Dangerous Desires (Minnelli Mafia Series Book 1)

Fallin' Out

September
Miami, Florida

Riding the high of the island trip, Eden decided to go to Zolan's place after work one cool day in September. There was rain in the forecast for later.

She showered, fixed something to eat and started to knit. And waited. And waited. Where is this nigga? She thought to herself. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, E decided to explore the other rooms that she never went into during her brief time there.

Why don't he have the doors open? Weird ass nigga. She chuckled to herself. One door is open. The door to his office.

Accolades of his baseball days, family pictures, things like that are confined to this one room. Why is that? she thought to herself. But she goes deeper in the room.

Eden sits down at the computer desk. Something jumps out. Zolan Cairo Minnelli, Special Federal Agent.

The fuck? Eden continues to flip the badge over, feeling the material. It's legit. She would know, she used to make fake IDs of all kinds in her own past.

"Who told you to come in here?" Zolan's voice shook her. But by now, she's pissed.

Eden stands up, torn between true anger, confusion, and fear. Who is this person? E thinks.

"I was looking for some scissors." She lies on her feet. "But the real question is at what point were you going to tell me you were a special federal agent?" she growls the last word, tossing his badge like a frisbee.

"I had every intention of telling you...later." He tiptoes around it as he snatches her up out of the room.

"Get the fuck away from me. All this shit is a cover up!" Eden has no proof but she doesn't know how close she is to the truth. "That's why Phoenix and Apollo don't have someone!"

"Shut the fuck up, E! You don't know shit!" he is on the offensive.

"You right...I don't know shit. So enlighten me, special federal agent. What else should I know? Zolan ain't yo real name? Are you really a Minnelli? I mean you did fall out of the sky..." she is ruthless now. "What else is a secret? Huh?!"

This was Zolan's only insecurity.

"Shut up E. I apologize. I didn't tell you...I fucked that up." He yells back.

"It doesn't even matter, Special Federal Agent." She grabs her bag up.

"Me not telling you is a mistake!" Zolan started to feel icy. He sat down as the weight of his lack of action hit him at once. Apollo didn't lie. This shit hurts. Eden hated when people saw her cry but her lip trembled anyway.

"I don't give a flying fuck!" Eden jumped in his face.

"E!" Zo yelled over her.

"Me finding this out was not a mistake. This was meant for me to find out." She concludes. "As of this moment we are over." She wiped her face. Zolan blocked the walkway. "Move." She spoke calmly. Calm before the storm.

"You not leaving until we talk about this." He stood defiantly at the door.

"Now is definitely not the time for you to be asserting your dominance over me." The pint sized woman growled.

"No!" He yelled. "I love you. I fucked up. I get it. I need you. You need me." He pulled her to his chest, smoothing her curly hair. "I'm so so sorry baby girl."

"You lied and lied. And lied some more. I trusted you. I love you." Her tears choked her up.

"Let's talk about this." He whispered gently.

"I wish we could talk about this but there's not much you can say right now, and I'll believe it." Eden stepped closer to the elevator. "I need some time." With those words, the icy feeling dissipated to warmth again. Eden left on that note.

October

"What surveillance you got on Eden?" Parker sat at the computer, typing the young woman's name and social security number for the fourth time that day.

"It's like she's fallen off the earth but I think she may have a job at a cable company." His minion nodded his head in confirmation.

"That's more than what I'm getting."

"We could follow her from work? If we narrow it down to just cable company, I could find her before the end of the month."

"I'll do it myself." Jagger Parker smirked to himself.

"Why you so obsessed with shawty when you got a whole son on the way?" another minion asked.

"That bitch owes me for wasting my time and money. And no debt goes unpaid."

Two weeks later, Eden was leaving work later than normal. A shadowy figure appeared from behind the building. The wind whipped around her ominously. She jiggled her keys and prepared to get in her car.

A hand roughly pulled her away from the car, dropping her belongings right by her car.

Meanwhile, Zolan had a hit on Jagger's location. He grabbed his black to conceal against the Miami night.

"He's moving." Professor Mamba called not long after Zolan headed to the headquarters.

Jittery with nerves because he didn't know where Eden was. Times like this he regretted not bugging her phone like his mind told him.

Anyway, the GPS moved along with Jag stopping at an undisclosed location. Zolan surveyed the area and slipped in through the back.

"Let me go you crazy ass nigga." Eden kneed the man in his groin.

Zo wanted to smile but he was undercover. So he listened and waited for the go from his boss.

"Shut up bitch. You thought it was cute to embarrass me huh? After all the shit I did for you..." Jag started laughing like he had no sense.

"Everything you did for me was because you wanted to. I constantly told you I didn't need your help. What the problem is you wanted to buy my love. And you can't." Eden is tied up.

"And yet you fuckin a nigga that can buy your love. Gold digging slut." Jag slaps her. Although her hands are tied, E is able to kick his ass again.

"Don't worry bout who is or is not in my pussy fuck nigga. And if you gon kill me, do it now bitch." She growled.

Zo couldn't be more proud. But he's at work.

"Now." Professor Mamba's calm voice comes through on in the earpiece.

Zolan leads the operation in. All of them in black masks and protective gear. Shots are exchanged but Jagger is not killed.

Zo doesn't care, his concern is Eden. He unties her and leads her way himself. The crew notices that but say nothing.

"Thank you." She is grateful. He takes her back to her car. Eden shakes his gloved hand. "Thank you."

Zolan nods his head and disappears back to the crime scene.

"He got away."

"Professor Mamba let him go." Zolan tells the team. They groan. How much more personal does this shit gotta get? He thinks. I can't kill him and fuck up the mission. He sighs.