“Wh—” Her eyes flicker with panic. “What are you doing?”
“Just walk,” I command. “Do you understand?”
Before she can answer, I yank the door open to reveal my brand-new brother-in-law.
Felix Malone is older than Archer, but younger than Tim. He has a penchant for beautiful, busty women who don’t mind fucking his brothers’ women. Though, when he’s done with them, he tends to slice their throat open and gleefully move on to the next.
“Go back to New York, Felix.” I shove through the door and charge past the guy whose body is much the same as his brothers’.
Tall, solid, strong.
He’s a formidable man, but part of me knows he won’t hurt me. When everything was going to hell, and another was threatening Archer’s life, Felix flipped on his guards and protected his brother.
There’s a softness there, beneath the teachings of a mafia father. There’s a loyalty that defies even logic.
Glancing back to make sure Aubree is still following, I leave the duffel on my shoulder and reach around to grab her hand. Because she stares as though seeing a ghost. She stumbles on her feet as though she knows exactly who this man is, and his existence is enough to make her question her own.
“Walk,” I tell her quickly. “Now.”
“Don’t go.” Chuckling like this is all a game to him, Felix presses a hand to his chest and moves to his back foot. “Minka Mayet! Don’t leave me here all alone.”
“You’ll be fine, Felix.” I keep my voice down and my hand wrapped tightly around Aubree’s. “Now go back to New York. No one wants you here.”
“H-he…” Aubree stammers as we move onto the stairs. “That’s…” She looks back, swaying so Chloe’s cage hits the steps. “That was…”
“Felix Malone,” I murmur and move onto the next flight. “Yep. Keep walking.”
“But he’s…”
“Not to be discussed in polite company.” I pull her down another flight of stairs and push the door open to exit the building.
Breathing just a little easier as we move onto the street and lose ourselves among the office crowd, I turn toward my apartment and keep our steps fast and our heads down.
But when I peek back toward the building, much the same way I did when I fled Archer’s apartment after our first night together, I find Felix standing on the fire escape, exactly the way his brother did all that time ago.
Felix wears jeans firm on his hips, and heavy boots wrapped around large feet. He sets his hands in his pockets the way Archer does, and stands with the same swagger I’ve noticed in all three Malone brothers I’ve met so far.
While I walk fast and create distance between us, I can’t help but stare. Study. Catalog. And because Felix finds that humorous, he winks as though to flirt, and laughs when I look ahead once more, trudging through the cold street and hurrying to get out of his sight.
Angry with myself, I release Aubree’s hand and take out my phone. My breath comes faster because of the weight I carry and the speed I walk, but I hit dial and bring the phone to my ear.
It rings only once before the line connects.
“Hey, beautiful. You’re—”
“Don’t youbeautifulme, Archer Malone. I need to see you at my apartment. Immediately.”
“Oop!” Fletch cackles on the other end of the line. “You’ve been summoned,husband.”
“Shut the hell up, Fletch!” I hitch the bag of illicit goods onto my shoulder and cross from one block to the next. “Archer?”
“Yeah?”
“Home.”
“Yeah.” He cuts the call and, I know, leaves wherever he is and makes damn sure he’s going where I need him.
* * *