“Apologize,” I snarl to the man trying futilely to pull the fork from his mouth and get away from me. I twist the fork, making the Sokoli scream. “Say you’re sorry to my sister, or I’ll rip your tongue out.”
“Mrrrm err-ry,” is all the man manages to say. Blood is pouring from his lips and down his chin.
I twist the fork again. “You tell your boss that if he sends anyone else into Barone territory, we won’t make you apologize. We’ll kill you on sight. Now fuck off.”
I yank the fork out of his mouth and shove him toward the exit.
Someone passes me a paper napkin, and I wipe the blood from my hand. The man staggers away, spattering wet, red drops on the black-and-white floor. Rafiel, Antonio, and Giovanni push the three Sokolis out the front door.
I turn back to Lucy. My expression transforms from fury into concern as I cup her face. “Are you all right?”
My sister is glaring indignantly after the Sokoli. “How dare he come here. He was going to hurt us, wasn’t he?”
“He was going to try.”
“Then I’m glad you hurt him first.”
I smile and caress her cheek with my thumb. That’s my girl. Fierce and unafraid. “I’ll be back in a moment, and then I’ll take you home.”
As I turn away from Lucy, I see her best friend, Adora Montoni, slip into the seat opposite and reach for her hand. Adora’s father is Don Agnello, and the Montonis are a crime family the Barones are on good terms with. Unlike the Lucanias, Mom says the Montonis are “our” kind of people. Well dressed, wealthy, and with a veneer of respectability. Barones and Montonis pay the right people to stay on the right side of the law.
I tell Antonio and Giovanni to follow the Sokolis and make sure they leave our territory without causing any more trouble, and they head out.
Rafiel is by the door, and I clasp his hand. “Thanks for the backup.”
“Anytime. Nice work with the cutlery, Barone,” he says with a smile.
“I forgot my knife. Had to improvise.”
I approach the owner and apologize profusely for the disturbance. The man is in his fifties and has every right to tell me to get out, but because of my father, he’s deferential, shaking my hand in a double clasp and even trying to apologize to me. “Damiano Barone, you are welcome here any time.”
I take a wad of money out of my wallet and thrust it into the tip jar to make amends, nod to the waiters, and make my way back to Lucy.
She’s perched on her booth seat like a princess, back straight, eyes clear as she and Adora talk. I wouldn’t mind if she cried or trembled because of what just happened. I’d be more than happy to comfort her, but seeing her like this, so poised after coming face to face with danger…
The world fades away as I stare at her. Maybe she’s more grown up than I thought.
I study her profile, her soft lips and her bright eyes. Her beautiful, elegant throat. I crave to kiss her just below her jaw and feel her heart racing against my lips.
My sister is forbidden fruit, and I can’t want anything of the sort.
I lean down to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek. At the same time Lucy turns her head toward me to say something, and my lips crash into hers.
Time stops.
Her mouth is as sweet and soft as a daydream. Her lower lip is caught between mine, and I feel my eyelashes flutter. Every nerve ending in my body lights up like fireworks. I breathe in her exhale, and it feels like coming home.
My eyes start to close. I want to deepen the kiss. I want to slide my hand into her hair, pull her closer, and taste her properly.
A groan rises up my throat, hungry, desperate, and full of need that I’ve been suppressing for longer than I want to admit.
An alarm blares in the back of my mind. I’m kissing Lucy.Fuck.
I tear my lips from Lucy’s, and she gasps. I stare into her startled, beautiful face. Her mouth is very red and swollen from the brief contact. Her pupils have expanded, and a blush has spread over her cheeks. She’s breathing fast.
Twin lances of red-hot desire and panic shoot through me.
Nobody saw that, right?
