OWN HER: A Dark Mafia Romance(141)

I ran a hand through my hair and started the work of sliding out of bed. I needed to let Dante know that I had confirmation that Fang was her boss. I carefully slid my body away from hers, gently sliding a pillow under her head as I pulled my other arm away. I moved myself slowly off the bed, letting the change in the weight next to her occur gradually.



When I finally stood up next the bed, naked in front of her naked sleeping body, I felt guilty for using her. My emotions were changing every day as I spent more time with her. My feelings for her were growing beyond what I had initially thought about her. She was no longer just a thief or a prisoner. She was no longer just someone who worked for one of my rivals.



Fang wasn’t just one of my rivals. He was our number one rival these days. Our drug business was the only one that hadn’t been threatened by him so far, and Sasha’s job had been to take us down so that our clients became his clients. She’d been doing a damn good job of it, too, stealing our heroin so he could sell it cheaper because he wasn’t having to buy it himself.



Staring at Sasha lying peacefully in my bed, it was hard to imagine that she was the thief who had done so much to undermine my business. It was hard to imagine that her goal had been to take me down when she first showed up.



The passionate woman lying in my bed was no longer a thief or a spy working against me. If anything, she was becoming my old lady. I was working my way deeper past her walls, deeper not only into her body, but into her as a person. Yet, here I was, sneaking away from her so I could go tell Dante I knew who’d been stealing from us beyond a shadow of a doubt. It was important news, and it needed to be shared.



The best time to do it was right then, I knew, while she was sleeping, so that I didn’t have to hide and I didn’t have to do it right in front of her. Doing it this way, I told myself, allowed me to preserve the integrity of our growing relationship while still furthering my business purpose for getting into this relationship in the first place.



Despite my feelings for her, I’d been using her this whole time. I’d been working her the whole time, trying to wear her down so I could learn what I needed to learn from her. I couldn’t turn back now. I had to tell Dante it was Fang.



I walked around to the front of the bed and picked up my jeans. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened up a new text for Dante.



Sasha shifted in her sleep and seemed to be talking to someone in a dream. My heart skipped a beat, believing I’d been caught red handed giving away the information she’d trusted me enough to share.



I walked out of the bedroom into the living room where I didn’t have to face her sleeping, trusting body while I betrayed her.



“Just this once, Cole,” I murmured. “It’s for the MC. After this, everything’s going to be straight.”



I took a deep breath and started to text Dante.



She was working for Fang, I typed, but I didn’t hit send.



I stared at my words. Sending that text message meant that everything I’d allowed to happen between us was a lie. It meant that I would be admitting to myself that I couldn’t even trust my own emotions because I had used her.



“You’re so full of shit,” I told myself. “You’re an Overlord. Remember, Hell’s Overlords will always be first.”



I took a deep breath and sent the text. I quickly closed and locked my phone. I went back to the bedroom and stuck it back into my jeans pocket.



I looked at her again, lying on my bed in the middle of my darkened room. I couldn’t force myself to climb back in that bed with her. I grabbed my phone and went back into the living room.



I grabbed my whiskey and sat back down on the couch.



What are we going to do about it? Dante asked.



We have to take him down, I texted back.



The whiskey took the edge off.



Sounds like a plan. You coming back in? he responded.



I looked into the bedroom from where I was. I could see the shape of her body in the shadows. I took a sip of my drink, letting the warmth fill me.



No, I’m busy here, I texted him back.



I understand. That answers my next question.



I smiled at the phone.



What was that going to be? I asked.



What to do about Sasha, Dante texted back.



Don’t worry about her. I’ve got her under control, I said.



Yeah, under you.



Of course. Where else?



Alright, man. See you at HQ, he said.



Give me a few days, I texted back. I don’t want her to think I just fucked her for information.



But isn’t that what you just did?



I sighed as I read his last message. I put the phone down and went into the kitchen to finish the bottle. I poured the last of it into my glass and went back into the living room, sipping the whole way.