Heartless Lover by Faith Summers

18

Eric

Iwas never supposed to feel like this.

Fucking hell…

I knew as I went over that line I was never supposed to cross that I was going to screw myself over.

Being with her is like touching raw wildfire and I got burned because now I feel like I’m fucking addicted to her and I don’t know how to stop myself.

She fell asleep a few hours ago and left me like this. In this strange contemplative state where I don’t know if I’m coming or going.

I’ve been sitting by the window watching her sleep and feeling myself slip away.

Women are a dime a dozen to me, but I meant what I said last night when I told her she intrigued me. She does, and now I find myself wondering more about her. More about her story and what happened to her. I know it’s something more than the recent shit with Robert. Every time I’m with her I see it.

It was clear from the instant we met. I was just in business mode and I all wanted to do was kill Robert. Now that I’ve more than tasted her, I want to see deeper under the layers of that thick skin she shows everyone and see her scars.

Emotional scars from the past that change who you are and never heal like the physical ones. They’re always there. Always there in the mind suffocating the body.

Even now as I look at her asleep in my bed I can tell her life changed long ago and she lived a very different life to her sister.

People who are fighters become that way because they have to. They’re pushed to and quite often it’s because they’re thrown right into the deepest end of the ocean, and they have to swim or die.

That’s what I see when I look at Summer and why I keep asking what sent her to Club Montage. The shitty thing about it is, she would have still been there if this thing with Robert didn’t happen. Clearly, she didn’t belong there. I could peg her as being the party girl who would definitely go to Monaco and be on some rich bastards arm as eye candy, but there’s no fucking way, she’d go near a sex club. Unless she was going with a guy she was in a relationship with.

There’s the obvious need for money, which I get. But she had a sister she could have turned to, and a rich as fuck stepfather. I exclude her father because I don’t think she would have gone to him for anything after he blamed her for her mother’s death.

The only thing I can think of is what I thought of before. That she must have needed a fuck of a lot of money. So why couldn’t she turn to her stepfather who was married to her mother for years?

I can’t think of any woman who’s similar to her who would rather sell her body than turn to family for help in their greatest hour of need. Unless she didn’t think she could. She also never mentions her stepfather. Not that we’ve spoken at great length about anything personal.

I just thought she might ask to contact him too and let him know what had happened to Scarlett and even the funeral. My answer would have been no because the less people who know the better for the moment, but the odd thing is she didn’t mention him at all. Her father didn’t mention him either when I clarified the details for the funeral.

As the sun spills into the room it signals it’s time for me to get my ass in gear and get back to work.

The lead my men and I are currently checking out came about after my meeting with Luke the other night. I tasked Borya with looking into his affairs. Yesterday he discovered Luke wasn’t just working for Robert. The asshole was also working for Micah too as a middle man.

I asked Borya to continue investigating. He messaged again during the early hours of the morning when I was with Summer, letting me know he was following something up. I’m currently waiting to hear from him.

At least things seemed to be moving. Although still at a snail’s pace for my liking, they’re moving.

As the sun’s rays creep through the window Summer stirs in the bed. Her eyes flutter open and when her gaze lands on me she looks startled for a few moments then she calms.

“Expecting to see someone else?” I ask.

“No, I always feel disorientated in the mornings.” She glances at the clock and frowns. It’s just gone five. The sun will be up in full bloom soon. “Especially this early. How come you’re up?”

“This is what time I wake up Babydoll. Sometimes I get up and start the day. Sometimes like now, I like to sit and watch.”

“Were you watching me?” she narrows her eyes.

“Yes. You look good in my bed.” I grin. The devil riding my shoulder wants this friction between us. It’s like a fucking mating dance. “You look good asleep. Peaceful. It’s the one time I see you like that so I wonder what happened to you before Robert, before this.”

“Nothing happened to me,” she replies defensively.

“You expect me to believe a girl like you just ended up working in a sex club? That didn’t just happen by chance.”

“Well it’s none of your business,” she mutters and tries to harden her expression.

I smile at her sass. “Don’t let me spank that ass of yours again. Not sure if you want to spur on another wave of punishment, or maybe you do. You seem to be enjoying yourself.”

She bites down hard on her back teeth and gives me a narrowed look.

“I know what you’re trying to do. You want me to say some shit to you knowing I’ll get in trouble then you’ll end up owning me for life.”

I laugh. “I’m not sure if I could do this crazy dance with you for life, Babydoll.” I’m fucking lying because I know I could and it scares the fuck out of me.

It’s actually terrifying because it means seeing more than the present and looking into the future. I get up and walk over to her. As I make my way over, I don’t miss the way her eyes roam over my body and stop at the growing bulge pressing against my boxers.

I reach out to touch her face, but she looks away.

Running my fingers up her elegant neck I guide her back to me and she stiffens.

“You’re going to have to try a lot harder to make me believe you don’t like me.”

“I don’t like you.”

“Liar. You’re pissed as fuck at me, but you also like me too much to stop me from touching you.”

“You’re an asshole,” she stutters.

“We’ve established that and yet what I see in your eyes is lust and desire for me to give you more. If I were to spread you out and fuck you like I did hours ago, you wouldn’t stop me and it isn’t because of any punishment.”

She knows I’m right, and she looks like I’ve just called her out on the raw truth, but she’s stubborn. “Maybe that’s what you want to see.”

“It’s exactly what I see, but it doesn’t matter. Punishment or not, I’d never leave you alone until I’m done with you.” I lift her jaw higher so she can stare me right in my eyes.

“Am I a toy to you?”

“No.”

“Then maybe you should ask me what I want instead of acting like a heartless bastard.”

Ouch. But she’s right.

“What do you want Babydoll?”

“I don’t want to be cooped up in here all day waiting. At least allow me to go to my sister’s place and sort her things out.”

I release her and I remember my previous worries. Maybe she’ll be fine and I shouldn’t go even further over that line by worrying about her.

“Are you ready to go into your sister’s home and feel her presence?”

“No, but she’s the only person I had in this world who meant everything to me. It doesn’t matter if I’m ready. I want to feel her presence because I miss her.”

As I look at her, I see that thing again. The thing that alerts me to who she really is and how wrong I am for her.

I don’t usually care if people think I’m an asshole, but on this occasion I can’t be one so I nod.

“Tomorrow. I’ll take you tomorrow. I have too much to do today.”

“Thank you.”

I’m about to elaborate when my phone buzzes with a message. When I look at it, I see it’s from Borya.

Found something you need to look at. I’m on my way to you now.

That’s what he says.

I stand and switch to business mode. If he’s on his way here it means it’s important. I hope it pushes me closer to finding Robert.

“Is everything okay?” Summer asks looking worried.

“Nothing to worry about. I’ll see you later.”

She watches me intently as I make my way into the bathroom. Something in my gut tells me I’m not going to like what Borya found.

He was vague. He does that on purpose when he comes across something that will piss me off.

* * *

The instant Borya walks into my office, and I see his face, I know I’m right about my assumptions.

“I’m going to be real with you,” he begins as he tilts his head to the side. “You aren’t going to like this.”

“What the fuck has happened?” I hate suspense of any kind.

“Micah and Robert were in L.A and now they’re gone,” he replies and the blood drains from my body.

“What the fuck are you saying to me?”

“We missed them by a fucking day,” he answers.

Jesus Christ. This is all I need to send me over the fucking edge of madness. I pick up a glass on my desk and launch it into the wall. It smashes on impact.

Fuck.

So this means my tracker didn’t work. It didn’t fucking work.

“There’s more shit Boss,” Borya states. “The lead we found from Luke led me to a bunch of guys on a job for Micah. Looks like they’re up to something bigger. Take a look at this.”

He pulls a Manilla envelope from his jacket pocket and takes out some documents, laying them on my desk.

There is a set of images of five men standing by a freight container next to the docks. I recognize the area straightaway as San Pedro Bay.

There’s also a Profit and Loss document which shows an income of seven million dollars but no details of where it’s coming from. The last document is a shipping confirmation slip from Brazil.

Both documents have signatures on them.

“I took the pictures. The man in charge of the crew I was tracking had those documents on him,” he explains. “He was able to confirm that not only was Micah Santa Maria and Robert here in L.A. days ago, but they were also in Brazil two nights ago at one of the shipping ports Alejandro owns. That’s where that shipping document is from.”

“Fuck. This is shit.”

“Yes. They’re up to something. I just don’t know what yet. The men in the pictures are from the Mexican Cartel and they’re known human traffickers. We checked them out. They’re the best of the bunch and they work for Riccardo Santiago’s Cartel. The guys we tracked met with them at the port. All I got were pictures but I have the men looking for them now. I caught up with the other guys after their meeting and ‘questioned’ them.”

By questioned he means tortured and I expect them to be dead.

“What did the guy in charge say?”

“Not a lot and that’s the fucked up thing about it. He and his crew met with Micah and Robert in Brazil and travelled with them to L.A. Of course, as our fucking luck would have it, he didn’t know where they went next but they left on a private jet. The whole meetup was to organize transportation via ship for the cartel guys from both L.A. and Brazil. The guy just didn’t know what they were transporting, but it’s not rocket science.”

“No. We’re dealing with human traffickers so it’s reasonable to assume Micah’s trafficking women. A lot of women too if he needs a ship from L.A. and Brazil,” I reply. “And the seven million. Aside from drugs, the flesh trade is what would give you seven million dollars, especially if they’re virgins.”

I’ve seen this kind of shit before.

“Yeah exactly.”

“Did they say anything about Alejandro?”

“I asked. Alejandro doesn’t know what’s really happening in Brazil. They have a few men on their books that work for him and steer things so he’s blind to what’s happening. I collected names when he said Jake Wainwright deals with them. They knew Robert by that name too.”

“So Robert has been going to Brazil?”

“Yes, and I got the impression that there’s more going on in Brazil than we factored in. The guy said they’re always meeting there.”

“Always?” I narrow my eyes.

“Yes. He also said Jake meets with them more than Micah does. He takes charge when they meet in Brazil. Eric I think they’re setting something up there.”

Brazil was the last place I saw Robert so that wouldn’t surprise me, but it just wouldn’t make sense because the people he last worked for are no longer there. That doesn’t mean he can’t set up shop again.

“And there was no mention of when they’d be meeting again?”

“No, but they have business in L.A. over the next few weeks that they’re focusing on. The crew were part of the prep party and weren’t given much details about what the business was. It looks like Micah is keeping things under wraps for certain people and he’s got his fingers in many pies.”

This is not good and something is going down in Brazil too. We need to get to them while we know they’re going to be in L.A.

“Is there anything else?” I ask.

“No. It looks like Robert and Micah were just here for this. There was no mention of the girl or anything to do with her.” As he looks at me, his face softens somewhat and I know even he can tell there’s a shift in my focus toward Summer. “To me it still looks like they still think they killed her.”

That’s the only good thing about this, and I want to keep it that way.

That means we still have that advantage on some level to get to them. Even if we don’t, I’m not fucking using her as bait.

Not like I initially thought I could.

“Get back on the street with the men and keep looking for the cartel guys,” I say.

“All right Boss.”

“Report back tonight or sooner whether you find anything or not.”

He nods and leaves.

I rest my hands down on the desk and dip my head. This is proving to be more challenging than I thought it would be.

My fucking tracker isn’t working. So I have to come up with another strategy. I’m so sick of the universe fucking with me.

There’s no way I’m going to let Robert have any advantage over me and not in my own field of expertise.

I can’t fucking believe he was actually here. Right here in fucking L.A., within my gasp, and I didn’t know.

Robert what the fuck are you up to?

I look over everything in front of me and think of what it’s telling me and what it’s not. All I have as of this moment are figures. Seven million from whatever the fuck is going on in L.A. and five million from the sale of the device. That’s a fuck of a lot of serious money. All to be retrieved in a short space of time.

Micah is focusing on L.A. but there’s something more going on in Brazil. He can’t have a random interest in Brazil, especially when he knows Alejandro is after him.

So there’s something missing, or something I’m missing.

Maybe something more Alejandro knows.

He’s been careful who he speaks to.

Now it’s time to talk to me.