Page 39 of Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia #1)

SEBASTIAN

I knew she was hiding something.

Of course when Sydney’s ex showed up—using the afternoon rush to sneak past the café without Jade noticing—I followed him. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? To keep an eye on her. To keep her safe.

To figure her out.

Imagine my surprise at seeing her tucked away in a dark corner with her “ex” Chase Levine. Seems like they aren’t as over as Alec thought.

I saw something in his eyes when he was looking at her, something like love. And she just stood there, letting him put his hands all over her. Letting his fingers toy with her.

From the angle I was watching them, I couldn’t see her face, but she didn’t pull away when he touched her, didn’t rebuke any of his advances. She just stood there, frozen.

And isn’t that curious? I’m starting to suspect she knew exactly who Alec and Ash were when she so innocently encountered them.

Maybe the two of them are in this together.

It makes sense now why she was so adamant Alec not terminate Chase’s employment.

Why she was so protective of a man she supposedly was no longer dating.

When he finally saunters away, I watch Sydney take a deep breath, closing her eyes and retreating into herself. Her face is perfectly blank.

“Lover’s quarrel?” I ask, leaning against the bookshelf next to me. Sydney jumps, yelping in surprise.

“Jesus!” She gasps, pressing a hand to her chest. “Someone should put a bell on you, you know that?”

I ignore the irritated glare she shoots my way, my eyes fixed on Chase’s retreating figure.

I want to cut that smug look right off his face.

“You know, it’s funny,” I muse in a cold voice. “I could have sworn my brothers were under the impression that you and Chase were exes . As in, no longer together.”

Sydney bends down to straighten the books haphazardly stacked next to her stepladder. “We are exes,” she says.

“Then what was he doing back here with you?” I ask.

Sydney tenses. “Nothing,” she huffs. “He wasn’t doing anything .”

“It didn’t look like nothing to me,” I say. “Looked like he had his hands all over you. And you let him.”

Tell me why your ex was really here, something inside begs. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you want nothing to do with him. That you aren’t leading my brothers on.

Just say it.

Sydney straightens and glares at me, lips pressed in an angry, tight line. “You know what?” she says, pointing a finger at my chest. “I have enough shit to deal with today, and I don’t owe you anything, least of all an explanation. Who the hell do you think you… you?—”

She stutters and stops, her arm falling to her side. A look of uncertainty spreads over her face .

She’s staring at my arms.

“Are those…” Sydney blinks slowly. “You have tattoos ?”

Surprised, I glance down. The sleeves of my shirt are rolled up to the elbows, exposing my forearms and the ink covering them. I don’t remember doing it, and that bothers me.

What bothers me more is the realization that I left my jacket back at the café table. That the gun at the base of my spine might be visible. An amateur move.

I’m getting sloppy lately.

“You have a problem with tattoos?” I ask, arching an eyebrow.

“No! No, I just…” Sydney hesitates, twisting her fingers together nervously, eyes locked on my arms as I uncross them, my forearms flexing. “I’m just surprised. You didn’t strike me as the tattoo type. That’s all.”

Like you know anything about me , I think, but I roll the sleeves of my shirt back down, slowly covering them. Her eyes track the movement, her tongue darting out to wet her bottom lip.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen your arms before,” Sydney continues, voice softer now. “I knew you had nice hands, but…”

She snaps her mouth shut, cheeks flushing crimson.

“Forget I just said that,” she says.

“No, please, continue,” I tell her sarcastically. “Tell me more about how you’ve been objectifying me.” I wag my fingers at her. “And my hands.”

“You’re just… so prim and proper, I thought.” She fluffs her hair and stares intently at my sleeves, but when she catches me watching her, she quickly looks away.

“What are you doing back here, anyway?” she asks, tucking an errant curl behind her ear and refusing to meet my eyes. “Don’t you have a table you’re usually glued to?”

Following your ex . That’s what I was doing .

“I was looking for you,” I say, instead. “I’d like a book recommendation.”

“And I’d like you to fuck off.” Sydney rolls her eyes dramatically. “But we don’t always get what we want, now do we, Seb ?”

I can’t help it. A smile tugs at my lips, and despite myself, I feel my mouth curve up. A small, but noticeable grin.

Sydney doesn’t miss it. Her eyes go straight to my mouth and widen.

“What is your childhood trauma?” she asks with a laugh, sounding more amused than angry. “How is it the first time I see you actually smile it’s because I told you to fuck off?”

“You surprised me.” It’s harder than I would have thought to stop smiling at her. Harder than I expect to put my own carefully crafted mask back in place. “I like to be surprised.”

She snorts, but her eyes soften slightly. “Considering how much of a crazy stalker you are, I can’t imagine that happens a lot.”

“It doesn’t,” I admit. The smile falls from my face. “Enjoy it. I sincerely doubt someone like you has the capacity to do it again.”

The growing softness in her eyes vanishes, replaced with a cold anger I recognize all too well.

“You know what?” Sydney snaps. “I’m not sure what I did to make you hate me or whatever the hell it is you feel, but don’t you think it would make both of our lives better if you literally just fucking left?

” Scowling, she stoops down and grabs a book from the pile at her feet, and when she looks at the cover, a vindictive smile spreads across her face.

“Here’s that book recommendation you wanted!” Sydney says in an overly cheery tone, striding forward and shoving the book hard against my chest. “Enjoy! Maybe this will improve your shitty attitude. ”

The Prince’s Knife. I keep my expression blank as I stare down at the cover, recognizing it immediately. Alec has been trying to hide a copy of this same book on his desk, hoping we wouldn’t notice.

Her point made, Sydney storms off with an irritated huff, heading back toward the bakery. I follow behind her, not ready to let this go.

“Jade, my love, can you add a copy of The Prince’s Knife to Sebastian’s bill?” she asks loudly.

I emerge from between an aisle of books just in time to catch Jade’s confused frown.

“Okayyyy…um, sure,” she says warily, glancing between us. She purses her lips, clearly unsure how to read the situation. “That’s totally something you could have done yourself at the other register, but anything for you, Syd.”

Jade waves me toward her. “Come on, Doc. I’ll even make you a fresh cup of tea if you ask me nicely.”

I don’t want tea. And I don’t want to be sidetracked. I pull a few bills from my wallet and set them on the counter, pushing them toward her.

“Here. That should cover it,” I say. It better.

Jade’s eyebrows lift, but I don’t stick around to hear how much I’m grossly overpaying for a single book. My full attention is on Sydney, who’s walking away, back toward the bookshop, ducking into another aisle.

“What other shit?” I call out after her, following her.

That stops her escape. She turns to frown at me, brow wrinkling in confusion. “What?”

“You said you had other shit you were dealing with,” I remind her. “So tell me. What other shit?”

Exasperated, she rolls her eyes. “Can we please not pretend like you care, Seb? If Alec wants an update about me, tell him he can ask me himself. ”

She’s clearly upset over something. Her conversation with Chase was short and didn’t seem overly emotional, so …did one of my brothers upset her?

Seems unlikely. Alec won’t return from Empire City until later tonight, but the last time we spoke, he seemed fine. Busy, but fine. And Ash has been positively insufferable with his good mood. He won’t shut up about her and how well things between the two of them are progressing.

“What if I’m the one that wants to know?” I press.

“And I’m sure you’re asking with purely altruistic motivation, right?” She smirks when she says it, though. Then she sighs, reaching up to touch her hair nervously. “I’m stressed about money, okay? Happy?”

Huh.

“Must be hard to have invested everything in such a fragile business,” I say.

From the way Sydney stiffens, her shoulders tightening, I know immediately it was the wrong thing to say.

I didn’t say it to offend her. Independent bookstores aren’t exactly a booming business—not in today’s era of online shopping. Their store runs a profit, sure, but small businesses are risky, and a single mistake can be all it takes to ruin one.

I was trying to be empathetic. That’s all.

“I’ve got it handled,” Sydney says, fists clenching at her side. “My business is doing fine. ” Ah. A touchy subject there. I file that away with all the other information I’m learning about her.

“If money is the problem,” I venture, “you could always ask my brothers. I’m sure if you need them to?—”

“I don’t need anyone,” she cuts me off. “And what I absolutely don’t need is a man stepping in to try to save me.” She pauses, shutting her eyes for a moment to collect herself. “ Don’t… don’t tell Alec. Please, Seb. I don’t want him involved. I can handle this on my own.”

Fine. I shrug. “Then handle it.”

She scowls at me one last time before storming away.

“Asshole…” she mutters under her breath, maybe thinking she was far enough away for me to not hear. Maybe not caring if I did.

My lips twitch up into another smile.

That’s… interesting. So maybe she isn’t after Alec’s money, after all.

As far as I can tell, she hasn’t directly asked him for anything.

This could be a ploy, of course, pretending that she doesn’t want any help until he “finds out” and swoops in to save her.

Considering how obsessed he is with her, he would do it, too.

Hell, maybe she’s expecting me to be the one to tell him, to defy her request out of spite.

Then her hands are clean, and she still gets the money.

But I have no reason to tell Alec.

If money really is the problem, well… There's a way I can help with that, while still keeping Alec in the dark.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and type out a quick email to Ashton and his social media team. Maybe this is one problem we can solve without cash. Maybe Ash can fix this by doing what he does best.

Making someone look good.