Gian (Trassato Crime Family #1)(35)

Me: Can’t today.



Nico: I heard what the dogs did to your car. I want to talk to you about cleaning it.



We used dogs as a general term to discuss an enemy.



Me: Did Red tell you?



Nico: Doesn’t matter.



Fucking Tony. I was going to rip his f*cking head off and shit down his throat. I had serious doubts about whether I should trust him anymore. I thought Carlo wanted to take me down, but now I saw enemies everywhere.



Me: I’m busy today.



Nico: Don’t eat alone.



Eating alone meant being greedy. What a miserable cocksucker. No one accused me of being greedy. I bent over backward for Dominick. He got a taste of all my business, including the legit shit. He was my f*cking uncle. I wouldn’t screw him over despite the fact that he was an *.



Me: Fuck off.



Nico: You need to report your latest scores today to finalize your handicap for the tournament.



Reporting my latest scores meant reporting shit to Nico and Dominick. Essentially, he pulled the trump card. I couldn’t deny Dominick’s direct orders without serious ramifications.

Dread curling around my chest, my options circled through my mind like a record player stuck on repeat. A little over a week ago, I was on top of the world. How fast things changed. Now every part of my life was on the verge of imploding.

After a few minutes of deliberation, I sent Nico a quick text.



Me: I’ll meet you at the country club for dinner tonight.



I didn’t have a choice. He mentioned him, and all bets were off. As much as his speech and our conversation last night pissed me the f*ck off, I couldn’t defy Dominick.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a blur of black in the wall of mirrors. My irritation faded the second my gaze landed on Evie. Her body dipped to the side, and she spun in a circle with one leg raised high in the air. Marone, the way her long, toned legs moved seamlessly from one move to the next made my cock twitch.

I remembered the way her skin felt like silk under my fingers. The way her long legs hugged my waist when I moved inside of her. The not so quiet moans she made as she came undone.

My phone beeped repeatedly—only, I no longer gave a shit. I silenced it and stuffed it in my pocket. When ten minutes became an hour, I slid down the wall to get comfortable. Engrossed didn’t begin to describe what I felt while I watched her float from one move to the other. I wished the music flowed from the overhead speakers, not her earbuds. I wanted to hear what she heard, feel what she felt, and somehow be part of her secret world.

Finally, she stopped moving, and as selfish as it sounded, I hated that she didn’t acknowledge me. She’d managed to forget I was here with her, and it stung because I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

She yanked her earbuds from her ears and draped the wire around her shoulders. Chest heaving, she closed her eyes and moved her head in a circle, first one direction and then the other.

I cleared my throat, and she froze, keeping her eyes squeezed shut for a fraction longer than necessary.

She turned her back to me and snagged her sweater from the barre mounted to the wall. “You didn’t have to stick around. I’m sure you were bored out of your mind.”

“Far from it.” Needing to touch her, I crossed the room, wrapped my hands around her waist, and pulled her back flush against my chest. I drew circles on the exposed skin of her belly, loving the way her muscles jumped under my fingers. “You’re incredibly talented. I can see why you don’t want to give up your dream. There’s no way you won’t get another role soon.”

“Hah.” A forced laugh burst from her lips, and she twisted out of my hold. “It’s not that easy. It’s been a year, and people in the industry have already forgotten about me, and in the unlikely event that they haven’t, my injury and lengthy absence will linger in the back of their minds.”

“I don’t know.” I rubbed my fingers across my lips. “You might be surprised.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” She pulled her sweater over her head and grabbed her dance bag from the hardwood floor. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

I followed her out of the room. “Why’s that?”

“There’s an audition I’m going to at the end of next month.” She paused mid-step. “That is, if you’re okay with it.”

My shoulders tensed. “Of course you can go to an audition. Why do you think I’d stop you?”

“I had my doubts.” She shrugged. “You gotta admit you have me on a pretty short leash.”

I ground my teeth together, biting back the response on the tip of my tongue.

“Wait, Miss Jeffers,” called a woman with caramel colored skin, high cheekbones, and nearly black hair.

Evie lifted a hand in greeting. “Oh. Hi, Jenna. I didn’t realize you’d be here today.”

“I tried to run the credit card number you called in last week, and it didn’t work.”

“Really?” Evie twisted the hem of her sweater and a blush stained her cheeks. “I don’t understand why that happened. Maybe you could try to run it again?” She shoved her hand into her open bag and pulled out a black wallet. “What were the last four digits of the card I gave you?”