“Don’t hurt them. They’re just…”
“Assholes. Layne, now,” Dante barks, his anger cracking out like a whip.
Pushing back against the seat, I lower my window, and the driver of the Chevy revs the engine aggressively while the passengers get even more offensive in their comments.
I watch Dante out of the corner of my eye. He’s clearly the bigger threat in this situation, and when he moves so they can see him, they also see the gun in his hand which is now pointed right at them.
“Apologize to my wife right this fucking second,” he bellows. His voice is loud, but it’s the blast of his designation that has them in a choke hold. “Right fucking now.”
The boys are full of bravado, and even though they can’t lift their eyes to look at me, they’re still muttering cocky and condescending slurs. My husband doesn’t let up, slamming his designation over them and leaving them looking like naughty schoolboys who’ve never faced an Alpha before. But the idiots keep challenging him.
Dante is pissed, and he gets out of the car.
If I was the driver of the Chevy, I would have floored it and gotten the hell out of here, but they’re locked in being rude assholes and saving face. Dante ducks low to speak through the passenger window, unperturbed by the traffic behind us.
“Apologize,” he growls.
And I get a couple of apologies, but their petulance is as obvious as the disrespect. I suspect, if Dante wasn’t aware of the time, he’d pull them out of their car and beat the living shit out of them.
“Grow the fuck up and learn some fucking respect. You got me?”
Dante goes to stand up, and I drop my head, smiling, because the cocky little shits think they got one up on him. He doesn’t walk away; he teaches them a valuable lesson about respect and being a little more aware of who you’re going toe to toe with. It’s an expensive lesson for them, too. Maybe it will save their lives later, or maybe not. He shoots out the tires on the passenger side of the car before pumping a couple of shots through the passenger window and into the windshield.
And then he leans down again, and it’s only then the young men are finally realizing how much they fucked up. Dante rests his forearms on the window’s edge and snaps photos of them. “By the time you’ve changed your tires, your faces will be circulating every corner of my territory. Any of my guards see you down here again, and they won’t be as nice as I’ve been.Capisce? Now say, ‘sorry, Mrs. De Luca’, and make sure you mean it this time.”
The sudden drop in their aggression and the loud groan of realization from each of them is as obvious as the horn blasts from the traffic behind us. Dante stands up and stares down the line of cars before walking slowly back to the passenger seat and getting in while every person in the car offers him a sincere apology. Which only makes my smile broaden.
Dante places his hand on my thigh, pulling my skirt up higher, needing to feel my skin on his, but that’s okay—I need to feel him too.
“Little fuckers.” He grins, looking out the opposite window.
“I bet you and Valentine were worse,” I say, driving off when the light changes.
“You have no idea, babe, no fucking idea. Although Matty was even worse than we were. I can’t even remember how many times Nonna got her wooden spoon out when we were their age.”
“Let’s hope they learn something from today, then.”
“Doubtful. You might want to drive a bit faster; we’re going to be late,” he says, pointing at the clock at the same time another call comes through.
By the time we’ve found a parking spot in front of Styke, we’re only five minutes late.
Perhaps it was cocky of Valentine to immediately broaden his territory to include what were “neutral zones,” but he isn’t a Gambrillo, and he’s doing a lot of things differently. Although, it also isn’t a secret that he altered where his territory starts and ends to include The Dock, so I can safely visit Jana whenever I want.
I wait for Dante to open my door for me, and not because I’m unable to open the door myself, but the De Lucas are chivalrous to the core. The front manager welcomes us as soon as we walk in, but she gets interrupted.
“Dahlings!” Jana yodels as soon as she sees us, even though she is on the other side of the restaurant, talking to other guests.
And like when I first met her, as soon as she’s close enough, she sweeps me up in a patchouli-scented hug. “You look amazing!”
“I feel it.”
I was so nervous the first time I brought my pack here to meet her. I was half expecting her to slam the door in my face when I introduced them, but of course, all she did was laugh so loud, everyone looked before she squeezed the living shit out of me and got Valentine glaring at her.
“Come on, I’ve put you in the back to give you some privacy. Maybe Dante can…” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively before turning to look at Dante. “You’re treating my blossom well?”
Dante scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Does she not look like she came on my face only a few hours ago?”
I close my eyes and let the embarrassment wash over me. These two together are horrific; they have no shame in trading sex stories. A small nip on my neck has me opening my eyes. Dante guides me with a small squeeze of my ass toward where Hannah and Rowan are waiting.
