Jaxon rubbed his eyes and took a few seconds before tipping his head over his shoulder. “Thank you, Danny. I’ll take it from here.”
“Yes, sir.” Danny glanced at me with sympathy in his eyes. I had to wonder how many times the staff had been required to handle a dead body.
We were suddenly at a standstill. I had no idea what to expect from him. Even with the electricity buzzing between us, I was beginning to lose the feeling of freedom. Karma obviously had it in for me.
“Get your things,” Jaxon said in his deep voice.
“Why? Are you firing me? I didn’t do anything wrong, but you know what? I quit.”
His laugh was no longer a perfect method of seduction but a sheer annoyance.
“I’m not firing you, Anna. I’m taking you home. You were just held at gunpoint and you’re covered in blood. You might think ofme as an asshole, but I will do everything in my power to protect you.”
He moved closer and I backed away, loathing my body’s reaction to him, the hunger already reaching the boiling point.
“Fine.”
“Don’t try and run. You won’t like what happens if you do.” His jaw was set, his dark eyes flashing and it took everything I had not to slap his face as hard as my strength would allow.
Instead, I stormed past him, heading to the locker I’d been given. In doing so, I was forced to pass by the hallway leading to the bathroom. His cleanup crew had worked quickly. The body was already gone, leaving a thick pool of blood that two people in hazard suits were working on with due diligence.
A cold shiver tore through me as I grabbed my things. The moment I returned, he grabbed the duffle from my hand. “What the hell are you doing?”
He wasn’t concerned about my words of defiance, yanking the zipper and driving his hand inside. “I can’t be too careful, Anna. As I told you before and you seemed to understand, I have enemies.”
The look he offered when he finally lifted his head put the fear of God into me. When he found the knife I’d had with me since leaving Italy, a slow and steady smile crossed his face. “Good girl. Very smart.” He slipped it into his pocket, which did nothing more than piss me off.
“I’m not going with you.”
A heavy silence stretched between us and with the hard, cold look in his eyes, I sensed it was by design. When he wrappedhis hand around my throat, I was certain it was to scare me, but it didn’t work. “Yes, you are.” There was a finality with his comment, no room for negotiations.
The pressure from his strong fingers was a powerful aphrodisiac, his rugged scent forcing my mouth to water. He seemed to understand how my body was reacting to him, the gleam in his eyes increasing. He abandoned his hold, replacing it with a rough grip on my jaw.
When his thumb skimmed my lips, a soft moan escaped before I could stop it. My hunger exploded, my lips parting and he took full advantage by shoving his thumb inside.
“So very beautiful.” Every touch was a debate, every look in his eyes a question. “Go clean off the blood.”
How fascinating that he knew I’d be fine in obeying his order. This one, anyway.
Seconds later, he placed the bag in my hand.
When he pressed his fingertips on my cheek as he’d done twice before, I didn’t flinch, I didn’t move. I refused to shy away. “Yes, I will protect you. Whether you want me to or not.”
Frustrating as hell.
There’d been no point in fighting him. A man like Jaxon had never accepted no as an answer before. He certainly wouldn’t do so now.
I’d scrubbed my arms and face until they burned, glaring at my reflection as I did so. The woman staring back at me wasn’t thegirl who’d left Sicily all those years ago. She was older, some might say wiser, and certainly not nearly as naïve. My hair was longer and I’d filled out where I’d been a stick before, yet at the end of the day, nothing could alter who I was and no amount of hiding would change facts.
I was a mafia princess and at some point, my precious life would be shattered, forced to return home or worse. How long would it be before my father called? Sophia had yet to return my call. Maybe she’d told him I was asking questions. How long before he sent someone to get me, if he hadn’t already.
Now I was sitting in the passenger seat of a hot Corvette with a huge dog in my lap. After the night I’d had and the whirlwind week I’d experienced, being crushed by an eighty-pound dog seemed perfectly normal.
Especially since he was licking my face every so often even as his daddy dog handled the streets as if practicing for a slalom run at Monte Carlo.
Seeing his hand tightly wrapped around the steering wheel, I could tell Jaxon was still livid about what had occurred.
Maybe that’s why I made up my mind to call my father as soon as I was able.
