Page 68 of The Gangster King

“But you aren’t.” She shakes her head. “Can’t you feel the energy in the room, Dante? They’re watching you. Waiting for you to mess up. Wondering how you dare walk in here with me right in front of my father? My brother. I’m not worth it, Dante.”

The fuck she isn’t.

“Come,” I say, taking her hand and leading her outside for some fresh air.

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ADELINA

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The door is opened for us, and we step out onto the balcony, which is covered in fairy lights, large potted plants, and marble statues.

It’s romantic.

Soft music plays and despite feeling rattled by the evening, I glance up at my kidnapper—the boy I grew up with—and take in his handsome face.

Yet again, I’m struck by how much he’s changed since stepping into the role his father left behind. Power and authority simply roll from his shoulders. The world moves as he demands.

Hell, even my body follows his orders now.

He’s intoxicating, and I’d be lying if I said, like a drug addict, I didn’t want more of him.

I do.

I want him to consume me. I want him to take me here on the balcony and damn anyone who sees. I want to feel him fill me with all his power, claiming me and dominating me so I can finally experience everything he’s ever promised me.

Threatened me with.

All that I’ve resisted.

All that I pretended I never wanted.

But I do want it.

I want his body lying over mine, naked, raw, plowing me with his force. Making me his queen.

While...wanting none of it.

I don’t want this life.

He’s so blind to everything because of me. I’m a threat. Hell, taking me during such a volatile time was stupid.

What was he thinking?

I don’t have much time left to get to California. To my freedom. It’s time to make a move, but suddenly melancholy hits me. I will never see this man again.

My free hand slides up to the one holding my hand and Dante’s gaze flicks down to mine, surprised.

Had I not chosen to escape this life, I wonder if I could fall in love with him? Our bodies are like magnets, and now that we’ve been intimate, it’s like tasting chocolate for the first time. I want more. I crave more.

Our first kiss may have been years ago, but the way he kisses me now is different. Dante has claimed me. He devours me.

I am grateful now that he didn’t fuck me in the limo.

That might have changed everything. Perhaps I’ve always known that if I allowed myself to want Dante Baldassare, I’d lose myself in this gangster.

A night of passion together would destroy us both. Or worse...bond us so that I can’t live without him.

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