“I don’t like this.”
“I know you don’t. I’m not asking you to like it. I’m asking you to trust that I will come out of this relatively unscathed. This is just a friendly meeting. No one is planning to kill the others. Right? I’ll be home before you know it, hungry as hell and wanting to finish the last season of Lucifer.” I moved away from him slowly dropping my arms from around him and putting myself between him and Nico.
The warmth of the mafia heir’s chest against my back was the only warning I had before he wrapped his muscular tattooed arm around my waist. Fire danced in Jasper’s eyes as he looked down at it. Nico was doing his best to antagonize my friend, and I wouldn’t stand for it.
With as much force as I could muster in the small space, I thrust my elbow back into him. A grunt of pain pushed from between his lips as he unconsciously stepped back from me. That step back was enough to make him drop his arm and release his hold on me.
“Don’t try to start shit. I’m getting in that car and having this meeting with you because I really don’t think I have much of a fucking choice in the matter. That doesn’t mean you get to touch me whenever you want. You certainly don’t get to fuck with my friend.”
I straightened the sides of my leather jacket before turning back to my friend. Softening my gaze, I stared at him for a moment before saying anything else.
“I will make sure that you don’t have to worry. I know what happened before messed with your head, but we both know what I can handle. There’s no reason for you to be this overprotective right now. If I need you, I’ll call. Okay?”
“No, it’s not okay. However, I don’t think I have much say in this. I won’t be far.” Which meant he was going to follow the signal from my tracker implant and wait just outside for me wherever they took me. It was the best compromise I was going to get, and I wasn’t going to argue with it.
He pulled me into a bear hug before walking away from me. Leaving me to contend with Nico and his boys alone. I didn’t want Jasper anywhere near them from the start. It was bad enough they knew who he was, but if I could make sure he was safe from their reach for as long as possible I would put myself in any situation I had to. I didn’t trust that Nico wouldn’t use him against me if he needed to.
The thing about the Valentino boys and myself was how much we were alike. If there was something I could use against Nico to get him to do what I wanted, I would use it in a heartbeat. The thing is, he’d been better at making sure there wasn’t anything he truly cared about in his life. Unlike myself. Jasper might’ve forced his way into my life, but I was the one that let him stay there. Just the same with Alicen and Milo.
Enzo, Dante, and Cole were the only people close to Nico, and they were all as dangerous and ruthless as he was. I couldn’t say for sure if he would be devastated if something happened to them. Not the way I would be if Jasper was taken away from me. He was my safety blanket. The one person I couldn’t live without. He was my soulmate.
“Are we going to get this show on the road or are we going to have this meeting here? If we’re having it here, then that whole dramatic scene was pointless.” It was time to forget about the part of me that had friends and become the cold blooded killer I needed to be to deal with them.
“Get in the car, Victoria,” Dante’s order brought me up short. No one called me by my full name. Not Jasper. Not my uncle Tony. No one. It had been so long since I’d really heard my full name it was almost as if I’d forgotten what it was.
“You’re not special, Dante. Don’t call me by my full name.” It was the only warning I was going to give him before I slid along the leather seat in the back of the car until I was pressed up against Cole’s side.
Nico climbed in behind the driver’s seat and started the car while I found myself sandwiched in between two bulky figures. I could feel a bit of the animosity hanging in the air, and it was putting me on edge. Being trapped in the vehicle that was heading to an undisclosed location.
“Is there a purpose for this meeting?” I wasn’t planning to give into my nervous jitteriness. That meant that I was going to start the conversation now.
“I believe we need to get to the bottom of why you’re here and why you’ve been going after our people.” Enzo’s tone was businesslike and cold. I knew he was the analytical one of their group, and he would be the one that would come after whatever knowledge they wanted to know. He felt better when he was dealing with information or secrets. That was his contribution to their little group of bad guys.
“I believe we’ve had this conversation once already. It didn’t go over well for any of us.” Which was a true statement. All the masturbatory imagery aside.
“This time it’s going to go differently. You’re going to tell us what we want to know. It’s as simple as that.” Dante turned his head over his shoulder towards me from the passenger seat, but I couldn’t see his eyes fully. I had every belief they were full of darkness though. I couldn’t help but wonder if he thought about the way he sliced that knife through my skin as much as I had over the past few weeks.
“You saying that doesn’t make it true. You can ask all the questions you want, but I’m not just going to bust myself open and answer them simply because you want me to.”
“That’s why we’re going to offer you a trade.” The voice of reason was trying to tempt me, and tempted I was. If I had the chance to ask them questions, would they answer them honestly? Probably not. They were just as untrustworthy as I am.
“Oh, are you trading sexual favors for information? How many orgasms am I allowed?” Sarcasm dripped from my every word, but deep down I wanted them to offer up all they could give me.
“If that’s the way you want to go, we’ll be happy to oblige,” Cole said from beside me, his hand suddenly gripping my inner thigh so close to that neglected part of my body that was now begging for his touch.
“If I’d known you were so easy, I would’ve used this method a long time ago. Probably would’ve saved me a whole lot of work. Unfortunately, I’m not that easy.” Reluctantly I pushed his hand off my thigh. If the situation was a little different, I might’ve taken him up on the offer that was clearly visible in his eyes.
“Cool down, Cole. We’re almost to our destination. Then we can talk about the particulars of what we’re trading.” Enzo glared at me as he spoke to his friend, as if I was the naughty girl in the room and needed to be reprimanded.
I was all willing to be punished by him if he felt so inclined. Didn’t mean he would be getting anything out of me I wasn’t ready to give. Which meant this was going to be an unproductive meeting.
Sitting back against the seat, I rode in silence. I let my mind wander wherever it wanted. Before I could squash my thoughts, they were filled with images of all four of the men surrounding me doing all the deviant naughty things my imagination could conjure up. I didn’t even attempt to stop them once they got started.
I was a big girl, and I knew that somewhere along the way we were going to end up in all those positions. The only question was if I would have all four of them separately or all at once.
I was banking on the latter.