Alessio tugs the chain. “I’m not sure how I’ll make it through the meeting with you beside me,” he says. “Look at you.” He tugs the string, and it’s quite possible Alessio considers it a leash. It turns him on big-time, and he admits it. Openly. Honestly.
I grab his suit and tug, then rise on my toes with an urge to smear my lipstick on his collar. I suppress it and kiss the side of his neck instead. He smells divine. When I go to wipe away the red lipstick stain, he grabs my wrist.
“Leave it,” he says.
Short of burning in real fire, I don’t think Alessio Angelini could get hotter.
He opens the door, and I walk out into the hallway full of men in black tactical uniforms lined up against the walls. I quirk my eyebrow at Alessio, who offers no explanation.
He still holds my wrist and moves, but I dig in my heels.
Now he raises his eyebrow at me. “Did you forget something?”
I can’t be the only one who finds his security measures a little over the top. I understand he’s involved in some shady stuff, but even organized criminals don’t have a small military unit securing their Parisian hotel penthouse. Do they? Maybe they do. I wouldn’t know, now, would I?
“We’re on the clock, remember?” he says, clearly irritated. He lets go of my wrist and marches down the hall. The men pull back their shoulders, and I shout, in my best deep male voice, “Atencio!”
Alessio stops and looks up at the ceiling. “Dear Lord, please save her from me.”
I hurry and catch up with him, sliding my hand into his. “I couldn’t help myself.”
We enter the elevator with more security men.
“Was that fun for you?” he asks, not looking at me. Oh no, I think he’s upset about me poking fun at what I thought was a military regiment.
“I’m sorry,” I offer.
“What for?”
“You take security measures seriously, and I made a joke about it.”
Alessio smirks. “Relax, Lake. I’m not easily offended.”
We travel down the elevator in silence before I ask, “Are you nervous about this meeting?”
Alessio appears confused. “No. Do I appear nervous?”
“Uneasy, maybe?”
“I wanted to meet with this man alone, but he might need the buffer the women provide.”
“How so?”
The elevator opens into a club. A very loud club. Oh. I hadn’t expected to go clubbing. Doesn’t seem like Alessio’s scene, but what do I know about the lifestyles of the rich in Paris?
Alessio’s palm presses against the center of my back and guides me out of the elevator. As we walk, he says, “I can’t snap his neck and leave two witnesses behind, now can I?”
Cold shivers run through me. When I glance at Alessio, I see he’s not joking, not even a little bit. Knowing that he’s a dangerous man is one thing. Hearing him talk about murder is another.
“Relax,” he says. “If he keeps his hands off you and his eyes on me, he and his daughter will survive.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“Only explaining that I’m not nervous, but more like making an effort to contain myself long enough to get through this meeting before I can have you.”
At the bottom of the steep, narrow steps, I pause, fully aware that my tiny dress won’t cover my bottom when I climb.
“Go on,” Alessio murmurs in my ear. “Tease me.”
