Page 13 of King Of Order

I sensed his loyalty was fierce, but it’d be earned, not easily given.

I imagined his predatorial instincts gave him the foresight to see the enemy coming, the strength to defend what was his,and the unwavering fearlessness to stand his ground when the moment called for it.

He gave off the energy of a hunter, with the acute prescience to strike with subtlety and precision with which to unleash the full power.

Fotto! I was close to panting for him. Hard.

With a twist of his lips and a shake of his head, as if dragging himself from an old memory, he turned and stalked to me and handed me one of the two tumblers.

His eyes stormed, and I wondered what he’d been thinking.

In seconds, however, they shuttered down to coldness, evidence of his superb self-control.

It still made me shiver.

The first was from the ice in his eyes.

The second was from the heat bolt when our fingers touched as he passed the drink to me.

I bit my inner lip to keep from sighing at the unexpected jolt.

‘Drink.’

I did, taking a long swallow and gasping as the pure alcohol hit hard.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. ‘Damn, how do people stand that stuff?’

He smirked. ‘It’s the fire in it we seek, to flame us on the inside and awaken our deepest desires.’

Intelligence lurked behind those eyes—cunning and quick, the kind that dissected a problem in seconds and found the one crack no one else did.

I sensed in him the patience of a wolf on the hunt, waiting, watching, always one step ahead, his mind working in unpredictable, unfathomable computations.

‘Your last name?’

He arched a brow and crossed hands over his chest. ‘Ciprioni. I run The Ciprioni Group, a security firm. We do well protectingthe wealthy from organized crime for the most part. The Mafiosi game is not what it used to be, with street shootouts and bombings. Instead, the mob now operates with more subtlety. Spectacular assassinations are out of fashion, but illegal drugs, shakedowns of legitimate businesses, less blood, less death—are in. We work in the shadows, mafia adjacent, to ward off the darkness within.’

His voice was deep and raw, and his words were soft yet edged with menace, like a blade hidden beneath velvet.

In a dangerous mood, I stared at him for a long moment, placing the tumbler in my hand on my desk.

The one he still sat at, like he owned the place.

‘I must look into you. Make sure you’re legit. Also, because Signore Avenaldi recommended you, doesn’t mean I’ll take you on board. Talk is cheap. To get my business, you’ll need to blow my mind. Furthermore, I plan to shop around.’

He shrugged. ‘Blowing you won’t be a problem.’

I took a shocked inhale at his ballsiness. ‘Sei arrogante!’

‘Is that all you’ve got,bella?’

He sounded amused.

‘Che palle!’

What a freakin’ pain.

‘I’ll be in touch,’ I clipped.

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