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I was on the second floor looking down at the new arrivals. No matter how uncomfortable I felt, I knew I at least looked like a million bucks.
Taking my drink, I stopped a waiter carrying a tray of appetizers and helped myself to what looked like a mini quiche. I hated quiche but I needed to do something with my hands.
I gulped down my drink and the quiche in record time. Then I people-watched, my back up against a wall, just waiting for Nico to pass by.
Unable to help myself, I touched my throat. I was wearing not only the earrings my mom gave me, but her locket, too. I needed both tonight to stay strong.
I thought of her frequently. I missed her every day. I carried the locket she had given me on my tenth birthday everywhere.
Her death had been devastating. Part of me knew that her death was what had shaped this moment.
Would I be there, at the charity event, plotting to kill someone, if I had been capable of moving on? First, my mother and then Jason. Fate wasn’t fair. Life wasn’t fair.
And I was there to balance the playing field…even if it meant dying. I paused…I was prepared to die, wasn’t I?
I’d noticed the security at the event. They tried to look invisible but they were far from it. Their guns bulged underneath their suit jackets.
They looked competent and I was sure they were good at their job. I doubted they would even hesitate to shoot me.
I swallowed hard. I couldn’t think about the aftermath. There would always be consequences. I was ready to face them.
“We meet again.”
That voice. The timber and pitch sent chills down my spine. I turned around slowly until my eyes settled on his. Deep and gray.
Dario. What was he doing here?
It was unfair that he was so attractive in his dark tuxedo that fit his body to perfection. Even in my heels, he towered over me, making me feel small, yet feminine in his presence.
Speaking of his presence, he unnerved me. The first time I saw him I felt drawn to him. Something about him was mysterious, brooding and appealing to me on a primal level. Everything about him screamed danger, but I couldn’t look away.
Those gorgeous eyes, the dark hair that I wanted to run my fingers through, and that mouth, goodness, the man had the most kissable lips. I had thought the same thing the first time I met him, outside of his house with my car in the ditch.
At that time, I had been embarrassed by my sudden attraction to this stranger and had tried to appear indifferent and aloof, but there was no denying that I felt something when I looked at him. And when he looked at me, it was like he looked through me, to my very essence.
Yes, it was unnerving, and strangely also a turn-on.
I felt embarrassed by my thoughts. Sex hadn’t been in the equation for me since Jason. I had no desire, no interest, and then Dario only had to look at me, and my thoughts went down that path.
It was only natural, right? It wasn’t as if Jason had been the only man in my life. After we broke up, I had a lot of “revenge” sex, making my way through a few guys, thinking that I could bang my way through some dudes to forget about Jason.
And that I could forget about my mom’s death by running with the wrong crowd that didn’t care if I lived or died. I drowned my days in booze, sex, and whatever vices I could find.
Then Jason had shown up at the jail and helped me to find purpose again. Now I was lost again. He had grounded me. Without him, I felt alone.
But Dario could change that.
The weight of the gun in my purse made me self-conscious as I eyed the man in front of me. What was he doing here?
“Are you following me?” he asked with a cocky tilt of his upper lip—just a hint of a smile.
Something about his smile was slightly dangerous and his steely eyes had a glint of coldness. He looked like he was always calculating, the type of guy who knew your thoughts before you knew your own. I was drawn to him, but I didn’t want to be.
I didn’t have time for romance. Not that he seemed the romance type. As I silently appraised him, I would say he was the type to fulfill a girl’s fantasy, the type to slowly torture her with really good sex, and then leave her in the morning.
Maybe that’s what I needed.
What was I thinking? I wanted to shake sense into myself. I couldn’t have sex on the brain at a time like this.What was wrong with me?There was just something about him. I chalked it up to my mind being overrun with emotions. My life was a mess. I was a mess.