Page 9 of Merciless Desires

“All the time.” He motioned toward his guys. “We’re going tonight. Do you want to join us?”

“No.” I placed my hand on the small of Cinzia’s back, staking some sort of claim I had no right to. “She landed an hour ago. She’s probably exhausted.”

“Really, I’m not.” She smiled at me. “Can we go to the club?”

“I already answered that question.”

“You’re no fun.” She pouted, and if I wasn’t annoyed at her attitude, I might have found it cute.

“I’m a lot of fun,” Paulie said. “I’ll save a dance for you if you can manage to get away from him.”

“Don’t hold your breath, Santoro.” I nodded. “Have a good night.”

“I will.” Paulie winked at Cinzia. “See you around.”

“No, you won’t.” I stared at him until he looked away.

I hurried down the street, making my way through the crowd, not particularly caring that Cinzia couldn’t keep up with me in her high heels. Who takes a six-hour flight in heels?

“Gio! Slow down,” she yelled.

“I want to get home.”

“Why are you being this way?”

“What way?” I turned the corner.

“You’re different from the man I knew in Italy.”

“The man in Italy wasn’t in charge of your safety. The dynamics have shifted.”

“So you can’t be my friend anymore? You have to be a bully? Like my father?”

I halted in front of my building, turning to face her. If she only knew how much I was like her father, she wouldn’t look at me with all that trust in her eyes.

“I didn’t ask for this.” I raised my voice in frustration. “I found out two hours before you were coming. Your father and my brother asked me to look after you, and I’m going to do it. You might not like my rules, but you are going to follow them.”

“I won’t be your prisoner.” She put her hand on her hip, trying to establish her independence, but she would soon learn she wasn’t going to get the freedom she sought under my watch. “I didn’t come all this way to live like I do at home.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” Although, I wished it was under better circumstances. “But this isn’t an opportunity for you to defy your father. He sent you here so he wouldn’t have to worry about you while he deals with some business.”

“He made me your problem.”

“I don’t view you as a problem.”

“You didn’t look that happy to see me.” She stepped toward me, closing the space between us. “You still haven’t kissed me hello.” She licked her lips as she focused on mine. “What are you waiting for?”

She closed her eyes when I ran my thumb along her lips, fighting the urge to give into temptation. If Janero planned to marry her to an ally, I couldn’t complicate matters for any of us. I needed more information. More time to assess the situation. It didn’t matter what I wanted. This was not meant to be personal.

“We’re here.”

“What?” She fluttered her long lashes, opening her eyes and looking into mine with deep confusion. You’re not the only one.

“This is my building.”

“Oh.”

Max climbed the steps and opened the front door to the lobby for us. As we entered, Conti pushed the private button on the elevator for the penthouse. Walking through the lobby, we were bombarded with the normal barrage of stares from my neighbors. Most of them were used to me and Romero and our entourage of security, but others were still intrigued by us. A few pretended to take selfies as we stepped into the elevator so they could capture us in a photo that would end up on social media in a few seconds.

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