"Remove your hand," I say quietly. "Now."
"Come on, don't be like that?—"
The click of a gun safety cuts him off mid-sentence.
Ben freezes. His face drains of color as cold metal presses against his temple.
"If I wasn't thinking about your father right now," a deep voice says from behind him, accent curling around the words like smoke, "you'd be leaving here with no fingers for daring to put your hands on her."
What the fuck?
Ben's hand disappears from my leg so fast you'd think I was made of fire. He stumbles out of the booth, nearly tripping over his own feet.
"I didn't—I wasn't?—"
"Leave."
One word. That's all it takes. Ben practically runs, disappearing into the crowd like his life depends on it.
Maybe it does.
I stand slowly, as I finally face my... rescuer? Attacker? I don't know what to call him.
Tall. Dark hair pushed back from a face all sharp angles and devastating symmetry. Eyes like ice chips, pale and piercing, tracking my every movement with an intensity that makes my breath catch.
Something about him tugs at my memory. The set of his jaw. The way he holds himself like the room belongs to him.
Where have I seen him before?
"What the hell was that?" My voice comes out steadier than I feel.
He tucks the gun away and has the audacity to smile. "You're welcome."
"I didn't thank you."
"You should." He steps closer, and I catch his scent. Expensive. Leather and something darker underneath. "That boy was about to make a very stupid mistake."
"I had it handled."
"Did you?" One eyebrow lifts. "Because it looked like you were about to cause a scene that would've had your family asking questions."
Your family.
Before I can respond, Amanda appears at the edge of the booth, Elio right behind her. But another man blocks Elio's path.
Elio reaches for his weapon.
"I wouldn't." He doesn't even look at Elio, keeping those pale eyes fixed on me. "Miss Sartori is in perfectly good hands. Stand down."
"Like hell?—"
"Or." The stranger tilts his head. "I could inform the Sartori family that their guard left their precious sister unattended. That a man approached her without permission while he was too busy following the blonde."
Elio's face goes white.
Fuck.
Amanda looks between all of us, confusion and alarm warring on her features. "V? What's going on?"
