Page 31 of King of the Cage

We went outside to the parking lot. Fuck, I was exhausted. It was late. Visiting hours were over, but they often bent the rules for Quinn and her winning smile.

Declan considered my words and then shrugged. “When it’s a woman like that… just don’t see it as an order.” He nudged me and passed me a cigarette.

“What else is it?” I wondered.

He smirked. “An excuse. A fucking perfect excuse.”

I chuckled. “You’re smarter than you look, you know that, Dec?”

8

GIADA

The Meatpacking District was full of hipsters and wannabe social climbers late on a Thursday evening. The lines outside certain clubs and bars were absolutely ridiculous. Luckily, I wasn’t going to any of them.

Tonight, I headed to The Blue Rabbit to watch an underground fight with Sol and our friend, Marco. Sol was in serious need of cheering up after last night’s rejection. Tonight’s fight was sure to do it, and there was no better company to manage it than Marco. He was the son of a high-ranking Moroni made man, but had exactly zero interest in the Mafia lifestyle. Instead, he had turned his dad’s money into a clothing line that frequently hit the best-dressed lists in glossy magazines. Tonight, he’d dressed both me and Sol, and we were looking absolutely fierce, if I did say so myself.

Marco tapped away at his phone like crazy.

“What’s up? Boy trouble again?” I asked.

“What can I say? They all love me, want to date me, want to take me home to Mama,” Marco teased and tossed his head like the supermodel he believed himself to be.

He was a total commitment-phobe, and I’d yet to meet any of the guys he went out with.

“What, all five of them? That’s going to make for an awkward dinner,” I quipped.

Marco snorted. “At least I have a love life.”

“Relationships are bullshit, sex is overrated, and romantic love is an illusion. One day, you’ll get that.” I grinned at him.

He snorted. “Romantic love? What other kinds of love are there?”

“Family, friends, and clothes. Nothing compares to the love I feel for these pants,” I deadpanned and ran my hand down my new leather pants. “Do you know how hard it is to find a pair of leather pants that fit just right and don’t cut you in half or make you too hot? It’s true love. It has to be. Nothing else will ever compare.” Flashing him a bright smile, I turned back toward the dark alley in front of us.

Marco groaned. “Bastawith the pants. I can’t listen again about the pants.”

“I could talk about my crossbow. I love that, too, genuinely and deeply, with my entire heart.”

“Right, and you didn’t mope around all morning about Renato getting married yesterday and some guy blowing you off.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Why I had decided to tell Marco about last night, I had no idea, but it was clearly a major mistake.

Marco busted out a cackle. “The untouchable Giada Santori really did catch feelings.”

I tossed my waist-length dark hair. “Feelings? Yeah, right. More like I was impressed that someone of the opposite sex actually knows that the clitoris is a real anatomical feature and not a mythical creature.”

Marco snorted with laughter. “Facts. Straight men suck in bed, believe me, I’ve led enough into temptation to know that.”

I raised an eyebrow at him as we approached the entrance of The Blue Rabbit, a members-only gentleman’s club.

“If they fucked you, were they really straight?” I asked my friend.

“Well, they certainly weren’t after. There’s no going back,” Marco announced dramatically and flounced toward the entrance.

I kid you not, it was an actual flounce. Sol gave me a small smile and followed as I brought up the rear.

The bouncer at The Blue Rabbit watched us stonily. Marco fished his membership card out of his wallet. He might look like an extra from a Broadway show half the time, and dress in character the rest, but his family was connected. His father had bought him a lifetime membership to The Blue Rabbit when he’d turned twenty-one, back when he’d still been hoping that his only son might be into tits and ass.

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