Page 76 of The Empress

“Holy crap,” she gasps.

“It pays really well,” I chuckle.

With her full attention on me, she asks, “What else?”

“That’s all I deal in. I’m a part of an alliance with four other people whom you’ll meet at some point. If they ever encounter trouble, I’m bound by an oath to help them.”

“Then why is there so much killing?”

“I only kill when I’m betrayed or threatened. Luciano got one of my men killed while we were attacking a drug dealer operating in my territory.”

She lifts an eyebrow at me. “Do you deal in drugs?”

“No. I don’t shit where I eat.”

She lets out a burst of silent laughter. “Well, that’s one way of putting it.”

When the server comes to collect our empty plates, I ask, “Would you like more wine?”

Haven shakes her head. “Any more, and I’ll get drunk. I don’t drink alcohol often.”

“Hmm…” I narrow my eyes at her. “What are you like when you’re drunk?”

Smiling, she shakes her head. “Unless me hanging onto the side of a toilet does it for you, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Noted.” Standing up, I move closer to her chair and pick up my jacket. “Put this on so we can go to the deck.”

Haven gets up and pushes her arms through the sleeves. My jacket dwarfs her, making her look fucking cute.

I link my fingers with her right hand, then lead her out of the room. When we reach the deck at the front of the yacht, Haven glances around us at the open water.

“I’ve never been on a boat before,” she admits.

“Do you like it?”

She inches closer to the railing and carefully peeks over the side, then quickly moves back. “It’s a little scary knowing we’re so far away from land.”

The wind blows her hair into her face, and without thinking, I brush the strands away and tuck them behind her ears while I step closer to her.

She glances up at me, and when I let my fingers trail down the side of her neck and over the diamond choker, the nervousness returns to her eyes.

I lean down and press a soft kiss to her left cheek, then say, “Thank you for letting me take you to dinner. I really enjoyed it.”

“I enjoyed it, too,” she whispers.

I pull a little back to meet her eyes while bringing my fingers to her chin. My thumb tugs at her bottom lip, and it has her breathing faster.

She likes it when I touch her.

There’s no hiding the desire in my voice as I say, “I’m dying to taste you.”

Her tongue darts out to torture me as she wets her lips, then she looks me dead in the eyes and demands, “Beg.”

Lifting my other hand, I frame her face and step as close as I can to her. The tension building between us becomes damn near explosive.

“Please.” I close the distance between our faces until her quick breaths hit my lips, and beg, “Gesù Cristo, per favore.”

She lifts her right hand, and wrapping her fingers around the back of my neck, she pushes up, and the moment her mouth touches mine, it’s game over for me.