by Bella J.
I’m such a pervert.
I’m going to hell.
I don’t care.
Dante and Antonio boxed her in as they took seats on either side of her. It was pathetic how they acted like she didn’t have a will of her own. I was willing to bet she was busy having a cursing fest inside her mind right about now.
In the back of my mind, I knew I should have been on the lookout for anything and everything suspicious, but deep down, I was painfully aware I was actually here because of her. I was here to see her. What the fuck was that about?
A waitress with a tray full of shots walked past them and leaned down while Antonio and Dante each took a glass. When Karina tried to reach for one, Antonio waved the waitress away, leaving Karina emptyhanded. By the way she pouted and crossed her arms, I knew she was pissed off. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. She was cute when she was pissed off. She was cute when she smiled too. Basically, she was always cute, no matter what she did. I’m such a fucking weirdo.
For the next hour and a half, I sat there and watched the lot of them. Dante had three girls draped over him like Sunday morning’s laundry. Antonio was watching a woman dance on the table in front of him, giving him his own personal show. Lucky son of a bitch.
What I did notice was Karina had been going to the ladies’ room quite a lot during the last hour. Something else I noticed too—which her brothers didn’t—was she had been sneaking in shots en route to or from the ladies’ room. Clever girl.
The bartender placed another drink in front of me, and I thanked him without looking his way. I was too busy watching Karina looking as hot as fuck in her black dress.
She leaned toward Dante and said something to him. He nodded, and she walked to the stairs down to the bottom floor.
The way she looked and the way she walked was like she owned everyone and everything around her. Men strained their necks to get a better look at her, yet she was completely oblivious. She didn’t notice all the inconspicuous glances her way, but I did. I noticed all the fucking assholes drooling after her like slobbering dogs, and it made me wish I had the right to punch each and every one of them in the balls.
With every step she took down the stairs, I felt the excitement brewing inside my chest. Or is it in my pants? I didn’t know. But what I did know was I wanted to get closer to her, which was why I jumped out of my seat and started pushing and shoving my way through the crowd toward her.
The second she took that final step, I was right in front of her, and the way her eyes widened when she saw me made me smile like the Cheshire Cat.
“Miss Valenti. What a surprise seeing you here.”
She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Is it?”
“Is it what?”
“A surprise?”
I stepped closer, the now short distance between us causing me to tower over her. “I guess you’ll never know.”
She looked up at me, and our gazes locked. Suddenly I was hyperaware we were surrounded by the smell of alcohol, sweat, and sex. The lights, the music, the atmosphere all played perfectly together like the entire night existed with one goal in mind—ecstasy.
The way her brown eyes darkened, her lips slightly parted, I knew she was aware of it too.
Her throat moved as she swallowed hard, her chest rising and falling, and I was wondering—no, hoping—it was because of me, because of how close I was to her.
“What are you doing here, Detective?”
“This is a club, Miss Valenti. I’m here to have some fun.” I didn’t inch away. I loved that we were this close, that I could see the faint shimmer of perspiration on her chest running down between her breasts. The way the yellow lights caught the side of her face and made her eyes seem like they had stripes of gold swirling around in them—almost magical. With her long, dark hair hanging down her naked shoulders, her smooth olive skin begging to be touched, Karina looked like a fucking exotic goddess—a goddess I’d like to be buried in balls deep.
She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Somehow, I doubt that.”
“Don’t tell me I don’t look like the fun type.”
“You don’t look like the nightclub type,” she replied, her eyes never leaving mine.
I stepped closer. “What type do I look like?”
She glanced down to my mouth then up again. There was a hunger in her eyes. A hunger I was very familiar with since I was fucking ravenous—for her.
“The dangerous type,” she replied hesitantly.
The way her lips moved demanded all my attention. Her full, red lips practically begged me to take them, suck them, and kiss them until they were swollen.
“What do you want, Detective?”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her sinfully delicious-looking mouth. “What if I’m not exactly sure what I want?”
“Then I’d say it’s about time you grow up and figure out what you want.” She leaned closer, bringing her lips mere inches from mine. “And then take it.”
Fuck me. The challenge in her voice and the seduction swirling around in her dark irises sent all my blood straight to my cock. My balls instantly retracted, and I already felt that desire for release starting to barrel up and down my spine.
Unable to control my desire for this woman any longer, I reached out and pushed my hand behind her head, grabbing a fistful of her thick, long hair. Her breath came out in a huff, and her lips parted, making me want to thrust my tongue deep down her throat, to tongue-fuck her until we both were unable to breathe.
I leaned closer to her ear. “Do not tempt me, Miss Valenti. I might be a detective, but I’m also a man who wouldn’t think twice before ripping that dress off you, bending you over, and making that hot little body of yours my fucking playground.”
To my surprise, she didn’t back down, but took a tiny step forward, putting her body almost flush against mine.
“Unlike you, Detective, I know what I want, and I’m not afraid to take it.”
I was still trying to control the waves of electricity that shot up my spine when she lifted herself and brushed her lips against mine, making those damn waves even more intense. It wasn’t a kiss; it was more like an invitation, a dare for me to take what she was offering.
Every male instinct inside me raged, rumbling with the need to hear her scream my name, to feel her walls tighten around me while I gave her the most powerful orgasm she had ever had in her entire life. Giving this woman pleasure had now become my one and only goal. I wanted to pound multiple goddamn releases into her while the sound of my name on her lips rang through my ears like a fucking cheerleading song.
I wrapped my other arm around her waist and jerked her harder against me, letting her feel how hard I was for her. “If I’m correct, there’s a rule somewhere in the Criminal Mafia Handbook for Dummies that says you’re not allowed to fraternize with cops.”
The seductive smile that spread across her face made my cock twitch.
“I already told you, I have no idea about this mafia thing you’re talking about, Detective.”
I moved closer and put my lips against the side of her cheek, and I was pretty sure I felt her shiver. “Oh, that’s right,” I started. “You’re innocent, aren’t you, Miss Valenti?”
“Well, I don’t know about innocent. But let’s assume you’re right, and the Criminal Mafia Handbook for Dummies does apply to me.” Her hand was on my hip, and I swore to God it felt like my skin burst into fucking flames. Her other hand moved slowly up my arm, and she weaved her fingers through my hair, pulling my lips closer to hers. “What makes you think I give a fuck about rules?”
Well, that does it, then. I wanted this woman, and I wanted her now. I wanted her under me, on me, in front of me, and I wanted to be inside her in every way humanly fucking possible—pun intended. To have this woman’s pleasure gushing down my thighs was my life’s new mission. Fuck the job, fuck the mafia, and fuck every goddamn rule that said I wasn’t allowed to bury myself so deep inside this wom
an that there would be no way to determine where she began and I ended.
Just as I was about to claim her lips, preparing to taste her, wanting to ravish that seductive mouth of hers, she glanced over my shoulder and cursed. “Shit.”
Ah, fuck. Really? This close. I was this fucking close.
Wanting to know what in the name of God-Almighty just interrupted what was probably going to be the best kiss of my entire fucking life, I turned around and immediately saw what had Karina cussing in my ear—or rather, whom.
“The Mancusos.” The name left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. I stared at the two brothers walking into the club like they owned the place, straightening the lapels of their gray suits. There were two guys behind them, which I presumed were part of their entourage of muscle and ammo.
For a second, I glanced up at the Valenti brothers. Both of them were standing against the rail glaring down toward the entrance with a few other brutes behind them. It was like the mighty stare-off between good and evil, Heaven and Hell. The only problem was, I had no idea who the good guys and bad guys were in this equation. But something told me there was a tad more evil lurking behind the Mancusos, especially the older brother, Enzio. With his dark hair tied at the back of his neck, and that disgusting smirk that always seemed to be plastered on his arrogant face, Enzio Mancuso was one class-A son of a bitch douchebag. His younger brother, Matteo, was nothing more than a fucking sidekick. What big bro did, little bro did. Matteo always lurked in the shadow of his big brother, trying to be a bad ass. Meanwhile, he was nothing but a pussy pretending to be a cock in a big man’s world.
I noticed Enzio was staring straight at Karina, and Karina was looking back at him. It would take a real special kind of idiot to not have detected the tension between the two of them. The only difference was Enzio had this creepy, victorious smirk on his face, while Karina seemed like she was going to throw up.
I brushed my hand against her elbow. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” She straightened and took a deep breath before turning and looking up at her brothers.
I leaned closer. “So, on a scale from one to ten, how much shit is about to go down?”
When she looked back at me, there was absolutely nothing reassuring in her expression. In fact, she looked pretty grim.
She glanced at Enzio. “I’d say you should get a bigger scale.”
Well, shit.
Chapter 8
KARINA
Enzio Mancuso. If the devil had a face, it would be Enzio’s. From the long list of reasons I never wanted to come home, Enzio was right up there at the top. For the last four years, I’d successfully managed to avoid any run-ins with him—until now.
The moment our eyes met, I felt the ice spreading through my veins like venom. For a second, I was transported back four years to the night Enzio Mancuso showed me his true colors—the night I willingly gave him the best of me. In the end, he turned it into something ugly, wicked, and broken. And the conceited smirk currently slapped on his face was proof enough that he was thinking of it too.
Just a few seconds ago, I was consumed with the need to give in to the temptation that was Detective Lorik Stone. Now all I wanted to do was run, to get out of here as fast as humanly possible. But that wasn’t going to happen, since Enzio and his brother were walking toward us.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I started to panic.
Lorik grabbed my elbow and turned me toward him. “Mind telling me what’s going on?”
“Um, let’s just say there’s this…how can I put it?”
“History?”
I cringed, since Lorik basically hit it right on the button. “Yeah, a history between me—”
“And Mancuso?” He looked surprised, like really, really surprised in a “what the fuck” kind of way. I couldn’t say I blamed him. If he was really as clued in about us and them, the infamous Boston crime families, he knew exactly how screwed up and wrong it was for me to have any kind of history with one of the Mancuso brothers.
I scowled at him. “Don’t you dare judge.”
“Not judging at all. You gotta do what you gotta do…or who you gotta do.” He snorted, and I frowned at his attempt to crack a lame-ass joke.
“I need to get out of here.” I was about to turn and head up the stairs when that voice stopped me dead in my tracks.
“Karina Valenti.”
I winced at the painfully familiar tone, and I couldn’t shake the chills it sent down my spine. I had no choice but to face him, and the moment I looked into his eyes was like a punch in the gut, leaving me without a damn breath. Every memory I’d tried to suppress for the last four years came flooding back, wreaking havoc through my insides like a hurricane. The dark eyes that once had the power to enthrall me with a single glance now seemed hard and cruel, suited for the cold bastard I now knew he really was.
Enzio smiled like an arrogant son of a bitch. “Karina, you look as lovely as ever.”
If I weren’t struggling to get a sufficient amount of air in my lungs, I would have spat in his face.
“Hello, Enzio.” I straightened and squared my shoulders, trying to act as confident as possible, even though I felt like I’d rather become one with the floor beneath my feet.
“It’s been what? Two, three years?”
“Four.”
He acted surprised. “Has it been four years already? My, how time flies these days.”
“It sure does.”
Our eyes remained fixed on one another, and I could almost see the memories of that night playing inside his head. The filthy, dirty, sordid memories of what was supposed to be something beautiful, something I now knew I never should have shared with him.
Then his gaze slipped to Lorik. “And who might you be?”
Oh, dear God, earth swallow me now.
Lorik placed his hand at the small of my back and leaned forward, extending his hand toward Enzio for a handshake. “Lorik Stone.”
Enzio glanced down at Lorik’s hand like it was infested with Ebola, then back up at his face. After about two seconds, Lorik realized Enzio did not intend to shake his hand and pulled back. By now, I no longer had a spine, but rather a giant block of ice lodged in my back keeping me upright. I knew there was a chance Enzio would show up. What I didn’t know was Detective Stone and that smug grin permanently plastered on his face would show up at a damn nightclub, of all places. And I definitely did not think I would be caught in the middle of the world’s most awkward moment ever.
“Is he with you?” Enzio nodded toward Lorik.
Lorik stepped forward, and I was sure Enzio would interpret that move as a challenge.
“Actually,” Lorik started, “he is right here, and he doesn’t like being referred to in third person when, in fact, he is right in the middle of the damn conversation.”
Enzio also took a step closer, putting him eye to eye with Lorik, and the legion of idiots he arrived with formed a half moon behind him, ready to attack like a pack of wild dogs. Within a nanosecond, all the air got sucked out of the club, and I was holding my breath like I was waiting for the entire world to come to an end.
Dramatic? Maybe.
But I knew Enzio, and the way Lorik straightened, not backing down, made me think the battle of the fucking Titans was about to commence.
Enzio lifted his chin as he glared at Lorik. “If I had any desire to talk to you, Mr. Stone, I would. But I don’t go around making conversation with Albanians.”
Fuck.
Lorik slanted his head. “That’s a damn shame, because I’d love to converse with your Italian ass and toss in the words ‘fuck’ and ‘you.’”
The way Lorik carved a glare on Enzio’s face, and the way his jaw ticked with tension, I was about one hundred and thirteen percent sure he was a second away from conversing with his fist against Enzio’s jaw—which would be a bad thing. Really bad.
“Do we have a problem here, gentlemen?” Antonio’s voice broke the tension like a wrecking ball through a
building as he stepped in next to me. I wasn’t sure whether I was relieved or more anxious that Antonio had decided to join our little gathering of guaranteed carnage.
Neither Lorik nor Enzio even attempted to respond. It was like they both had turned into giant concrete walls. Something told me even though Lorik was outnumbered by an entire gang of ruthless Italians, he would not back down. This may seem courageous and brave to some, but to me it was just plain stupid…and suicidal.
“Lorik.” I took hold of his elbow, but he didn’t move an inch. I placed my other hand on his arm and tried my best to urge him back. “Lorik, please.”
At first, he didn’t budge, but then he relaxed a little and took a tiny step back.
“Well, I never thought I’d see the day Detective Stone backed away from confrontation.”
Everyone turned simultaneously, and there stood this creepy-looking guy with a beer in his hand, a smug grin showing off a gold filling between his two front teeth.
Enzio’s eyes widened as he looked at Lorik. “Detective?” Then he looked at me with knowing eyes. I ignored it and tightened my grip on Lorik’s elbow.
“Fuck off, Gio.” Antonio stepped forward. “Take your cheap-ass beer and move the fuck along, you low-life piece of shit.”
Enzio didn’t say a word, but I noticed him nodding slightly at this Gio guy before the weirdo disappeared into the crowd.
“Dating a detective now, hey, Karina?” Enzio sneered while he straightened the collar of his gray suit.
I was just about to correct him, to tell him Lorik and I weren’t dating, when Lorik loosened his elbow from my grip and placed it firmly around my waist, pulling me against his side. My breath hitched, and I almost stumbled over my own damn feet.
“What happens between me and Karina is absolutely in no fucking way any of your business, Mancuso.” Lorik tightened his hold around my waist. I tried my best to ignore the heat that flared where our bodies touched. It spread all the way up to my chest, and I felt my neck and cheeks flush almost instantly. Flusher.