Page 3 of Yours

Marco’s grin widened like he could taste my fear. He stepped forward, and Leena immediately shifted between us, her body tense.

“There we go,” he said, his voice slow and deliberate. “Looks like your little friend gets it now.”

My stomach started to churn as what I’d done finally started to sink in.

The Benedetti family wasn’t just some rich New York dynasty. They were one of the most notorious crime organizations in the city. And I’d just called one of them a dirtbag and threw my drink in his face in the middle of one of the most popular clubs in New York City, with a whole fucking audience to see exactly what I’d done.

Fuck me…

Marco leaned slightly to the side, meeting my eyes over Leena’s shoulder. “Let me give you some advice, sweetheart,” he said, his voice dripping with menace. “Next time you want to embarrass someone, maybe pick a target that can’t ruin your life.”

“Kiera,” Leena murmured urgently.

I swallowed hard, my pulse roaring in my ears. Slowly, I nodded and took a step back, dragging Leena with me.

“Let’s go,” I muttered, my voice tight.

Leena didn’t argue. She just kept her hand on my arm as we wove our way toward the exit, her grip tight. But even as the cold night air hit my face, Marco’s voice lingered in my mind.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I was royally fucked in more ways than one.

And I was just about to find out exactly how much.

CHAPTER 2

One week later

Kiera

“If you don’t call him, I will.”

Leena folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the counter, her green eyes fixed on me like a hawk zeroing in on prey. Her usual warmth was absent, replaced with a quiet, determined intensity that made my stomach churn.

I stared at her, my mind racing, but all I could think about was how her older brother Ronan would react. Calling him felt like detonating a bomb. There was no telling what would happen afterward, except that it would be big, messy, and probably bad.

Likereallybad.

“I’ll figure it out—there’s no need to drag your brother into this, Leena,” I said, finally managing to force the words out. My voice sounded weaker than I wanted, shaky with all the arguments I couldn’t quite put together.

Leena raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “You’ll figure it out?” she echoed, her voice calm, but edged with disbelief. “Kiera, you told off Marco Benedetti. In public. In front of witnesses. And then you tossed your drink in his face! Do you know what that means?”

I grimaced. “I mean… I didn’t know who he was at the time. He was just being an asshole, and I?—”

“And you called him out for it. Loudly. At a club where everyone knows everyone. And now you’re surprised that he’s making your life hell?” she broke in, her tone more cutting now.

“I didn’t think he’d… I don’t know, call the dean or whatever he did!” I snapped, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. “It’s not like I keyed his car or anything. I just told him to stop groping every girl within a ten-foot radius like he was handing out free samples. And maybe threw my drink in his face too.”

“And I don’t disagree with you,” Leena said, her voice softening just slightly. “But guys like Benedetti don’t care about being wrong. They care about power. And now he’s decided to make you his target to prove a point.”

I groaned, pressing my hands to my face. “This is such bullshit.”

“Yeah, it is,” she agreed, “but it’s also dangerous bullshit. Which is why you need to call Ronan.”

“No,” I said immediately, dropping my hands. “Absolutely not. He doesn’t need to know about this.”

Leena tilted her head, giving me a look that was both skeptical and mildly amused. “And how exactly do you plan to deal with Marco Benedetti without him? Bake him cookies? Write him a strongly worded letter? Buy a gun and off him yourself?”

“I’ll—I don’t know, I’ll think of something. Maybe I can talk to the dean. Or, or hire a lawyer or?—”

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