White Knight (Dirty Mafia Duet, #2)(32)

The man is seventy-five if he’s a day, and probably even a bit older, but I’m not about to ask him.

“I like your attitude, Benny. What’s it like being back in New York after being gone for a while?”

He tilts his head from side to side while signaling the besieged bartenders. Knowing it’s going to be a while, I settle in for the conversation to come by scooting my skirt-clad butt onto a stool, and Benny does the same.

“Things have changed a lot. Buildings I remember being here are gone, and there’s skeletons of something new in their place. I miss the old days, when people weren’t walking while staring at their phones. They stared at the sidewalk like proper New Yorkers, avoiding eye contact on purpose, but at least they didn’t run into you because they’re oblivious.”

I can’t help but laugh because it’s the truth. I almost saw a woman get nailed by a cab as she stepped into a crosswalk when the light turned, all because she was too busy looking at her phone to notice.

“Maybe it’s a new version of survival of the fittest, except this time, only the aware survive and the oblivious remove themselves from the gene pool.”

Benny’s laugh sounds like a crumpling paper grocery sack, which immediately morphs into him coughing up a lung. I nab a Dom turns 40 for the 30th time water bottle from the arrangement on the bar, unscrew the cap, and slide it in front of him.

“Thanks, gorgeous.” The old guy wipes his mouth with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket, and I don’t miss the smear of blood on it before he folds it and tucks it away.

Fucking hell. That’s not good.

He sips from the bottle and makes a disgusted face.

“Something wrong with the water?” I ask, wondering if I handed him one that was tainted or something.

“No whiskey in it. That’s what’s wrong.”

This time I smile and push out a chuckle. “You sound like a man set in his ways.”

“We all are. But sometimes, if the right woman comes along, we make room for change.” He shoots me a thoughtful look, and at that moment, I realize he sought me out on purpose.

“You sound like you’ve got something on your mind, Benny. Lay it on me.”

His teeth may be false, but the grin is genuine. “You’re direct. I like that in a woman. I see how Cannon got wrapped up in you.”

“Are you going to warn me away from him too? Because it’s a little too late for that.”

In an instant, Benny’s entire face changes into a cold, hard mask, and it’s like I’m staring at a different person.

“Not if you’ve got ill intentions toward my boy, it’s never too late. He’s been through a special kind of hell. Never had an identity of his own. Always following orders. No freedom on the horizon until now, and I’m not about to let him get sucked in by some woman who isn’t going to treat him like the prince he is. I’ll put her in the ground first.”

Chills ripple over every single inch of my body. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end. Cold sweat breaks out across my chest.

Benny wasn’t a good-time guy.

Benny was a killer.

I don’t know how I know that, but I feel it straight to the marrow of my bones.

Even though he vaguely said, “I’ll put her in the ground first,” he’s talking about me. This old man, who is coughing up blood and probably knows about how many days he’s got left on this planet, is threatening to murder me, and he’s serious.

Hell, if he knew how Cannon and I got started, he’d probably kill me right here, in front of an entire restaurant full of witnesses who would no doubt testify that they’d seen nothing, had never met me, and give each other alibis. Isn’t the mob great?

I have two choices right now. I can either run, or I can face him and try to make him my ally. God knows I could use one.

Sitting up straighter on the stool, I meet his faded gaze. “I’d put her in the ground before you could, Benny.”

The mask of the killer disappears from his face like it was never there. Once again, a jovial old man sits on the stool beside me, and his lips curl up with a cocky smirk.

“That’s what I thought. I like you, Drew. And trust me, I’d hate to have to clip a pretty flower like yourself, so young and full of life, but I will if I have to.”

Those chills I felt before? They’re back with a vengeance. Something about him making that promise to me with a smile on his face is even more disturbing than the blank mask of a killer.

“I’d really hate that too. Especially since I’m in love with Cannon, and I only want the best for him.”

The bartender finally stops in front of us, and Benny orders a whiskey neat and gestures to me.

“I’ll have the same.”

One corner of Benny’s mouth quirks up as the bartender disappears again.

“What?” I ask him with a smile.

“There’s just something about you. Especially the way your eyes turn turquoise when you blink.”

Fucking hell. He knows I’m wearing colored contacts. Apparently taking refuge at the bar was a terrible decision. Actually, me coming to this party was terrible decision number one.

“Why are you hiding yourself, kid? Cannon know about this?”

I nod. “Yes. He knows everything.”

“Good, because—”