“Maybe there’s a reason he’s scared,” she said.
He seemed to consider her comment. “Maybe. When Victor loses his temper, someone is bound to die. He might appear calm on the outside most of the time, but he could also go off like a bomb any second.”
“It sounds like you were really close with Mr. Rossi.”
“After my uncle passed away, Victor told me I was like the son he never had. For a while, I believed him, but as the years went on, I realized he never saw me as a person. Just a weapon he could unleash on his enemies.” Sergio looked detached as he delivered those words, like he was talking about the weather.
“I’m sorry.”
He cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes. Her heart started faster. He leaned in close, but she was hungry to receive his kisses, even a smidge of affection. Jessie vaguely wondered if this was all his doing.
There was a word for this, except this couldn’t be Stockholm Syndrome. Sergio didn’t make her his captive. Jessie had stayed here voluntarily.
He drew away. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I don’t dwell on the past.” Then he checked his watch. “We should be getting ready. The seats at Carver’s get snapped up quickly.”
“Okay. I’m going to wear the black strapless dress you let me buy earlier.”
Sergio curved his lips to a smile. A shiver of anticipation crept down her spine. Jesse bolted to the room to put on her latest purchase. She’d taken off her sweater and jeans when she remembered she hadn’t locked the door. Sergio stood right outside the room, watching her with hooded eyes. She couldn’t read his expression.
“You like watching me, don’t you?” Jessie found the courage to ask him the question that had been bothering her for days. “Why don’t you do more than kiss me, Sergio? I don’t think you’ve lost interest, but I’m not certain.”
“Tonight, Jessie,” was all he said before walking away.
She silently fumed at him. Just like him to be so cryptic. Whatever. Jessie planned on having a good time tonight with or without Sergio.
****
Sergio watched Jessie take another bite of her burger. She moaned and the sound woke his cock. The other men in the bar also took notice, he observed. He tightened his jaw. He hooked one leg over her chair and pulled her closer to him.
Jessie had to wear that dratted little black number that did wonders for his arousal. The dress was so tight, she looked like she’d been dipped in black ink. Possession surged inside him like a storm. With his eyes, he warned every potential competitor in the bar to basically fuck off his prize.
“I didn’t believe you earlier when you said they served the best bacon cheeseburgers here. Now I do.” She eyed his untouched plate. “Aren’t you going to eat your cheese fries?”
“Help yourself,” he said, pushing his plate toward her.
At least one of them had an appetite. Sergio didn’t. Giovanni’s call still troubled him on many levels. He thought he could count on Giovanni to give him a heads-up.
He assumed Victor would’ve lost interest in his search for him and Jessie by now. At the very least, Victor would quit hunting Jessie and focus on him. After all, it was Sergio who betrayed him, who knew most of the Family’s business dealings and secrets.
“I think I’m good.” Jessie pushed the plate back. A flush appeared on her face and neck.
He was supposed to give her a good time tonight. Sergio could barely string a few sentences together. Meanwhile, she practically glowed. He guessed she was sick of being trapped in the trailer with him all week with nothing to do. She suggested getting a job in town, but he adamantly refused.
“Sorry, I’ve been an awful date,” he said. He lifted her hand from the table and planted a kiss on it. “You wanted to dance?”
Her entire face lit up. “Will you?”
“For you.”
He would make a fool of himself if that could make up for his earlier surly attitude. Jessie dragged him to the crowded dance floor. Sweat trickled down his back as he surveyed the crowd and the doors leading outside the bar. The only exit.
If Victor’s assassins managed to track them in here, they couldn’t just shoot them both with so many people present. He relaxed. Jessie swayed to the music. She laughed when he didn’t know what to do with his hands or legs.
Thank God the next song was a slow one. He settled his hands on Jessie’s waist, dragging her close to him. Her luscious breasts pressed up against his chest. He lowered his hands to her ass.
She beamed up at him, her eyes silently daring him to kiss her. To take her. Sergio was done waiting. He’d vowed he wouldn’t touch her because sex might complicate matters between them. His growing affection for her might make him slow. Weak. He needed to be strong for the both of them.
He lowered his mouth to hers and didn’t hold back on kissing her. He consumed. He drank her in, tasting strawberries on her tongue from the shake she consumed earlier.