It was all so familiar.
And I hated it.
I wanted the girl to have a normal life, or as normal as her life could be. But Giatno had other plans.
“Breathe. Just breathe.”
The drive to Jersey City was torture. Over two hours in the car, though Erick drove as recklessly as he could and shaved off some time. Each second seemed like it ripped through Cassie, over and over again.
She calmed after a while, and just when I thought she might fall asleep, the cycle happened all over again.
My hand on her leg. My hand on her hands. “Breathe. Just breathe.”
In and out, our chests in sync.
I stared at her lips, at her throat. At her breasts. She was still covered by thta damn coat.
I wanted all her secrets. And I knew she had plenty.
The past month hadn’t been easy for me. Not remotely.
Business was busy, as always. The Liberto Mafia and the Drozdov Bratva were making things as difficult as possible, and the Ramos Cartel was threatening an all-out war if Giatno couldn’t make things right.
Negotiations were still on-going. And meanwhile, the MacKenna Family spread their influence through Atlanta, taking over drug corners that had been run by smaller local gangs for generations.
My plans were like water in my palms and could easily slip through my fingers at any moment.
Yet all I thought about was her. Cassie every morning when I woke and Cassie again at night when I closed my eyes, and all the hours in between. I thought of her lips, her voice, her angry smile, her aggressive conversation.
So few women in my life ever challenged me.
And none lingered like she did.
It was disorienting.
I spent so much time controlling everything around me—making sure circumstances were perfect, ensuring that my time was spent on the optimal actions, building my empire into a sprawling continent-spanning machine, and yet this girl, this stranger, she woke something up that I didn’t know was slumbering.
Something I thought was dead.
Desire, pure and hot. My humanity. My need for connection.
I thought I lost that a long time ago on the ice.
Beneath my father’s hand, under his tutelage.
In the freezing water, my lips bright blue.
My old brother’s gasps, his chokes.
But my heart beat again and I didn’t know what to do about it.
I tried ignoring her, tied to throw myself into my plans and my work, but even Erick noticed that something was going on.
Roza said I should go back to her. I told Roza to mind her own business.
Which she didn’t, of course.
Eventually, I didn’t know what else to do. Days passed, and weeks, and still all I could do was torture myself thinking about Cassie, worrying about her safety.
When I got the call about Giatno’s hitman heading out to Sea Isle to take Cassie out of the picture for good, I couldn’t keep myself away.
And now, with her in my car, I felt like an animal, caged and desperate to break out.
Still all I could do was breathe in and out with her and watch that mouth, lips slightly parted, that cute gap in her teeth, that tiny pink tongue pressed against her palate.
I wanted that mouth against mine. Wanted to taste her skin and sink my fingers between her slick, warm legs.
Wanted to make her moan and writhe along my cock.
But all I did was breathe in, breathe out, until we reached my mansion.
The most secure place in the world.
