"You're right." My voice was rougher than I intended. "I'm sorry."
Her eyebrows shot up. She clearly hadn’t been expecting the apology. Good. I liked keeping her off balance.
"I shouldn't have interfered." Stepping closer, I was close enough to catch her scent that made my head spin. "But watching another man put his hands on what's mine made me see red."
"What's yours?" Her voice dropped to a whisper, but there was steel in it.
"You know exactly what I mean, Elin." I couldn’t take the words back. I was possessive of her.
For a moment, we just stared at each other, the tension crackling between us like a live wire. The music from inside the club thumped against the walls, and the lights accentuated the angles of her cheekbones.
"You're impossible," she finally scoffed, but some of the fire had gone from her voice.
"So are you." I ran a hand through my hair, suddenly exhausted. "Christ, you drive me crazy."
"The feeling is mutual." She glanced back at the club's entrance, then at me. "I should go back inside. I'm meeting someone."
My jaw clenched involuntarily. "Business or pleasure?"
"Does it matter?" She sighed, but she looked more irritated and tired than anything.
It was her reaction that had me saying softer, and without so much frustration, "It does to me."
She studied my face for a long moment, something unreadable flickering in her expression. "Business, Gavriel. Always business with me. Club business at that."
The relief that flooded through me was embarrassing in its intensity. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
"But next time," she continued, stepping back toward the door into the main room, "remember your place."
Chapter 27
Twodaysago,Barryhad texted and asked for an update. At the time, I hadn’t had anything worth mentioning, so I’d just thrown the phone into my bag. Now, as I sat down at my desk, Barry was texting nonstop and pissed I hadn’t given him anything in a few months. He was begging for any scrap of information.
When my phone lit up, I could almost see him on his knees, begging for confirmation of one of Azzaro’s movements.
Barry: Tomorrow night. The shipment of weapons is to arrive at seven.
Barry: I know you said you were having a change of heart. I just need confirmation.
Don Azzaro was pissed about the lost shipments, which Iactually had nothing to do with, and while I knew there was one coming in tomorrow, my stomach clenched, a cold knot of dread tightening with each passing second. My thumbs hovered over the keyboard. Guilt, a physical weight, pressed down on my chest, all a tangible manifestation of the choices I’d made. This phone felt like I was holding a grenade, the hum of its potential to inflict damage vibrating in my hand.
My gaze drifted toward Gavriel’s office. A hard-line realization hit me, one that had been slowly creeping in over the last few months of me denying Barry any information. I couldn’t betray Gavriel anymore. He was my pretty boy, and I had to protect him. That was part of my job.
Elin: I’m out. Don’t contact me again.
Barry: Ahhh, come on, sweetheart.
Elin: No.
Elin: I’m done.
This was for Gavriel. His father had told him that under no circumstances would he give him another chance. If he messed this up, then it was his life. Up until a few months ago, I hadfed enough to Barry that the hierarchy of the Azzaro family was finally shredding. His father was paranoid, skittish even.
So, why did it hurt so fucking much? When had Gavriel’s presence shifted from a nuisance to someone I needed? How had that happened when I had been actively working to destroy his family business?
I looked down at the rug that had replaced the one saturated with my father’s blood. My breath hitched in my throat as a choked sob escaped my lips. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
I couldn't keep playing this game. I couldn't continue to participate in the slow, methodical destruction of Gavriel's life, whatever the consequences. I had to find another way, even if it was shrouded in uncertainty.
