Page 4 of Dangerous Men

“Jade, my love, my best friend, myeverything”—okay, maybe I’m a little too drunk, too, because I’m slurring just as badly as she is—“I’m not letting you bike home alone. We’re getting you a lift. And that is final.”

“I hate when you make sense.” Jade pouts dramatically before throwing her hands up in surrender, almost tipping over in the process. “Fine! Order me a car. But you better text me the second you get home, okay?”

According to the app, there’s a ride available right around the corner. I’ve barely finished entering her address and setting the pickup location when the car pulls up to whisk her away.

I tuck Jade safely into the backseat—mildly concerned that the driver, Edward, according to the app, looks like he hasn’t finished puberty, let alone earned his license—and shut the door.

“Love you!” Jade yells drunkenly from the backseat, face pressed against the window, her words misting the glass.

“To the moon and back!” I yell right back at her, waving as the car pulls away.

The air feels a little cooler as I start my walk home, and the streetlights are unusually bright against the dark night sky. I blink at them, drunkenly, trying to focus. But they keep moving. And they’re getting brighter by the second, shining like little suns.

Huh. Isn’t thatpretty?

I had fun tonight, but I’m grateful the night is nearly over. Soon, I’ll be passed out in my comfortable bed. I’m looking forward to it, craving it, as I stumble down the sidewalk.

Naturally, this is when I realize something is wrong. Something is very wrong.

My legs feel unnaturally heavy, and time seems to twist and slow. The bright lights around me dim, and then fade to black, and the last thing I see is the sidewalk rising to meet me as I fall.

Shit.

2

ALEC’S NIGHT

Magnetic.

That’s the only way to describe her. Even when I try to look away, this woman’s presence pulls me back. I’m hypnotized by her—the way she moves, the way her hips sway in perfect time with the thumping club music. It’s been a while since I’ve bothered picking up a beautiful woman for a night of casual fun. Maybe tonight I’ll indulge.

A little fun could be exactly what I need.

I’m only at this miserable club tonight to close this business deal, but she caught my eye the second she made her way onto the dance floor with her friend. A perfect temptation, with those long chestnut curls cascading down her back, golden skin glowing under the flashing lights, and that tight red dress clinging to every curve of her body.

A few more sways of those sinful hips and her dress might ride up just enough to see exactly what I’m looking for…

As if sensing my eyes on her, she stills. Her hand brushes the nape of her neck, and her gaze scans the crowd, searching.But she doesn’t see me, hidden in the shadows of the second-floor balcony, watching her every move.

What would she be like, I wonder, if I got her alone? If I had her all to myself?

I’m eager to find out.

With one last cautious glance around the club, my mystery woman takes her friend’s arm, and they weave through the crowd toward the bar. I track her movements, my eyes drinking in every curve, imagining how they’d feel underneath me. Under my tongue.

“So … we’ve got a deal?” Tony asks, dragging me back to the present. He pushes the contract toward me over the dark surface of the table between us. Reluctantly, I turn my attention back to him. The woman in red can wait.

Tony Delmano. What a pathetic excuse for a man. How he scraped together even a fraction of power in this city is beyond me. If my brothers and I didn’t need the shipment of weapons he’s currently selling, I’d be tempted to leave right now and join that little seductress downstairs, deal be damned.

But expansion requires firepower. And firepower requires working with Tony.

“As long as the shipment is on time, we’ve got a deal,” I tell him, pushing the contract back to him without sparing it a glance. “But I don’t sign this sort of paperwork. You should know that.”

As if a man of my social standing in Fortune City would be caught dead signing an illegal weapons deal.

Tony balks as he takes the contract back, shuffling the papers nervously. “Of course, of course. Sorry, man.” I turn in my seat, dismissing him as my eyes drift back toward the dance floor, but he keeps talking. “Hey, while you’re here…”

My jaw tightens, and I turn back to him, letting the full weight of my stare settle on him until he shifts in his seat.