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I smirked. “All you had to do was ask.”

“I swear I can taste the sea on your lips,” she mused, reaching up to trace them with the pad of her finger.

My dick ached for more. I wanted to draw her away, take her to the sea and lay her out on the sand.

“Thank you, Markos, you’ve been a wonderful host. I’ve had a really lovely time staying at your place.” She slipped away, and I watched her return to her table.

Alarms sounded in my mind as she folded onto the cushioned seat, lounging like an Olympian against the damask pillows.What are you up to, little one?

Chapter 18 – Serena

“That kiss was a distraction,” I muttered to my reflection, shaking the excess water into the sink. “I had to throw him off the scent somehow.”

Then why are your lips tingling?

“Because I’m nervous!” And that martini was strong.

Patting my warm cheeks, I took a deep breath. So long as there was no one in the hall, I was good to go. With a tug, I opened the bathroom door and casually strolled out.

There was no one around.

Instead of turning right to the bougie club, I made a beeline for the entrance. My steps slowed as I passed the hostess, but the twit was too busy on her phone to notice. I slipped through the door, angling my face away from the bouncers, and hurried into the night.

I did it.

“I did it!” I said.

Barely able to keep from shouting it, I clip-clopped down the sidewalk. It took a concentrated effort to keep my steps slow and focused. Once I rounded the corner, I paused to peek backward. No one followed me.

Holy shit, how was that possible?

“Some mafia,” I muttered.

Their situational awareness sucked. I used the bathroom and walked out the front door. Something like a warning crackled down my spine. It didn’t feel right.

“That’s just because you’re high on adrenaline.”

And pirate kisses.

Rolling my eyes, I hurried away. Just because they were too lazy to keep watch on one lousy prisoner didn’t mean theywouldn’t hunt me down. I wouldn’t be safe until I left this city and was back in Chicago.

My stomach dropped.I did it. I escaped.

And now I was returning to Chicago and the famiglia. To the gilded cage I grew up in. The place where I’d been equally imprisoned.

“Sandro and Leo are my family.” But that ache in my chest was from missing Sandro’s wife. Penelope was no doubt going out of her mind, worried sick about me.

But even though I had a sister-in-law whom I cared deeply for, returning meant going back to the status quo. Which meant guarded shopping trips and days at the spa, unable to chat with anyone from society. And loneliness. Endless, suffocating hours spent alone.

“Urge, he’s going to be impossible now,” I groaned, crossing the street with seconds to spare.

If I thought it was bad before having a great and powerful mob boss as a brother, Alessandro would be insufferable now that I had been kidnapped. I didn’t want to call him, let alone go back.

The diner I spied on the way here had a big yellow sign and promised waffles. I took the hundred-dollar bill from my bra, went to the counter, and ordered a coffee. Even if I was hungry, there was no way I could eat.

“What else do you want, hun?” the man in the apron with kind eyes asked.

His question repeated in my head, but with that eerie calmness of deep revelation. WhatdidI want?