Seducing Chicago

By J.F. Lowe

Vengeance is cruel, revenge is instinct, and when you come from my family, an eye for an eye just isn't enough. I'll make you beg and suffer in ways you could never imagine. What I didn't imagine is that your emerald-green eyes, swooping eyebrows, and soft cheeks make my c*ck jump every time I see you. Whether I kill you or f*ck you, either way,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seduction and Sin Publishing
• Release date: Mar 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9780645351620

J.F. Lowe

USA Today bestselling author, J.F. Lowe is renowned for writing spine-tingling thrillers, heart-Wickedly Innocent military romances with laugh-out-loud dialogue, alpha males, and absolutely sizzling sex scenes.

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Seducing Chicago

J.F. Lowe

Published by Seduction and Sin Publishing

Copyright © 2022 J.F. Lowe 

Edited by Bailey Macks

EBook ISBN: 978-0-6453516-2-0

Print IBSN: 978-0-6453516-3-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

Warning: The contents of this book for a mature audience.

Acknowledgements

I want to say a special thanks to the people who make this series work. As my husband and I traveled around the United States of America in 2019, we were lucky enough to go to some of the amazing places and to meet some absolutely fabulous people. These places and people were my inspiration. Like the other books in this series Seducing Chicago was inspired by our trip to Chicago, Illinois and the stories that we discovered when a tour with family friends.

Have you ever watched any of those old gangster movies? There are some great ones out there, full of drama and excitement. But far from the studios of Hollywood, a very real gangster history exists. We're not talking about petty theft or violence purely for the sake of violence, what we're talking about is true organized crime, criminal efforts focused on making money through tightly-controlled and managed organizations.

These crime syndicates operate at a very high level of sophistication, featuring their own ranks of bureaucratic administration, distribution, and muscle. Of the powerful organized crime syndicates in the United States, few have achieved the power and influence of the Chicago Outfit, a branch of the American Mafia. It may seem the stuff of movies, but the Chicago Outfit has had a very real impact on American history.

To understand the Chicago Outfit, we have to step back a bit into the late 19th century. American industry was booming, bringing immigrants to major cities in droves. However, in an era of intense economic competition, political corruption, and no government regulation of business, workers were paid very little and treated very poorly.

Many turned to crime, organizing street gangs in cities like Chicago. The criminal markets were established, networks were formed, and the only thing left was to organize them. The people to take that opportunity were immigrants mostly from Southern Italy who had experienced the organized crime syndicates that dominated Naples and Sicily.

As the mob grew in American cities, they took control of drug, gambling, and prostitution rings, and became substantially wealthy. They also relied heavily on extortion, relying on what was called the Black Hand, or threatening violence unless paid off. Basically, people had to pay the mob in order to be protected from the mob. The name, Black Hand, comes from extortion letter demanding payment that was stamped with a black hand.

The Chicago Outfit was founded in this world of growing organized crime. Its growth was really thanks to Giacomo 'Big Jim' Colosimo, who consolidated the Outfit's power and wealth through hundreds of brothels. However, they really became a world-famous criminal institution thanks to the Eighteenth Amendment. This constitutional amendment outlawed alcohol, introducing a period known as Prohibition in 1920.

With alcohol now illegal, the Chicago Outfit found a new crime opportunity. Colosimo's nephew, Giovanni 'Papa Johnny' Torrio, wanted the Outfit to focus on beer and liquor, but Colosimo disagreed. So, Torrio had Colosimo killed, and started expanding the Outfit's focus.

As The Chicago Outfit developed the underground markets for alcohol sales, they started moving into other gangs' territories, sparking a bloody period in the city called the Beer Wars. The Chicago Outfit controlled the South Side of Chicago, the Irish-American gangs controlled the north, and violence erupted between these groups. Torrio retired after an attempt on his life. He handed over the Outfit to a man whom he had brought in back in 1919, and who had quickly risen through the ranks: Alphonse Capone. If you have read book two of the Seduction In The City series Seducing Philly you will read a little more on Al Capone and the Eastern State penitentiary where he spent his final days.

About this Book

Vengeance is cruel, revenge is instinct, and when you come from my family, an eye for an eye just isn’t enough. I’ll make you beg and suffer in ways you could never imagine. What I didn’t imagine is that your emerald-green eyes, swooping eyebrows, and soft cheeks make my c*ck jump every time I see you. Whether I kill you or f*ck you, either way, the streets of Chicago are mine.

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Chapter 1

Cade Torrio could taste it in the air. His blood burned, and his fingers clenched reflexively. He was so close now, so very close to achieving what he’d set out to do more than a decade ago. Just a little more patience, and they would all be dead, every single one by his hand and his alone.

The dangerously tense man eased back in the black leather seat. His driver would tell him when the signal came through. All he had to do was be ready to put a bullet between the shit-eating cocksucker’s eyes.

When he closed his eyes, he could still see his mother’s face as the blood drained out of it. He could still see the life leaving her eyes, the exact moment when she passed on. Her screams haunted him every waking hour and woke him up at least twice a night on top of that. It was easier to drink than to remember, but that wasn’t an option on evenings like this. He needed to be cold and responsive in order to do what needed to be done.

He felt the holster at his hip. The pistol grip fit snugly in his hand. He could draw and fire two shots in half a second. Most people could only say that they could do that in practice, in a controlled environment. Cade knew from experience in life-or-death situations, and he had left the trail of bodies behind to prove it.

Slow inhales, slow exhales. He could hardly hope to actually calm down, but he could manage to slow his slamming heartbeat down to vaguely reasonable levels.

Mr. Torrio?

Cade opened his eyes to look through the slitted window to the front of the car. His driver, Stanfield, was staring back at him, his face utterly impassive as always.

Are they here?

No, sir. Blackjack and Arrow just reported that they’ve arrived and are in position. There are no escape routes now.

Cade grinned at that, a feral expression that struck fear into the hearts of even the most hardened men. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.

Chapter 2

Stephanie St. Clair had just finished a shitty day at work. No, scratch that, an extraordinarily shitty day at work. Just when she’d thought she was done, her boss had informed her — in that particularly unpleasant way of hers — that Stephanie was needed for closing up. God forbid that Andrew actually came into work on his appointed shift. But heck, maybe the boss was right on the money because Stephanie had stupidly agreed to pick up his slack.

She sighed, lumbering down the empty streets of Chicago at night with all the weight of an overburdened, overworked waitress. Honestly, if it had just been a bad day at work, then that would have been easy enough to deal with. The real issue was that she had a week of shitty days ahead of her, then at the end of that, there was the shittiest time of all: the holidays.

Oh, she loved the holidays in concept. She loved Christmas cheer and gorging on all sorts of sweets and the festive music that blared on every corner. She liked the enchanting mystery of snow falling among massive trees bedecked in all sorts of ornaments, and she loved giving and receiving presents, from the anticipation of wondering what you received and watching the transformations on the faces of the recipients. What she didn’t love was her family. In fact, if she was being perfectly honest with herself, she loathed her family.

The St. Clair’s were a rowdy bunch, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world, even though they could grate on her nerves a bit. They were also fruitful, with dozens of members convening every year for an entire fortnight of neverending celebrations. Again, that wasn’t quite what ground her gears. It was a bit much for her semi-introverted self, but it was bearable. At the end of the day, the real issue was that they were probably evil.

That’s right, evil. Now, Stephanie didn’t throw that word around willy-nilly. She didn’t just have a bone to pick or an uncle that gave her the creeps, though Uncle Lenny definitely did give her the creeps. It wasn’t about a feeling that she had in her gut or a wild fantasy that she’d thought up as a child.

She kicked a can on the sidewalk, her mood getting darker and darker as she reflected on the past. It was probably unwise to neglect her awareness, but the neighborhood between her house and restaurant was pretty safe. So she found herself remembering the first time that her mother had told her not to ask too many questions about Gramma. God, what a night that had been.

It had been the first time she’d seen a dead body. Hell, when her mom had warned her that she might see one, she’d thought that Mom had been talking about