It’s been a week since I’ve seen Sera, and I was about to jump out of my skin. I knew Luca would’ve given me some time off if I’d asked him, but I couldn’t say anything to him without giving her away, so I gritted my teeth and carried out my duties. This was a critical time for us. It was common knowledge now that Luca was planning to make a play for his father’s position of Boss, and that made him vulnerable to those who were happy with things the way they were, or who were gunning for the position themselves.
However, I couldn’t leave her alone entirely. I tried. I tried to push her out of my head. But I ached to see her face. To hear her voice. And I craved other things. Things I had no business needing from her. Especially not from her.
But there was no denying it. I wanted Sera to the point that it made me fucking crazy, and yet I couldn’t have her. Not yet. And that made her dangerous both to me and to those I was protecting.
I hurried through my last drop off of product for Luca and left my partner for the day back off at the house. By the time I walked into the club where Sera worked, my blood was practically vibrating with the need to get her alone where I could talk to her, touch her. Feel the way she trembled. I craved the little sounds she’d made on the phone, the ones that played on repeat in my head. I wanted to hear them in person. Right in my fucking ear as I made her come over and over again.
And tonight, I finally had a night off.
When I walked in, the bartender—a woman—recognized me right away and pointed to one of the empty tables in Sera’s section. It was good to know the owner had spread the word about our arrangement.
I spotted her immediately. She was taking an order from a table of three men, all around my age or older. As I watched her, I realized there was something off with the way she was standing. It took me a moment before I finally realized what it was. She was shielding herself behind the empty chair, just out of touching range from the man on her right. This wasn’t the usual routine for the waitstaff. Normally, she would stand way too fucking close to whoever she thought would give her the biggest tip, sucking on that damn lollipop that was always in her mouth. I knew this because it made me fucking crazy to see her that close to another man. Bending over their table every chance she got to give them a good look at her cleavage. Only copious amounts of whiskey had kept me in my chair the last time I was here.
But not tonight. Tonight she appeared skittish, and it was more than fucking obvious that one guy, at least—some stronzo who was obviously trying, and failing, to look like the older brother in that television show, Supernatural—was completely enamored with her in that little baby doll dress and fuck me heels.
I continued to watch her, wondering if I was imagining things. Perhaps there was a spill on the floor or some other reason she was standing so far away from the table. Something I couldn’t see.
Once she had their order, she smiled and headed over to the bar, stopping to leave a check with one of her other tables. She didn’t appear distraught in any way, so I figured that perhaps I was wrong and I was making too much out of nothing. However, I made a living by noticing little nuances other people missed, and I couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that something wasn’t right.
Sera spotted me while she stood at the bar waiting for her drink order. Her smoky eyes went wide, and she froze with her pen hovering in the air above her order pad. I fought a smile when I saw her lift her chin, like she was preparing herself for battle. She said something to the bartender as she tucked her pen and pad back into her black silk apron and then headed toward me.
My eyes soaked in her appearance, and I wanted more than anything to take off these damn sunglasses so I could see all of the colors of Sera without anything dimming them. Her pink hair, bright eyes, translucent skin. Colors that should contrast and yet were completely perfect together.
When she got to my table, she stood awkwardly for a few seconds before saying, ‘You’re here,’ in a tone that was less than enthusiastic.
I felt my smile tugging at the corners of my lips at her surprise. ‘I am. Would you get me a whiskey, please? Neat.’
‘Oh, um. Of course. Anything else? Water? A snack from the kitchen?’
‘Just whiskey.’
She wrote it down and left to put in my drink order.
While I waited for my drink, I pulled out my phone to check in with Tristan, who was still at Gino’s. ‘Everything good?’
‘Not yet,’ he told me. ‘But it will be. Two of our soldiers are missing.’ He paused. ‘Where are you?’
‘Just getting a drink. I need to decompress.’
‘Who’s covering Luca?’
I filled him in on everything that was going on back at the lake house so he wouldn’t worry. Sera came over with my drink while I was talking, and I grabbed her arm so she wouldn’t walk away before I got off the phone.
She flinched when I touched her. It wasn’t a big movement, and if I hadn’t been paying attention, I wouldn’t have noticed it at all. I frowned, staring up at her face as she tried to smile to cover her reaction. Slowly, I turned her arm over so the inside was facing up and moved my hand down to her wrist. Her skin wasn’t marred in any way. But that did nothing to throw off my suspicions. ‘T, I need to go. I’ll call you later.’ Making sure the call was disconnected, I put my phone back inside my jacket. ‘Why are you flinching when I touch you?’
She opened her mouth, and I could see she was about to deny it happened. But then her eyes searched for mine behind my glasses and her expression changed. ‘You just took me by surprise. I have to be on guard when I’m here, you know? It was just an automatic reaction.’
I caressed the inside of her wrist with my thumb, feeling her pulse flutter nervously. ‘Do your customers often get out of line?’
She shook her head. ‘Just once in a while.’
My blood grew hot. ‘If I ever see anyone lay a hand on you, I’ll kill them.’
She stared down at me for a long time. ‘I believe you,’ she said, so quietly I almost didn’t hear her. Then she blinked a few times fast and gently pulled her arm from my grip. ‘I need to check my other tables.’
Picking up my whiskey, I took a sip. But my eyes never left her perfect face. ‘I’ll be here.’
Her eyes traveled over my face, and again, I sensed that she was nervous. Then she turned and went over to the table she was serving when I arrived. Her step faltered when she got close, and she quickly sidestepped to avoid the touch of the man to the right who reached out like he was going to rest his hand on her hip. The one she seemed to be avoiding earlier.
My attention zeroed in on him. He was mouthing off to her, and he didn’t look happy that she was avoiding him. When he tried to grab her again as she collected the empty glasses from the table, she jumped back out of his reach, nearly upsetting the tray in her hands. Once more she said something to him, then the others, then she headed to the bar, shooting me a look from the corner of her eye and quickly turning away when she saw that I was watching.
Noticing the look she’d given me, the guy who was giving her a hard time shot a heated glance my way. I held his stare as I called over one of the other waitresses. The dark-haired one in the harem costume. ‘Who is that man?’ I asked her.
‘I’m not sure,’ she told me. ‘But I can find out for you.’
I pulled out my wallet and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. ‘Do that for me, please. And do not let Sera overhear you.’
She took the money and headed to the bar where Sera was still waiting for her drink orders. Once Sera was gone, I watched as she got the bartender’s attention and subtly pointed at the guy at the other table and then nodded in my direction. A minute later, she passed by my table. ‘His name is Derek Jonak. He owns a few local companies and thinks he’s a big deal. That’s all I could find out.’
‘Thank you,’ I told her. She gave me a nod and walked away to greet a customer who’d just come in.
It took me a total of five minutes to find out his age, marital status, every company the guy owned, what he was worth, who his parents were, how many siblings he had, where he grew up, his phone number, and his home address. I saved the information for future use should the need arise. Right now, he was just being annoying. And as much as I would like to go over there and break every bone in his hands, I didn’t think it would earn me any favor in Sera’s eyes. And I found I didn’t like the thought of her looking at me as if I were a monster. However, if he continued with his behavior, further action may need to be taken.
I made some more phone calls while I watched Sera move around the room, stepping outside when needed to disguise my location. This club was under Luca’s protection, but it wasn’t a place anyone in La Cosa Nostra frequented. Most of us stuck to Gino’s restaurant and Luca’s club out of loyalty. I was one of the few who chose to keep company with professional women of Jade’s caliber.
Sera was standing just inside the door waiting for me as I finished up my last call. She had her coat on and her bag over her arm. ‘I’m on break,’ she explained when I came in.
I inhaled, taking in her scent of coconuts and tropical flowers. ‘Are you hungry?’
‘Yes.’
The way she said it brought back flashes of her saying the same thing as I ordered her to touch herself over the phone. My body tightened. ‘Come on. We’ll get you something to eat.’
‘Oh, um…’ She pointed over her shoulder back into the club. ‘I actually brought a sandwich. I don’t have time for much else.’
I frowned. ‘They expect you to work all night on a sandwich?’
She smiled at me. It wasn’t a full-on smile, but it made something funny happen in my gut. ‘I don’t think they care about what we eat. Or if we eat at all, to be honest. As long as I’m back on the floor when I’m supposed to be, and I make the customers happy and don’t spill any drinks.’
I stared at her. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, although it shouldn’t surprise me. Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket, I called the owner whose name I still couldn’t remember. ‘It’s me,’ I told him when he answered. ‘I’m taking Sera to get something to eat, and she will be late getting back. And she will need a longer break from now on. An hour minimum. If she wants to come back before that, fine. But she will have an hour.’ Taking the phone away from my ear, I tapped the screen and ended the call. ‘Let’s go,’ I told her as I put it back into my inside pocket. ‘We don’t have much time.’
‘What the hell did you just do?’
I cocked my head. ‘You need to have enough time to eat, Sera. Hell, just getting back and forth to a restaurant anywhere near here will take nearly half your break. That’s ridiculous.’
She was still staring at me with her mouth hanging open, the soft lighting of the club behind her haloing her pink pigtails. ‘Enzo, you can’t just walk in here and order the people who run this place to give me special treatment.’
‘Yes, I can. And I just did. Now come on. I know you have to be hungry, and you’re wasting your break standing here arguing with me.’ I held out my hand. After a moment, she took it, and I drew a calming breath once I felt her fingers wrapped within mine.
But she wasn’t done with me yet. ‘Enzo, you can’t demand that I have special treatment just because of our…agreement.’
‘Yes, I can.’
‘No, you can’t! It’s bad enough you come in here and sit at that table all night watching me like some kind of stalker. I need to work. I want to work. And I don’t want to be treated any differently than anyone else. I like my co-workers, for the most part—’
I glanced over at her as we reached the SUV, but she didn’t go into further detail.
‘—and if you keep doing shit like this, everyone will hate me. I like this job. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever been able to support myself. To make my own money. To be at all independent. And I can only do it because of the level of discretion here. If everyone has it in for me because they think I’m some kind of mafia princess, I’ll end up getting fired, and I’ll have to leave town with the little bit I’ve saved up, which isn’t nearly enough to get me out of my father’s reach.’
She stopped to take a breath. By this time, she was in the passenger seat, and I was waiting for her to finish before I closed her door. ‘I won’t allow them to fire you, Sera.’
Closing her eyes, her chin fell to her chest, and she rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. ‘Did you not hear anything I just said? That’s not the point.’ Lifting her head, she gave me an entreating look.
‘I heard you,’ I told her. ‘I just don’t want you to worry about something that isn’t going to happen. Now let’s go eat. I’m hungry.’
After I was in the car and we were pulling out of the lot, she said, ‘I’m not taking more than my thirty minutes after tonight.’
I glanced over at her and sighed. ‘Then I’ll have food delivered for you while you’re here.’
‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘I know.’
‘I’m fine with a sandwich, really. I eat when I get home.’
‘Stop arguing with me, Sera.’
I felt her eyes on me a moment longer, and then she turned to look out the windshield. ‘I can’t go into a restaurant dressed like this.’
Reaching over, I covered her hand with mine. ‘Stop worrying. It’s fine.’ The place I was taking her had a private room, and her coat would cover her until we got in there.
She was quiet until I pulled up to the restaurant a few minutes later. ‘I hope you like Asian food,’ I told her. ‘I’m sorry, I should’ve asked.’
‘I love Asian food.’ She smiled at me again, bigger this time, and my heart stuttered in my chest. If we got through this meal without me tearing off those ruffled panties she wore and fucking her against the wall, it would be a goddamned miracle.
I helped her out of the car and made sure she was sufficiently covered before escorting her inside. The manager herself greeted us at the door. ‘Mr. Enzo!’
‘Hi, Lynn. Is the back room available?’
‘Of course!’ Gathering some menus, she led us through the restaurant to the backroom. I ate here often, although usually I was by myself, and I asked for the back room because it made me nervous to eat in the dining room. Nearly the entire front wall was made of windows, putting anyone who dined there on full display, and the last thing I wanted was for someone who had it out for me or Luca to shoot up the place because I was stupid enough to show them I was there.
‘This place is so nice,’ Sera told me once we were seated at the single table. It was large, meant to seat up to sixteen people, and took up most of the space. As the focal point of the room, it was also a work of art, a rich cherry wood, the center carved with scenes from Chinese folklore. We sat at the end furthest from the door, with my back to the wall and Sera seated to my right. The walls were covered with black and gold wallpaper, and gold wall sconces lit the room with soft, warm light.
In this lighting, Sera’s skin appeared nearly translucent, her eyes, lips, and hair darker than they actually were, and I couldn’t stop looking at her. I’d helped her take off her coat and laid it over the back of her chair, and now my eyes traveled over her face, her throat, the elegant curve of her collarbones, and down to the curves of flesh that pushed up from the neckline of her dress. She was stunning in this light. And completely seductive.
I started to reach for her when there was a knock at the door and the server came in. Pulling my hand back, I looked down at my menu. She gave us a small bow and asked if we were ready to order.
‘Get whatever you’d like,’ I told Sera.
She smiled at the girl and ordered a chicken dish and some iced tea. I put in my own order that included a full-bodied Malbec wine and handed the server our menus. Once we were alone again, I watched Sera as she nervously clenched her hands together in her lap. She looked around the room, down the long table, anywhere but at me.
‘Why are you so nervous? Are you having second thoughts?’ Not that it would matter. Not to me. This beguiling woman wasn’t going anywhere until I had the chance to fuck her as many times as I wanted. I’d lost control the other night. I hadn’t meant to. It had taken the edge off, but I was nowhere near satiated. Like eating a few nuts when you were starving.
She didn’t try to play it off or pretend that she didn’t know what I was talking about. ‘No,’ she told me. ‘I just don’t know what to do with myself when you stare at me like that.’
‘Like what?’
Her eyes searched mine. ‘Like you’re going to pounce on me without warning.’
The door opened, and the server came in with our drinks and a dish with two spring rolls and a dipping sauce. Other than a cursory glance and a nod of thanks, I didn’t take my eyes from Sera. I couldn’t. I was bedazzled, even as she sat there in that ridiculous outfit with her hair in pigtails, meant to look like a little girl. But she did not look like a girl to me. She was a woman. And I couldn’t wait to be inside of her. ‘Did you bring a change of clothes like I told you?’
She’d been watching the server leave, but at this, she turned her face back to me. Her eyes met mine and then fell to her drink. She wrapped her hand around the glass. ‘Yes,’ she said softly, and I noticed color rise up her chest.
‘Good.’ Because she would be taking the rest of the night off. Now that I had her alone, there was no way I could take her back to that club tonight. I decided to change the subject. See if I could draw her out of her shell a bit. ‘So, what are you going to do with yourself once you are free, Sera?’
‘Live my life,’ she told without hesitation. ‘The life I choose. Not one that’s chosen for me.’
‘Is that how you see me?’ I asked her. ‘Just another man telling you what to do?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘And no. You did give me a choice to accept your offer or not.’
‘I did,’ I agreed. ‘However, you must know that even if you had said no, this would be happening between us anyway.’
