In the corner of my eye, Yavin moved quickly, shifting Aoife behind him and blocking her with his body. Unfortunately for Tiernan, Yavin wasn't the only one who moved fast. He never managed to aim his gun before I'd pulled mine and leveled it on his head. His second-in-command grunted when Ryker's hatchet wrapped around the front of his throat in warning.
"I would suggest you put the gun away, Murphy," I ordered, my gun trained on his forehead. "I do not miss."
Matteo sighed, picking at his fingernails in disinterest like the psycho he was. Unconcerned with the threat the two men may pose.
"If Bellandi had his way, you'd already be dead. I've asked that you be allowed to leave my home safely as a final kindness to your father. Do not make me regret it," Liam commanded.
"This isn't over," Tiernan returned, turning and storming out of the office. It shocked me that the man was smart enough to retreat when needed, given his stupidity in opposing both O'Callahan and Bellandi. I didn't think he knew he also stood against Ibarra and countless others.
Ryker released Sean begrudgingly, letting him tuck his tail between his legs and follow his leader. He paused beside me, leveling me with a cruel grin. “Tell pretty girl I said hi,” he laughed, retreating from the room. Our promise to Liam that they could leave safely limited my options, but my hand tightened around my gun with the need to put a bullet in his brain.
"You could have been shot," Aoife whispered as Matteo nodded to Liam and led the way out into the hallway.
"Better me than you, love," Yavin said, running a thumb over her cheekbone before he turned away to follow the rest of the group out of the office.
She gaped after him, pink flushing her cheeks as her father's laughter followed us out. "I like him."
I'd gotten used to the noise of Indulgence. Though, I admittedly spent as much time in my office as I could manage with the door closed to reduce the sound pollution to mostly vibrations coming up through the floor.
Monday nights weren't known for being crazy, so knowing where Tiernan would be and that he'd be distracted, Matteo had conceded to Ivory's demands for a girls' night. Walking in the front doors of the club after our meet with Tiernan, I knew the club was stuffed full of security like it had never seen. Most of Calix's men and some of Rafe's mingled on the dance floor, working to blend in with the crowd and not attract attention. I didn't give a shit if the girls knew they were there, but we couldn't have our enemies seeing just how well-protected our women were. We made our way through the crowd, my eyes connecting with Calix's as he sat at the bar and surveyed the main floor.
"What kind of shit do you think they've tried tonight?" Lino asked me, shouting over the pulsing bass of the upbeat rhythm.
"I don't want to think about it. I saw what Sadie was wearing when I handed her off to Scar and Sandro."
"Don't fucking remind me. Calla is trying to kill me," Ryker announced, moving to the steps to climb up them hurriedly. Following more slowly, I tried to convince myself I was better than him when it came to my possessive ownership of my woman. Considering I'd cut the hands off a man if he touched her, I probably didn't have a leg to stand on.
Sadie danced in a circle with all her friends in the center of the VIP level. Surrounded by every one of their personal securities, Dom stood guard at the top of the stairs and carefully screened everyone who entered the private lounge. With her assets on display in a tight black miniskirt and a corseted top, she sparkled from head to toe in the shimmering onyx fabric. With Ivory on one side, she turned and whispered something into her raven-haired friend's ear.
I hadn't known Irina would join them, and judging by his scowl from his place of guarding set back from the girls, neither had Scar. I smirked at him, raising a brow as his eyes met mine. Wondering when he'd find a way to get over his own issues and make a move with the woman. Their history was complicated, Irina suffering far too many rejections from him to put herself out there again.
Particularly after what had happened the last time she made her interest clear.
Sadie's honey eyes found me when she turned her attention back to Ivory. Smiling that seductive little grin she did so well, she turned and rolled her hips so that her ass rubbed against Ivory's thighs. With her hands over her head, she broke our eye contact to lose herself in the music.
With the love she had for dancing and the movement music brought her, it was a miracle she hadn't pushed harder to learn to pole dance. Sadie would have been a very expensive stripper if I'd have ever let her work at Tease. With her Filipino features that made her look so sweet and innocent, but a firecracker personality that knocked men on their asses, I didn't know that anybody could ever resist her.
Matteo interrupted their dance to take his wife in a claiming kiss, drinking from her mouth like it was the very air he needed to breathe. Sadie swatted him away. Probably the only woman in the world brave enough to risk the wrath of Matteo Bellandi like that. I chuckled as he grinned at her, patting the top of her head in a rare moment of affection between them and striding over to take the stairs up to his office. Ryker emerged from where he'd accosted Calla in her mauve mini-dress, her shoulder length wavy hair looking worse for wear with the way he'd undoubtedly assaulted her.
I followed them up the steps, glancing at Sadie one last time to give her a meaningful look that she understood. I'd fuck her so hard she couldn't walk if she tried to sneak out. It comforted me only slightly that she would have tried it before we arrived on the scene if she had any intention of it. She might not have been able to say the words yet, but Sadie knew damn well what she felt for me.
It was only a matter of time before she gave me those words, because I was many things.
But a patient man wasn't one of them.
Rafael sat in Matteo's chair when we walked into the office, looking far too comfortable in Matteo's space. If it had been anyone else, Matteo might have demanded he vacate it. But not Rafael.
I suspected Matteo was wary of him. With good reason. He even made Ryker look sane, and that was not an easy task.
"How did it go?" Rafael asked, but his voice was uninterested. He didn't need a summary to know that Tiernan Murphy wouldn't back down so easily. Still, a guy could dream.
"He'll strike soon," I said. "He's too volatile to wait it out and play the long game. He wants his revenge."
"Yavin?" Matteo asked, nodding his head to the quietest of our entourage.
"Probably a good bet. He's the one who stands to get everything Tiernan sees as his. Aoife, the O'Connell operation, all of it. He isn't stupid enough to think eliminating Yavin will solve the problem and get him the keys to the castle, but he'll still want him out of the picture," I agreed.
"What difference does it make?" Yavin asked. "If killing me won't get him what he wants, why target me at all?"
"Because he wants Aoife to be a virgin for him. Liam said he was very particular about that. Yet he called Liam antiquated." I rolled my eyes. "With you out of the picture, Liam will have to dedicate the time to finding another replacement. He'll be able to stall a bit. And then when he kills Liam, he'll force Aoife to marry him because most of her father's followers will do what it takes to keep her alive, since she is the O'Connell blood. The Irish are still much more traditional than we've become," Lino answered, plopping down into one of the chairs in front of the desk.
"So what do you need from my guys?" Rafe asked, spinning the office chair back and forth as he waited.
"I want someone on Yavin. An extra set of eyes and an extra gun," I said.
"Done," Rafe agreed. "I'll put Alejandro on him. He'll appreciate having the strip club as his scenery every day."
"I don't need a fucking bodyguard," Yavin protested.
"Neither do I," Matteo said. "But sometimes we have to tolerate these things for the good of the family. If you die, someone else will fuck Aoife," he chuckled, watching Yavin's hands tighten at his sides. "That's what I thought."
I strolled to the window that looked down into the dance
floors, my eyes tracking to the VIP area to search for Sadie. Mostly empty, it seemed like the girls had migrated down to the more intense excitement of the main crowd. "Motherfucker," I grunted. Charging for the door to the office, I pulled it open sharply.
"Enzo, what the fuck?" Ryker asked, coming up behind me and following me down the steps.
"Her fucking shitbag ex is here, that's what," I announced, grimacing at the sound of his dangerous laughter.
"Can I cut him?"
"This one is mine," I said, dissuading him from taking action. The wide eyes he gave me were a powerful indicator of just how rarely I got violent for circumstances that weren't life or death.
But the man ignoring Sandro's attempts to keep him at arm's length had successfully pushed the last button on my patience.
He'd leave in a body bag if I had it my way.
23
Sadie
Patrick had lost his damn mind if he thought he could march in here and demand my attention like this. It wasn't my gym. It wasn't a place where I felt obligated to hear him out because when all was said and done, he was still a client.
Here he wasn't. Here he was a creepy ex-boyfriend who wouldn't take no for an answer, for some reason that was totally lost on me. I rarely struggled to get rid of men when the relationship ended. Yet here he was in Enzo's territory, and while I might tolerate a certain level of annoyance in my part of the world, I wouldn't let it slide when it was a thorough insult to Enzo himself.
"You need to go," Sandro said, glancing over Scar's way. He was too distracted with Ivory and Irina dancing to notice the troubles I faced. But it also wasn't a security issue. Just an annoyance.
"I'm not fucking going anywhere until she talks to me," Patrick said, acting like a complete idiot. I'd heard stories of Matteo chasing him off when he went on his date with Ivory, but it didn't seem like it had been enough to motivate him to use his brain.
"Do you really think this is a good idea? Do you remember when Matteo looked at you and you turned tail and ran? What do you think Enzo will do if he finds you in my space, again?" My voice showed how exasperated I felt. When we’d dated, Patrick never wanted to go to clubs. Apparently he thought it was a better use of his time to spend it with other women while I went dancing, but it would be just my luck that he’d come to Indulgence on the same night as me.
"Why the hell do you think I'm here? It isn't like you to let yourself be controlled like this. I'm worried about you," Patrick shouted over the music.
"Fuck's sake, Patrick. You can't be concerned about me when you've spent all of two seconds around us. I'm not sure where you get off thinking I'm being controlled, but Enzo is protecting me. Someone broke into my apartment while I was sleeping. Can we just move on already?" I asked as my anger raised. The ignorance of judging my situation without knowing it grated on my nerves until all I wanted to do was go home. My happy mood and the free feeling dancing filled me with faded in the face of his stupidity.
"I would weigh your answer carefully before you open your damn mouth again," Enzo's voice said as he stepped up behind me.
Shit.
Stepping back into his space, I tried to use my body as a physical barrier between the two men. Patrick was a stupid fuck boy, but he didn't deserve Enzo's wrath. Just as Enzo didn't deserve to risk everything for him. "It's fine. Patrick was just leaving," I told him.
"Like hell I am. I want to have a conversation with you without him looming over us like a creep," Patrick argued.
"Carina, do I hurt you?" Enzo asked in that deep, lethal voice that left little doubt to just how close he was to losing his carefully controlled cool. Ryker stood off to the side, watching the show with Sandro and grinning like a crazy person. I raised an eyebrow at him, mouthing for him to do something.
He shook his head, raising his hands to say he wouldn't get involved. The meatball probably thought it was some rite of passage that Enzo needed to beat the shit out of my ex.
I hated men. I really, really did.
"No, Enzo. You don't hurt me, " I reassured him, keeping my eyes on Patrick and imploring him one last time to use his sense of reason and run while he could.
"Good. You heard her. Now get the fuck lost," Enzo ordered. When Patrick didn't respond but continued to hold his ground, I moved forward to give him the physical push he needed. I never expected him to grab hold of my arm and try to drag me out with him. Enough was enough. Reaching up to punch him in the mouth, I watched in satisfaction as his lip split beneath the force of my knuckles.
Nobody put their hands on me if I didn't want them to.
"Fucking idiot," Ryker announced, snatching me up as Enzo grabbed Patrick by the back of his shirt and physically dragged him to the front doors.
"Let me go!" I yelled, stomping on Ryker's foot. He grunted but made no move to release me. "This isn't him. He doesn't like to fight like this."
"Trust me, Short Stuff. I don't think Enzo minds fighting your ex one bit. He'll probably be revving and ready to go when he takes you home, so prepare yourself for that instead of worrying over Patrick. It will only piss Enzo off more." He grinned, looking like the serial killer I knew he was.
Until the moment Calla barreled into his side, making him move to catch her so she wouldn't fall. He had to release me to do it, and I sprinted for the door. "Damn it, Sunshine," he grunted, and the sound of his heavy footfalls came behind me. The dance floor was just crowded enough to hinder his progress, but I slipped through people with more ease, finding the small gaps and squeezing through them.
Shoving the exit doors open with all my weight, I left Ryker in my dust as the cold air bit at my skin. Enzo and Patrick hadn't gone far for their confrontation. Patrick knelt on the ground in front of Enzo, cradling his face in his hands. Blood stained them, dripping down over his forearms. "What the hell did you do?" I asked Enzo, moving up to his side to inspect him. Without a mark on him, the only sign that he'd even been involved in the brief fight was the blood staining his knuckles.
"Worried about him, Baby Girl?" Enzo asked, his voice just as dangerous as Ryker warned me it might be.
"No! I'm worried about you. You don't like violence for no reason."
"Killing people is very different than beating up a pushy man who needs to learn the meaning of the word no," Enzo scoffed.
“Broke my goddamn nose,” Patrick said, his voice muffled by his hand holding it delicately. “Fucking not worth all this shit. She’s a great lay, but a complete pain in the ass.”
Enzo growled as my body went still. I worked to keep my face neutral, but the words found their mark. Wounding the part of me that had always known they were true.
Enzo grabbed Patrick by the collar of his shirt, lifting him to his feet. “She’s only a pain in the ass because you aren’t man enough to be her equal and you’re too fucking stupid to see it.” He slapped Patrick’s hand away from his face, watching the blood drip down over his chin with the detached satisfaction of a killing machine.
Enzo’s fist connected with Patrick’s face as Ryker came out the doors with my jacket in his hand. A spray of blood stained the front of Enzo’s suit as Patrick went limp in his hold, knocked unconscious by the force of it. Enzo dropped him to the sidewalk, reaching out to accept my jacket from Ryker and staining it with Patrick’s blood like the caveman he was.
That stain was never coming out.
"Figured you'd be in a hurry to get out of here," Ryker said with a smile.
Enzo's eyes trailed over my body, heating as he studied me. "No!" I said, wagging a finger in his face even as I accepted the coat despite the unsanitary blood all over it. It was too fucking cold to be without it. "You do not get to go all caveman and then just expect me to spread my legs for you to take the edge off. I am entirely capable of handling Patrick's bullshit. Punching him until he’s an unrecognizable limp noodle on the sidewalk is not acceptable!"
Even if my blood was like fire in my veins from watching it and desire pooled in my belly.
&
nbsp; There was something seriously wrong with me.
"I think," Enzo said, leaning forward to wrap his blood-stained hands around my bare thighs and lift me into his arms as he made his way toward the parking garage where he'd parked his SUV. "That you should just be pleased I didn’t give Ryker permission to play with him.” I couldn’t deny that truth. He’d recover from a broken nose and possible concussion.
He’d even have ten fingers and toes.
I glared at his profile from the comfort of the Range Rover. A bit of my fury eased away at the fact that he'd had the foresight to take the SUV instead of the Harley.
I'd freeze my nipples off, and I quite liked them attached to my boobs.
"Are we not going to talk about what you just did?" I asked finally as he turned the corner to the gated Bellandi community.
"Nothing to talk about," he grunted. "I hit him a few times. He deserved it."
"I had it covered!" I protested.
"Is that why in the eight days you've been mine, he's poked his head into your business twice? I don't even want to think about how he knew he could find you at Indulgence tonight, because that poses a serious security risk. Did you post where you'd be online?"
I snorted. "God, none of us are that stupid. Let's just advertise where Tiernan should bomb if he wants to take out all the Bellandi women in one shot. That's us." A roll of my eyes made him growl in warning, but it did nothing to stop me from continuing to give him attitude.
Maybe at the start I might have feared the consequences, but after a few rounds with his version of punishment? I had to say it was more a motivation than a deterrent.
"Stop being jealous and needy. It doesn't suit you, Lorenzo," I teased, glancing at his hands where they stained the steering wheel with Patrick's blood. "That's unsanitary."
Shielded Wrongs: A Dark Mafia Romance (Bellandi Crime Syndicate Book 4) Page 23