Free For Cam (Chicago Syndicate Book 4) by Soraya Naomi Page B

9
    Adriano
    ––––––––
    I arrive back at the club while everyone’s gone.
    Tired, I enter my office and sink down into my leather desk chair. The past two weeks have been daunting and not good for my relationship with Cam. I can sense how she’s still struggling to find her place. And so am I.
    But distance creeps in when you live a busy life. I’ve seen Serena more often than Cam, much to my dismay, but Serena has proven to be a good partner to work with. She’s quick, precise, and checks on her girls often. In the long run, this will benefit me. However, first, the girls need to learn to trust Tez by seeing how much Serena trusts him, and then, I want to offer them contracts with us. This is the only reason I’m working with Serena. Wade had told me about her when I first took over the club, but she was my least appealing choice because I thought our past might be an issue, yet she’s been a complete professional so far. I did love her once, over twelve years ago, but it was young love. She left me and I was heartbroken, but it was so long ago, I never think about it anymore.
    Nonetheless, for Cam, it’s not that easy. I feel her frustration about my involvement with Serena. She doesn’t comment or pick fights with me, but there’s been a change in our interaction. An unwanted detachment has sneaked in between us.
    In a couple of weeks, when the management of the sex club has been handed over to Tez completely, Cam and I can focus on each other again since I’m quite displeased with the current state of affairs. But little do I know, I haven’t even discovered the worst.
    I catch voices coming from the other side of the interconnected door to the adjacent security room and walk over to check to see who’s behind it.
    When I clearly hear someone utter Camilla , I pull it open to find a guard and Serena watching the screen.
    My displeasure mounts into anger when I witness Cam and Santino standing very close together in a heated conversation.
    A wide array of emotions fight for attention. Jealousy, annoyance, and obsessive love. It’s a lethal mix. My love for Cam results in a burning jealousy when I see her this cozy with another man. A man I forbade her to talk to, which has my irritation spiking.
    Serena and the guard stare at me as I grit my teeth.
    “This isn’t live feed. When was this?” I ask.
    “About ten minutes ago, sir.”
    “Where is she now?” I demand.
    “She’s in the club now, sir.”
    Having lost all grip on my emotions, I barge out of my office to find Cam downstairs at the bar cheerily toasting with Luca and Wade, so I order them to come upstairs with me.
    Back in my office, I close all the doors and demand an explanation from Cam.
    Facing her, I say, “To my utter surprise, I come back to see you on camera being very cozy with Santino.” And I glance at Luca. “Someone let her in, and it wasn’t me, so that only leaves Luca as your accomplice. Care to explain what my underboss and Capo were doing?”
    “What did you see?” she asks.
    “Answer. My. Question.”
    Luca perches against the desk, knowing when not to interfere between Cam and me.
    She doesn’t back down. “Adriano, hear me out before you get upset. Luca and I discussed this beforehand and thought it was the perfect plan. I told Santino that I could help him escape. He said that he has contacts in the FBI, but the way he said it, I believe he is an FBI agent who was working undercover for Sal. He wasn’t worried in the least about escaping with me, so I did learn valuable information. He trusts me, and I was right!”
    Luca chooses to join us, but neither Cam nor I are budging.
    “And you helped her without my knowledge, Luca!”
    “She has a point, and I knew she could get something out of him because we’ve held him for so long. He was too relieved that someone finally offered help to question her motives. And now, Wade can dig further and find out what case he was working on before we end him.”