“Caruso is definitely going to be searching for you and his enforcer could very well be tracing you to this location as we speak. How is it that you want me to help you?” I ask. My lips pull to the side in consternation. “Oh, right. An engagement. Holy Virgin Mary and her pure cunt.”
She covers her mouth and then narrows her gaze at me. “You don’t need to be vulgar or make light of my situation. But the long and short of it is, I know you hate my father. I saw it in your eyes at the gala a few years ago. And I do too, which is why I’m willing to give you any and all intel concerning his operations in exchange for your protection. However, I don’t believe anyone will leave me alone unless I’m yours.”
The way she practically spits out the last two words tells me everything I need to know about how Carina feels concerning male domination. Too bad for her, I happen to like a challenge.
Her surrender will be all the more rewarding.
I stroke my chin in thought. “What about Caruso?”
“Right now he doesn’t know it’s me, but I assume it’s only a matter of time. And as far as the enforcer?” She turns her head and breaks eye-contact with me. “He’s dead. However, I don’t know how long it will take before someone else replaces him.”
Maybe it’s the way her entire body trembles. Or perhaps it’s because of the tears filling her eyes. Whatever the reason, I give into the urge that assaulted me when I first saw the fear in her gaze.
I’ve closed the distance between us on the couch and have my fingers wrapped around the back of her neck before she can part her lips on a gasp. With my free hand, I take her chin and tip it up until her breaths fan across my mouth. I inhale greedily.
“What happened?”
Carina tries to recoil from the danger coating my tone and I don’t blame her. She’s been running around in a world full of killers long enough to know when a threat is presented. However, I tighten my grip on her face, uncaring if it marks her skin. I want an answer.
She shudders and the vibrations travel up both my arms. “The enforcer shot Federico tonight. In front of me.”
“Fucking hell.”
If Carina wasn’t sitting on my couch, with my hands on her skin and my breaths mingling with hers, I’d swear she was dead. No one comes out unscathed from a situation like that, especially not a woman who was brought up shielded from violence. Yes, Carina is most likely aware of some of the things her father has been involved in, but that isn’t the same as actually witnessing it.
I release her chin and cup her cheek, securing my thumb just under her jaw, in case she tries to hide her gaze from me. “Tell me everything.”
Carina hesitates again and the urge to squeeze her jaw flits through me. So I do. “When I give you a command, I expect you to obey it. Promptly.”
Her pupils contract and then she exhales. It’s a small act of surrender, followed by her lightly resting in my hold and briefly closing her eyes. My cock strains against the seam of my pants at this.
“They’re both dead,” she whispers. “And I’m not a bit sorry since he wouldn’t stop harassing me.”
All I know is that if this Federico wasn’t already dead, by the time I found him he would be. That motherfucker preyed on her when she was defenseless and without the protection of her family name. Kind of like what I’m going to do.
Except she’ll have my name.
And I’ll have her submission.
Carina
When I look at Rafael, all logic deserts me.
However, there are some reasonings I cannot deny. He is both the benefit and the danger, but at least the advantages associated with him are more in number than the detriments. So far at least. And the way my heart races in my chest? That is a direct effect of his presence, and more importantly, his touch.
Why am I not repulsed?
“Are you sure they’re dead?” he asks.
I nod slowly, throwing up my mental shields to stop me from drudging up a visual of the crime scene. Unfortunately, my ability to notice minute details has aided my brain in capturing the gruesome image with great clarity, in a similar fashion to that of a camera.
But, now is not the time to process everything.
Whatever Rafael sees in my eyes has him releasing my captive jaw and throwing his arm across the back of the couch. “That buys you some time.” He thrums his fingers on the leather furniture and for a moment his gaze takes on a clouded look. “So, what did you have in mind?”
I exhale and press my lips together. He watches me, in a way that appears as though he’s just here in the present, but I catch the way Rafael’s gaze is constantly landing on different things. Whether that be my mouth or my hands, he’s always aware of what I’m doing. It’s the reason I haven’t reached for my purse. I don’t want him to know about the pistol, in case I need to use it. Or at least threaten him with it.
When he stopped me from leaving by grabbing my hair and molding my body to his, I knew he wasn’t just the playboy the underworld made him out to be. There’s an air of danger under his laissez-faire persona and I’d bet he keeps it hidden on purpose so people will underestimate him. I know I did.
