“You were talking to that guy—um, the mafia guy, right?”
That had Lev stepping forward before his brain had even caught up to what his body decided to do. Not because he didn’t like that Gigi knew something about Andino Marcello, but rather, he was concerned that she did. It was better she didn’t.
“How do you even know how who he is?”
Gigi’s stare swung back up to meet his, and she lifted one black, leather-clad shoulder. “My friend’s boyfriend ... shady as fuck, but he says he knows people, you know? He was just running off at the mouth, probably.”
Probably.
It would be best if the guy never spoke of Andino again but especially not in a way that suggested he knew who the man was on any personal level. That was the fastest way to find an early grave on these streets.
Gigi raised a brow, giving Lev a curious look from where she stood under the stream of light from the streetlamp overhead. “But you did talk to him. I saw. And then that guy got shot and—”
“But I don’t know why, and I plan to keep it that way. Bad enough the cops will probably be knocking on my door tomorrow for a statement considering I work at the damn bar, and Nickie will have to hand out names of employees. It’s a double-edged sword. You don’t want a problem with the cops, but you don’t want to make a problem with the people who started shit tonight, either. You know what I mean?”
It took Gigi a second to reply.
Lev understood the need.
“Yeah,” she finally uttered. “I guess I do.”
“That’s what matters.”
And that she was safe.
Besides, it wasn’t like Lev was a saint or anything, but he did have a fucking conscience and some semblance of a moral compass despite what his life might suggest. Earlier his intentions with Gigi had only been to try to have a quick fuck with the girl that looked like his wettest goddamn dreams. Making sure she got home really was the absolute least he could do.
With a wave at the apartment building, Lev said, “I’m sure you don’t need me to walk you to your door, but if you want, I’ll wait until you’re inside. It’s been a fucked up night and all. No need to make it worse.”
Taking a peek over her shoulder, Gigi let out a soft laugh. “Funny.”
“What is?”
She didn’t look back at him right away. An approaching couple walking a dog that looked more like a rat didn’t move sideways as they passed Lev, making him take a couple of steps forward to avoid crushing their little rat-dog on the way by. It also put him far closer to Gigi, and it wasn’t lost on him how she had to tip her head up just a bit when she did finally turn back around to face him on the street.
The girl was all legs.
Tall as fuck, and he loved it.
She still had to look up at him. It kind of made him want to get his hands on the smooth column of her throat while she stared up at him, and he could see every inch of her face when he leaned down to kiss her. The way her gaze followed his oncoming lips that promised a taste of something wicked and good. Would she close her eyes this time, or leave the green orbs wide open for him to drown in?
Either way ...
He liked it all.
“I said funny,” Gigi said, the heat in her tone unmistakable to his ears on the quiet street, “because this was not how I thought the night was going to end. I thought ... well, the way you seemed at the bar and then you kissed me—”
“My lamest line ever. Had to take a shot, didn’t I? At least I got a kiss—that was worth everything.”
It wasn’t a lie.
He could still taste her. No doubt, there were more parts of her that he would give his left nut to get a taste of, too, but he couldn’t afford to focus on that right now. Life had a way of laughing at Lev whenever it could. Including right now.
“Because you did, right?” she asked, her teeth nibbling on the edge of her bottom lip as she spoke. “You wanted to.”
He grinned.
It was almost cute how she wouldn’t say it.
Or couldn’t.
“Yeah,” Lev said, his stare drifting down to the lipstick stain on her mouth and how her tongue ran along the seam of her rounded upper lip. “I was just trying to take you down—see if you’d let me fuck you. No hard feelings, though.”
Her cheeks pinked at his lack of shame and how easily he let the words slip out. Despite the heat in her color that suggested she didn’t know what to do with what he just said, she still didn’t look away from him. Not for a second. He was probably more attracted to that than anything else.
“Guess my game just wasn’t on tonight,” Lev added with a wink.
“It was. Still is.”
Her words were a breath, then. Barely there at all.
Yet, he heard every single word and felt them, too. Especially the way they thickened his throat and cock at the same fucking time in two entirely different ways. He was all too aware of the fact they were standing on a public sidewalk, but he’d be a damn liar if he tried to say that made a difference to the fact, he’d probably fuck her right there if she asked.
All he had to do was look at her. The sight of her was worth the charge he’d catch for doing it.
“It’s almost three in the morning,” she told him, “I should really just get some sleep, but my roommate probably didn’t come home. I’m not sure I’d sleep anyway after tonight and you’re already here ...”
Lev flashed his teeth in a grin. “Girl, if you ask me to go into that building ... you’ll be lucky if we get to your apartment before I take another taste of you. That’s just facts. I need you to know it.”
What she did to him, that was. How he didn’t seem to have any sense of control. It wasn’t that he disliked it, but it wasn’t something Lev was used to, either. It only felt fair to give her a warning.
Gigi shrugged, suddenly all unashamed and a little more brazen than before. There was something enthralling about a woman finding something she liked and then deciding she was going to take it. It just so happened to be that she would like to have him, and he was very much willing to give her what she wanted.
All nine and a half inches.
His tongue and fingers, too.
Wherever the fuck she wanted them.
“Well, try.” Gigi flashed a sexy smile that had his stomach clenching, and his rock-hard dick jerking against the constraints of his boxer-briefs and denim jeans. “I still have to live here. For a little while, anyway.”
What did that mean?
Lev didn’t care to ask because, in the next second, Gigi closed the bit of distance between them and lifted to the tips of her toes to press a kiss to his lips. It was nothing like the kiss back at the bar. Her intent was so much clearer with the way her tongue struck out to tease his parting lips and in how fast she pulled away.
Turning to the building, she peered back at him to ask, “Coming?”
There was only one appropriate response.
“Oh, we both will.”
• • •
Lev hadn’t lied when he said they wouldn’t make it inside Gigi’s apartment before he took another taste of her. He did, at least, try to keep his hands to himself as they climbed the three flights to the hallway where her apartment was located at the far end.
She tested his self-control the entire way by reaching back to let the tips of her fingers dance over the skin of his wrist, or his jaw ... wherever she could touch. Every bat of her lashes and each teasing smile tossed over her leather-clad shoulder had him inching closer until he was pressed against her back while she fumbled through her bag to find the keys for the door.