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My husband-to-be is ruthless.

His forearms are lined with veiny muscle from the amount of strength used to strangle that beast. How is he so calm?

“Alright, hard part’s done.” Stanzo slaps my dad’s shoulder like they just caught a fish or something, then winks at me.

Dad plops on the couch pulling at his own hair. It’s really like he never thought something like this was possible after dealing with such dangerous people. Even I’m notthatdense. I sigh, running over to him to give him a big hug.

Our nerves calm together. He squeezes my arms and holds me.

“What have I done?” he says. “What did I get my little girl into?”

“Not the time for drama.” Stanzo starts rolling Sonny’s bloody corpse in the dining room carpet. “Trino, go take your wife-to-be and get out of here. Take care of the watchers.Capisce?”

“No way you’re going to be able to carry this piece of shit.” Trino drags Groundhog by one leg and drops him next to Sonny.

“Not in one piece, I’m not.” He laughs. “Rocco here is going to pop his little cherry tonight. Go on, get out of here.”

Trino scoffs and stomps over to me and Dad. He’s terrifying when he’s in the zone – greyish-green eyes with flecks of gold like angry lasers. When he holds out his hand filled with deep red indents from strangling Groundhog, I cower a little bit farther into my pudgy dad.

“Go with him, hunnie. It’s going to be alright.” Dad nods at me.

Trino flexes his hand for me to get a move on. I’m vulnerable as hell right now. Leaving my only semblance of comfort with a murderer is not how I planned my afternoon.

When I touch his hand, my whole body goes hot. I’m not sure whether it’s attraction, danger, or my attraction to danger. But it’s in this moment I realize a part of me is a twisted mess.

“Take care of my dad, Stanz,” I say like I’ve known him my whole life.

He stuffs Sonny’s gelled head deeper into the carpet before looking up at me. “It’s a deal, kid.”

Trino drags me back toward my room like I’m an uncooperative toy poodle.

“Remember, if we’re going to watch a movie, we have to keep the door open so Dad doesn’t get mad,” I joke through my nerves, and he just growls at me while opening the glass double doors.

“You know these neighbors?” He points over the low fence covered by shrubbery.

“Yeah, that’s Angela and Marc. They’re a cute couple – wait. You’re not thinking of strangling them too, are you?”

“Making sure they won’t immediately call the cops on you.” He grabs me by the waist and hoists me toward the top of the fence. There’s a gentleness about him in his movements, even if he’s all snarls and anger. Well, maybe I just don’t notice his grip because adrenaline is still pumping through me. “Hey, look away!” I whisper. “No peeking at my ass.”

He sighs, holding me in place like I weigh nothing. Jokes on me when I struggle to get both my legs over and my shorts get caught on the wooden fence, giving me the biggest wedgie imaginable. One ass cheek and a bit of my happy-face sunshine panties are on full display as I make noises no lady should in front of her fiancé. In my panic, I turn to see him looking the other way, probably holding back laughter again. It’s cute whenhe does that – like he doesn’t want the world to know he’s not a total moody asshole.

“A little help!” I whisper in my loudest quiet voice.

He returns biting his lip, then gets on his tippy toes to gently lift me off of the picket that I’m caught on. When I hit the grass on the other side, my ass feels like it was wiped with sandpaper, and one of my flip-flops flew off from my flailing. He couldn’t give me a minute to get sneakers or something? Jeez.

Trino hops the fence like Batman, making me roll my eyes when I’m sure he’s looking. Yeah, his sex-appeal levels are off-the-charts ever since I realized he’s not a meathead, but no way I’m showing him.

He picks up my flipflop and tosses it at me. “First of all, turn off GPS. Then I want you to call someone you absolutely trust.”

“Uh huh.” I take out my phone and scramble to do what he says. “What am I calling this person for, exactly?”

“They’re going to call the cops, and say there’s a strange car causing trouble near your house. But you’re going to give the address next door. Got it?”

I debate who that special someone might be. If I told Jacky, there’d be a million questions regardless. Maybe… hm.Gil?I probably shouldn’t.

“Yo.” He snaps his fingers at me. “Let’s move it. I don’t need the cops called on us.”

“Relax. They’re not home.” I point to the driveway where there’s no car, then click Gil’s name against my better judgement. “Any other details I need to give?”