I melt a little inside at his words. No matter how many times he tells me I’m beautiful or how much he loves me, it feels like the first time.
I slide my eyes in the same direction of tall, dark, and creepy, and he’s still staring. Blatantly.
“Babe,” I nudge him with my elbow.
“I see him. Just… act like you don’t. Damian’s on it.”
I want to look behind us to see exactly what Damian’s doing, but I don’t. I know better. I’ve been trained better. I, just once, would like to see the Enforcers do their thing where I’m not the thing they’re doing.
Wait.
That sounded so dirty. I bite back a smile, calling on my discipline to show nothing but indifference. I’ve gotten so well at it, my family’s starting to worry. Well, the ones who aren’t involved in la Famiglia.
“Is he familiar?” I purr into Cage’s ear as I curl into his side, pressing my breasts against his arm, playing the role. It’s amusing to me when people assume I’m arm candy and nothing more. They sure do get a rude awakening when I pull out my gun or knife, or just kick their ass in hand-to-hand. The best is the men—the big, muscular ones who think that’s enough to get by.
Not in this business. In this business you need to be lethal, constantly alert, and not afraid to get hurt or even to die. Not many women are that dedicated which is why there are only a small handful. Me, Celeste, Bella—we set the tone. Really, Celeste set the tone. She was in the business as long as Cage, though not always in a physical sense. She started out doing leg work, paperwork, all the mundane shit they give women to do. She was also a very young sixteen when she and Cage became friends in Joan’s group home, Harmony House. Damian was a part of that group, too. I’m sure there are others that I haven’t learned about yet, but this is the inner circle of it all.
Cage’s body tenses up and I look up to see what’s wrong.
“I know who he is. We need to leave. Now,” is all he says before he wraps an arm around me and we leisurely weave our way through the crowded room.
I feel his gaze on us as we exit the building, and I know what Cage is about to tell me isn’t going to be good.
