Page 48 of Beautifully Savage Butterfly

“You know something about hacking, angioletto?” Salvatore asks, picking up on the same thing I am.

Dante sets each of the drinks down one by one, keeping us all in suspense waiting for his answer.

“I learned some tricks from my former cellie. I could take a look at whatever it is you’re trying to decrypt.”

“Cellie? As in…” Sparrow leans forward with interest.

“Prison, pretty boy,” he confirms.

I trade a look across the table with Enzo. It’s not like we’re asking him to take a look at our books. Whatever Casimir is hiding has fuck all to do with Moretti business besides the unfortunate fact that it’s going on in our city, right under our noses.

“It couldn’t hurt to let him look at it, right? Worst case, we’re no better off than we are right now, and we just have to go in blind to beat some answers out of him.”

Lorenzo drums his fingers on the table once, his face impassive as he considers it, no doubt running the same balance sheet through in his head that I just did. Worst case, we end up losing the most popular dancer at Wild to a plastic bag at the bottom of the ravine. Enzo nods, then looks back at Dante.

“When you get off shift tonight, Salvatore will pick you up and fill you in on what you’ll need to know.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for Sparrow to…” Alessio starts to argue, trailing off when he sees the flat, bored look on my brother’s face. The boss has spoken.

Enzo ignores Alessio’s comment and adds one more addendum to the order he’s giving Dante. “Depending on what you find, Salvatore may keep you close until we’ve dealt with the problem to ensure you don’t go running your mouth all around town before we can handle things.”

Dante hesitates for a second, looking across the table at Sal again. “Yeah, alright. We’ll talk about my hourly fee when you pick me up.” He smirks and leaves us alone again.

With that settled, the meeting wraps up quickly. A few other odds and ends, and then Enzo shoos us all away, giving me a meaningful look that I’m sure has to do with the fact that I didn’t bother to tell him about Orion until tonight.

“Enz,” I start to say as the other guys file past me, Orion’s presence heavy at my back.

“We’ll talk later. Your boyfriend is waiting.” He jerks his chin. Even I don’t have the balls to argue with a direct dismissal from him.

“Well, that was an anticlimactic night.” I slip my hand into Orion’s as we make our way out of the club again.

He chuckles in agreement. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“Where did you have in mind, Boss?” I ask, and a slow smile spreads over his lips.

Chapter 19

ORION

Whatever needs to happen next with Casimir, I know my temp job as Moretti muscle isn’t over yet. But for tonight at least, it feels like a weight is off my shoulders. I met Lorenzo Moretti and lived to tell the tale. Not that I would tell anyone. I might be bold enough to spank a Mafia underboss in public, but my bravery definitely doesn’t extend to testing my luck and flapping my gums about the head honcho.

“Give me your keys,” I say in response to Elio’s question as we make our way out of Wild, skirting around the horndogs panting over the dancers up on stage and the half-naked men carrying trays of drinks.

I’m not sure if I’m intending the command to be a test or not, but it kind of feels like one. He says this shit is serious, brought me to meet his family, but does he really trust me enough to hand over the keys to his hundred-thousand-dollar sports car? He doesn’t hesitate though. In one fluid movement, Elio reaches into his pocket, pulls out his keys, and tosses them to me. I snatch them out of the air with my free hand and wrap my fingers around them, the jagged edge of the key biting into my palm.

“Does that mean you’re not going to tell me?” he guesses, nodding politely to the bouncer who rushes to open the door for us. Elio doesn’t even slow his steps. He was expecting that kind of treatment. Instead of pissing me off for a change, it amuses me. And it definitely makes me want to put him over my lap and call him a brat again while I spank him.

My cock perks up at the idea.

“Nope,” I answer with a smirk.

I’m not sure why the idea occurred to me. Maybe it’s not even somewhere he’ll want to go. It’s not too late to pick a restaurant instead and take him on a traditional date. He drops my hand when we reach his car, going around to the passenger side and climbing in. I watch him through the windshield for a few seconds, noticing the strand of hair that breaks ranks momentarily before he cards his fingers through it to get it back in line, and the slight wrinkle in his jacket from the way I grabbed him earlier. My stomach flips and flutters, my insides heating all at once with feelings I never expected. Feelings that have been quietly building longer than I think I realized.

I swallow around the tightness in my throat and get into the car. Fuck a boring, traditional date.

I rev the engine, and he leans back in his seat, seeming perfectly at ease with me behind the wheel. He never even bothered to ask if I can drive. I chuckle at that realization.

“Right pedal for stop, left pedal for go, right?” I tease stoically. Elio’s eyebrows jump up while I grab the gear shift and yank it into drive. “Never mind, I got it.” I slam my foot down on the gas and peel out of the parking spot.

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