“Yeah, that’s why she’s got an appointment in his bed tonight… guess at least it saves her from yours.”
“Stop,” she murmured, pushing on him, though his arm stayed around her. “Don’t antagonize him. I don’t want this. I never wanted this.”
“She won’t go near—”
“What choice does she have?”
“Stop!” she said, shoving Strat hard to free herself and put some space between them. “Both of you, this is ridiculous.” She exhaled, composing herself before meeting Strat’s eye. “We knew this was a risk. We took it. It didn’t work out.” She turned to Connel. “We’re sorry we wasted your time.” She could mention the tape, but that was the least of her worries when lives were at stake. “I’d appreciate it if you gave Daly my best.” Returning to Strat, she took his hand again. “Let’s go.”
“Sersha.” Maybe it was the authority in Connel’s tone that did it. On instinct, she stopped. Was he going to threaten them? Suddenly, there were footsteps and a door closed. After a beat, he asked, “Can I trust you?” That was what he’d asked her last night. Was it a threat? Spinning around, she locked her gaze on him. “I haven’t lied to you yet.”
As he’d said the night they made their deal. Ask him a question…
They were alone. Her. Him. Strat and Niall. They were the only four present. Those eyes, their intensity, their promise…
“Evander came to me at lunch yesterday.”
Though he tried to hide it, she saw anger flash behind his façade. “Where was Daly?” he asked, his lips barely moving.
“I was in the deli just down the block from work. I told Daly not to come. I didn’t think that… Evander came in the back.” At least he’d left that way, so she assumed he’d arrived that way too. “I don’t know if it’s… He knew I slept over here on Wednesday night… he assumed I was screwing one of your guys.”
“Which one of them could be fucking me,” he muttered her words from earlier.
“Right,” she said.
“That was your panic this morning. You think his people are watching the club.”
“They must be,” she said. “I thought so long as he didn’t know it was you, it would be okay. He seems to think that…”
“Gets him going when she plays with him,” Strat said, laying a supportive hand on her shoulder. “He doesn’t get she’s not interested.”
“In his head, it’s not even a possibility someone wouldn’t want him,” she said, “that a woman wouldn’t want him. He’s used to getting whatever he wants.”
“This has been going on since she was nineteen,” Strat said. “He comes and goes any way he fucking pleases.”
“That doesn’t matter,” she said, putting a hand over Strat’s on her shoulder. “It wouldn’t, but… It’s different now.”
“People are getting hurt,” Strat said. “Your guys today.”
“I don’t know if it was anything to do with him.”
“Convenient he threatens your guys and they get hit the next day.”
“What was the threat?” Niall asked.
Connel absorbed everything. He wasn’t speaking, didn’t move, he just sat there saying nothing.
She breathed out. “He asked if I wanted him to take out your guys one by one until he hit the one I was screwing.”
Niall barked, “And you didn’t fucking tell—”
Connel raised a hand to silence his subordinate. “Did you tell him we’re together?”
“No!” she said. “The last thing I want to be responsible for is a war between your families. The Irish and Italians aren’t known for playing nice. Evander finds out… if he ever found out… He can’t find out. Ever. He’s not stable. He’s unhinged. He has no right, but he’ll come for you. I can’t stop him, and I can’t be responsible for… This shouldn’t even be on your radar.”
It shouldn’t be on anyone’s radar. Who knew one conversation almost seven years ago would lead them all to this point?
A few seconds passed. Probably a few seconds. It felt like three hours. Scrutinizing him, she waited for a question, for an answer, for any acknowledgement or hint of what was in his head. Then it moved, just a fraction, and she slipped away from Strat to cross to the man who’d gestured for her.
SEVEN
“SER…” Strat warned from behind.
Focused, caught in the tractor beam stare of the man propping himself on a barstool, she couldn’t resist. Yeah, he could hurt her, but she wasn’t afraid.
When she reached him, Connel took her hips to guide her into the vee of his parted thighs. Rather than say a word, his lips came to hers. Closing her eyes, she relaxed against him, folding her arms between them, appreciating the shield of his body. His hands slid up her back to lose themselves in her hair, gripping it tighter as the need of his kiss grew.
As she was losing herself in him, he tore his mouth away. Was the kiss for the benefit of others? Sometimes it was easy to forget they weren’t a real couple. Thinking that way could be dangerous, could get her hurt.
“You tell me everything,” he murmured on her, tightening his fists in her hair. “And you don’t leave my side from now on.”
“We can’t be together all the time,” she said, her heart still pumping. “My family can’t—”
“Shit,” he said, his head turning.
Disappointing him didn’t feel good. It shouldn’t matter, but it did. Throwing up obstacles between them annoyed her. His fists loosened in her hair, combing it out as his arms relaxed around her.
Resting her head against his, she angled to kiss his jaw. “I’m sorry.”
He scooped her hair into one hand, using it to pull her head back. “You trust Strat?”
She blinked up at him. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Maybe this morning was nothing to do with yesterday,” she said, slipping her hands under the collar of his shirt, seeking skin. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence. You’re in a dangerous line of work—”
“Payback for this morning comes after payback for yesterday,” he said and frowned, saying something else in his mother tongue that she didn’t understand. His expression darkened as his fingers found hers to guide them down inside his shirt. “You have a responsibility to the family.”
His stag head tattoo was under her fingertips. Reading the ferocity of his glare was difficult. Did he mean it? Was he pissed he’d put his name near hers when the Manzanis were causing shit? She’d endangered his men. Whether or not Evander targeted them, the possibility existed. She should’ve warned him. Given him a chance to defend himself.