Page 62 of The Bonventi Hitman

The bartender comes and places our drinks down, and I reach for my champagne, taking a sip and almost choking when I hear his name.

"Gabriel, good to see you," Kaz says and stands. Gabriel approaches Mr. Smoothtalker and shakes his hand. He then places a hand on my shoulder. "Sofia, nice to see you. Luca," he says, and they shake hands.

I watch as he goes around the table greeting everyone.

I can't take my eyes off of Gabriel. Not the least because he's the tallest person in the room, but because he's him. He's wearing a dark suit with a black shirt and tie. He looks so confident, and I find him moving with an almost seductive quality—obviously, that's me putting it on him, but at this point, I think he could trip and fall, and I'd get wet.

Luca leans into me. "Be a good girl and go with Gabriel now, and I'll see you later," he says and slides his hand up my dress.

It takes everything in me to not slam my glass across his face or, better yet, tell Gabriel what he just did.

Tell Gabriel?

Woah, that's a new thought.

Do I see him now fully as my protector? Has his claim on me taken its hold? How could one part of me almost not care about the bad things he does, that I want to run to him? I've never felt that before, and as I stand to make my way over to him, I'm completely shaken to my very core at how easily that thought entered my mind.

Approaching Gabriel, he does a double-take as he looks me up and down in the only way I ever want to be looked at again.

"You look beautiful," he says.

I feel his gaze on me like fire, and I wonder how I even existed before finding such warmth. Such appreciation of me and what I have to offer.

"You look very handsome," I say with a smile as wide as my face will allow. It's that giddy, nervous feeling that flutters in my stomach and makes me do awkward things for the first few moments we're together.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask and lean against the bar, my high heels giving me the inches to do so comfortably.

"Do you remember the painting?" he asks.

"The painting?"

He turns to look at me. "The man on the bench?—"

"Oh," I say and then lower my tone, "the secret door?"

He nods. "The secret door."

I see him glance over my shoulder to the group as another man enters.

"Let's go," he says and grabs my hand.

ANNA - 23

He leads me over to the painting and pulls on the cane. The door creaks open.

"Hurry," he says and pulls me in. He shuts the door gently, and we're standing in total darkness.

"I can't see."

I suddenly feel Gabriel's lips on mine. I taste the subtle sweetness of the whiskey while inhaling his cologne.

After a few moments, I hear a click, and suddenly a chain of low-powered lights turns on over us and illuminates a hallway. I look down and see a few doors and a bend at the end of the hallway, which I assume leads to more rooms.

"So these are Capone's tunnels, huh?" I ask.

"Yes, something like that," Gabriel says with a smile. "But right now, they're ours. Here," he says and takes my hand, "let me show you."

As we walk down the hall, a draft comes from overhead, and I look up to see long shafts in the roof—airways, I suppose.