Page 5 of Scandalous Kingpin

Tension sent a nervous tremor through me. These mafia men usually left me unaffected, yet something about him and his size—or was it the darkness that surrounded him?—turned me into a puddle.

“Aren’t you going to tell me yours?”

I wanted his hands on me, his head between my legs again, and even more… I wanted him inside me.

“No.” I froze, and before I could conjure a thought or a word, he continued in a cold voice. “You confused our last encounter with something it will never be.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“That day in the hallway… It’ll never happen again.” Conflict and something else waged in his eyes, but before I could identify it, his gaze coasted above me, his jaw pulsing in thought. “You need to forget about it.”

My chest went cold and humiliation planted seeds inside of me.

What was I thinking?

Just because I was a virgin didn’t mean I had to fall for the first man who’d made me orgasm. God, I was a walking cliché.

I swallowed. “You’re right. You’re nothing I’d ever want for myself. I’m glad we’re both on the same page so we can move past it.”

“Agreed,” he snapped.

Hurt and confused, I turned around and left, the weight of his gaze burning the back of my neck the whole way to the car.

The cutting ache of his rejection still stung to this day. If I was smart, I’d turn my back on him and find my brothers.

But I didn’t feel like being smart today.

“Did someone blackmail you?” I asked, raising a brow in fake amusement. I’d be damned if I showed him how much his rejection burned. “Or are you here out of some misplaced duty to mourn his loss?”

His jaw clenched and he shook his head, his gaze dropping to the ground. When it came back up to me, it was so haunted it pinned me to the spot.

“I’m not a heartless monster, angel.” Shock rocked me at my center, stealing my breath. He hadn’t called me that since the day at his club when he’d put his mouth on me. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” I swallowed, familiar pain throbbing in my chest. “I’m going to find who killed him.”

My words shook with emotion. I didn’t know why I said them. I hadn’t even dared to think them until now. The vengeance would be the only thing that could cool the fire in my blood.

“Trust me, it’s better this way.” He looked around the cemetery, landing where my athair’s casket full of flowers lay. “For you.”

My lungs felt tight. “That’s not for you to decide.”

His gaze was steady, and I knew his next words would be harsh, so I cut in. “Do you want my thanks for rejecting me andmaking me feel like…” I trailed off, my throat burning, but I steadied myself. “It no longer matters, because I’ve moved on.”

It was a lie, and he must have known it. We stared at each other as that awareness settled between us.

“That’s good,” he gritted. “It’s not like there’s any love lost.”

“Definitely not. It’s not like it matters anyhow,” I retorted, my heart beating hard against my rib cage.

He shook his head, hissing through his teeth. His eyes lifted to mine, and they flashed with possession. With his handsome face, he looked ready to dole out some punishment. The question was on whom.

“It matters, angel.” I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Suddenly I was terrified of the look in this man’s eyes—dark, violent. “The next time I touch you,” he bit out, “I’m going to break both of us.”

I swallowed, the insinuation of his words sounding more like a promise than a threat.

Something about them warned me that I should keep my distance. Nothing good could come from this untapped chemistry.

He took my silence as rejection and shook his head.