I smiled up at me. “Didn’t… we sort of already do that?”
He smirked. “Into my room.”
I nodded.
“So long as you can be a little more quiet at night when Emily is sleeping.”
“I can’t guarantee it.”
He squeezed my fingers tighter, and I leaned against him, loving that I could be this woman at his side. That he’d chosenmeout of all the women in the world.
“But after Murphy’s dead…”
I didn’t listen to whatever he might have said. All my senses faded as I locked eyes on a couple of men I recognized. Sounds ceased to filter through my ears. Everything burned down to tunnel vision as I stared at the men over on the other side of the room. My body felt numb and immobile, but my heart raced like I was actively finishing a marathon.
“Becca?” Ivan’s fingers gripped mine tighter once more, jarring me from the shock and fear that washed over me.
“Those men,” I whispered.
The guys turned at just that moment, as if my hissed words floated to them from across this lobby space. One smirked. The other narrowed his eyes. We’d made eye contact, and I didn’t like the implications of seeing them here. They hadn’t been here when Ivan and I walked around, when he kept his eyes on the activity here.
These two were men I remembered from my days with Dominic.
Rossinis.
The men Ivan and his Bratva considered enemies. Between Steven and these Italians, something was in the works, and I didn’t want to know what it meant.
“Fuck.” Ivan reached for his phone, but before he could bring it to his ear and make a call, the doors up front opened. Men rushed in. All of them wore uniforms. Behind them were others with guns raised, the undercover cops or detectives.
They swarmed in so suddenly that it took the DJ or person in charge of the music a full stop to cut off the noise. Shouts and screams sounded instead. Panic filled the room as guests and staff ran to leave.
I couldn’t tear my gaze from the Rossinis over there, noticing that they hadn’t budged. Unflinching and cool, they stared at me expectantly.
Did they know Ivan was here? Did Steven? Or thatIwas? Questions ping-ponged in my head so fast that I felt dizzy. If not for Ivan’s strong hand in mind, I would’ve fallen due to my shaking knees.
“Ivan? What’s going on?”
He gritted his teeth, noticing the Rossinis.
They weren’t just the enemy. They recognized me. The sensation that they could be hereforme was such a horrid one, I couldn’t shake it. I never wanted to be involved in any Mafia matters, and I felt like I was trapped in something now.
“It’s staged,” Ivan hissed. “The Rossinis, the cops. They set it up to be ambushed.”
“Is this one of the Bratva’s places?” I asked, pressing up closer to him as people moved so fast to escape.
Then someone fell.
Another.
In the corner, a woman dropped to the floor, having a seizure.
“What is going on?” I couldn’t keep the hysteria out of my voice.
“The drugs,” Ivan snapped. “They’re distributing the fucking drugs here.”
“What drugs?”
“You!” A cop zeroed in on Ivan and marched over. “He’s the owner.”