Page 27 of Rise of Temptation

“I’ll have to go to the club to talk to her if she has something,” he says, ignoring my response and making his way over to therefrigerator. “She can’t be seen coming here or meeting us out in public.”

“Okay. I’ll go with you.”

He laughs. “No.” He shuts the fridge without taking anything out of it and moves to the cabinet where he keeps his protein powders.

“Why not? It’s not like I haven’t been there before.”

“Why would you want to go back? I obviously don’t know every detail, but it can’t have been a good experience for you.”

While he shakes the cup to mix the powder and water, I fume at how easily he dismisses me every time I ask to be more involved in the case. When he’s done, I say, “It wasn’t what I would call a fun job, but I liked the girls, and I miss the ones I’d started to become friends with. Including Karissa.”

He eyes me over the lid of his drink. “You can go visit after we solve this thing.”

My face scrunches up at the implication that I’ll still be at his beck and call after the traffickers are safely behind bars. “Once we solve this thing, you won’t own me anymore,” I remind him, even though I’m still not entirely sure what will happen after this is all over. I haven’t been letting myself think about it.

Enzo takes a few big swallows of his shake and then turns to leave the kitchen. “We’ll see,” he says over his shoulder before pushing open the door and leaving me standing there, still holding my uneaten sandwich.

Chapter 21

Enzo

My breaths are perfectly timed with the movement of the iron bar over my chest. Inhale. Exhale. Up. Down. I’m in the zone. There’s music playing, but I’m too focused to pay attention to what song it is. Frankie is in here somewhere, but I couldn’t begin to guess where. This is the best kind of workout. Nothing can distract me. Unbidden, an image of Elise in her sports bra and bike shorts comes to mind. It’s an outfit she seems to favor for working out, and I can’t help but wish it was my hands cupping her perfect ass and breasts instead of that tight fabric.

Shit. Apparently, one thing can distract me. I rack the bar and sit up to take a drink of water. Frankie is across the room doing bicep curls in front of the mirror. He’s the best person to hit the gym with because he doesn’t feel the need to fill every moment of silence with mindless chatter. Sal and Joey always have something to talk about.

I take another drink, and Frankie sets his weights back on the rack. Normally, he would either move on to the next set or reach for some water. Instead, he keeps his hands on the weights and leans forward, looking down and seemingly lost in thought.

“Time for a break already?” I tease.

He holds up a hand to flip me off over his shoulder before turning and leaning against the weight rack with his arms crossed. He looks at me for a long moment and then takes a deep breath and asks, “What if it’s not the Russians?”

Instantly, my mood shifts, and my suspicions are roused. “If not them, then who?” I reply. “It has to be someone with a massive grudge against them. No one goes to this much effort to frame someone just for shits and giggles.”

“I know. But if we’re being honest, it could be anyone. It’s not like they’re all that well-liked.”

“That doesn’t really narrow it down. How about we talk about this again when we have an actual idea?”

Frankie gives me a short nod and then resumes his workout, moving on to the leg press while I direct my steps to the rowing machine on the other side of him. The conversation appears to be over, but I hear him muttering something about the Irish under his breath when I walk by him.

Fury threatens to overtake me, but I channel it into my workout instead of picking a fight with Frankie. I’m sure he didn’t seek out Elise to bounce ideas off of her, which means the odds are pretty fucking high that she planted that little idea in his brain.

Finally, Frankie finishes his last set of reps and cleans up the machine before tossing me a little wave and walking out of the gym. No doubt, he’s planning to utilize the shower in the bathroom he’s claimed as his before he leaves, but that’s fine by me. He won’t be able to hear the conversation I’m about to have with my little prisoner.

I give him another minute to be out of the common areas of the house and then pull out my phone to shoot off a text to Elise.

Enzo: Gym. Now.

I hope my rage is evident in the tone of those two words, but she’ll pick up on it as soon as she walks in here if it isn’t.

Elise

Sounds serious.I laugh to myself, knowing I’m not actually funny but enjoying the idea of Enzo’s growing anger while he waits for me to obey his order. I was about to walk downstairs to work out when his text came through, but now I’m less excited about it. I don’t like the idea of existing to be at his beck and call, but I can’t help but think that even if he’s mad about something, I could get an orgasm or two out of it.

I give it another few minutes before leaving my room and making my way to the gym. I already had on my preferred workout outfit—bike shorts and a sports bra. He didn’t tell me to be in uniform, so I didn’t take the time to change into something he might like better than this. If he punishes me for my clothes, so be it.

One look at him and I can tell that my suspicion was correct. He wasn’t looking for a spotter; he’s pissed. I can’t begin to guess what it would be about. Unless it’s about our last gym encounter. He never did come find me after I left without turning the music back on. And then I remember what I did right before I found him in the gym that day. I talked business with Frankie.Shit…

“What are you wearing?” he asks when he sees me.

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