Right along with the fact that she was my job.
And I couldn’t stop smelling her vanilla scent on my skin — still there, no matter how many times I washed my damn hands.
I gripped the steering wheel harder.
She shrugged a shoulder as if she was trying to look causal, but there was nothing but tense muscles behind the movement. “Doesn’t matter, I just don’t want to get into trouble.”
“With who?” It was out before I could stop it.
She braced her hands against the seat, like it could keep her secrets in.
Like the leather could stop my probing.
I laughed at that.
Probably scaring her further as she sank against her seat and huffed out an, “Does it really matter?”
“It always matters,” I said in an innocent tone. “Why does a girl like you look so afraid? Why do you look seconds away from pissing someone off?”
She snorted. “Because I’m always in trouble.”
This was news to me. I arched my brows. “Man, had I known sooner, you could have helped me set that mascot on fire!”
She jerked her head toward me. “The smoke was you?”
I tried and failed not to puff out my chest. “Maybe.”
Her lips curled into a small smile. “Good.”
Yeah. Good. Hell yeah, it was good, I hated everything Eagle Elite represented. Money. Drugs. Mafia. Families with such strong bloodlines that people would kill innocents over it. The only silver lining was the fact that I lived with the Family who owned it, who wanted to make things right.
“So…” I cleared my throat as we approached the large iron gates. “Just don’t pull a gun, and we’ll be good.”
“Huh?” She frowned. “Do I look like I know how to use a gun?”
I eyed her and smirked. From her big swollen lips to the innocent way she tugged her skirt down like she was afraid it was too short — she was everything opposite of the world I lived in. “Nah, you’ll be all right.”
She crossed her arms, though her eyes widened as we approached the compound.
Guards stood in place at the entrance.
Guards in black suits at the doors.
And two guards approached to open our doors.
“What is this place?” she whispered reverently.
“Heaven,” I said blandly. “Hell.” I opened my door. “You get to choose which.”
“Why?” She gulped and then seemed to dart her eyes toward the exits. “Why did you bring me here?”
I ducked my head back in the car and shrugged. “Because I always give my victims a chance to choose.”
“Choose?” she repeated, drawing out the word in confusion.
“Let me chase them… hunt them…” I waited in vain for the fear in her eyes. “Or stay.”
Her gaze darted from me to the daunting house before she took a deep breath, unbuckled her seat belt and said, “Stay. I stay.”
I smiled. “Good girl.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Tanit
Guys in suits.
Nice suits.
Suits that screamed money, high thread counts, designers whose names most people hadn’t even have heard of yet because they were just that expensive, just that top of the line.
Just. That. Impressive.
I tried to keep my face blank.
If anything, I’d learned that the art of deception always started with body language. Don’t let them see you, blend in, keep your head down but not so far that you look scared, shake hands firmly, enunciate every word — become a part of them just enough to blend in and not stand out.
Why had I agreed to this?
How the hell had a coffee date gone from coffee to compound? Because that’s what I was looking at. A legit compound. The house had a freaking fence around it, guards… what else was I supposed to assume?
I’d left a life of war.
And dumbly walked back into another, more dangerous one, one where I wasn’t just sitting in our nice apartment, wondering if any of my dad’s associates would stop by for coffee.
This, this was more than coffee.
Shit, why was coffee always the reason? Was it some code word for death?
This was so not the time to start hyperventilating.
But my body wouldn’t listen.
Years of practice of blending in went straight out the window when Dom gripped my hand in his and slowly walked up those stairs, dragging me behind him.
The men parted.
Like he was a god.
And I wondered, in that moment, if I hadn’t made a huge lapse in judgment. I didn’t know him, I didn’t know his family, I had nothing.
I’d just wanted.
Freedom.
I wanted someone to take me away.
So when he’d offered it, I’d accepted mainly out of desperation.
And now I was probably going to die because I’d left the only safe place my father had found in this world, the only place where I wouldn’t have to always look over my shoulder or count exits or read faces.
I’d left that.
For a guy I hardly knew.
Who was too gorgeous for words.
Who walked past guards like he had a freaking right to.
Like they should be the ones afraid.
“Welcome back,” one of them said coolly before he eyed me and then winked.
At least my breathing was starting to get under control as I leaned in toward Dom and waited for the worst to happen, gunshots, yelling, accusations. I’d seen it before.
The violence.
I’d see it again.
“Dom!” A woman with haunting eyes charged toward him, a mane of long dark hair streaming behind her. She couldn’t be much past her late twenties, and immediately I felt jealousy tug at my chest. She wasn’t just passably pretty, she was gorgeous. “You set the mascot on fire?”
Dom groaned, “Ma, it wasn’t like that.”
She punched him in the shoulder as he released my hand, then cupped his cheeks and whispered. “Stay out of trouble. Do it for me.”
He rolled his eyes and then brushed a kiss across her cheek before pulling her in for a hug, “I promise, Ma.”
“Ma?” I just had to repeat. There was no logical way this woman gave birth to a guy maybe six years younger than her.
Her cheeks heated before she turned and let out a long laugh. “It pisses Nixon off.”
I stared, trying not to frown. Like that was an explanation?
“Which also means,” Dom continued, “that Trace, aka Ma, thinks it’s hilarious as hell, plus they took me in when I had nobody, and I think of it as respectful.”
My jaw came nearly unhinged as I gave my head a little shake and then tried to regain my composure. “Sorry, it’s just—”
“—weird.” Trace shrugged. “I get it.” She eyed me then Dom then me again. “So, you brought a girl?”
“Try not to weep uncontrollably,” Dom said sarcastically. “She needed an escape, and I provided it. We were going to get coffee, then I had the brilliant plan to come here.” He licked his lips and nodded toward me. “It’s just as safe, and it’s private.”
Safe. I liked that word. I just wished I believed him.
“That it is.” Trace grinned. “We have more guards now that—” Her eyes fell a bit. “Well never mind, the point is, yes it’s safe, and I think one of the guys is making dinner now, so I’ll just go help in the kitchen.” She clasped her hands together and started walking backward from us when a tall, menacing man with a lip piercing and tattoos littered down both arms surged forward, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her.
I tried not to stare.
But both of them together — breathtaking.
“There you are.” He grinned and then frowned when he saw Dom and frowned harder when he saw me. Then he subjected Dom to a questioning glare as if to ask why the hell did you bring her here?
“Coffee.” I blurted. “He uh, invited me to coffee, and s
omehow I got in his car and I’m here.” Lame, so lame.
The man grinned, making me momentarily lose all forms of speech and thought. “Is that so?”
“It’s just dinner,” Dom said in an irritated tone.
“Sure.” The guy grinned. “All right.”
Dom took a step forward.
“Save it for the ring.” The guy held out his hand to me. “I’m Nixon Abandonato, and you are?”
My eyes gave me away first.
Followed by the rigid stance of my body.
And then the groan that came from Dom made me realize that either he knew something about me that he shouldn’t… or that I was just a really horrible actress.
Nixon waited, hand extended.
And I couldn’t not shake it.
He was a boss.
Not just any boss.
One of the most influential crime bosses in the world.
I extended my shaking hand.
He grasped it then kissed the back of it and whispered softly, “Here, you are safe.”
“For how long?” I just had to ask.
Everyone was silent and then Nixon answered. “You’re safe unless you betray us, then any one of us will kill you. So…” He turned a smile toward Dom. “You want to tell me about classes?”
Dom groaned.
And I stood frozen.
Did he, had he?
“Relax.” Dom elbowed me, “It’s not like you’re packing heat, and it’s just dinner, remember?”
Right. Just dinner.
I followed him in.
And nearly swallowed my tongue when a few men stood.
Men I recognized.
The same men who’d killed my father’s boss.
My father’s associates.
I gulped.
Backed away.
And was forced right back toward the table by Dom’s hand as he leaned over and whispered, “Survive this, and I’m pretty sure college is going to be a breeze.”
CHAPTER NINE
Dom
Tanit was shaking.
Normally it wouldn’t faze me, not in the least. I ate girls like that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner — literally.
She had nothing that I hadn’t already seen, experienced, licked — taken.
And yet, she had everything that made my blood pump faster through my veins, everything that had me staring at her longer than a few seconds each time she inhaled, each time she exhaled.
Not everything.
Something.
She. Had. Something.
And for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was.
Or why I wanted it so damn bad for myself.
“Family dinner,” I said under my breath as we made our way into the loud kitchen. Wine bottles littered the table as the laughter grew right along with the inappropriate stares getting shot our way.
The wives smiled. They would smile. Sometimes I thought their only goal in life — other than to please their husbands and make more mafia babies — was to find me a nice Italian wife who made a mean pasta.
And the bosses?
The most powerful men in America, the ones who held most people by their asses and smiled while pointing guns at their heads — they weren’t smiling, no most of them looked…
Suspicious.
The minute Nixon pulled out the chair at the head of the table, talking ceased. The kids were already in bed — most family dinners weren’t actual family dinners like one would think. They were “Family” dinners, also known as business meetings with all the associates; they were updates on who had a hit on whom.
They were informative.
So the fact that I’d just brought an enemy into the house.
During a meeting.
Well, that was ballsy.
And the only reason there weren’t at least seven guns pointed at my head was because of one thing.
The blood that ran through my veins.
And the fact that all the men in that same room knew — if any of them died — I was the next in line to take any of their places.
Not because of my family line.
But because of my blood.
Royal. I was royalty to them.
I pasted a shit eating grin on my face and pulled a chair out for Tanit. She plopped down onto it, keeping her eyes downcast as I grabbed my napkin and placed it over my lap. “So, school was good thanks for asking.”
“Sarcastic shit.” To my left, Dante rolled his eyes.
“Just be thankful I took over your pathetic ass job.” I lifted my wine glass and clinked it against his.
“True. Thank God.” He took a long sip then stared a little longer than necessary at Tanit. “And your classes? How were they?”
The only sound coming from the table was that of people chugging wine and waiting for her response.
Tanit glanced up at him then back down. “Good… sir.”
“Why are you calling me sir?” Dante asked in a bored tone. “Do I look old enough to be a sir?”
She shook her head then nodded it, then her shoulders slumped like she’d failed the test miserably, so I decided to rescue her.
“He’s more jackass than sir,” I said cheerfully gaining laughs around the table.
Nixon eyed me over his wine glass. “Calling the kettle black a bit, hmm, son?”
I flipped him off.
Much to Tex’s amusement — our Capo, basically our version of a Godfather. It was rumored that if you looked at him in the eyes too long he’d hypnotize you into suicide. I shot that bullshit out of the water the minute I met him, earning his respect tenfold.
“Enough talk.” Frank, the oldest boss of everyone said in his wise ass voice. “Let us pray.”
Tanit’s eyes jerked to mine.
Everyone held their hands out.
No chance in hell was I going to keep mine to myself, when hers looked so tempting. I grabbed her fingertips and squeezed, pulling her entire hand into my lap as Frank prayed.
“God bless our families…”
Tanit squeezed my hand so hard I was going to suffer blood loss — gladly, because at least she was touching me and even though I knew that one day — possibly in the near future — I could be the one pulling the trigger on that hand, that body, I couldn’t help but squeeze back and wish, wonder what it would be like if things were different.
The shaking was still there, but just barely.
I rubbed my thumb across hers, lightly.
She relaxed a bit, leaning her body toward me.
Frank was setting a record for the longest prayer of all time, not that I minded, but my body was getting hotter by the minute, my thoughts jumbled — my plans… wrecked because of those fingers of hers.
She leaned closer.
I met her halfway.
And tugged her hand farther onto my lap — maybe I jerked too hard, maybe she already knew I was going to pull, but the minute I did, her arm grazed the front of my pants and every single thought of prayer went straight into the depths of hell right along with my soul.
My body jolted.
My dick twitched.
And I could have sworn she felt not just my heart grow three sizes, but another part of my anatomy.
She sucked in a sharp breath.
My head jolted up just as Nixon’s eyes opened and zeroed in on her with laser like intensity. His brows rose in question. I managed a shrug.
He shook his head slowly as if to say this wasn’t about lust, or love, or even like about doing a job.
And I was good at my job.
One of the best, now that the bosses had others doing their dirty work.
And yet, I was still focused on everything but my job.
The rest of the dinner went on without a hitch, I answered boring questions, Tanit focused in on her pasta like it was her last meal, and when the guys got up to help clear the table, I jerked her down the hall to my room.
Mainly to give her the space I knew she needed.
�
�Aren’t we, um, going back to campus?” She rubbed her arms up and down and did a small circle in my room as I turned the lock on the door and leaned against it. “I should probably unpack.”
“I’ll help you,” I offered.
“Okay.” She walked toward the door, toward me.
I placed my hands on her arms stopping her in place.
“Aren’t we going?”
“Ten minutes,” I whispered.
“Of what?”
I tilted my head, memorizing her lips, the way her innocence screamed at me to take advantage or maybe just to recognize that the world wasn’t as dark and horrible as I had originally assumed. “Give me ten minutes.”
“Dinner and now you want ten minutes?” She exhaled roughly.
“Please?” The word felt foreign, sounded funny, tasted even funnier.
She gulped and then nodded.
“Don’t you want to know what I’m going to do in those ten minutes?”
She paled. “I thought you just wanted to relax… you said ten minutes before we left?”
“No,” I corrected, “I just asked for ten minutes.”
Didn’t think it was possible but she paled even more. “Wh-what are you going to do?”
I eyed her, waited, calculated her sharp breaths and how they grew in intensity as I locked onto her lips with purpose. “I’m going to kiss you.”
She gaped, and then muttered. “For ten minutes?”
“I’ll probably set an alarm so I don’t waste any time or go over.”
“But—”
“You’re going to ask why but I’ll save you the time, save us the minutes. Because you’re pretty, because I think you’re cute, because you’re brave, because outside of this room we aren’t friends, we aren’t anything. At Eagle Elite, we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. So right now, in this place, this time, one I can control, I want to do what I want to do. And I want to kiss you.”
Her eyes softened and then she surprised the hell out of me by leaning forward and whispering against my lips. “So, kiss me.”
I didn’t hesitate.
And when I got my first taste.
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