“I would remember if I did.”
“You should.” Thick kohl lined eyes, a brilliant blue that suggested contact lens, dropped to my lips. “You have excellent taste.”
“I do.” I stepped closer, invading her space and her fragrance hit me. Dark floral, wild and mysterious. “You stand out in a place like this,” I commented. “Either bold or borderline suicidal.”
“The only person borderline suicidal here would be the one that dares to touch me.” A threat draped in seduction.
My jaw flexed, my cock intrigued. Only a woman who knew she could get away with anything, would speak like that. I lifted a hand to her mask, fingers tracing the smooth curve of the cheekbone. She didn’t stop me, didn’t lean in or away, just allowed me to touch her as if granting me permission.
I dragged a thumb along her jaw. “Take it off.”
“No.”
My pulse kicked up, unable to remember the last person who said no to me. She stepped closer until her body brushed mine, her breath warming my throat.
“I came for you, Remo. Only you.”
She knew my name which meant she knew who I was, my reputation, how easily I broke things, probably how I fucked too. “Stalking me could get you killed.”
Her lips skimmed my ear. “You don’t scare me.” Not quite an admission but not a denial either.
“Who are you?” I shouldn’t let her close, a niggle warned. But when her fingers grazed my jacket, tugging me closer by the lapels, logic burned to ash.
She laughed softly. “Tonight? Hmm, I’m whoever you want me to be.”
Something about her hinted she wasn’t an escort or one of the ladies on offer tonight. She turned, walking away before I could catch her wrist. That sway of her hips, lithe, that tight ass,perfection, that slit in her dress exposing a long-toned leg with each step.
Tempting. Mocking. Magnetic.
As if she pulled me by a leash she pretended not to hold, I stalked her toward the door.
“Boss?” Gian stepped in front of me. “We’re leaving?”
“Fuck off,” I snapped, my eyes catching the hint of red slipping out the door over his shoulder. “I’ll be back.” I shoved him away and headed for the exit.
“Boss, you shouldn’t go out there alone.” Gian chased after me.
On the landing outside, I glanced left and then right. “Where are you?” I muttered.
“Who?”
I turned, glaring at my right-hand man. “Go back inside.”
“But–”
“Do I look like a man who needs a fucking bodyguard?”
He opened his mouth, seemed to rethink his decision, and closed it. “No.” He spun around and went back inside.
Scanning the rows of cars, I spotted a flash of red heading toward the side of the building. The air was sickly sweet, a premonition of mortality itself but call me a fucking idiot for going into unknown territory half-cocked. Death and I had been at loggerheads for some time now, and he was still chasing my ass every opportunity he got.
I rounded the corner and stopped. With her back to me, she stood in front of a large cross carved into a mausoleum streaked with age, marble pale against the moonlight. Candles burned on either side, their flames trembling in the slight wind, an almost nervous witness to this spectacle that didn’t have a name yet.
I walked up behind her. “Interesting choice.” I made no bones about wanting to fuck her.
She turned to face me, the mask still in place, hiding everything except what I needed for now. Her luscious red mouth. “You deal in death. I thought you’d feel at home.”
“Careful.” I stepped closer. “You’re standing on sacred ground but I can still make you disappear.”
