Page 29 of The Leader

It didn’t sound like this was an incident. “Why doesn’t this place have security?”

“Not enough funds,” she explained, while coming over to him. “The usual cutbacks have put a strain on the place. Most of the money goes into providing beds, clothing, and food. The basics. There simply isn’t any money left to have a round-a-clock security guard.”

He pulled her into a corner near the front desk. “You can’t be here without any security.”

Her eyes flashed, ready to spit fire. “Listen, Italian stallion.”

“I’m half-Irish.”

A snort. “Yeah well, I’m half-angel, but no one has ever called me that. I come here every week. Don’t you even think that you can keep me from this place.”

“Hector.” He called over his shoulder. “Take care of it.” He knew that was all he had to say. It had always been like that between them; a few words, or even a glance, was enough.

The fire in Jazzy’s eyes died, turning into surprise and then into joy. She jumped into his arms, hugging him. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” Her smile lit up the whole room.

He wasn’t sure why, but he liked seeing her happy. He also liked her playing with the buttons of his shirt idly, although he doubted that she was even aware of what she was doing.

She seemed more relaxed around him, speaking animatedly of this shelter she was obviously passionate about. He wouldn’t be who he was if he didn’t try to capitalize on that.

“Hector, why don’t you let Mary choose the security guard? I’m sure she can choose who would be a good match.”

Judging by the tightening of Hector’s lips, he didn’t like his suggestion one bit. But, as Gio would be paying for it, he wouldn’t protest.

When Jazzy’s smile turned even bigger, he knew he’d made the right call.

“Oh, you are getting so lucky tonight,” she whispered.

He so was. They both were.

CHAPTER 17

JAZZY

Jazzy woke up in the middle of the night, feeling disorientated. She’d spent a good deal of the evening giving Gio head and had loved every minute of it. She’d fallen asleep absolutely satiated, so she wasn’t sure what was wrong, until she heard a yell.

Gio was tossing and turning, the sheets only covering him up to his hips. Beads of sweat covered his body. A body that was writhing, as if in agony.

“Get the fuck off me.”

Startled by his snarl, she sat up, unsure as what to do. From previous experiences with Mary, she knew to not wake someone up during a nightmare.

“No! Get the fuck away from me!”

When he let out a cry, she couldn’t stand it any longer. She gently started rubbing his shoulder in the hope to wake him up. He started shivering and she slid down next to him, putting an arm around his waist. That seemed to do the trick because his body suddenly stilled.

It happened in the blink of an eye. Gio rolled, pinning her to the mattress and pressing his full weight down on her. A hand went to her throat as he bared his teeth. His eyes were like molten ice, shimmering with rage.

She froze, and her heart skyrocketed when she realized Gio wasn’t awake yet. She waited for him to recognize her.

And waited.

Please, please, snap out of it.

“Gio?”

He was staring into her eyes, but she wasn’t sure if he was seeing her.

“It’s okay. It’s just a bad dream.”

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