Instantly, there was a prickle of warning in the back of my skull. “Yeah. Why?”
Silence.
“Anderson, what the fuck is going on?”
“Get your ass down to Vertigo…now.”
“What’s going—”
He hung up. I stared at the phone, thinking the fucker actually hung up on me. As if it was possible I could dislike the man even more.
Within ten minutes, I was showered, dressed, and on my way out the door. God, it was awesome being a man.
On my way out of the apartment building, swinging my keys around my fingers and whistling—yes, I was whistling like a sixteen-year-old boy who just lost his virginity—I paused, that uncomfortable feeling moving down my back.
I looked over to my blue Chevrolet Colorado truck parked in front of the building, then glanced down the street. There was a black Bentley parked a few cars down, and as I walked up to the sidewalk, it turned onto the road and slowly drove in my direction.
Out of instinct, I reached for my side, but realized I was no longer an on-duty cop, which meant I didn’t have Lucy with me anymore. Fuck, I missed Lucy.
The Bentley cruised down the road then stopped in front of me. It was still dark, and I was immediately on high alert as I watched the back window slide down.
“Detective Stone.”
Why the fuck am I not surprised?I squared my shoulders. “Mancuso.”
Enzio studied me from top to bottom before he looked me in the eye. “Have a good night?”
“Awesome. What’s it to you?” My instincts were sounding like loud fucking horns inside my head.
“Looks like you didn’t get much sleep.”
“I didn’t.”
Enzio snorted, but that arrogant grin was still coating his ugly face. “I should warn you, Detective Stone, I’m a man who gets very possessive over what’s mine.”
Unable to stop myself, to back down from the threat, I stepped closer to the car, even though I had nothing to defend myself with. “And I should warn you I’m a man who really doesn’t give a fuck.”
“You should.” And there it was, the menacing warning, the threat I saw on his face at Vertigo. And even though I was one of those students who failed miserably at math, I was intelligent enough to know the threat currently pulsing like a disease between me and this fucker had everything to do with Karina.
“She’s not yours, Mancuso.”
He smiled, glanced in front of him, then back at me. “We’ll see about that.” He started to roll up his window. “I’ll see you around, Detective Stone.”
“Sure. You know where I live. Pop by for a beer sometime,” I said as the wheels of the car began turning and he drove down the road.
A breath escaped me, and I pulled my hand through my hair, thinking I just opened up a whole new world of shit for myself. Last night was an epic festival of fuck-ups. First, I couldn’t manage to leave Karina alone at the club, and I pursued her like she was fair game, in turn risking my entire fucking case against the Valenti family. Then the Mancusos walked in, and all of a sudden, I started acting like a jealous boyfriend by pinning the ugly fucker’s face against the wall. And as if that weren’t enough, I had to send Karina a message, which was completely dictated by my uncontrollable cock, and invited her over…for what? A nightcap…or two?
And then, of course, the stars were on my side by sending Karina to my front door, allowing me to end the night with a bang…twice.
Now I had the pleasure of having Enzio Mancuso threaten me in front of my apartment building, and it wasn’t even dawn yet. Motherfucker. Talk about a shit storm.
My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket, and I pulled it out.
“Anderson?”
“Where the fuck are you?”
“I’m on my way. Keep your damn pants on, Mary Poppins.”