“Can I help you, gentlemen?”
I held up my badge. “We have a few questions.”
Dante straightened and placed his hands on his hips, pushing his jacket to the sides. “In regard to…?”
I glanced from Dante to Karina, who had stepped closer to listen to the conversation. “Gio Boroni’s murder.”
“Oh, I heard about that.” Dante relaxed a little. “Can’t say I’m surprised, though.”
I peeled my gaze from Karina and turned my attention to Dante. “Why do you say that?”
“The guy was a crook, owed a lot of people a lot of money.”
“Did he owe you money?”
Dante laughed. “God, no. I know better than to do business with someone like Gio.”
Karina was slowly moving closer. I knew this because I was hyperaware of her presence, feeling that familiar crackle of electricity between us with every step she took. We were drawn to each other, and judging by the look on her face, she was trying her best to fight it—and so was I.
Focus. Back to Dante.
“And your brother? Any chance he had some business with Gio?”
Dante’s eyebrows curved down. “Antonio? Not a chance.”
I turned and glanced around the restaurant. The place was packed with locals enjoying good, old-fashioned Italian food. I’d had my fair share of lunch in this joint, and I had to admit their pizzas were the best in town.
“Where is Antonio? Is he here?”
Anderson shot me a sideways glance, and I could see he was trying to figure out what I was planning.Good luck with that, pal, ’cause not even I know what the fuck I’m doing right now.
“He’s in the back office,” Dante replied. “You gentlemen want me to get him?”
“That would be great.”
As soon as Dante turned his back, my gaze found Karina again. For the entire time I’d been there, it felt like she hadn’t taken her eyes off me once.
Dante walked off and disappeared around the corner, and Anderson muttered something to me before he stalked off toward some guests. I had no idea what he said because I was too busy getting lost in Karina’s big, brown eyes while my groin felt like it was on fire with my desire to have her again.
Unable to stop myself, I walked toward her, and with every step I noticed her chest rising and falling, her skin flushing the most beautiful shade of pink. It was undeniable; we were drawn to each other like water to the earth.
Once I was close enough to smell her enticingly sweet scent, I bit the inside of my cheek trying to keep myself grounded. If I didn’t, I might end up grabbing her right there in front of everyone and fucking her on the goddamn bar. I didn’t give a shit if everyone watched. All I cared about was sating my hunger for her, getting my fix of Karina Valenti.
She crossed her arms defensively, and her dark gaze turned into a glare. “Back on the job, I see,” she started, but I didn’t miss the nervous twitch in her voice. “Tell me, Detective, are you here to ask questions or to accuse someone in my family of murder?”
“Don’t, princess.”
“I told you to not call me that.” Her shoulders straightened, and she lifted her chin in a bid to seem confident, but her flushed skin and hungry eyes gave her away. She was nervous, and I knew she felt it too, the intense pull between us.
With another step, I was close enough to ensure no one could hear us. I slanted my head, studying her face like it was my own personal piece of art. “And I told you to get fucking used to it because I’m going to keep on calling you that.”
She swallowed hard, and my gaze fell to the movement of her throat—a throat I was dying to kiss, and taste, and lick.
“Calling me anything other than Miss Valenti would be considered highly inappropriate and unprofessional, Detective Stone.”
I leaned closer, her scent and the need to be close to her luring me in. Like every fucking cliché in the book, I was that dumbass moth drawn to the flame, wanting to feel her heat all around me. My gaze flitted from her eyes to her decadent mouth, and I licked my lips, remembering exactly what she tasted like—so damn sweet…and fatally addictive.
“Tell me, princess,” I lowered my voice to nothing more than a whisper, “would you like me to call you Miss Valenti when I bend you over that dark wood bar and show you exactly how much I’ve craved to be inside you again?”