Gian
Still humming with adrenaline and my thoughts shifting like chess pieces, I carried Evie into my home. I didn’t know where to start. As much as I loved to believe otherwise, tonight wasn’t a random act of violence. Someone had targeted me. Or Evie. I couldn’t rule anything out at this point.
Sure, the Trassato family had enemies, which by extension were my enemies. We’d been battling for territory with the Russian Mafia for years as they flexed their muscle and crept out of Brighton Beach. They were big into heroin distribution, and for the most part, I stayed away from the drug trafficking business, which led me to believe they’d target the other capos before me. It didn’t make sense.
“Hey.” Tony stood at the base of the stairs. “Are you both okay?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “My car is fucked up, but we’re both fine.”
“Put me down. I can walk,” Evie mumbled into my chest.
She looked up at me, her eyes wide and imploring, her cheeks rose-stained, and her hand a bloody fucking mess. “Tony, I can’t talk now. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I jogged up the steps, ignoring Evie’s request. I didn’t want to put her down. I’d been in more than my fair share of dangerous situations, and I stayed calm and clearheaded. Tonight was different. They’d put Evie in harm’s way.
The miserable fuckers who had the audacity to come after my girl would pay. I’d make sure of it. Nobody fucked with my family or me without consequences. Nobody. Evie may not be my real fiancée, but nobody knew that, and if I let this slide, no man would ever take me seriously.
Evie lifted her head. “Where are we going?”
I opened my bedroom door went into the bathroom, setting Evie on the counter. “You’re staying in my room tonight.”
“N-n-no,” she stuttered. “I’m not comfortable with that.” When she moved to get off the counter, I wedged my hips between her legs, blocking her escape.
“You don’t have a choice. Tony has already commented on the fact that you sleep in the guest bedroom.”
“So what?” She raised her eyebrows. “You said you trusted Tony. Did you change your mind? What am I missing?”
I brushed a tangled strand of her fiery hair away from her face. “This isn’t about trust. It’s about his oath. If he finds out I lied about us, he can’t protect me, and I wouldn’t ask him to either. His primary duty is to the family, not me.” Darkness flickered across her face, and she closed her eyes for a beat. “And if tonight demonstrated anything, it’s that we don’t have any room to make mistakes.”
“I know.” She swallowed, anxiety creasing her forehead. “I feel like I’m dangling from the cliff and nobody is going to catch me.”
Turning on the faucet, I picked up her hand and held it under the water. “I will,” I said, watching the pink-hued water swirl down the drain. “We’re in this together.”
Dominick’s warning about choosing the family over Evie looped through my head, making my gut churn with more than a little dread. I blew out a breath and shoved the unsettling emotion back into a vault in the recesses of my mind. I wouldn’t let it come to a choice between the family and Evie. I’d find a way out of this mess. I dragged her into this situation, and I would get her out.
I shut off the water and patted her hand with a white washcloth. “It’s not too bad.” I rotated her wrist and inspected her palm. “You have a couple of cuts, but nothing that warrants stitches.” I pulled a stack of bandages from my top drawer and covered the larger cuts.
“Thank you.” She pressed a closed-lipped kiss to my lips, lingering longer than was prudent, given I was ready to pounce at the slightest encouragement. I tasted the lemon sorbet my mom served for dessert on her lips. All too soon, she pulled back, a weak smile picking up the corners of her mouth.
Studying her face, I trailed my hand down her side, along her hip, down the miles of silky skin on her leg. Her flesh pebbled beneath the pads of my fingers, and her pupils swelled. A tsunami of desperation and need hit me in the dead center of my chest.
I wanted to spend the night getting lost in this woman. I wanted to kiss her. Taste her. Adore her. I wanted to put the past and the future in a sealed box and pretend it didn’t exist for a few hours.
I should walk out this door right now, but the longer I looked at her, the more my logic crumbled. I leaned forward, my lips only a whisper away from hers. My brain cells scrambled.
I smelled a hint of jasmine. I saw the tiny gold flecks in her otherwise dark irises. I counted the sprinkle of freckles on her nose. She had seven. It was my new favorite number.
Fuck Tony. He could wait.
“Evie,” I groaned, unable to resist any longer. She was the forbidden fruit, and I needed another taste of her brand of sin.
I let my lips glide across hers. Once. Twice.
Her eyes drifted closed, and a faint hum slipped through her full lips. “Gian, what the hell are we doing?”
“I don’t know.” And I didn’t. This was madness. From the first minute I glimpsed her from across the bar, I’d lost my fucking mind. I made dumb decisions, tempted fate, shamed my family, and stomped on my honor. Sadly, none of that mattered when I got within a hundred feet of this girl.
My arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against me. She trembled, and it had the same effect on me as tossing a match on gasoline. I felt alive for the first time in days. Maybe longer.
Our mouths fused together, and for the life of me, I didn’t know which one of us was the aggressor. My tongue dove in and out of her mouth. Tasting. Teasing. Savoring. My hands were everywhere, and it wasn’t enough. I explored every swell, curve, and indention. She was warm, soft, inviting, and every touch went to my head like a shot of whiskey. At that moment, I’d swear on my uncle’s pinky ring that I’d never get enough of this woman. Her body. Her long, toned legs. Her waist so tiny I could span the circumference with two hands.
I shoved her dress around her waist, and her fingers sunk into my shoulders, indecipherable, breathless sounds rolling from her mouth.
“We’re forgetting,” I murmured, finally answering her question.
She tugged at the front of my shirt, pulling it from the waistband of my pants. Her hands skirted underneath. Each measured stroke left me panting with desire. I rocked against her, acutely aware of every centimeter of fabric between us. Regrettably, the friction did nothing to quench the ache building inside of me. I wedged my hand between our bodies, toying with the top edge of her lace panties. Her muscles bunched beneath the pads of my fingers.
Shuddering, she sucked in a gust of air, color blooming on her cheeks. The soft, dreamlike look on her face unhinged me more than I already was.
“Wait.”
“Wait?” I echoed, my fingers inching lower. They had a mind of their own.
She grabbed my wrist, her eyes dark and questioning, and I couldn’t have looked away if I wanted to. I watched a million and one expressions float across her face. I couldn’t remember ever being so caught up in someone before.
“We shouldn’t do this right now.” She blew out a puff of air. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
With a sigh, I leaned my forehead against hers. “No? Because I think it’s a great idea. Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve had a better idea in a long time.” I slid my hand lower, cupping her between her legs. “I’ll make you feel good.”
She arched her pelvis against my hand a fraction of an inch and whimpered. “We both know this shouldn’t happen. Don’t make this hard.”
Chuckling, I dragged my nose along her throat up to her mouth. “It’s already hard.”
“We need to stop.” Her words were a velvety purr against my lips, and a jolt of desire zipped down my spine.
“Give me a reason to stop.”
Her teeth grazed my lower lip. “I’ll give you two.”
“Uh-huh.” I glided my finger through her folds. She was so wet, it would be criminal for me to walk away.
“Tony’s waiting for you.” Her pulse fluttered like butterfly wings against the ivory skin of her neck.
“Tony can go fuck himself.”
With her chin tucked against her chest, she stared at me through the veil of her gold-tipped lashes. “This will complicate everything.”
“I like complications.” I hooked a finger inside the knot of my tie and loosened it. “Complications make life interesting.”
“No. Not tonight. Tonight…” She licked her lips, and I barely held back a groan. “Everything is too charged. Neither of us is thinking clearly.” When I held up my hand, she shook her head, ignoring the gesture. “I’m not thinking clearly. I’m still wound up from what happened tonight, and I don’t want to make a decision I’ll regret.”
Nodding, I mentally pulled my shit together and took a step back. “You’re right.” She was, but that didn’t mean the urge to press myself against her again and claim her mouth had magically disappeared. Physical awareness still buzzed through me, crackling and snapping. “Go to sleep. You’ve had a hard day. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Her shoulders fell, and she stared at me for a second then smiled faintly. “All right. Tomorrow.” She jumped off the counter and darted past me like she didn’t trust me not to stop her.
By the time I changed out of my suit, she was in my bed, curled on her side, with her back facing me and the sheet tucked around her neck like she couldn’t stomach revealing an inch of skin. With a resigned sigh, I opened the door and went to find Tony.
A few minutes later, I located him in my study. He sat behind my desk, twirling a glass of amber liquid.
“Feel free to make yourself at home.”
“Oh shit, Gian.” He jumped out of his seat and waved a hand toward the two leather club chairs. One held my briefcase and the other had my jacket draped over the back. “I didn’t want to touch your stuff.”
My eyes narrowed, and I leaned against the doorjamb. “Uh-huh.”
He took a deep drink of his whiskey and set the glass on my desk. A loud clunk echoed through the quiet room. “So what happened tonight?”
“I think Evie’s told you the gist of it. A car rammed us, and someone took a few shots at us. A window is shattered, and the back of my car is fucked up. That’s it.”
I bridged the distance between the desk and me. I scanned the surface to see if Tony had riffled through my papers. He wouldn’t find anything. My father had taught me better than that, and tonight had opened my eyes to one cold, hard fact: I couldn’t trust anyone, including Tony. A few days ago, I would have sworn he had my back. Now, I wasn’t so sure.
He’d accepted my promotion without complaint even though both he and Carlo had more experience than me. Sal hadn’t blinked an eye either, but that was different. He was two years younger than me, so he didn’t care that I had leap-frogged over a few guys. However, I couldn’t take anything at face value. Not anymore.
Tony rocked back on his heels. “Do you think it was random?”
“I don’t know.” I picked up a pen from my desk and clicked the top a few times.
“It could’ve been. Have you told Dominick?”
“No, and I’m not sure I will.”
His brows pinched together. “He’d want to know. You’re a capo and his nephew. He wouldn’t like someone fucking with you.”
I tossed the pen on top of a stack of papers. “What can he do?”
“Well, if it was the Russians—”
“What the fuck would the Russians want with me? I don’t push their shit. I don’t have anything to with them.”
“Exactly, and that pisses them the fuck off. You kicked one of their guys out of your club last week, and Sal roughed him a bit.”
“What?” I growled. “Why didn’t somebody tell me about that? You need to keep me in the loop, otherwise I look like a dumb ass.”
Tony shrugged. “It wasn’t too bad. He took a swing at Sal and grazed his chin. Sal landed a few good punches, but the guy didn’t end up in the hospital or anything.”
I studied at him, unblinking until the silence became uncomfortable. He jammed his hands into his pockets and rolled his neck in a circle. I stared down my nose at him.
“Don’t keep things from me ever again. I want to know everything. Everything. If I find out you’re hiding shit from me, I’ll beat you to a bloody pulp. Your face won’t be recognizable when I’m done with you. Got it?”
His lips tightened, and his muscles crawled up his shoulders. He vibrated with indignation. “Whatever you want.”
I kept my face neutral. “Great. Now get the fuck out of my house. I want to go to bed.”
He drained the last sip of whiskey and took a couple of steps toward the door then paused. “By the way, what window was shattered?”
“The rear driver’s side. Why?”
He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “Just wondering. It’s probably nothing.”