Page 24 of Rescued By the Mafia

Iris’s eyes opened wide and she whipped her head around to gape over at him.

Dante raised a brow at her, the corner of his lips twitching. He reached out and tapped the folder sitting unopened in her lap, a clear, silent command. “Also, you’ll ingratiate yourself to your future sister-in-law. I’m sure you see the value in that.”

So he was talking to one of his brothers. Iris felt sure, then, it was Mikey. If only because Mikey had been the one introduced as the family tech guru. She turned her attention forward again, attempting to gather herself enough to flip through the papers in her lap, and something beyond the window caught her eye.

Her eyes widened and her lungs froze. There, just ahead of their position and in the next lane, was her Corolla. The car supposedly signed out from that garage by her ex.

“Dante…” Iris reached over without looking, her gaze riveted to the familiar profile of a vehicle.

Dante closed his hand around hers. “What is it?”

She nearly lost sight of the Corolla as it slid into an upcoming right turn lane, disappearing briefly behind a larger vehicle. “My car,” she whispered even as she realized it would be turning away. In seconds, she would lose sight of it. Did she want to lose sight of it? She couldn’t see the driver, but more than likely she knew who it was. And she certainly never wanted to be anywhere near enough to have to lay eyes on that man again.

Dante’s grip tightened. “Where?”

“Turning right, up ahead,” Iris said, her throat constricting around the words as she watched the car that had carried her out of Hell do exactly as she described.

Dante threaded his fingers with hers. “You motherfuckers heard her. Get us in the right direction.”

“Yes, Boss,” the man at the wheel said.

“Iris.”

She sucked in a breath and turned away from the window, blinking as if to clear a fog from her mind.

Dante brought her hand to his lips, kissed the back of it, and said, “Buckle in, honey. This isn’t a leisure drive.” He set his phone on the seat between them, reaching to do the same as he’d asked of her, and only when her gaze dropped to the screen did she realize his fingers had been moving as he’d spoken.

Ringing filled the cab of the SUV for several seconds. “Hey, Boss,” a male voice answered as Iris’s seatbelt clicked into place.

Dante left his phone where it was and instead reached across for her hand again, but spoke to the man he’d called. “I might be making a scene in the next few minutes. Send me some backup in the mood to get messy.”

“Sounds fun,” the nameless man replied. He didn’t ask a single question before disconnecting, and Dante didn’t seem bothered.

Iris held tighter to his hand. “He’s a deputy,” she whispered. “Won’t that … be a problem?”

“The problem,” Dante said as the SUV made a sharp turn. He caught his phone with his free hand before it could slide to the floor and tucked the device away. “Is that he’s still breathing.”

Iris looked over at him, clutching his hand and the folder she’d never opened, and found herself cursing the small distance and restrictive straps of material holding them apart. It wasn’t enough to be next to him. She wanted to be encompassed by him. “I don’t … I don’t want to see him, not really,” she said. She could hear the strain in her voice, despite how quietly she’d spoken.

“Do you know how to shoot?”

The question was unexpected and Iris shook her head before she could overthink it. “Technically I’ve practiced a couple times, years ago, but I was always lousy.” She’d been afraid of the weapon and the horrible ways something could go wrong if her finger closed on the trigger at the wrong moment the first time. The second time, the last time, she’d mostly just remembered the kickback and how unpleasant it had been. Both times she’d missed her target so badly her date—the man before Paul—had laughed his ass off.

Dante rubbed his thumb along her knuckles. “We’ll have plenty of time to address your aim,” he said. “For today, and at any point in the future if you should find yourself remotely near a dangerous situation, you will never be alone. There will never be less than two armed men at your side any time you walk into a confrontation.”

Iris drew a breath. That certainly wasn’t how she’d once pictured her life, but…

“Boss,” the man in the passenger seat said, “the car’s stopped at the Full Circle.”

What? Iris found herself trying to see through the man in front of her, to look out the windshield for herself.

“Did you see the driver get out?” Dante asked.

“No,” both men responded.

“Block the fucker in.”

Iris squeezed Dante’s hand as the SUV swung into the parking lot. Her mouth had gone dry, but she needed to speak. “The—” Her voice choked and she had to swallow and try again. “Full Circle Thrift Store?”

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