By Virtue I Fall (Sins of the Fathers #3)(16)

Santino released a sigh and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. I leaned back with a grin.

“Don’t imagine me when you kiss Cliffy. What he considers kissing is an insult to anyone with balls. The look on your face is one my Grandma has when I peck her cheek. It’s not a look of a woman being kissed by a man she isn’t related to.”

“If you think you can do better than Clifford, prove it. I’ll be the judge. I promise I’ll be fair.”

Santino gave a dry chuckle. “I don’t have to prove anything.”

“If you say so.” I shrugged and looked out of the window. Santino muttered something under his breath. I hoped I could provoke him into kissing me. Kissing Clifford had left me… wanting. The kiss had been pleasant and I bet many girls had worse first kiss experiences but it wasn’t what I wanted. I desired fireworks, butterflies wreaking havoc in my belly and heart racing. Pleasant wasn’t cutting it.

Santino wasn’t pleasant or nice. Santino was what I craved.

Even his iron will had to have its limits and if anyone could break it, then it was me.





Anna practically frolicked up the stairs on her way to her room, probably to talk to her besties about every boring detail of her kiss.

My pulse picked up thinking about the moment I’d walked in on them. Seeing Clifford’s lips fused to Anna’s…

I’d wanted to kill him in the cruelest way possible. I’d already imagined calling Arturo and making a weekend-getaway out of Cliffy’s dismemberment. He wasn’t worthy of her. A man should be able to defend his woman. Cliffy couldn’t even defend himself against a kindergarten kid.

I’d told Anna I’d wanted to protect her virtue… which was a half-truth. I wanted to protect her virtue from Cliffy and every other guy so I could destroy it myself. Fuck. For a few months, things had gone downhill. My mind couldn’t stop seeing Anna as the woman that she was. A fucking gorgeous, very tempting woman who played her assets in all the right ways. Fuck, and she knew it.

I was a dead man walking.

“Santino,” Dante’s clipped voice tore me out of my inappropriate thoughts of his daughter. I turned toward the sound. He stood in front of his office at the end of the hallway with a look that suggested he’d read my mind. Of course I knew that wasn’t why his expression didn’t bode well.

I strode toward him with a neutral expression.

“I’d like to have a word with you in my office,” Dante said in a tight voice.

“Of course.” I entered the office then took the seat across from the desk and waited while Dante moved behind the desk, but he didn’t sit down. He stared down at me. “Senator Clark called me.”

“Clifford is a little snitch.”

Dante narrowed his eyes. “I assume it’s true that you beat up one of Clifford’s bodyguards and threatened the boy?”

“The boy had his tongue in Anna’s mouth. He’s lucky I didn’t cut it off.”

Dante’s eyes flashed with shock then fury before his mask slipped back in place. He looked toward the window, obviously trying to compose himself. I could only imagine what it did to him to find out Cliffy had his paws all over Anna.

“Anna and Clifford are promised to each other.”

“That doesn’t give him the right to touch her.”

“Indeed.”

“These people don’t share our values. They don’t have any honor. He might take Anna’s virtue and then decide not to marry her.”

Fuck, hear me talking about virtue like I had the slightest clue what that was. Anna was right. Virtue and I were total strangers.

“I’ll handle the Clarks, and you rein yourself in around them, especially around the boy. I don’t want another discussion with Maximo Clark. He asked me to punish you severely for the transgression and have you removed from the position as Anna’s bodyguard.”

If Clark were a Made Man, he could have asked Dante to remove me as a bodyguard. After all, Anna would be family. “Did you agree?”

“No. He doesn’t understand our rules, and I won’t have him try to stipulate any kind of rules himself.”

I nodded. Many people in the Outfit were concerned that a union with the Clarks would water down our traditions and ultimately pose a greater risk to the Outfit than be a benefit. My main concern with the bond was that Anna deserved better.

Dante still regarded me, his eyes practically x-raying me. “I want to make sure you protect Anna for the right reasons.”

This was dangerous ground I was treading on. “I protect her because of my oath. I’ve always served you and the Outfit with my life and that won’t change.”

Dante nodded but I wasn’t sure I’d completely convinced him.

Fuck. If he started suspecting Anna was making moves on me and that I was even the slightest bit tempted to give in, he’d use my balls as Christmas decoration.

I got up when it became clear that our conversation was over and headed out of his office and straight upstairs. I needed to have a word with Anna. She needed to use her magnificent lying skills on her daddy. I wouldn’t die for such a stupid reason.

I hammered my fist against the door once. That was all the warning Anna would get. I was done playing nice.

Anna was sprawled on the bed on her stomach, while she was FaceTiming Luisa. The last I heard was, “You should have seen the look in his eyes.”