I put the seat belt on mystery girl and sit beside her to keep an eye on her and check her breathing to make sure she’s okay.
I wrestle with myself as to why I care if she lives or dies from the drugs.
Why do I care?Anyone else would be in the trunk.
“Is that necessary? I want to know who she is.” I’m eager to find answers and there’s no denying that I want to know what else she has under her black attire and I’m not limiting myself to weapons and a belly button.
“It would be best.” He concentrates on the curvy road and the downtown traffic, but his voice is unwavering, and I find it’s soothing to my erratic heartbeat as I am now processing the fact that I could be dead.
“Who the fuck would come after us? And a woman of all things. I mean, wouldn’t it be easier if I seduced her, and she murdered me in my sleep?”
“Basta!” His voice is deep and sharp.
Okay, apparently Riccardo has a limit as he declares enough, but my mind is racing just like my heart earlier.
“You can’t say you’re not curious,” I continue.
“She came here to kill you so that’s revenge. If it’s unsanctioned, we have an even bigger problem.”
“You mean another mafia might have sent her?” I don’t know why I find it so incredulous. Some women run cartels in Mexico and are even more ruthless than their male predecessors.
“Exactly.”
I turn my head to take in the petite women beside me and as we pass under streetlights, I’m able to make out more characteristics. Like her high cheekbones, her perfectly tanned skin and the fact that her clothes aren’t cheap.
In fact, she fit in with everyone else tonight, just like a hitman would. But I don’t feel like it’s an act with her.
Riccardo is probably correct and even though my neck is red, I don’t want to kill her. I should, but right now I’m too intrigued and I don’t want to return to the gala. I want to be with her when she wakes up.
We wind through the hills out to the country where we have an old house that no one would ever suspect we use for the torture and containment of enemies.
The house has an old stone wall around it and is surrounded by fields. It’s a place the enforcers use, and now that Dante’s been don for a number of years, I haven’t thought about it as much as we try to keep our fingerprints off the messy situations.
I watch her chest rise and fall, making sure she’s still breathing. Why was she casing the bar? She’s been stalking me, and I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on it sooner. I’m mesmerized by her perfect lips and her breast that fit perfectly in her dress.
I don’t know why I should care so much when she wanted to end me earlier. But now, she’s a good source of information and with some luck we’ll find out who sent her.
One thing I learned from my years coming up the ranks is that everyone has a weakness and a threshold for pain. She might look tough, but I think taking away her Jimmy Choo’s might hurt her as much as a broken arm. She’s someone I can’t wait to learn about.
“Wait, I know her car, she tore out of the club in a Rolls Royce, like the most expensive one there is.” Suddenly, I’m putting together some pieces of the puzzle and I feel better because I wasn’t totally off my game, just too relaxed at the gala.
But in hindsight, it should have been the one place any of us would be an easy target as we rely on the security there but there is always a way to get to someone if the desire is there . . . and the money.
Money is no object for me and I’m coming to the realization that it might not be an obstacle for her either.
“She’s young,” I comment as the moonlight reflects off my window and I glance up at it to enjoy a minute of tranquility in a night filled with unrest.
“Keep it in your pants, Sal, the last thing we need is an enemy in the house. It won’t bode well for the family to get involved with someone who is clearly against you and the family . . . I’m sure of it. Plus, she can kick your ass.” Riccardo lets out a rare chuckle at my expense.
Everyone knows Riccardo doesn’t show joy. I can count the occurrences on one hand when he’s cracked a grin and it’s only with Dante. The man is a rock and loves his code of being emotionless. The Lone Wolf. We’ve endeared him with the perfect nickname.
He would be less of a tight ass if he got laid every now and then. Maybe he feels like us and doesn’t want to be liable for another woman’s wife. I heard that he lost his wife in Israel. He never talks about it. He’s never spoken about what his life was like before he joined our family.
I can’t read him either, I can only predict his actions based on how he operates, methodically, and with expert precision. But he’s still a wolf. He always goes it alone if he can.
I have always taken life for granted being the second son and tonight my life could have come to a screeching halt. I’m not ready to go yet, and not before I fuck that adorable mouth of hers.
7