Page 70 of Worth the Risk

Angie fielded that one. “Alarm systems, personal protection, bounty hunting, investigations... You name it, we do it.”

“We?” she asked.

“Yep. I work there, too. With a degree in criminology, and as a former police detective, the transition to becoming a licensed PI was actually rather painless.”

An uncomfortable knot formed in the pit of her stomach. She was surrounded by wives, fiancées, and subs of cops and ex-military, which meant the doms of Club Decadence were cops and ex-military.

While she dreaded the answer, Bella forced herself to ask, “Um, so Dano is of the ex-military persuasion?”

“He’s an ex-Marine, but, after he got out, he worked as a detective for the San Antonio PD until joining Rossi as a private investigator, so I guess that makes him both.”

Her heart lurched painfully in her chest. Dear heaven! How had she wandered into this den of crime sleuths? Worse, gotten emotionally entangled with one of them?

A detective would ask questions. If her answers didn’t add up, he’d dig. And digging would uncover who and what she was—a mob boss’s daughter who had spent her life in the lap of luxury from the proceeds of her daddy’s many crimes. When Dan found out, and she didn’t doubt that he would, the warmth she’d seen in his eyes would fade, replaced by contempt and condemnation.

Feeling sick, Bella surged to her feet almost tipping over her chair. She caught it before it hit the floor. “I should get back to work.”

“You’ll have to join us one night when you can stay longer,” Regan suggested.

“And wear a little black dress,” her twin added.

She nodded, forcing a smile as she turned to leave, having no intention of befriending this group. She wanted to badly. She’d never had girlfriends growing up. Or true friends for that matter. The few girls she interacted with socially who were close to her own age and nice to her, or pretended to be, all worked for Lorenzo.

But it wasn’t meant to be. Neither were she and Dan. In no world could a Mafia boss’s daughter be involved with a cop, ex or otherwise. She had to leave. Not just the club but San Antonio. Pain like she hadn’t felt since she lost her mother gripped her chest. Why couldn’t he have been a bouncer like she thought. It wasn’t fair, life once again dealing her a crushing blow.

Tears burned her eyes as she managed to walk rather than stagger away from the table.

“Nice meeting you,” Joanna called after her.

Elena said to one of the other girls, “Didn’t she say her shift was over?”

And from Lexie, she heard, “Did she look pale all of a sudden? I think she looked pale.”

Chapter 15

GRIPPING THE WHEELso tightly his knuckles turned white, Dan sat in his truck with the engine running, angry and completely blown away. He’d been stood up twice in his life, both times by Bella. What the fuck?

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