Page 24 of The Mafia’s Girlfriend

Ben nodded, drinking sloppily with some spilling. “Another manager. He and Jimmy used to show up together, but fuck. That’s like over twenty years ago.”

“I heard Sean retired,” the thug to Ben’s left said.

“That would add up. He comes by every now and then but doesn’t stay long.”

I shook my head, clueless what they were talking about. I didn’t come out here to be tense and talk about another retired person in the fighting world. I wanted to talk about being kept in mind for advancement.

“Now that motherfucker...” Ben grinned, raising his bottle to his lips. He pointed with a finger lifted from the glass, and I turned to see what he was pointing out behind me.

Fuck.

I didn’t react externally, but in my mind, I wanted to groan.

What the hell is she doing here?

Emma and her friend exited from the other side of the crowded dance floor. I caught a sight of Emma’s long dark waves as she shook her head. Her shoulders tightened, emphasizing the strain that she put into wrenching away from a man. It didn’t work. Her bright blue-green eyes flashed with anger, but the asshole dragging her out was impervious to her attitude.

Fuck. Fuck!

That girl was nothing but hot-damn trouble. I’d been ignoring her the best I could all week at the Tropican, but it was impossible to pretend she wasn’t there, within my orb. I was aware of her and wished I didn’t have to warn myself not to check her out. But I refused to break. I wouldn’t cave. Talking with her would do no good. And anything else would end in disaster too.

No matter how much I was curious and drawn to her, I refused to get involved.

Now, I struggled with that rule. Here she was, struggling to resist those men as they overpowered her.

She was a magnet for trouble. From other men. Even me. I couldn’t save everyone, dammit. I had to pick my battles wisely.

“Who?” I asked, watching as Emma and her friend were forced to the exit. The three men moving them out looked like the strong, smug assholes who often pulled the same duties at Ben’s pair of lackeys. Hired men expected to do their boss’s dirty work.

Mafia? Or cartel? Both were strong forces around here.

“He calls himself El Diablo.” Ben snickered.

That nickname identified him though. Despite the darkness and the distracting bright lights strobing around, and regardless of the distance separating us across the room, I noticed his namesake of a tattoo on the back of his neck. Thick, bold lines showed a tribal sign that emphasized a pair of devil horns.

“Now that’s someone you’d make bank on.” Ben nudged me, laughing like he would salivate to see a match like that set up.

I sized up the man who moved with the group ousting Emma. A couple of them veered Krista off to the side. She reached out and fought to get to Emma, scowling and talking back to the two men who split them. Emma resisted with every step, trying to shove of other men’s hands and arms off her. Behind her, the taller freak appointing himself as “the devil” followed them all out.

“El Diablo,” I said in acknowledgment.

“His real name’s Orsen, I think, but he’s backed by some pretty powerful motherfuckers,” Ben said. “And it’s no wonder. He’s probably an even match with you.” Like me, Ben was confused why Jimmy held me back from better fights. At least he could admit my level of skills and expertise though.

“Who backs him?” I asked, unable to turn back and look at Ben. One of the men hauled Emma closer to his side, groping her and sliding his hand under her shirt.

She protested, craning her neck to escape from him trying to kiss her. They passed the bouncers at the door, and they looked the other way.

I had my answer. If Orsen was with little party, it stood to reason they were all colleagues. And if the security in this place knew better than to stop them or mess with them, they really did matter to some bigger organizations.

None of that seemed to matter.

White-hot rage coursed through me as I watched Emma twist and grimace to break free.

Orsen could be an associate of the actual devil himself. I didn’t care.

Over my dead body would they bother her. With how fast they were dragging her outside, doing so against her will, they had evil intentions. Probably to rape her.

Fuck this.