Page 127 of Gin & Trouble

“That’s bad. Right? Something must have gone wrong. Why else would he call us inside?” I glanced toward the place where Iris and her man had gone. “Did they see us? Did they tell Tommaso?”

Still holding me, Dante gave me a little shake. “We don’t know it’s bad. TheFratellanzamay want to question us. I need you to pull it together, okay? Like you did when you pulled me out of the water.”

I nodded because I didn’t trust my voice.

“We’ll get through this.”

I stared into his gorgeous eyes and wanted to believe him.

Dante whispered, “I’m thankful for your love, and the future we planned out last night. I’d like to banish brothers knocking on the door before I had a chance to give you a couple dozen orgasms.”

Despite my mini-freak-out session, I smiled. How could I not? “I’m thankful for rainchecks and—”

A sharp knock on the window interrupted me. “Sir, we need to move.”

38

Dante

Surrounded by security,Frankie and I returned from the dead. Honestly, I would have thought there would be more fanfare. Maybe a parade, but we were met with empty halls and relative silence.

She tightened her grip on my hand hard enough to break my fingers.

“Breathe, babe. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Frankie stopped moving so abruptly, the guards behind her had to side-step to avoid mowing her down.

I followed her gaze to a mousy woman in a shit-colored dress. I’d invited Iris into my home, given her access to my tech and my comic collection. The mere sight of her in that place pissed me off, but my anger was nothing compared to what Frankie must have felt.

“Frankie?” The color drained from Iris’s face. She shifted her eyes back and forth without moving her head, likely looking for her armed boyfriend. “I thought you were dead.”

She stepped out of the circle of guards and slapped Iris across the face. “Sorry to disappoint you. You’ll have to try harder next time.”

Iris’s hand shot out so fast, it took me a second to realize what had happened. She’d throat punched Frankie hard enough that she bent forward holding her neck and gasping for breath.

The security team split, half with me, the other three attempting to separate the women. No easy feat, considering Frankie had pulled one of her ninja moves and taken Iris to the ground.

“Jacopo! Come!” Iris flailed on the ground but was able to get a couple of punches in.

“We need to go.” I tried to get to them, but the guards were having none of it.

Frankie pushed to her feet and took a step back, but the other woman tripped her.

One of the larger members of the team picked Frankie up and slung her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing.

The bark of gunshots echoed off the polished marble floors and plaster walls, but I had no idea which direction they’d come.

Frankie screamed and the guy holding her fell to his knees.

Before I could figure out if she was okay, the guy to my right wrestled me to the cold stone with the force of an Abrams tank.

More shots were fired, closer than before, and the sounds of boots pounding on marble filled my ears.

“Stay down.” The guy shifted his weight, but kept me pinned.

I turned my head in the direction Frankie’s guard had fallen, but couldn’t see her. I had no idea if she lay dead on the other side of him or if she’d gotten away. I’d been trained since birth to stay calm in these situations. Not to react. To follow orders and trust my team. But nothing could have prepared me for the outright terror of possibly losing the woman I loved.

“Drop your weapons, or I’ll kill her.” A male voice cut through the chaos.

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