and wetter hearing that, didn’t it? You like danger. That’s why you like hanging around the club.”
It was an effort to find my voice, and once found, not to let it wobble. “I don’t hang around there. I have a job. I earn a living.”
“I told you I’d take care of that.”
“Yeah, why? So I can pay you back in a way you decree? Hell no. I won’t be beholden to anyone.”
That included my sister, and the money she wanted to use for my education. The dynamics were much different there of course, but I wanted to pave my own trail. I didn’t want to owe anyone anything.
“You’d rather tempt that danger, even when it hurt you the other night?”
“I’m fine.” I shoved at his shoulders, but he didn’t budge.
He had a prison record for attempted murder, and he was chastising me for courting danger? He hung around with men like Marco and the others, pretending he liked them when hatred gleamed in his eyes as it had the other night in the back room, and I was the foolish one?
Maybe so, but I wasn’t alone.
“You won’t be beholden to me. I’ll give you the check, and it’ll be yours to do with as you wish.”
“How can you have that much money to throw around? You don’t even have a real job. Unless being a thug counts as one.”
His eyes glinted in the near darkness. “You’d be surprised.”
“I don’t even believe you went to prison,” I continued, trying to brazen my way through. Maybe I’d find out something real. Maybe even something I could use to begin to put together the puzzle of Giovanni Costas. “I bet that’s a lie.”
“Oh, it’s no lie. I was booked on attempted murder in Las Vegas, June twenty-ninth, 2012. Look it up if you don’t believe me. Giovanni Vincente Costas. Age 19 at the time.” He stroked my cheek with the side of his thumb, another of those fleeting touches that made me yearn for so much more. “Scarcely older than you are now.”
“Did you do it?” I couldn’t quite catch my breath.
He didn’t answer for so long that my head started to pound with my trapped heartbeats. This close to him, there simply wasn’t enough air.
I’m sure he knew that. Exploited it like he’d exploited so much else.
The corner of his mouth curved. “Of course.”
A knock sounded on the door behind me and I jumped, colliding with his impossibly hard chest. He caught me and turned me toward the door, opening it without missing a beat.
My sister waited on the other side, her mouth set in its typical sour lemon lines. “You need help getting that bandage on, Costas?”
“Nope, Daffy’s all set.” I held up my hand as proof, amazed it didn’t shake.
I’d only just found out the guy I’d slept with three— four —times was a murderer.
8
Giovanni
D inner was hell .
With the way the evening had started, it wasn’t like I’d expected much. I’d walked in to blood, then Carly had fainted, and had awakened pissed and shaky. I never did well with shaky women. They made me react in one of two ways. Either I hovered too much, or I goaded them into being so annoyed at me that they forgot to be unsteady.
Carly usually seemed to bring out the second reaction.
I had no right to talk to her the way I had. Her boyfriend—or whatever he was—wasn’t my business. She wasn’t my girlfriend, and after what she’d been through the other night, I never should’ve stooped so low as to taunt her about being aroused by me. So what if she was? I didn’t want that. The timing was horrible, and I wanted her safe. Even if I was jealous as hell about that other fucker, and even if I couldn’t stop thinking about being inside her, her well-being had to be my first priority. No matter what.
Instead of ensuring she was doing okay after the trauma she’d suffered, I’d only ended up inflicting more by throwing out that attempted murder bullshit. It was all true, but context was important, and I’d deliberately left that part out. I’d hoped she would think the worst
It was an effort to find my voice, and once found, not to let it wobble. “I don’t hang around there. I have a job. I earn a living.”
“I told you I’d take care of that.”
“Yeah, why? So I can pay you back in a way you decree? Hell no. I won’t be beholden to anyone.”
That included my sister, and the money she wanted to use for my education. The dynamics were much different there of course, but I wanted to pave my own trail. I didn’t want to owe anyone anything.
“You’d rather tempt that danger, even when it hurt you the other night?”
“I’m fine.” I shoved at his shoulders, but he didn’t budge.
He had a prison record for attempted murder, and he was chastising me for courting danger? He hung around with men like Marco and the others, pretending he liked them when hatred gleamed in his eyes as it had the other night in the back room, and I was the foolish one?
Maybe so, but I wasn’t alone.
“You won’t be beholden to me. I’ll give you the check, and it’ll be yours to do with as you wish.”
“How can you have that much money to throw around? You don’t even have a real job. Unless being a thug counts as one.”
His eyes glinted in the near darkness. “You’d be surprised.”
“I don’t even believe you went to prison,” I continued, trying to brazen my way through. Maybe I’d find out something real. Maybe even something I could use to begin to put together the puzzle of Giovanni Costas. “I bet that’s a lie.”
“Oh, it’s no lie. I was booked on attempted murder in Las Vegas, June twenty-ninth, 2012. Look it up if you don’t believe me. Giovanni Vincente Costas. Age 19 at the time.” He stroked my cheek with the side of his thumb, another of those fleeting touches that made me yearn for so much more. “Scarcely older than you are now.”
“Did you do it?” I couldn’t quite catch my breath.
He didn’t answer for so long that my head started to pound with my trapped heartbeats. This close to him, there simply wasn’t enough air.
I’m sure he knew that. Exploited it like he’d exploited so much else.
The corner of his mouth curved. “Of course.”
A knock sounded on the door behind me and I jumped, colliding with his impossibly hard chest. He caught me and turned me toward the door, opening it without missing a beat.
My sister waited on the other side, her mouth set in its typical sour lemon lines. “You need help getting that bandage on, Costas?”
“Nope, Daffy’s all set.” I held up my hand as proof, amazed it didn’t shake.
I’d only just found out the guy I’d slept with three— four —times was a murderer.
8
Giovanni
D inner was hell .
With the way the evening had started, it wasn’t like I’d expected much. I’d walked in to blood, then Carly had fainted, and had awakened pissed and shaky. I never did well with shaky women. They made me react in one of two ways. Either I hovered too much, or I goaded them into being so annoyed at me that they forgot to be unsteady.
Carly usually seemed to bring out the second reaction.
I had no right to talk to her the way I had. Her boyfriend—or whatever he was—wasn’t my business. She wasn’t my girlfriend, and after what she’d been through the other night, I never should’ve stooped so low as to taunt her about being aroused by me. So what if she was? I didn’t want that. The timing was horrible, and I wanted her safe. Even if I was jealous as hell about that other fucker, and even if I couldn’t stop thinking about being inside her, her well-being had to be my first priority. No matter what.
Instead of ensuring she was doing okay after the trauma she’d suffered, I’d only ended up inflicting more by throwing out that attempted murder bullshit. It was all true, but context was important, and I’d deliberately left that part out. I’d hoped she would think the worst
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