He catches my arm. I grit my teeth to keep from shaking off his touch. “One more drink,” he wheedles.
“Nah, I’m good. Thank you, though. It was nice talking to you.”
Unfortunately, the bartender arrives with my drink, not catching or ignoring that I didn’t want it.
“He already brought your drink. Now you have to stay.” He flashes a smile that I’m sure is supposed to be charming.
I suck at situations like this. I really do. I was raised to be a good girl. Always be nice and polite. Never hurt anyone’s feelings or insult them. Always smile. It makes it hard to figure out how to say no when someone’s being pushy.
So I lie. “Yeah, okay. I’m just going to go to the bathroom,” I say. Call me a chicken. It’s true. “I'll be right back.”
I walk toward the back of the club and pop into the women's room–that part wasn’t a lie. Just the coming back part. I exit and head toward the back door. It's an emergency-only exit, but I can probably talk the bouncer stationed there into opening it for me since I'm Gina's friend, and I know Leo.
Except I’m stopped when fingers close around my arm, and Jayden yanks me backward.
“Ouch!” I glare at my unwanted suitor who apparently thinks he has a right to be pissed off now.
“Where are you going?” he demands, like I just screwed him out of five hundred bucks or a trip to Paris or something.
I open and shut my mouth trying to figure out if I'm going to tell the truth or fib again. I guess the jig is up.
I try to pull my arm away from him, but he hangs on. “I really have to go.”
“I bought you two drinks,” he accuses. Apparently, I owe him my firstborn child now.
“That was your choice. I didn’t ask you to. In fact, I tried to refuse the second one. Now let go.” I yank harder. This guy is going to leave finger bruises on my arm.
“Bullshit, I heard you telling your friend you wanted a sugar daddy.”
I’m not having this conversation. “Let go of me.”
If anything, he squeezes tighter. I’m about to make a scene in hopes the bouncer at the door will notice and throw this guy out when a different hero shows up to save the day. A very well-dressed Italian hero.
“Let go of her.” The guy seizes Jayden by the throat and shoves him up against the wall. Jayden lets go and stays pinned there, the side of his face mashed against the plaster.
“This guy bothering you?” my rescuer growls in a gruff, gravelly rumble. He’s an extremely hot, older man with a commanding presence. One of the owners, then.
A mob boss.
The good girl, the nice girl in me would say no. Because complaining about people isn’t polite. But I’m way too pissed. I rub the red marks on my arm where he held me. “Yeah.”
My rescuer turns his attention to Jayden. “When a woman saysno, you back the fuck off.Capisce?”
“Is there a problem, Mr. Manghini?”Nowthe bouncer appears. He’s just as beefy and tattooed as Leo, but it’s the mob boss–Mr. Manghini–who still seems to be the most dangerous man in the room.
“You need me to give you a lesson in manners?” Mr. Manghini asks. When Jayden doesn’t answer, he shakes him by the throat. “Huh?”
“No.” Jayden still sounds petulant, but his face is turning red from lack of oxygen, so I do think he’s getting the message.
Mr. Manghini snorts and releases my stalker, shoving him at the bouncer. “Throw him out. He was assaulting a customer.” Then he holds up a hand and looks to me. “Unless you want to file charges?”
I’m shaky all over, but other than bruises on my arm, fine. “No.” I start to say, “It’s okay,” but bite my tongue. It’s not okay. Why would I even say that?
The bouncer hauls Jayden away and throws him out the back door, and Mr. Manghini gently slides his palm over the skin I’m rubbing. His fingers are large. They look strong. I’ll bet he could’ve choked the life out of Jayden with just that one hand if he wanted.
For some reason, I find myself wondering what else he can do with those hands. What it would be like to have those commanding hands on my body in an altogether different way.
“You’re hurt.” His warm brown gaze circles my face. He smells like scotch and cigars, but it’s not unpleasant. “And you’re shaking. I’m sorry that happened to you here. Let me get you a drink to calm your nerves.”