What bothered me more than the attack was the fact that I couldn't see her anymore.
I couldn't see Johnny either, and I had a feeling I wouldn't be seeing him again. Ever.. He knew I always had dinner at La Cantina on Fridays. He knew I would be here. And while it wasn't some closely guarded secret, a gnawing instinct told me he tipped them off. So imagine my surprise when the fuckers suddenly retreated, leaving dozens oftheir men behind. Dead. Bullet holes peppering their bodies. Leaving us in the middle of the mess I hadn’t foreseen.
But I couldn't leave. I couldn't fucking step out of the restaurant, even if it meant dying right here and now.
My feet carried me to the table where Johnny and the dark-haired goddess sat before the shooting. And before I could talk myself out of it, I lifted the tablecloth, feeling a rush of relief I had no business feeling when those bright blue eyes slammed into mine, making it easier to breathe.
She was hidden underneath, trembling, obviously scared. But something in her gaze made me pause. The defiance. The stubbornness. Her hand clutched a fork to her chest as if that could save her.
My knees threatened to give out as I crouched in front of her. But before I dared to pull her out or ask her if she was okay, I remembered she was with my enemy. This could have been an elaborate ruse to get me to lower my defenses so they could attack when I least expected it. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd had a women to seduce a man and destroy a family from the inside out.
She looked at me as if I was an answer to her prayers. But against my every instinct, I hardened myself, forcing the ruthlessness into my gaze, the icystare my enemies knew me by, and leaned closer. Her doe-shaped eyes widened before an almost invisible flinch passed through her as I closed the distance. "Well, look who's been hiding here all this time."
The eyes that were looking almost lovingly at me narrowed as if she had just realized what was happening. "I finally found you, kitten."
She scrambled back, hitting one of the table legs, her long, dark hair falling over her shoulders. I wondered if it was as silky as it looked.
No. Stop it.
The fork she held rose between us, and I could see that she no longer saw me as her savior. She saw me as the devil I was. The devil of Redmont City. And I would rather have her fear me than think I’d ever give her my secrets.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice barely above whisper. But those three words hit me harder than a hundred bullets. And I'd be damned if her raspy voice didn't awaken something foreign in my chest. Something I have never felt before. "What do you want?"
You, I wanted to say. But before the words could tumble through my lips, I stopped myself, remembering who I was and who she could be. I couldn't lose sight of what was important. Myfamily came first. Their safety mattered more than anything, and I couldn't protect them if I was seven feet under beside my father.
"You already know who I am, kitten," I smirked, crawling toward her. "Don't play coy."
Anger flared in those blue depths, accompanied by a teeny tiny smile that could only be described as slightly psychotic. And before I could utter another word, she lunged forward and stabbed the fork straight through my hand.
"Fuuuuck!"
"Nabijem te na kurac!" she yelled out in a language I didn't know before scrambling out from her hiding spot and away from me.
"Fucking fuck," I cursed, pulling out the fork, tossing it to the side as blood poured from the four tiny wounds. "She's fucking crazy."
And you like it.
Shut. Up.
I got out from underneath the table, cradling my hand to my chest when I saw her dark locks whipping behind her as she ran for the exit. Two of my men still stood nearby, looking at me with wide eyes.
"Get her!" I yelled out, pointing at her.
Gio and Damian intercepted her way without hesitation, pulling her up from the ground just asshe was about to reach the doors. I would never admit it out loud, but I hated their hands on her. I hated her being so far from me. And most of all, I hated the fact that her little display did nothing to quell the desire waking up in my blood.
"Let go of me!" she shrieked, fighting tooth and nail against men that were double her size. But no matter how much she fought, she was no match for the two of my best men. "I'm going to gut you like fucking rats!" She threatened, and God-fucking-dammit, I wanted her.
The fire in her called to something dark inside me, beckoning me. And the closer I got to where they stood, the more the need to know her, to hold her, to make her mine roared inside me.
I was bleeding all over my shirt, but I didn't give a fuck. I only had one mission—to get to her.
I nodded at Gio to let her down and turn her toward me. Hatred, anger, fear. All of it mixed in her expression, and the pressure in my chest turned unbearable. I hated the fact I was putting it there. Her flushed cheeks, her parted lips, the sweat gathered at the nape of her neck… All of it just made me want to taste her. Lick the scent of her and bottle it up in the darkest part of my mind where it would forever stay with me.
I towered over her, even with her high heels on,and the beast inside me grinned when she craned her neck to look up at me the closer I got. The defiance in her made my cock twitch. Especially at the fact that she didn't look away or even flinch when I pressed my bloodied hand to her cheek, smearing her with my essence.
"My name is Nicolas Moretti," I said first, hoping my name alone would bring out some sort of reaction. Something to show she knew who I was.
Nothing.