Page 133 of Night and Day

It didn’t matter how sexy and attractive Dante Fury was. I was in hiding. I couldn’t get close to anyone, or I could end up dead. Plus he was my boss.

My pulse skittered, and I couldn’t help but look back at him. He was talking with one of the servers, Jessica. Checking in. He did that every few hours, chatting with the VIPs, talking with the staff, looking for problems.

Dante drew closer to the bar. I saw the way men eyed him, standing a little straighter and sucking in their guts. There was no gut on Dante. His was as flat as a board, and was the perfect complement to his broad shoulders.

Women watched him too—hungry and dazed.

“God, that man is prime fantasy material.” Beside me, Staci let out a gusty sigh. “I’ve contemplated naming my vibrator after him, but I decided it was skeevy to call it Dante.” She eyed him. “Still, the man issofine in that dark, dangerous, just know he’d pin a woman down and fuck her hard kind of way.”

“Staci.”

She rolled her eyes at me and grinned. “Come on, Mila. You’re quiet, but I’ve seen you eye-fuck the man when no one is looking.”

I choked, grateful that it was dim enough that she couldn’t see the heat in my cheeks.

Staci slapped me on the back. “No judgment here. He’s worth an eye fuck.” She sighed. “It’s a damn shame he never messes around where he works. Never flirts with the customers, never takes them back to his office, and that goes double for staff.”

In my few weeks here, I’d never seen a single hint of him flirting, or anything.

Staci leaned in. “I heard he was seen with some fancy assistant district attorney a couple of times. Figures he’d go for smart and classy.”

My stomach did a weird flip. And then I noticed Dante was heading our away.

I straightened. “How about we make some drinks?”

Staci leaned closer. “Are you blushing?”

“No.”

She grinned. “Yousoare blushing.”

“No, but I’m thinking about giving you a black eye.”

Staci laughed. I looked up and locked eyes with Dante.

He moved toward the bar, and I couldn’t look away. Every single part of me shivered, filled with energy.

He had dark eyes. They looked like chips of obsidian. Deep, dark, unfathomable pools.

“Mila. How’s it going this evening?”

Gah. It was all kinds of unfair that on top of his looks, he had a deep, panty-melting drawl with a touch of grit.

“Great.” I managed a nod. “All good.”

He cocked his head. “You sure?”

I felt a cold tickle down my spine. I always got the sense he knew I was hiding something. Like he wanted to know all my secrets.

I straightened. No one got my secrets. They were too horrible and too dangerous.

I knew Dante and his brothers stood up to the darker underbelly of New Orleans—the gangs, the mobsters, the criminals. But that didn’t mean I’d bare my soul. Not when it could end with me with a bullet in my brain.

“Very sure.” I pasted on a smile.

He watched me for a long second with those endless, dark eyes. “Are you closing tonight?”

My heart did a little jump. “Yes. Venus needs to get home. One of her kids has a dance thing tomorrow.”