Page 17 of King of the Cage

Finishing off Enrico Sepriano, or whatever his name was, didn’t take much effort.

Giada could have done it herself. The image of her getting in his face, all five feet nothing of her to his six feet, and spitting at him, was permanently emblazoned in my memory.

The woman was pure chaos in a pint-sized body, curved like an old glass soda bottle. A pinup. A woman from a different time. There was no one in the room like her. She drew eyes with every movement, not that she took the time to notice.

I nodded to my right-hand man, Declan, as she left the ballroom with her friend. Sure, she might have been hitting the bathroom to prepare for me, but something told me she never went easy. The little troublemaker thought she could skip out on me when I was close to being done here and ready to take my reward? I didn’t think so. Not tonight.

But if she wanted to play, I’d indulge her.

I knew all sorts of games.

Once I had a tail securely on my prize, I finished the Italian off in a few sharp jabs. I didn’t want to kill him, after all, he wasn’t a nobody. He was a local politician, and that could bring the kind of heat I had no interest in. It would be messy, and generally speaking, a faux pas at a wedding where there was a fragile sort of ceasefire.

I might not be very well-behaved at the best of times, but going after my runaway prize was far more interesting than getting in a brawl. Aldo Sepriano’s face was like thunder; he glared at his weakling brother from the sidelines. He’d probably been hoping Enrico might be able to shine, but there’d never been any chance of that happening, in the ring against me. He’d given me a curt nod, acknowledgment that I hadn’t hurt his brother even more, when I’d had an excuse to, and hustled him away. Aldo didn’t get emotional; his public position didn’t allow for it.

I grabbed my dress shirt, pulling it over my bloodied knuckles before roughly fastening the buttons. My suit jacket went on top, and then I was heading out.

“That was impressive,” a woman called to me.

I swept past her.

“We should buy you a drink!” another called, reaching out to touch my arm as I passed.

“Sorry, I’ve got someone waiting for me, ladies.” I shot them a grin and continued on my way.

I got as far as the lobby before someone stopped me.

“O’Connor. I hope it’s not Giada Santori you’re running after. I need you in one piece for the match tomorrow night.” Raffaele Navarro, owner of The Blue Rabbit, a gentleman’sclub in downtown New York. It housed a rather impressive underground fighting ring, and in days gone by, Rafe and I had made quite the pretty penny there together.

“I’ll be there.”

“You won’t be if Elio kills you!” Rafe called after me.

“He’d have to catch me first.” I grinned back at him and stepped out into the night.

He wasn’t wrong. Fucking Elio’s little sister was playing with fire, but who could blame me? She was dynamite, and I was powerless to resist. It didn’t matter if we were born enemies. Some women are worth burning your fingers to touch. Actually, now that I thought about it, I’d never bothered with someone off-limits before, but then no one had ever kept me on my toes as much as Giada had tonight. Her sharp tongue and fascinatingly devious mind were even more of a turn-on than her tight little body. Tonight, every single part of her was mine. I’d worry about Elio tomorrow. I was pretty sure taking me out would endanger the fragile agreement between our two families. At the very least, Elio Santori was a cautious businessman who didn’t like to piss his capo off or rock the boat. He wasn’t impulsive or reckless like me. It was a safe-ish bet to make that he wouldn’t have me whacked for fucking his sister all ways through Sunday tonight, but I’d watch my back extra carefully for a few days just in case.

She was worth the risk.

The night airhad a hell of a snap, so I set off at a brisk pace. It was winter, after all. Not that January in America could hold a candle to the damp, freezing cold of Dublin at the end of the year, but I had no coat, and I wanted to arrive at my destination with all my parts intact. I had plans for a certain one of them.

I pulled out my phone and called Declan on the way.

“You finished with the Rocky wannabe?” Dec asked over the line.

“Of course. Where did the wee firecracker go?”

“Some fancy apartment block downtown. Went up to apartment 20A, on the top floor. I’ll send you the address.”

“Attaboy.”

“You need me to stick around?” Dec wondered.

“No. I’ve got it from here,” I assured him.

He chuckled. “I’m sure you do. Have fun. Don’t get into any trouble.”

“I make no promises. See you tomorrow.” I hung up, grinning at the thought of tussling with Giada. I could see it. You’d have to be blind not to get the appeal. As soon as I’d laid eyes on her at the wedding, I’d known I’d be taking her home, one way or another. Her approaching me had been a bonus. An opportunity dropped into my lap. Fucking destiny. A few minutes after meeting her, I’d found out she was Elio’s sister, a hell of a hacker, and indispensable to the capo. A smart cookie with a killer smile. It only made me want her more.

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