Nico (Ruin & Revenge #1)(42)

“Warrior’s mark.”

“God,” she whispered. “I love your ink. I don’t know any mobsters like you.”

He fisted her hair, tugged her head to the side, deeply satisfied that his body pleased her. “There are no mobsters like me.” He kissed his way down the column of her throat and nipped the sensitive skin where her neck joined her shoulder. Her thighs tightened around his hips, and she rocked against the broad thickness of his cock. Sharp waves of hunger pulsed through his veins. He could lose himself in this woman. They were connected in a way he didn’t understand but he knew he couldn’t live without.

Nico’s phone buzzed on the desk. He wanted nothing more than to turn it off, but it was a ringtone that Luca and Frankie used to warn him if something was wrong. He reached for it, and the message he read killed his desire in an instant.

“Get dressed.” He stood so abruptly, she only just caught herself before she fell.

“What’s wrong?”

Nico reached for his gun. “We have company.”





ELEVEN

“Who is it?”

Mia ran to the window and peered through the blinds, but she couldn’t see much in the dimly lit parking lot save for the vehicles of the customers from the pool hall below.

“The Wolf.” He spat out the name, and Mia’s blood ran cold. Her father’s consigliere was as cruel and brutal a man as her father, and he held as much power in the family as Dante. If Mia’s father hadn’t groomed Dante to take over from the day he was born, the Wolf would have assumed the role of acting boss while the don was in the hospital.

“The Wolf?” Her breath left her in a rush. “He never comes here. Are you sure?”

“My bodyguards know who he is.” Nico grabbed his shirt, shook it out. “Is there a reason he might be looking for you?”

“I don’t know. Dante left me a lot of messages that I haven’t answered. I think he needs some help with the business, but it’s not something I want to get involved in so I’ve been avoiding his calls. Maybe he sent the Wolf to track me down.” She straightened her clothing. “You have to get out. If you go down the back stairs—”

“I’m not leaving.” He checked the magazine in his gun, peered out the window.

“You can’t shoot him, Nico. He’s our consigliere.”

His gazed turned feral. “Then you’d better hope he’s unarmed and means you no harm.”

Her heart kicked up a notch. The Wolf couldn’t find Nico here. Their families were still at war, and she was alone with the enemy. Either the Wolf would think she was betraying her family or that Nico had forced her. Neither of which promised a happy ending.

“How about the window?” She yanked up the blinds. “You can get out here. There’s a fire ladder—”

“I am not running, bella.” He rocked his neck from side to side, each little crack ratcheting up her fear.

Desperate, she looked around the room. “How about the closet? You could hide there. Or in one of the empty offices—”

“I don’t hide.”

“Nico!” Her voice rose in pitch. “He can’t find you here. You know that. You know what it means.”

“If I wasn’t prepared to deal with the consequences,” he said evenly, “I would never have come.”

Caught in a maelstrom of emotion, anger, fear, and frustration, she grabbed a pen off her desk and threw it at him. “But I’m not prepared. I didn’t think it through. And now someone’s going to get hurt.”

His gaze pinned her, cold as ice. “You’re afraid of him.”

“I’m more afraid of losing my freedom and independence than I am of being hurt.” She was also afraid to open herself up, show any weaknesses of vulnerabilities, including her interest in a man she shouldn’t want. Her father would find a way to turn this fling with Nico against her. Whether through pain or humiliation, he would do her harm. And Nico … Her stomach knotted. She couldn’t go through the Danny situation all over again. She couldn’t watch another man she cared about die.

“So he has hurt you.”

She shivered at his lethal tone. He was right, but she would never admit it. Several times, her father had sent the Wolf to punish Mia for her disobedience when he couldn’t do it himself, and he had seemed to relish the task. The Wolf had no limits. There was no line he wouldn’t cross. He had been born into the mob, served as consigliere for her grandfather at the end of his rein and for all the years her father had been in power. Although he was in his early sixties, he kept himself in shape and could beat a man unconscious without breaking a sweat.

“All the more reason for me to stay,” he said into the silence. “I’m not afraid of any man. I’ll protect you.”

“Please,” she whispered. “Please go.”

“No.” He leaned against the window, facing the door. “I’ll wait here, and I make no promises if I hear anything that causes me concern.”

Stubborn ass. Well, she would just have to keep the Wolf in the main part of the office and get him to leave before Nico lost his patience. He had impressive self-control, but she’d seen what lay beneath the surface. If he would beat a man half-unconscious for looking at her, she could well imagine what he might do if the Wolf touched her.