had a pleasant look on her face and looked younger than her twenty-five years. She had been working at a local bar since she returned for she was not armed with many educational qualifications and had jumped when she saw the advertisement inviting women to work at the newest Club being opened and run by the Delano mob. Everyone in town knew that it was one of the places where you were assured of a safe job and a solid paycheck.
With her experience and her pleasant demeanor, her toned body, and the ability to look good in figure-hugging outfits, she had gotten the job easily despite the various interviews she had been out through.
“You would think they were recruiting someone for the FBI,’ she had laughed later as she shared a drink with her best friend, Lauren at the local bar, celebrating the fact that she had got the job.
With her ready smile and twinkling eyes, her attractive body, and her slim figure, she was a moderately attractive woman who knew that she looked good.
*
She murmured now as her aged cat rubbed itself against her legs,
‘Sugar, Momma has got a new job. So she will be leaving tomorrow in the evening, but don’t you worry. Momma will keep out a bowl of water and some yummy food for you before she leaves.’
Fondly, she lifted the old tabby and rubbed her cheek on the feline’s fur.
The doorbell chimed and Ava looked up in surprise. It was early evening. She was not expecting anyone now.
Lauren was out of town; besides, they never met up without fixing a date beforehand.
Lowering the cat, she frowned slightly as she went to the door. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and straightened her blouse instinctively as she opened the door a fraction to peer out hesitantly.
Her house was one in a row of houses on a generally deserted street, for it was at a dead end. All her neighbors were too busy to exchange more than a smile and she barely knew the young couples who now occupied the houses on her left and right.
A woman stood there on the doorstep, a slim woman in glasses and an uncertain look on her face as she blinked uncertainly.
“Umm…Ms. Ava Morrison?’ she asked timidly, waving an important-looking envelope.
Ava’s face brightened.
It must be from her attorney in L. A, Lawson.
“Yes, that’s me,’ she said cheerfully and opened the door, smiling.
It never struck her as odd that Lawson’s letter would be delivered by hand. Just as she took the envelope and the thought crossed her mind, the confused-looking woman before her reached up and placed a wet cloth on her nose. Ava did not even struggle; she was too surprised. She sagged limply against the woman, who had slipped inside swiftly and shut the door before she lost consciousness.
Hila smiled grimly as she dragged the woman to the bedroom and trussed her up securely.
Ava Morrison was going to be her new identity.