Page 35 of Relentless Oath

As she stepped past me, I caught a whiff of strawberries. It was her hair. She smelled and looked good enough to eat.

For the first time, I wondered if maybe she would be a distraction. It was too late now.

“Why are we here, Dario?” she asked, finally looking at me and then back at the restaurant in front of us. It was an old Italian restaurant in an upscale part of town.

“We’re going to discuss a little business with an old acquaintance of mine.”

“What? Let me guess. Someone who is an arms dealer?”

I ignored her sarcastic comment. Although she was close to the truth.

“Just be on your best behavior. I thought you would appreciate a night out.”

“To hang out with you and your Mafia buddies? It’s not exactly a girl’s dream date.”

Her tone was snarky, but she sounded tired. I stared at her, very bothered that she wouldn’t turn and face me.

Without thinking, I grabbed her chin and turned her face toward mine. She tried to resist, but I wouldn’t let go. I tilted her beautiful face up, giving each of her features a cursory glance.

She seemed to have dark circles under her eyes, although her makeup did a good job of covering it. And she looked a little pale.

“Are you getting enough sleep? You sound and look tired.”

She pushed my hand away from her face. Her voice was full of indignation as she said, “I guess you never got the memo. Never tell a woman she looks tired. It’s insulting.”

She walked away from me, heading toward the door of the restaurant.

I hurried to get out of the car and follow her.

“And never ask if she’s pregnant…because she could just be fat. Yeah, I heard that one too.”

Abruptly, she stumbled, and I reached forward and caught her.

“Sorry, I’m a klutz in heels.”

Actually, she was a stunner in heels. Despite her pale cheeks, she looked breathtaking tonight. I liked her hair down, but she had put it up today, arranged in a loose bun. I liked the way the curls graced the nape of her neck.

The dress she wore was another backless number, this time in black and white. The front of the dress was white and demure, covering her up to her neckline, but the back of the dress left her entire back naked. It made me want to take her back home and straight to bed.

There wasn’t any fabric at all on the back of her dress, just exposed skin from her waist to her neck. I didn’t even know how she kept the dress on. There wasn’t a zipper or button in sight.

I guess I would just have to rip it off later tonight.

It took all my strength not to comment on her body, or to stare at her lustfully. My pants had tightened uncomfortably when she first slid into the limo smelling as good as she looked. And they were still uncomfortably snug as we entered the restaurant.

The restaurant was owned by an old friend of my father. At one point, he’d been in the business too, but then as luck would have it, he had a daughter who grew up with a love for law enforcement and became an FBI agent.

Next thing I knew, Donnie went legit. His reasoning? He had once told me that he would either end up being arrested by his daughter or getting her killed, and he couldn’t live with either one of those options.

So he had funneled his money into high-end restaurants run by up-and-coming chefs around the city.

Tonight, the restaurant was empty. I’d requested that, because I had a dinner planned to discuss things I didn’t want overheard.

As we approached, a man and woman sat at a table at the far end of the restaurant watching us with suspicious eyes. I could see apprehension on the man’s face even though he tried to hide it.

“Good evening,” I said pausing at the table. “I’m glad that you could join me. This is my wife, Mya.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Mya,” he said in a hushed tone, standing to shake her hand. “My name is Hortensio.”

---