Page 54 of His Passerotta

She knows that, right?

Then again, she should be cautious. Just not of me.

“I can’t protect you from everything, Bailey. I would never hurt you, but please, don’t make me push the authority I have to keep you safe.”

She shakes her head. “I won’t. I can assure you, I’m done sharing anything with my brother. He barely even cared, just ran off with his friends,” she says, talking a little fast. “That’s what that was about.” She gestures to the kitchen. It takes a second to register that she’s referring to their conversation. I already forgot what else was said.

She pushes onto her toes to kiss my lips while weaving her hands around my neck. I gently take her hips and kiss her back, but I don’t allow myself to get worked up like before. This thing with Bailey’s brother might blow over, but Settimo’s message is still at the forefront of my mind.

I pull away, resting my forehead against hers.

“You have to go, huh?” she asks, a little sad. I wish I could tell her no. Wish I could let her lead me to her bed.

I guess both of our brothers are cock blocks.

“Yeah… But I’ll call you.”

“On what phone? I don’t even know the number for the burner.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

She nods, but I can tell she’s unconvinced. Taking a step back, she absently scratches her arm. The ice shield she puts up is palpable. “Well, it was nice to see you.”

“I’m not blowing you off, Bailey. You know that, right?” Her expression slips some, and she shifts her weight but doesn’t say anything.

My phone vibrates, and I put my hand against my pocket. With a sigh, I walk past Bailey toward the door. She follows to show me out.

Once I’m in the hall, she puts a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

“Anthony?”

I turn and flinch when she crashes her lips to mine, taking me by surprise. Slowly, my hands thread through her hair, and I melt against her lips.

When she pulls away, she takes a step back, taking hold of the edge of the door. “For the record, I like you too.”

I smile and am about to make a sarcastic remark when she gently clicks the door shut. Which is for the best. She’s hard to say goodbye to.

Walking out of the building, I pull out my phone to call Settimo.

“What the hell took you so long?” he growls after the first ring.

I roll my eyes. “It’s one in the morning. What do you need?”

“The bomb was planted by the Irish.”

I stop in my tracks, my shoes scuffing on pavement. “Why do you think that?”

“Our guy took a look at the remains of the bomb. It was one of theirs. It had their calling card, so I’m guessing they wanted us to know.”

I try to make sense of that, but can’t. What the hell are they thinking?

Are they sending a message? Be on our side or else…?

That is ridiculously stupid. I could maybe see Nikita Petrov doing something like that, but not the Irish boss, Cormac.

“Why would they do that? They need us.” I shake my head. “Something isn’t right.”

“I don’t know why, and I don’t care. I’m meeting with Petrov tomorrow and ending this bullshit.”

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