Page 13 of Ice
She looked around at Otto’s men, committing their faces to memory. They all looked capable, and if they were willing to follow Otto, it meant she now had more men at her back. “Oh, and make sure your boys know when I call, they come. You know how men are about women bossing them around.”
Otto chuckled, giving her a mock salute. She turned to walk away when he grabbed a hold of her arm. “Just a piece of advice before you go.”
Sofia looked down at where he touched her and back up to his face. He didn’t drop his hold on her fast enough and she swung, catching him in his Adam’s apple.
Otto went down easy, coughing as he fought to catch his breath. All of his men turned their guns on Sofia and Dom, while Dom pulled his gun trying to step in front of her, but she stepped around him, kneeling in front of Otto.
“I don’t like to be touched. This is your only warning.” She stood. “Call your boys off.”
Otto waved his hand behind him, and they all lowered their guns. He stood slowly still coughing, but he had a smile on his face. “Nice shot,” he wheezed out. “I meant no disrespect. Just wanted to let you both know to curb whatever is going on between you two.” He coughed again, rubbing his neck. “If I picked up on it the second you both walked into Tres Bellas, I’m pretty sure everyone else will too. The people you’re going up against won’t hesitate to exploit it.”
THE DRIVE TOWOLF’S CASINOwas a quick and quiet one. Neither Sofia nor Dom was willing to speak about what Otto had been able to point out the second he saw them step through his club. It made sense now why Gianna had taunted Sofia. Otto wanted to see if his suspicions were right, and they played right into his hands.
Dom put the car in park and noticed the amount of motorcycles parked near the curb.
Shit.
An MC was here doing a gun pick up.
Dom flexed his hands on the steering wheel and Sofia chuckled. “Don’t tell me the big, bad, Domenico is scared of a little biker crew.”
“Cautious.” He shook his head. Between her and his father, he was getting a little annoyed with people mistaking his caution for anything other than that. “Depending on the crew, they’re not going to take it too kindly if Wolf sells to you.”
Sofia went to speak but Dom shook his head, silencing her. “I know you won’t be the sole owner of Wolf’s and Wolf will still be in charge, but these assholes don’t like change, and considering how much heat your name brings, it’s going to be a problem for them.”
Sofia’s lips pulled back into a wide smile, and for a second, Dom was immersed back into a past where his only concern had been keeping that smile on her face. The urge to reach for her and pull her in his lap overwhelmed him. He wanted to inhale her—consume her—knowing the very essence of her once gave him life.
Her voice broke the spell her smile had monetarily weaved over him. He shook his head, clearing it of any sentiment that was trying to seep its way into his system. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
Sofia arched an eyebrow at him. “Did you hit your head or something? You were looking right at me while I was speaking to you. All I said was that I hope it’s a problem for them. I am, after all, a problem solver.” She reached for the door handle and quickly stepped out of the car.
Dom let out a breath before following. By the time they reached the bouncer at the front, his phone rang. Dom pulled it out of his pocket, looking confused at the number on the screen.
“Who is it?” Sofia nodded toward his phone.
“Someone I never expected to reach out to the Barbati organization.” Dom pressed the answer button, doing a quick scan of the street they were on.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, Bruno?”
Vinny was still in his office when his phone finally rang again.
Please be good news.“Is it done?”
“We ran into another problem,” the voice on the other end whispered, and Vinny almost prayed he heard him wrong.
How fucking hard was it to kill a woman? Sofia hadn’t even been here for a full twenty-four hours and the bitch was wreaking havoc on his life.
“Two of our guys are dead. There were way too many people firing back to get a clean hit. We followed them, though, when they left. We’re at Wolf’s.”
“Son of a bitch!” Vinny yelled. More fucking bodies and none of them were Sofia or Dom.
He needed to fix this. He could guess what Sofia was doing—hitting the territories that had no affiliation or loyalty to anyone, except for Tres Bellas. She was getting a foothold in the organization, picking up soldiers and legitimate businesses to keep the feds somewhat off her back and to have an army to go up against anyone who challenged her, mainly him. He knew he needed to end this before she got any stronger, and he needed to do it himself.
If you want the job done correctly, you have to be willing to get your hands dirty.
“Call your men.” Vinny opened his desk drawer, pulling out two guns. “It’s time we finish this.”
Sofia and Dom were escorted into a smaller room that had a few slot machines, a blackjack table, and a poker table, and a closed burgundy door Sofia assumed led to an office.
