Or maybe he’d walk away from me altogether. He could decide I wasn’t worth all the fuss. And that thought sparked a fear in me that I wasn’t ready for.
Still, I told myself, it would be for the best. I lifted my leg slowly, painfully, almost unwillingly. My mind had different thoughts from my body about what was right, and my body fought me tooth and nail.
Dante pushed down on my calf and brought my upper leg all the way to my chest. He leaned his body into it, watching me the whole time. “Okay, Little One?”
I took a breath as I stared at Rome, as I watched his strong jaw tick and his tattooed neck flex. His hands fisted and I knew just from the color his face was turning that we were far from over and I was far from okay. “I’ll get there, Dante.”
He nodded and slowly released my leg. Then he stood and walked right up to Rome. They matched each other, chest to chest. A stare down of epic proportions ensued. I knew exactly what the silent conversation was about. Rome claimed me as his, forever and always. He didn’t like sharing in any sense of the word. But Dante had my back and we’d bonded over the years of training. I liked to think our friendship was valuable to him, that he would protect me if he thought I needed it.
“Dante,” I murmured and put my hand to his chest. “This isn’t the place.”
“The place for what, Little One?” He kept his green eyes on Rome. “There’s no misunderstanding, right, Rome?”
“Only if you want one, brother. We’re all family here, right?”
I scoffed at his assessment and crossed my arms, ready to put him in his place. “Yes, Rome. You two are just like brothers to me.”
Black fire licked across my skin as his gaze burned up my body. He let the words roll from him, slow and low. “There’ll be nothing brotherly in the way I punish you for that statement, Katalina.”
My body had cooled from my workout but it heated right back up again. I didn’t need to goad him anymore. I was taking sick pleasure in it and I knew I wouldn’t be able to indulge, that I shouldn’t indulge. So I spun around and headed to my gym bag. “I’ll see you later, Dante. Text me your schedule.”
I heard Dante go his own way but I didn’t look back. If I did, I’d stumble on the image of the monster in the gorgeous man I was trying so hard to avoid.
As I knelt to grab my bag from a hall locker, I heard Rome approach. I kept my head down, hoping he would give up and leave.
“Care to talk?”
I growled as I ripped out my top and stuffed my arms into the long sleeves. “Rome, I don’t want to see you, let alone talk to you.”
He hummed. “You didn’t stay late at New Reign the other night. I haven’t seen you since.”
“Yes,” I nodded, “That’s the point.”
“What point, woman?”
“I meant what I said. We don’t have self-restraint, which means I’m restricting our relationship to a need-to-see basis, and I only need to see you when I meet with the Armanellis.”
He grunted. “If you say so.” He rubbed his hand over his five o’clock shadow, like was considering whether he should continue. “Fuck it. Since we’re here, I have a few things to say. First and foremost, Dante and you are done training together.”
My eyes bulged as I zipped up my shirt over my sports bra. I stood and glared at him, then poked him in the shoulder. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“No smile on my fucking face, Kate-Bait.”
“You have some audacity, seriously,” I fumed. “You think you can control who I spend my time with?”
“I can and I will. That’s over.” He didn’t even stutter as he said it. The man was more straight to the point than even I liked and I was blunter than most.
“You’re insane. That fact that you’re even here right now…Are you following me?” I practically screeched, too pissed off at him to keep my voice down. “You don’t get to barge into my workouts just to be a possessive asshole.”
He crossed his massive arms over his chest, and I tried my best not to look but my mouth watered at his cut-off shirt, his arms flecked with droplets of sweat. “Does it look like I’m following you?”
He must have come here for a workout. I saw his tennis shoes, his gym shorts, and the outline of his abs under his shirt. He looked like a sculpted Italian god, and I wanted to lick the sweat from his skin.
I took a giant step back. “If we bump into each other, I expect you to walk the other way.”
He smirked at my feet retreating, and the boyish twinkle in his eye made my heart twist. Would we have been something different had we met outside the mob? Would we have loved like a normal couple?
“I’m never going to walk away from what’s mine, woman. You might be playing cat and mouse with me right now, but make no mistake: I’m going to catch you.”