Page 5 of Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia #1)

TWO WEEKS LATER

SYDNEY

The buzz of my phone against the counter is unfathomably loud in the quiet of our shop. I wince, pausing in the middle of restocking the bakery case, as Jade leans over to read the screen. I already know whose name she’ll see there, even before her face darkens.

“Sydney… why is Chase messaging you?” Jade asks.

Unfazed by her anger, my cell phone vibrates again, happily buzzing on the counter. Jade’s eyes narrow as she glares at it. For a second, I think she might pick it up and throw it.

She’s definitely considering it.

“I don’t even know,” I grumble, standing and removing my thin, plastic, food-safe gloves.

I take a moment to appreciate my work. The bakery case is, once again, picture perfect, stocked full of Jade’s incredible creations and beautiful baked goods.

I wish organizing my life were half this easy.

“He just keeps messaging me. I haven’t even bothered responding to him.

It’s not like we have anything to talk about. ”

Not anymore, at least. Chase saw to that when he cheated on me, effectively ending our relationship.

Though, I’m embarrassed to admit, I had still been responding to his occasional messages after our breakup.

It wasn’t until I saw him and his new girlfriend at the club together two weeks ago that I finally gained some self-respect and stopped engaging with him.

Apparently, my sudden silence was enough to convince him we needed desperately to talk. He’s been blowing up my phone ever since.

Thinking about that night at the club makes me feel uneasy, and not just because I saw Chase.

I can only remember bits and pieces of what happened that night before waking up in my bed fully dressed, with a phone full of anxious messages from Jade wondering if I’d made it home okay.

It’s rare for me to get that drunk, and even more rare that I’ll black out entirely.

And I’d felt horrible for days afterward, like my body was hell bent on punishing me for drinking too many martinis.

All in all, the night had been a disaster.

Another peppy buzz from my phone makes me groan, but before I can reach for it, Jade snatches it from the counter.

“I’m blocking his number,” she says with a finality in her tone I wish I could match.

Her fingers race over the screen as she unlocks my phone and navigates to my contact list. “He’s just trying to weasel his way back in your life, Syd, and I’ll be damned if I’ll sit back quietly and let him do it. Not on my watch!”

I snort but make no move to stop her. “I really doubt that’s what he’s trying to do.”

After all, he was with her now, wasn’t he? Caroline. Even thinking her name makes me feel ill. I know I shouldn’t hate her for it, believe me, I do. He was the one in a relationship. He was the one who cheated; he was the one who broke my heart.

The selfish, manipulative little?—

I stop and take a deep breath, counting to ten in my mind, willing the anger to recede .

I am not a slave to my negative emotions , I tell myself. I am in control of my own thoughts and actions .

I am an ocean of calm.

“Done!” Jade declares, tossing my phone on the counter. It hits with enough force to make me wince. “His number is officially blocked. Honestly, Sydney, he’s not worth this stress. The man had a Captain Jack Sparrow tattoo, for fuck’s sake. You can do so much better than that.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. Jade has always thought I could do better than every guy I’ve ever dated.

I guess that’s the role of a best friend, isn’t it?

To want you to have the best of everything.

To believe you deserve it. I know that’s how I feel about her.

Even before we started this business together—when the idea of co-owning a bookstore and café was just a fantasy—I knew I’d do anything to make her life better.

And, sure, that also included plenty of times when I didn’t approve of her girlfriends. Because Jade? For all her skills and business acumen? Oh boy, does Jade sure know how to pick the crazy ones.

“Oh! Did I tell you?” Jade smiles at me, raising an eyebrow. “Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome is back.”

She gestures toward one of our café’s small wooden tables, and I can’t help but look.

Tall, dark, and handsome is an accurate description of our newest regular, but it barely scratches the surface of the man sitting there.

With short, ink-black hair, a sharp, chiseled jaw, and smooth, dark skin, he’s nothing short of mouthwatering.

There’s something else about him, though.

Another reason I can’t stop staring, even when I know I should.

I’m not sure if it’s just his size—the man looks like he could bench press our bakery case and not break a sweat—or just the confidence he exudes, but he feels…

intense, in the best possible way. And strangely familiar.

Since the first time he came in, I felt like I kn ew him, somehow, but just couldn’t place him.

That’s impossible, though. There’s no way I could ever forget meeting a man like that .

Oblivious to our stares, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome lifts his Book Boutique and Bakery mug and takes a sip of coffee, eyes locked on the newspaper he’s reading.

He’s been coming by the store almost every evening for the past couple of weeks like clockwork, ordering coffee and a pastry, and staying until nearly close.

Whatever he does for a living must pay well.

He’s always in a suit, and even from here I can tell it’s not something that came off the rack.

It’s perfectly tailored to his body, and that sort of look only comes from something designer and expensive.

“I think he has a crush on you,” Jade says with a smile.

“Oh, please!” I laugh, but just imagining it makes me giddy. A guy like that? What woman wouldn’t want to believe he was attracted to her?

“Why else would he be coming by here every day, Syd?” Jade presses.

I shoot Jade a saccharine sweet smile. “To visit your delicious café, of course,” I say, fluttering my lashes at her.

Jade rolls her eyes.

There’s truth to what she’s saying, though. While we have a few loyal regulars who help keep us in business, it’s unusual for a customer to frequent our shop as often as Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Our regulars usually come by once or twice a week, not every single day.

With his next swig of coffee, he drains his mug. He hesitates, frowning at it, before setting it carefully back on the table.

Jade shoots me a significant look.

Go , she mouths, shooing me with her hands.

I glare at her.

She glares right back .

Fine .

It’s not like I had anything else to do right now, anyway. Abandoning Jade to her station by the espresso maker, I make my way across the café and over to his table. And, sure, maybe my heart is beating a little faster than usual, but what can I say? The man is a snack.

“I can take that for you, if you’re all finished,” I offer when I reach his table, gesturing to his empty mug.

The man looks up. His eyes are a deep brown, darker than I’d expected. So dark they’re almost black.

“That would be lovely. Thank you,” he says, his voice deep and melodious.

“No problem at all.” I smile, reaching for his cup.

He continues to stare at me as I take it, and I hesitate, suddenly wanting this interaction to last a little longer.

“I’m Alec, by the way,” he says, folding his newspaper carefully and holding out a hand for me to shake.

“Sydney,” I introduce myself. His hand is so big it engulfs mine completely, and he holds on for a second longer than necessary before letting me go.

“Are you the owner?” Alec asks, gesturing around the store.

“Co-owner,” I tell him. “Jade and I—that’s Jade, behind the counter there, with the pink hair—we own it together. She runs the café, and I—” I gesture toward the rest of our shop. My shop. “I run the bookstore.”

It might seem impressive, but trust me, it’s not.

Sure, the bookstore takes up most of our square footage, but it’s Jade’s coffee and pastries that bring in most of our profits.

That’s why we designed the place the way we did—with her café front and center at the entrance, and the rows and rows of books spiraling out from there.

We even included little reading nooks around my portion of the store, with tables and comfortable chairs, so our customers can have a nice place to sit and enjoy their drinks while they read.

Alec stares around at the bookstore as though seeing it for the first time. And now that I stop to think about it, I’ve only ever seen him here, at the front of our shop, enjoying the café. Maybe he’s not much of a reader?

“It’s a beautiful store,” he tells me, in that lovely velvet voice.

“Thank you.” I smile at him, feeling proud. “I think so, too.”

I was doing something, wasn’t I? It’s so easy to get lost in those dark eyes…

Right. His mug. That I’m still holding. Like an idiot.

“Well… I’ll just take this to be washed,” I say, turning to leave with a small laugh.

I’m halfway to the counter when he responds.

“Lovely to meet you, Sydney,” he says. I want so desperately to turn back around, to see if he’s watching me.

From the look of pure glee on Jade’s face, he is.

“ Shut up ,” I hiss at her, shoving the coffee mug in her direction and glaring at her ear-to-ear grin.

“Love you,” Jade coos in a singsong voice to me.

“To the moon and back,” I answer, finishing the phrase we’ve said to each other since we were kids.

I love books. They’ve been my much-needed escape since I was a child, a way for me to explore the world and all it offers without ever leaving the house.

There’s nothing better to me than leaving behind the worries and pain of the real world and letting myself get lost in a different life. A better life.

And I love that now I get to share those books with others. Love that I made a career of it .

“Thanks for choosing the Book Boutique!” I say cheerfully, as I slip a bookmark and receipt under the book’s cover and hand it back to my customer with a smile. “And have a great evening!”

They wish me the same, waving as they head toward the exit. My smile is genuine, and my mood is bright as I turn to give my full attention to the next customer in line.

“Hi there! Did you find everything you were?—”

The rest of the words get jumbled in my brain as I lose myself in a pair of dark eyes, and I simply…stop talking.

“I found everything I was looking for, yes,” Alec answers me. The slight curve to his lips could be the start of a smile. It softens him, makes his stark features even more handsome. A little less intimidating.

Internally cringing at my moment of awkwardness, I mumble something like “glad to hear it,” and take the three books from his outstretched hands, setting them on the counter to ring them up.

It’s a funny coincidence, but all three are books I love, and I recognize them as books I know are currently on display in our Staff Picks section at the back of the store.

The first two are recent popular literary fiction pieces, both nominated for several awards, but the third…

I pause as I’m ringing up the third book.

The cover is a nondescript red, decorated with a knife and roses, and even without reading the title, I recognize it immediately. The Prince’s Knife.

“If… If you don’t mind me asking,” I say, voice as nonchalant as I can manage, “what made you pick this one?”

Alec’s brow furrows as he frowns.

“I saw it on your recommendation display,” he tells me in a measured tone. His eyes narrow slightly. “You’ve read it?”

At my nod, his frown deepens.

“Did you not enjoy it?” he probes .

“Oh no,” I answer quickly. “I enjoyed it a lot , actually.”

“Then… Is there a problem?”

Oh no, there’s no problem here. Except that the book he’s picked is the first in a fantasy romance series, and despite the rather misleading cover, it’s… well…

It’s smut. Borderline erotica.

Almost a third of the chapters in this book contain—on page—steamy sex scenes, and I can’t imagine how Alec is going to react when he finds that out.

“No problem at all,” I say, giving him my best customer service smile and taking his credit card. I slip a bookmark advertising our store between the pages before handing all three books back to him. “I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.”