Page 18 of Mob Boss's Second Chance

Not that she doesn’t do a good job of turning my thoughts from logical to hazy whenever my subconscious gets creative.

“Like the party?” I groan when Anthony appears out of nowhere, throwing his arm over my shoulder. “Bet you didn’t think I could pull off something like this.”

“A party where people drink until they make stupid decisions?” I say with sarcasm, “I’ll say that’s right up your alley.”

He laughs and slaps my chest playfully. “You know it. But I’m not taking credit for the ever-flowing alcohol and the finger foods. That’s Natalie’s magic. I asked her to handle the food, and she did numbers.” He grins.

Oh?

I didn’t question why she was here—which is the first thing that should’ve crossed my mind when I saw her. I was surprised, but shelookedlike she was meant to be here with the rest of the crowd.

“Did you have her wear a dress too?” I ask, unable to help myself. I wouldn’t put it past Anthony, either. As much as he pretends to be down-to-earth, my cousin can be unconsciously stuck up sometimes.

He frowns. “What dress? I haven’t seen her all evening, but that’s probably because I’ve been inside the entire time.”

And she was outside.

“Did you see her?” he asks.

I shouldn’t have said anything.

“Sure,” I shrug, keeping my tone measured with a level of disinterest. “It was a brief moment, but I saw her. Don’t you have other things to do?” I change the subject swiftly, taking his arm off my shoulders. “You’re the host for tonight.”

Anthony makes a sound likepfft. “Which of the Crosses do you think they want to see? It’s you.” He nudges me. “The handsome, eligible bachelor. I’ve been fielding questions about your dating life all night because everyone either wants to try their luck or help someone else try theirs.”

That’s precisely why I hate parties—that and my general dislike of people.

I’m about to tell him off when I see her again. It’s her hair, but my gaze sharpens in that direction, and my eyes narrow when I see someone by her side, holding her arm.

She looks uncomfortable, although nobody around her seems to notice.

“I’ll be back,” I tell Anthony, crossing the room in strides.

As I get closer, I see that it’s more than what I glimpsed. The man, Henry Duvall, has his hand around her arm while sporting apredatory smile. Natalie, on the other hand, is trying to break free without drawing any attention.

“Come on,” he drawls in a voice that makes me gag as I reach them, “you know you want it. Stop playing hard to get.”

“Leave her alone,” I say, my voice low and threatening as I appear behind him.

It startles him enough to let go of Natalie’s arm and look over his shoulder, a flash of fear racing through his eyes when he sees me. But with men like him and Solomon, he tries to cover it with a cocky attitude.

“Ethan Cross.” He smiles, turning around. “I didn’t see you there. You look… well.”

Ignoring his obvious attempt tokiss ass, I turn my attention to Natalie. “Are you okay?”

She nods, though the flicker of surprise in her eyes is unmistakable.

“Good,” I reply before shifting my full focus back to Henry.

My gaze hardens as I step closer, my tone dropping a notch into something more menacing. “I’m aware you have a habit of not knowing where you’re wanted, but let me make something perfectly clear—this is not the time or place for your nonsense.”

I take another deliberate step forward, the space between us shrinking to a dangerous proximity. “If you put your hands on this young lady again, I’ll make sure you regret it in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.”

He’s momentarily stunned and manages to recover with a cracked chuckle. “Put my hands on her? Please, I wouldn’t do that. I was just…” he shrugs, “helping her out. She approached me, as they always do, asking for favors. Right—?” He turns to her but cannot seem to remember her name.

I wait for Natalie to say something before I take my next step, half-expecting her to concur with him to keep things from escalating. After all, she thought she could get rid of him without making a scene.

Which is why I’m pleasantly surprised when she pins him with a death glare.

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