OWN HER: A Dark Mafia Romance(144)

“I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to walk away from it. I didn’t really expect you to take me seriously anyway. It’s just a fantasy I toy with every once in a while,” I said, walking around the couch and sitting down. If I was ever going to get out of this life, Cole was going to be my ticket out. Of course, if I couldn’t get him to leave the MC behind, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I got back into things through him.



“Why are you defending him?” Cole asked. “Why are you trying to keep me from going after Fang?”



“You wouldn’t understand,” I said, looking up at him. I couldn’t explain to him how I felt about my boss. Fang had taken me in and had taken care of me in much the same way Cole was talking about doing, except Fang had done it when I was very young. He could have taken advantage of me. He could have used me for so many things besides teaching me how to steal from other bosses.



Fang always had beautiful young girls around him, his private girls who took care of his needs. He had prostitutes and call girls, but he didn’t treat them like the little punk ass pimps on the street. Fang’s women did well for themselves. Fang merely offered contacts and protection. He could have thrown me into either of those positions, but he saw something in me.



“You’re special,” he would tell me. “You’re like the daughter I never had.”



“Try me,” Cole said, bringing me back to his living room, back to sitting naked on his couch while he stood in front of me fully clothed.



“Look, he’s just done a lot for me, okay?” I said. “I don’t know that I’m ready to tell you the whole story right now. Just understand that there’s a lot there. He means a lot to me, despite the fact that a lot of people would describe him as being more of a snake than a man.”



“So, you two have a pretty thick history, then.” He rephrased my words.



“Yeah, you could say that.” I nodded.



He nodded, too, and stroked his chin. His eyes were deep in thought. He looked like he was searching for some sort of compromise.



“Alright, fine, we’ll just shut down his drug business and take back what’s ours. How does that sound?” Cole asked me. He sounded like he really expected me to buy it, but I didn’t. I knew that no matter what happened when they confronted him, there would be a story about how something had gone sideways. Fang would end up getting shot either way. I couldn’t let Cole send his men after him.



“Fine, but that’s all you do,” I told him.



“It’s settled, then,” he said, nodding and turning away to finish getting ready to leave, except I wasn’t finished yet.



I stood up, feeling foolish for trying to confront him as naked as I was, but I didn’t have any other choice.



“No, it’s not settled,” I told him. “If anything happens to him, it’s on you, Cole. Understand?”



“Hey, whoa, easy now.” He put his hands gently on my arms. “Look, I mean it, we’re just shutting down his drug business. He’s got a lot of stuff going on we don’t want any part of, but we’re taking back what’s ours, from the product to the clients. You want me to have him call you when we leave?” he asked in a vaguely condescending tone.



I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to fight with him. There was no point in it. He was probably lying to me anyway. I knew I never should have let it slip that Fang had been my boss, but he probably would have found out soon enough as Fang encroached on his territory more and more with the drugs I’d stolen from him.



“You do what you want,” I finally told him, raising my hands in submission. “I’m out of it. As long as you can provide me with a way out of this life, you do whatever you feel like you need to do.” I walked into the bedroom and started grabbing clothes he’d had delivered for me over the last few days.



“Where are you going?” he asked.



“Nowhere. I just feel foolish standing around trying to talk to you naked,” I told him, holding back any sign of anger that might have been in my voice.



“Well, at least you know you have my attention,” he joked.



“Are you saying you only take me seriously when I’m naked?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.



“Hey, now, I didn’t say that.” He walked to the bedroom door. “Listen. That was Dante who called earlier. We think we’ve found Fang. I’m going to take a few guys with me in case things get hairy, but I’m going to try to talk him down from this new business of his, okay?”