A minute later, I walk out of the bar with a napkin scrawled with names. Dante is waiting anxiously, the big man shifting from foot to foot. I give him the napkin.
“Find these men.”
He nods. “Boss.”
When Ava answers her apartment door, I almost forget about all this chaos.
Fuck.
She’s wearing PJ shorts that hug her thick, perfect thighs. A tank top… with no bra. Is she trying to kill me? Her nipples poke through the material. I can see green veins disappearing into the fabric, outlining her fullness.
Her face is beautifully devastating, hurt, and happy to see me at the same time, somehow.
I step forward, meaning to hug her, but she whimpers and steps back.
“No more hugs?” I growl.
She clamps her lips closed. My heart tugs at her reaction. My dick surges with tension. I’m half animal, half lover.
“Where’s Theo?” I ask.
“Sleeping.”
“Can I see him?”
She stares at me wide-eyed, like she’s waiting for me to pounce. She has no idea what she does to me, that every time she looks at me, my body responds instantly. Ever since the moment I laid eyes on her that night.
“I don’t want to disturb him.”
“Just from the doorway, then.”
She nods and leads me through her apartment. I need to try to remain calm. But what the fuck is the father of this woman’s child supposed to do when she turns around and shows him that round, sexy ass? Squeezed into those shorts, her top riding up, a delicious strip of smooth, silky skin on display.
My fingers twitch as I think about pulling her again. My thoughts are only interrupted when I see Theo sleeping peacefully, his mobile casting planets against the ceiling.
In the living room, we sit on opposite sides of the couch.
“How is… everything?” she asks.
“My most trusted man, my best friend, is dead,” I sigh. “My cousin betrayed me. And now our worlds, angel, which are supposed to beentirelygoddamn separate…”
“I’m sorry,” she says quietly.
“He was the one behind it,” I tell her. “The lie that you were dead.Hetried to keep me away from you. And perhaps he was right.”
She gasps. “You think so?”
I look at her bleakly. “Bad things happen to innocent people all the time. Especially when bad men come into their lives. You were surviving, Ava. On your own.”
“You said things wouldn’t always be complicated,” she says softly.
I nod.
“But…” I bite down, scared to say it. A flush spreads across her cheeks and over her neck. Even her sheer biology threatens to make me feral.
“It’s okay,” I say quietly. “Whatever it is, you can say it.”
“Well, it implies I’ve agreed to a future where we try to uncomplicate things, you know? When I thought we were still at the dating stage.”
