“You didn’t,” Mikey says, turning towards her. “This is on us.”
“And I don't regret a fucking second of it,” I add, leaning in also.
She’s panned between us, her cheeks flushed, and her breathing is fast. For the first time since she left the bathroom, she looks overwhelmed, but in a good way.
The front door opens with a loud bang, and a gust of cold air sweeps in.
Three men in suits walk in. They are clearly not normal clientele here.
I feel Julia go rigid beside us, as she stares at the men like she’s seen a ghost.
Mikeystiffens, “Princess… who are they?”
The tallest one scans the room, with that trained eye you see Mafia men have in movies, and my veins ice over.
They are security, but not her security, from how scared she looks.
Julia whispers so low, you can barely hear her. “I need to leave. Now.”
Mikey and I stand instantly, and every protective instinct I’ve ever had is screaming.
Whoever these fucking men are, they’re not taking her.
Not from us, not tonight, not ever.
Chapter 9
Julia
The second the men enter the bar, everything in my mind freezes.
They scan the bar, not just looking, but hunting for me.
My lungs stop working, my vision tunnels, and the noise in the bar dissolves to just static from the blood rushing in my ears.
“Princess… who are they?” Mikey asks, his voice so low it's dangerous.
I swallow hard, but my mouth is dry. My heart is trying to crawl up my throat.
“That’s… Reyes.”
I point with a shaking hand at the tall one in the center, the one with the silver hair and the tattoo on his neck.
“Santino Reyes. My father’s top enforcer.”
Mikey stiffens.
I lift my eyes to the man on the right, with a shaved head, a broken nose, and heavy arms.
“Marco Cruz,” I choke out. “He was my father’s collector.”
And finally, scar running from cheek to jaw, dead eyes, shoulders like a wall.
“And the last one is Luciano Vega. My father’s… cleanup guy. Where bodies went after punishments.”
My chest caves inward. I feel twelve years old again.
“They all used to work for my dad. They weren’t just guards. They were violent. Sadistic. They did whatever he told them to.”
