Page 17 of The Italian Reckoning (A New York Criminal Empire #3)

SARAH

S exy, mysterious Motorcycle Guy who I fucked in an alley and fantasized about is actually Rocky Barati.

The man I hate.

Life is playing some terrible, cruel joke on me, I swear.

Not only is Rocky my mysterious hunk, but he also seems to be the only person capable of keeping me alive since his father has put a bounty on my head. If I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect Matteo had something to do with Belle’s death.

Coming back to the casino was my only choice, and now I sit at the bar in Rocky’s private room watching him slice up half of a lime into small chunks.

Despite the warmth in the air, I’m cold, although the ice pack I’d been holding to my jaw has long lost its chill.

I’m so tired of people hitting me in the face.

Do they realize how much it fucking hurts?

I close my eyes and listen to my own heartbeat, trying to ignore the lingering sharp panic on the fringes of my mind.

Waking tied up to that chair was terrifying. It was exactly like?—

“You’re not allergic to dragon fruit, are you?”

I blink and Rocky holds half of a pink dragon fruit in one hand. Its sweetness clings to the air and makes my mouth water as I shake my head. “I thought you were making me a cocktail.”

“I am.”

“Looks like you’re making a fruit salad.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

“Clearly. Especially if the person just flat out lies about who they are.”

Rocky points at me with a sharp knife dripping in pink juices from the fruit. “I never lied.”

“You weren’t exactly forthcoming, though, were you?” I snap. “You know how I feel about you and yet you let me…” My cheeks flush at the thought of what we’ve done together.

Rocky smirks, not taking his eyes off me. “I let you what , exactly?”

“What we did in the alleyway.”

“You mean when we fucked ?”

He places such a guttural growl on that word that tingles shoot down my arms and legs, but I fight to ignore them. It doesn’t matter how good that sex was or how amazing I felt. If I knew it had been Rocky, I never would have touched him. “Sure, if you want to put it like that.”

“Sarah, you can act all pissed off that I didn’t tell you who I was, and that’s your right. I’m sorry I wasn’t completely honest, but you accepted that the moment you chose to give yourself to a stranger. I could have been anyone under that helmet, hell, even your boss , and that didn’t stop you.”

“Fuck off,” I snap. “I don’t need you psychoanalyzing my sexual activities.”

“I’m not, but you can’t be pissed at me for not revealing my identity when you were getting off on the whole thing.”

“That’s different .” My blood heats up, and a prickle of sweat tickles the back of my neck. “You knew I hated you and you still didn’t speak up. You knew I told you to stay the fuck away from me and yet you still let me… y’know.”

“I’m not saying what I did was without fault.” Rocky smiles easily. “But even the times when I tried to leave and you stopped me, I chose to stay. Just like you chose to ignore the fact that I was a mystery. And sure, I know you hate me. But I never said I hated you.”

My thoughts screech to a halt as Rocky adds the lime chunks and dragon fruit cubes to a tall, thin glass along with two small spoonfuls of brown sugar. He doesn’t hate me? That doesn’t make sense. We hate each other.

Or I thought we did.

Maybe I’m not arrogant enough to be worthy of Rocky’s hatred. But I still hate him. I think.

“You like Vodka?” he asks, reaching under the bar where bottles clink together as he searches.

“Sure.”

He straightens up with a bottle of pink lemonade vodka in one hand and pours a small amount into the glass, submerging the fruit.

After a quick squash with a metal cocktail stick, Rocky fills the glass to the top with crushed ice and club soda.

Then he slides the glass over to me with a wink. “This will make you forgive me.”

“Don’t bet on it.” To his credit, the drink tastes amazing. Very sweet and fruity with the added fresh aftertaste of the fruit at the bottom. My surprise must have been displayed on my face because Rocky suddenly looks very smug.

“Told you.”

I roll my eyes while conflicting emotions collide in my chest. I hate him but he saved me. I hate him and everything he stands for, but he’s also my mystery leather-clad biker. I hate him, but he gave me the strongest orgasm of my life.

How the fuck am I supposed to make sense of this on top of everything else?

Another few sips of the drink eases that feeling slightly.

Rocky makes his own drink and leans on the bar across from me without his usual cocky smirk. “I’m sorry.”

“For which part? The tricking? The lying? The kidnapping?”

“All of it,” he replies. “I admit, kidnapping you wasn’t my finest moment, but I didn’t know what else to do. I knew you wouldn’t talk to me, never mind believe me if I told you that you were in danger.”

“You could have called,” I say stiffly.

He drinks slowly. “Would you really have come with me if I laid it all out for you?”

I want to say yes just to spite him, but I knew deep down, I would have stubbornly ignored anything from him, so after a moment of silence, I shake my head. “No, I suppose not.”

“Exactly.”

“But kidnap? I have a job that will miss me, and my cat! Oh, God, Iris.” Lowering my glass, my stomach knots together. “I can’t leave her alone.”

“You’re on forced leave, right?” Rocky takes another sip. “And your cat… I didn’t know you had one. Is there someone you can call?”

I shake my head again. “Her food is on a timer and I refilled it recently, and she mostly sleeps, but if anything happens to her, I will kill you. Understand?”

“I would let you.” He smiles softly. “The most important issue right now, though, is that my father put a bounty on your head. Mostly my fault because I saved your life the last time there was an assassin on your tail.”

“But why?” I meet Rocky’s gaze. “What have I done to piss him off?”

“Exist?” Rocky shrugs. “You’re not bribable. You have strong morals and ethics. He wants you dead because he thinks that being unable to control you makes him look weak. He’s sensitive after the whole Noah fiasco.”

“Noah?”

“Yeah, remember the guy who killed Cormac’s brother?

I know you’ve had dealings with the Irish.

Noah was one of ours and my father got it in his head that it made him look weak and out of control.

So ever since, the tiniest toe out of line has been stamped out with a vengeance as if that makes anything better.

” Rocky groans slightly. “So you’re a target.

And I amplified it because we share the same goal. ”

“Belle’s killer?”

“Exactly.” Rocky sets down his glass and massages his eyes with the heel of his palm. “You’re a nail that sticks out, Sarah. He’s just trying to smooth it out.”

“Glad it’s not personal,” I mutter dryly, returning to my drink. “I understand that you want to find Belle’s killer, but we have to do things the right way.”

“Can you look me in the eye and tell me that?” Rocky’s eyes lock onto mine.

“Look at how many people get profiled by the cops just for existing, either by the color of their skin or the religion they follow. Look at how often something as stupid as paperwork can send someone awful back onto the streets. I know all the tricks because we thrive on keeping our people out of prison. And look at who you surround yourself with. Most of your colleagues are on our payroll.”

The truth in his words just makes me hate him even more and the prickling warmth from earlier returns to the back of my neck. “My distrust in my department isn’t a distrust in the law. If I do things right, then I can get a conviction and Belle’s family will see justice.”

“And how will you do that when they’re taking you off the case?” Rocky drains his glass and sets it down with a sharp clink. “I know you, Sarah. I know you bent the rules for Cormac.”

A pulse of surprise spreads through my chest. “You know about that?”

“Like I said earlier, I make a lot of friends. My father doesn’t like that.”

“Cormac was different.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Helping him… it was one piece of paper that stopped an all-out war between your two families. I think the lives I saved makes that choice understandable.”

“Oh, sure,” Rocky replies. “But if the law was so great, surely, there would have been a legal route for you to follow that would have given the same results?” He waggles his eyebrows, further heightening my irritation.

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you take that path?”

“Because…” Fuck, he’s so irritating when he’s right. “Because it wouldn’t have been fast enough.” I bury my answer in gulping down the last of my drink.

“Exactly. Because your way is corrupt. My way is honest. Listen…” Rocky places both hands flat on the counter and leans forward, his eyes shining like those of a puppy.

“Let me show you how we do things. The only way to keep you safe is to keep you with me until my father moves on to his next target, so we might as well investigate together. Maybe if you see how we do things, you’ll understand that the cops aren’t always the answer. ”

I narrow my eyes but he continues before I can speak.

“And if I fail, and if it doesn’t prove anything to you, then I’ll let you go and you can do whatever it is you cops do. Arrest half the city for all I care.”

The instinct to decline is strong, but something stops me.

I have grown desperate in my attempts to close Belle’s case and if there’s a chance I can get some kind of lead through Rocky, then maybe it will be worth it.

Especially if I do things properly to ensure any lead is airtight and usable in court.

It’s not like I have any other choice if there are people out there eager to hunt me down.

Staying close to Rocky may be my only means of survival.

“All right,” I say after a few minutes of thought. “But this doesn’t mean I like or trust you.”

“You totally do.” Rocky smirks. “I can tell. Otherwise, you would have been fighting like a cat to get out of here.”

“Out of self-preservation, I’m going to choose to ignore that because if you can’t recognize hatred, then that’s your issue, not mine.”

“I dunno.” He sings the last word with a smile. “You were all over me before you knew it was me. I might have a bag somewhere to stick over my head if it will help.”

I roll my eyes and drain the last lingering drops of my drink, savoring the tart burst of the fruit. “Believe what you want. You seem like a man incapable of doing anything else.”

“Ouch.” Rocky briefly touches his chest then picks up his phone as it vibrates on the counter. “I’ll have you know that… shit.” His face falls.

My stomach follows. “What is it?”

“There’s another body.”