Page 49 of Dangerous Attraction

“Really, Carlisle? I’ve fallen in love with a mobster. I saw a girl who looks like me dead on the floor—a girl who should have been me because of whatever shit Massimo’s family is involved in. I should tuck tail and run, but I can’t. Not yet. How is that not fucked up?”

Carlisle sat quietly, mulling over my words. “You said not yet. Does that mean you might still leave him?”

I turned my head away from him, glancing out at the moving scenery as the plane descended.

“I don’t know. Please don’t tell him. I don’t need him worrying about me when his life is in danger.”

“Madison.” Carlisle took my hand in his. “Massimo is a good man. Everyone in his family is good. They might be mobsters in your eyes, but to me…” He sighed. “They are a family who takes care of those they love.”

“We’ve only known each other a little over a week. These feelings he says he has could fade, then what? I’ll be left broken-hearted. I just need to clear my head and think. That’s the only reason I agreed to come here.”

The pilot came over the intercom, announcing our descent into Paris. We would only be on the ground long enough to refuel, leaving little time to appreciate the scenery just outside my window.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Carlisle smiled.

“I never thought the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower I’d be on the run.”

“Massimo will bring you back to enjoy what Paris has to offer.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’ll forever hold the tarnish of this moment.” I pressed my head against my seat as the plane bounced across the ground. “I just want to sleep. Maybe this is all a bad dream, and I’ll wake up to everything being normal again.”

thirty-two

MASSIMO

“The cops were here sniffing around,”Donny grunted as we sat around discussing the events. “I told them Krissy hadn’t shown up to work, and that it wasn’t uncommon for her to pull a disappearing act.”

“Did they buy it?” Anders, a long-time crew member, asked.

“They seemed suspicious, but left, anyway.”

“Alec, I’ll need you to pull some footage of our illustrious D.A. It’s time I put some pressure on him to make this go away. Donny,”—I turned toward him—“where are we on flushing out Juan Carlos?”

“I got a few guys on the ground looking for him.”

The door opened and my brother walked in.

“Fratello.” He pressed his hand to my shoulder and took the seat beside me. “How’s Madison?”

“About an hour away from Italy. Carlisle gave her something to help her sleep when they landed in Paris. He said she is struggling with,”—I swallowed—“everything.”

“Is this girl worth going to war with the Sureños?”

“This girl,” I grated out through a clenched jaw, “is worth setting the whole damn planet on fire.”

“Calm down, Brother.” Vincenzo put his hand up defensively. “I only needed confirmation of what I already suspected.”

“And what did you suspect?”

“That you found your soulmate. Grandmother has told us since we were young that we’d know when we found her. Now, what are we going to do to show these motherfuckers the Anastasi’s aren’t to be trifled with?”

“We flush Juan out and kill him.” I gritted my teeth. “It was bad enough that the motherfucker stole from us, but then he killed one of our own, thinking it was Madison. He royally fucked up coming after me.”

“He came after all of us, Massimo. If Madison is as important to you as you say, she’s family now. No one goes after our family and lives.”

I nodded, his words only fueling my rage.

“It’s time we hit him where it hurts. Alec.” I looked at the computer whiz of our organization. “Find me everything you can on him. I want to know who his family is, his whores, his brothers, everything. We’ll take everything from him, starting with the guns he stole. Donny put together the best guys. I want them to dig until they find our missing cargo. We’ll take it back, then destroy the ground he steps on.”

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