Page 69 of Vows of a Mobster

I stalked closer to her, aware of my men watching from the distance, as well as the passengers.

She raised her chin in defiance, challenging me.

“I will pick you up and throw you over my shoulder,” I threatened her, “Or maybe I’ll fuck you so hard, you will scream my name for days.”

Her eyes darkened and desire reflected in them. Fuck, she liked that.

“Get in the car,” I ordered her on a growl but she refused to move.

“Mateo, surprise to see you here,” a familiar man’s voice had me stiffening. I turned around slowly, blocking Brianna from his view. Fuck, I was so into her, I lost all sense of my surroundings.

“Declan,” I gritted. The head of the Irish mob that was a thorn in my side. He had two men with him, his younger brothers. At least his younger brothers were useful. My younger brother was only useful at chasing skirts.

From my periphery, I noted Antonio approaching, ensuring he had my back if something went down. My other two guards came behind Declan but he wasn’t worried. I wouldn’t be worried either, if Brianna wasn’t here.

“Ah, and I see faithful Antonio,” Declan continued, completely relaxed. “I wondered where he was.”

“Declan,” Antonio kept it short too. Probably why we got along so great.

“And who is the lass?” he asked, trying to peek behind me.

“None of your business,” I spat out. I didn’t want him anywhere near Brianna.

“Don’t be like that, Mateo. Let me have a look at that beauty.” He took a step closer, trying to catch a glimpse of Brianna over my shoulder. I felt her small body pressed against my back, and I thanked all the saints she stuck to me.

Antonio got closer. Shit was going to go down unless Declan backed off.

Then obnoxious music started blasting right behind me, screaming about liking the bad guys and sleeping with hot bodies and searching for ghosts. I knew exactly what it was. It was the same music that blasted through Brianna’s Jeep when she zoomed past me way past the legal limit.

“What the hell-” Brianna’s soft voice muttered behind me.

She answered the phone. “Damn it, Mar. Stop messing around with my ringtones.”

Brianna was so close to me, I could hear my cousin’s laugh through the phone.

“That’s the dumbest plan I ever heard. No, I certainly will not.” Whatever Brianna was discussing in an undignified tone with my cousin, it was bad timing.

“Bellissima, can you call her back?” I gritted through my teeth, tension in my body.

“Ah, sure,” she murmured. “Sorry, Mateo.”

“Um, Mar, can I call you back? I don’t know, everybody is kind of tense.”

“What? No! Can I have some too? Get me mint flavor.” She exclaimed enthusiastically, and I glanced behind me, giving her an exasperated look. “Chocolate and vanilla. Okay got to go.”

She quickly ended her call. “Sorry, it was important,” she mumbled, looking at me sheepishly as she lied to me.

“It certainly sounded like it, Bellissima,” I murmured, lifting my lips in a small smile despite the bad timing and the tense situation.

“Okay, we can go back to being tense,” she beamed at me, her eyes sparkling. “I have enough ice cream to last me a month.”

Declan bellowed into a laugh.

“Now that is a woman,” he spoke through laughter. “Great taste in music and ice cream.”

“Thank you,” Brianna acknowledged from behind me. Her palm was against my back and it grounded me in the strangest ways.

“I’m Declan,” he introduced himself. “It would seem your intended doesn’t want me to meet you.”