“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.” He grabs his jacket from the chair and turns to walk away. “I’m done with this conversation.”
“You’re running,” I accuse.
He pauses at the doorway, shoulders tense. “I’m exercising restraint.”
He doesn’t look back.
The door shuts behind him with a solid finality that echoes through the room.
I slide down the wall slowly, legs giving out as adrenaline drains from my system. My hand trembles where he held it. My cheek burns with the ghost of his presence.
I press my forehead to my knees, breathing hard. Shaken. That’s what I am. By him. By myself.
By the way my body reacted when he crowded me.
I hate him, hate this.
And most of all, I hate that I leaned in instead of pulling away.
49
Lorenzo
We all takepositions at the warehouse.
Two of my uncle’s men are stationed at the front door. One stands in the back of the building, and another looks bored while his hand rests on his gun.
I sit at a folding table with a scale and a ledger. Rafe hovers two feet to my right, jacket open, also with a hand on a gun.
Matteo, who’s leading the charge, stands front and center in the warehouse. Waiting. Arms crossed. Gaze sharp.
A truck rumbles outside. I can hear the tires crunching over the gravel before it rolls to a stop.
“Positions,” Matteo orders.
Rafe’s hand drifts casually to his gun as he waits.
“Hopefully, this goes smoothly.” Matteo cracks his knuckles.
“Smooth, doubtful. Does anything ever go smoothly?” I answer, watching through the window as the first SUV door opens.
“Have you always been so pessimistic?” Matteo laughs.
“Yep.”
The buyer steps out. He’s got to be in his mid-thirties. Hair gelled; he’s really giving off the stereotypical made man vibe. I swear I’m in an old 1990s mafia movie.
His men spill out behind him. Three men, to be exact.
The guard at the door swings it open, and the buyer and his men walk inside.
As soon as they do, they spot Matteo and me.
The greasy one walks forward with a smile.
“Matteo,” he calls, stopping a respectable distance away before acknowledging me next with a nod.
