Whatever.
I rolled my eyes, grabbed it, and drank. Then I sucked the contents from the bottom of the straw.
“Satisfied?”
“Very. You’re not what I expected.” He took it back, rubbing at the spot where my lips touched. “I thought you’d be high maintenance, but here you are, slaving away at a cafe. Wiping tables. Picking up chairs. Is this what you really want?”
He’d spent way too much time thinking about me, and his unwelcome frankness gritted my teeth. I didn’t need a stalker, especially a biker who was supposed to kill me before deciding to bulldoze my life and tell me what to do.
“Killian, you seem…decent,” I settled on, skipping crazy, creepy, and odd. “But the truth is I’m just a college student. My brother’s world has nothing to do with me. I have no interest in playing mafia politics. I’d like to take my classes and my internships in peace, so I'd appreciate it if you left me alone.”
His smile grew, and my insides squirmed. “Like it or not, you’re involved.”
My nostrils flared. “But—”
“You’re just what I need. Too good to be wasted as a sweetbutt.”
Whoa.
The heaviness in my gut sank further. What would make him leave?
I stood. “I have to get back to work.”
He caught my arm, locking me in the chair. “Sweetheart, you’re not working here anymore.”
“Says who?”
“Your future husband.”
A violent throbbing began in my throat. “And who the hell is that?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Me.”
This guy was off his rocker, and I wasn’t dealing with it.
“I don’t have time for this. You’re obviously drunk or high, and you thought coming in here and harassing Michael’s sister would be hilarious.”
“Your uncle gave you away,” he growled, fingers digging into my flesh. “You’re part of a trade.”
I tried to keep my heart cold, but the idea that I’d been used for a transaction dipped me in lava. “My uncle wouldn’t do that!”
Killian’s voice smoothed to a velvet caress. “I won’t hurt you. I just want you to be my wife.”
Fear knotted inside me.
What disturbed me more—his words or the earnest hush in which he said them? I shrank from him, shaken by his intensity.
“You’re crazy.”
I shouldn’t have said that.
Killian waved me off. “An arranged marriage isn’t crazy. It’s par for the course for people like us.”
“I'm not marrying you.”
“You’ll get to know me, and you’ll realize I’m not horrible.” He took my hand, but I wrenched from his grip.
“No. I found out what you did to Carmela.”
“That wasn’t me,” he responded coolly. “And I wouldn’t judge us all on one bad actor. Let’s go.”
“No.”
His lips thinned, and he frowned as though I behaved in a way that disappointed him. “I don’t want to have to strap you to my bike.”
“My brother would never, ever approve of you.”
“You’re not listening. It’s not up to him.”
He grabbed me, dragging me past the students gaping at us over laptop screens. We burst outside, and he marched me to a row of chrome.
A black fright swept through me.
“No.” I yanked my elbow back. “I—I don’t want this.”
“Too bad.” He engulfed me in his steel embrace, restricting my movement. “It’s a done deal—”
My chest strained against a bottled scream, killed by my clamped lips. A fist wrapped my guts as he shoved me toward his motorcycle.
“Killian. Stop.”
My joy soared at the graveyard voice. It boomed from a Mustang rolling to the curb. Vinn stepped out, positioning himself behind the vehicle. He draped his arm over the door, his hair mussed, and his clothes wrinkled. He seemed off-kilter, not himself.
“Take another step toward those bikes, and I’ll blow up every Harley dealership in this city.”
Killian laughed, and so did the bikers lined on the street. “What do you want, Costa?”
“To chop off your hands for touching Liana.” Vinn's slanted gaze shifted, warning me not to interrupt. “There’s been a major miscommunication. She’s my fiancée.”
A horrible thrill shot through me.
“Really?” Killian’s amusement grew as he faced me. “Where’s your ring?”
I wet my lips. “I-I don’t have one yet.”
“How does someone propose without a ring?” Killian quipped.
“Not all women need a diamond, but I guess you wouldn’t know that.” Vinn leaned against the car, arms crossed. “You people buy your wives.”
Killian beamed at him. “You have got to teach me how you nailed this girl down.”
“Persistence,” he said silkily. “We’re childhood sweethearts, and I haven’t had the chance to go shopping with the doctor appointments. She’s pregnant.” His words just about gave me a heart attack. “Nico was just released. He had no idea. Nobody did.”
What the hell is he doing?
Lying through his teeth. He expected me to back him, and I would, but then what? I wasn’t pregnant and wouldn’t be for years.
“Y-yeah,” I stammered, recovering. “I’m a few weeks along.”
Killian huffed. “I’m not buying it.”
Vinn stepped forward, his eyes gleaming like volcanic rock. “I have two police cruisers on standby to raid your cocaine smuggling operation. Let her go, and I’ll call them off.”
Killian’s mouth twisted. None of them would get jail time, but losing all that product would hurt. His pocket chimed a second later, and he laughed at the screen. “Oh, he’s fucking good.”
“Answer it.” Vinn waved. “I’ll wait.”
Killian stabbed the button and held the phone to his ear. “What’s up?” He sighed as a woman’s voice blasted from the speaker. “Really?”
After a few moments, he ended the conversation. A heavy silence dropped between them before Killian broke it. “You won—this time. Shithead.”
I wrenched free of Killian, walking stiffly. The walk became a run as I whirled around the car and flung into Vinn’s embrace. I burst with a relieved gasp and threw my arms over his massive shoulders, squeezing.
Vinn soothed me without words as he drew me close, bathing me in his scent. He cupped my face, and my heart lurched madly. Blood rushed where he touched me. He smelled like the sea, fresh and weightless, like suntan lotion and the countless summers when I played with my brother and his best friend. The images washed over me like a wave lapping my feet.
Vinn’s lips brushed my ear before trailing to my cheek, where he kissed me. Foolishly, I let the heat from it warm me.
“Do exactly as I say. You’re mine now.”
Twelve
Vinn
Nico had put a gun to my goddamned head.
After everything I’d done for the Family.