Page 55 of Awakened by Sin

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Let me make it up to you. Dinner. I swear, I won’t fuck you unless you beg me.”

She stared at him. “What?”

“We’ll do whatever gets you off. Toys? Audience? Dirty talk.” He grimaced as he glanced down at his chest. “You definitely need to be bound. Fuck. That was a damn good hit. You weren’t holding back either.”

“I don’t pull punches for anyone.”

“Good to know. So dinner?”

“You’re insane.”

His mouth crooked at the corner. “It distracted you.”

He was right. His talk about sex definitely distracted her from having a breakdown.

“Dinner?” he pushed.

“No.”

“I won’t fuck you.”

“No.” She headed for the door. “I have stuff to do.”

He followed. “I don’t get off on making women feel vulnerable. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have said his name.”

She tried to put a cap on her embarrassment. “I know you didn’t know.”

“We’re good?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

He took her hand, and she jerked.

He slanted her an amused glance. “Jumpy, are you?”

She scowled. “I’m not jumpy.”

He laced their fingers together and squeezed. His hand was warm and a little calloused. She was close enough to smell his cologne. It wasn’t the same one he wore yesterday. It was darker, spicier. Did he change his scent to match his suit? The hand-holding was odd, something high schoolers did. Why was this simple gesture more effective than a kiss? She tried to stifle the warmth in her chest. She didn’t want to like him. He was the new crime lord.

“I don’t even know you,” she muttered.

“You will,” he said as he led her to her car. “We’re not going to be able to avoid one another.”

“Why would we run into each other?”

“Besides Lyla and Gavin? I get the feeling you and I have a lot in common. Vegas isn’t New York. We’ll be seeing a lot of one another. It’s inevitable.”

He opened her car door. She started to duck inside and then paused. She looked up at him. He looked refined and invincible, but she knew he was as human as Vinny had been. A memory of Vinny’s lifeless body flashed through her mind, and her heart clenched.

“You need to be careful,” she said.

“I know.”

“No.” She searched for the right words to make him understand. “Vinny thought his name was enough, that Gavin’s support was enough, but it wasn’t. You don’t know these guys. They’ll test you, try anything to kill you to make another mark against Gavin. Even though everyone knows your family, even the lowest drug dealers aren’t gonna come running if you whistle. You have to start from scratch. You need as much help as you can get.”

Angel searched her eyes. “I’m not an easy mark.”

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