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“Put me down,” I squeak and assault his back with my punches when a heavy slap on my ass echoes through the hallway. I’m ashamed to admit that my ass, along with other…parts, tingle at the force with a certain yearning. Damn!
“We’re going home,” he grunts, heading toward the entrance of the main hall. No, don’t tell me…
“Wait… wait… Please, you can’t take me out there like this. I’ll walk…I’ll behave. Please just put me down.”
Another slap tingles my flesh as his palms connect with my ass cheeks. “One more word, and I swear I’ll spank you right in front of everyone.”
Chapter seventeen
Elio
The incidents of last night continue to haunt me like a haunting melody.
It’s the way Aria tilted her head, laughing at whatever that blonde-haired jerk was saying. She was too close, his arm lingering on her arm and the fact that he even offered her champagne.
I know Aria isn’t like that, it probably was nothing to her, but I know nothing about that Friedrich guy and cannot trust someone as tacky as that.
The puzzle I’ve yet to solve is why this particular image is branded in my head like a stamp of notice.
I’ve had women, hundreds of them blonde, brunette, and redheads, of different noble and notable professions. Not one of them ever made me feel like this.
Possessive. Vulnerable…almost weak.
The need to own every inch of Aria, to have her all to myself in every possible way, grows stronger by the hour.
This cannot be love; love is a weakness I cannot afford. I have never been, and will never be, one of those men who would dance to the tunes of love. This has to be lust or a great kind of infatuation.
Whatever it is, though, it’s maddening and intoxicating, a feeling I find very difficult to describe.
When I first met with her, I knew she’d be useful. She was just a tool… another deal to close, another asset to acquire, so why can’t I move on from this girl? What the fuck is she doing to me?
I was going to keep her at arm’s length, but she has managed to crawl her way beneath my skin, planting herself in my heart like a parasite. A heart I didn’t know was capable of such feelings.
The way she looked that night, the shimmer of her dress catching the light, the curve of her hips where the dress snatched her waist, and the pink color of her lips, keep taunting me so much that I can’t even stand it. I don’t want any man near her, not even in the same room with her. In those moments, I feel my jealousy eating me alive, which is so unlike me.
The shrill ring of my phone vibrating on the table pulls me out of my conflicting thoughts. I glance at the screen, it’s my man in the NYPD.
“CapoDonatelli.”
“What do you want?”
“We learned that the Frank Paterson case was reopened yesterday by the DA. The DA said new evidence has come to light, and he’s enthusiastic about looking into it.”
My grip on the phone tightens. Of course, it had to be this case, the one that could unravel everything and ruin the perfect life Ezra is trying hard to build with Raven. He used to be the fiery don who could kill someone with a single word, but he’s left that life behind now.
If the law enforcement officials dig deep enough, Ezra’s retirement could go up in flames, and my life along with it.
“New evidence?” I ask again to be sure.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Is this even legal? Where the fuck was this evidence all along? And why is a dead man causing so much trouble among the living?”
He hesitates at the other end, then releases a slow breath. “He was a high-ranking DEA agent who died under suspiciouscircumstances. There’s no way they’re letting that go just like that.”
I end the call, tossing the phone onto the table and exhaling sharply. This cannot happen, not now, when everything is falling into place.
Ezra has been out of the game for years, but his name is still linked to several weighty crimes. If this case explodes, it’ll destroy everything we’ve built over the years.