Mob Rules Read Online Free PDF Page B

state of nondancing dancing sexiness. I probably looked like an idiot. Mostly, I just held on to Adan and hoped no one would notice me.
    As I moved against my boss’s son, I reviewed what I’d learned so far. First, the Goths in Adan’s posse were all normal humans, unremarkable but for their poor fashion sense. All except Fred, who was the genuine article. Judging by how much black juice was oozing from his undead hide, he had to be at least five hundred years old.
    Adan, of course, was the source of the magic I’d picked up from the bar. Not him, exactly, but his accessories. The small gold hoop in his left ear, the star pendant hanging from a slender chain around his neck, a ring, his Rolex—all of it radiated first-class juice, mostly protective magic, and I recognized it immediately as his father’s.
    As for Adan himself, well, the parts of his incredible body I could feel were lean, toned and hard, and I could feel most of them. Other than that, there wasn’t much to talk about. He had a little juice, about what you’d expect from a young man. He wasn’t a sorcerer.
    After about ten minutes of dancing, I dropped a sound-dampening spell around us. The music faded into the background. Adan’s eyes widened and he smiled. “Are you trying to impress me, Domino?”
    â€œOf course,” I said. “Adan, you know Fred is a vampire, right?”
    He nodded. “Yeah, I met him here at the club. He’s never tried to, you know, fang me or anything.”
    â€œHow long have you known him?”
    â€œA few months. Really, he’s nothing to worry about. He’s a little weird, I guess, but you know, he’s just a guy at the club.”
    What did that mean? He’s just a guy at the club as in I don’t swing that way and he’s not any competition for you? Or, he likes me and promised not to drain my blood until my heart stops?
    â€œOkay,” I said finally. “You’re a big boy…I guess you can choose your own friends.”
    Adan laughed. Dimples were brandished disarmingly.
    â€œSo you like this Goth, emo, industrial scene—whatever they’re calling it now?” I asked. “It doesn’t really seem like your style.”
    He shrugged. “It’s okay. I go to other clubs, too. I feel like a loser if I hang around Dad’s strip clubs too much.” Touché.
    â€œAdan, I heard one of our guys had started coming here, kid named Jamal. You ever see him?”
    Adan nodded. “He started coming in about a month ago. I hang out with him sometimes. Manfred doesn’t like him, but Manfred doesn’t really like anyone. Anyway, Jamal seems pretty cool.”
    â€œWho else did he hang out with? Did you ever see him with anyone that looked, I don’t know, out of place?”
    Adan’s brow furrowed. “He leaves with women sometimes, I guess. A lot of gangsters hang out here, so Jamal didn’t stick out as much as you’d think.”
    â€œReally? This is a gangster hangout?”
    â€œYeah, mostly Papa Danwe’s guys. You know him?”
    This detective stuff was easy. “Yeah, I’ve heard of him.”
    â€œA lot of them hang out here. They all seem to know Manfred—at least the big guy does.”
    â€œThe big guy? Do you know his name?”
    Adan shook his head. “I don’t know him, but I think he’s like a captain or whatever. Like you, I guess. He comes in herethe most, sometimes by himself and sometimes with others. Anyway, he’s black and just a really big dude.”
    There was one gangster in Papa Danwe’s outfit who matched that description pretty well. Terrence Cole, one of Papa Danwe’s lieutenants. He was the kind of guy who made a lasting impression.
    â€œDid you ever see Jamal talking to this guy—or any of Papa Danwe’s boys?”
    â€œNo, other than the girls and when he was hanging out with me, Jamal mostly kept to