Page 11 of Training His Pet

“I see my name in the paper, I’m gonna know who put it there,” Marco said.

“Probably the person writing the article, smartass,” Erika shot back.

Dax put his arm out to keep her behind him and warn off Marco from advancing. It was like keeping two kindergartners away from each other.

“I’ll take her home. She won’t bother you, and she won’t be writing about any of this. You have my word,” Dax promised again.

Marco studied him for a minute then shook his head. “Yeah, whatever. A fist fight, right? Who cares about a fist fight?” Marco spit on the ground again, then yanked the door open to the club and went inside.

“Marco Persuccio?” Erika asked when the silence of the alley filled the space between them.

Tension rolled up his back and through his neck. He slowly turned to face her, reminding himself to keep calm, to keep a level head.

“I put you in a cab,” he said.

She pointed at him. “Actually, Justin put me in a cab. But, fortunately, it’s not the Middle Ages so the cab driver actually listened to me—a mere woman—when I told him to turn back around.”

He dragged in a sharp breath through his nose. “You don’t know who you’re messing around with,” he said. “Those guys don’t care if you’re a woman or a man, they only care if you’re a problem. And if you keep snooping around them, you’re a problem.”

Her bravado softened, but her stubbornness held out. “Fine. I’ll leave this one alone. I won’t mention this.”

Her statement left him with plenty of questions. “I’m going to take you home myself.”

“I don’t want—”

“Not about what you want right now.” He shook his head and snagged her elbow. “I don’t know what that fight was about and I don’t care.”

She pulled back on his grip. “You can’t just manhandle me to get what you want,” she snapped.

He stepped closer to her, letting her sense the strength and height he had over her. “I won’t touch you, but you are letting me drive you home. I want to be sure you get there safe. And that Persuccio’s men don’t follow to give a message.”

Realization finally dawned in her eyes.

“Okay, sure, that’s probably a good idea.” She let out a loud breath and rolled her shoulders back.

“My car’s in the back lot.” He gestured the direction for her to walk. She nodded and stepped around him, and over the unconscious man lying in the alley.

“He’s going to be okay, right?” she asked quietly after they’d reached Dax’s car.

He yanked open the passenger door for her. “He took a solid beating, but he was breathing. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Dax shut the door once she was tucked neatly inside and rounded the car to the driver’s seat.

“Where do you live?” Dax asked, pulling his car out of the lot and onto the street. Nearly midnight already on a Friday night, the city streets were busy, but not overcrowded. He maneuvered easily through toward the address she gave him.

“The Persuccio family isn’t your usual topic,” Dax said as they moved through the traffic.

“No. They aren’t,” Erika responded, looking out the window.

Dax took the clipped response as a good indicator she wasn’t in the talking mood. He turned down her road in silence and found a spot on the street to park.

“Thanks for the ride.” She started to pop the door open, but he reached over and grabbed her arm.

“Wait. I’ll walk you up.” He jumped out of his side and met her on the curb. She hadn’t waited, not that he expected her to. So far, she’d shrugged off every instruction he’d given her.

“It’s the third floor,” she said, casting a quick glance at him and held her purse tighter to her body.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” he assured her again when they started to make their way up the steps.

She paused a moment and turned to him. “Would you admit it to me if you were?” She tilted her head to one side.

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