I don’t know why Smitty insists on keeping his office in this crappy neighborhood. Making sure to lock her car, she held her purse tight and opened the barred door to Smitty’s Detective Service. A bell rang as she stepped inside. The foyer was empty.
“Smitty? You here?”
“Do my ears deceive me? Is that Ava Martelli?”
From the back room emerged a heavyset man with a mop of brown hair, slightly grayed at the edges. His brown eyes lit up at seeing her.
“I’m Ava Hill,” she said with a toss of her head.
“Don’t try that with me. Come over here and give me a hug.”
Smiling, Ava hugged the older man. As always he smelled of pipe tobacco and peppermint. When they ended their embrace he stepped back and regarded her with a smile.
“You’re looking good.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“I know so. Now what brings you by my neck of the woods? This ain’t exactly the place for a fine lady like yourself.”
“I need use of your services.”
Smitty’s bushy brows drew together in a frown. “Let me lock up and then we can have ourselves a private chat.”
Smitty moved around her and locked the door to his business before motioning for her to follow him into the back room. Ava sat down in the worn brown leather chair as Smitty moved to sit behind his desk. Opening the top drawer, he pulled out a pad and pen.
“Okay. Shoot.”
“I’ve just been served with papers contesting Joseph’s will. They were filed by a young punk who calls himself Dominic Martelli aka Sambarino. I got those papers less than an hour ago and he had the audacity to show up at my place last night demanding I give him a share of what Joseph left. Naturally, I’m furious. I’m not going to deal with anyone threatening me and my family, so something has to be done about him.”
“You got lawyers on this?”
“Of course. And they’re the best money can buy, but in the event that anything were to go wrong…”
“You need a backup plan.”
“Exactly. And I know that with your reputation and connections you can get it done.”
“Listen Ava, I’m going to be straight with you. I’ve heard the rumors about Old Joe having another kid. Don’t know if they’re true or not, but I’ve never said anything out of respect for you.”
“I appreciate that, Smitty, and I’m pretty sure the kid is Joseph’s. Angelo pretty much confirmed it when I talked to him earlier today.”
“I’m sure Angelo was happy to sully his brother’s name. Everybody in the streets knows he’s always been jealous over what his big brother had. Not to mention the hard-on he’s had for you.”
“How do you know about that?” Ava asked, eyes wide.
“Anybody who has ever been around the two of you in the same vicinity can see it.”
Ava covered her mouth as she started to laugh.
“You know it’s true. That’s why you’re laughing.”
“Alright. You and I both know, Angelo will do whatever it takes to get close to me.”
“So keep your guard up.”
“You know I will, Smitty.”
He snorted. “So say the boy really is Joseph’s, are you really comfortable ordering a hit on his son?”
Ava leaned back in the chair. Her heart felt heavy in her chest. Her conscience screamed at her. He could be Maia’s brother! Her only sibling. She couldn’t kill him, not in cold blood. Not like that. She rubbed her face before leaning forward on the desk.
“It’s not my first solution by any means. My attorneys are going to eat him alive in the courtroom, but just in case there happens to be something we can’t control, like getting a sympathetic judge who believes he’s entitled to something, I need a Plan B. I’m not going to have my daughter robbed of what belongs to her.”
“Hey, I agree with you. Joseph didn’t acknowledge him so that should be where things stand. None of this getting-the-courts-involved crap. That’s not the way we handle business in our world.”
“Exactly. So this only proves he’s a scared little boy playing at being a man. I don’t want to have to hurt him, but I will. It’s him or me and you know I always plan to be the one standing.”
“You’re a real tough broad. I’ve always admired that about you. But you do realize, Ava, that not everyone would be willing to off Martelli’s son, illegitimate or not.”
Ava regarded Smitty from beneath lowered lashes. She’d known the private detective and former underworld enforcer for a little over a decade. As long as she’d known Smitty, he’d been a gun for hire. Whoever had the right money, he was their man. So she found his comment a bit uncharacteristic.
“But does that include you, Smitty? That’s the question.”
The big man leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms loosely over his chest. “Hey, you know me. If the price is right, I’m down for anything.”
“Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind if I need to go that route. In the meantime I want you to dig up whatever you can on the kid. If this gets ugly in court I need some dirt to nail him to the wall. And also anything you can find about his mother. I don’t want any surprises.”
Smitty scribbled a few notes down on his pad. “Alright. When do you need all this?”
“As soon as possible. I need to know if Angelo is in cahoots with this interloper.”
“You think so?”
“There’s no way to tell with Angelo. He’s slimy.”
“Yeah, but he got the territory. And I can’t see him wanting to do anything to undermine his relationship with you, but you’re right. The guy’s pretty smarmy. I’ll keep my ear to the ground.”
Ava rose.
“I’d appreciate that. I’ll have five thousand wired to your account. In the event that we need to take the next step, more will be sent at an agreed-upon time. If we don’t have to go that route, think of it as a bonus for your discretion.”
“Don’t worry about it, Ava. No one’s getting over on you,” Smitty stood.
“I’ll see myself out.”
Ava left Smitty’s private office. Stepping outside into the windy Miami air, she stopped in her tracks. A black sedan roared out of the parking lot.
Chapter Eight
“You look beautiful. Like Christmas morning.”
“Thank you,” Ava said.
The large white sleigh bed stood on the dais before her, ominous and forbidding. Today was her eighteenth birthday and Joseph had come to collect. He sat on the side of the bed, staring at her. He’d already dispensed of his clothes. Joseph wore only a pair of black boxer briefs. His chest was toned and free from chest hair. Thank God for small favors, Ava thought to herself.
“Come here. You’re so far away.”
With short steps Ava moved towards where Joseph was sitting. She stood in front of him. Her breath caught in her throat when he undid the sash on her white silken robe and opened it. The robe dropped from her shoulders and to the floor. Only a thin-strapped nightie protected her virtue from Joseph Martelli. When the first strap slid down her shoulder, Ava closed her eyes. The next followed and she felt the cool air caress her naked body.
Feeling the press of Joseph’s face against her skin, she opened her eyes. His face was between her breasts. His hands were wrapped around her waist. She gasped when he nuzzled her breast before pulling one of the sensitive peaks into his mouth. He sucked on it softly and Ava was shocked by the small tendril of desire that shot down to the secret place between her legs. His eyes never met hers as he moved from breast to breast, suckling and nibbling. Ava didn’t fight when he pulled her down onto the bed.
Ava bit her lip to keep from crying out when one of Joseph’s hands slid between her thighs caressing her, dipping inside the place no one had ever touched before. His thumb brushed over the tight bundle of nerves at the apex of her sex. The pleasure she felt with his mouth on her breasts became more intense as he rubbed her clit. She moaned.