Page 8 of Dark Mafia Heir

I can still feel his lips against mine, the gentle but hard way he kissed, like he was pulling something out of me. There wassomething electric about it, something that lingered long after that unsmiling man drove us away from the chaos.

“You’re not listening, are you?” Harper’s voice snaps me back, and I blink at her, realizing my hand hangs mid-air with a piece of croissant partly bitten off.

My chest flutters, and I drop the buttered bread, gingerly dusting off my fingers.

“Sorry,” I mumble, glancing around before leaning in a little closer. “I was thinking about last night… the guy.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “The savior?

That was what we nicknamed him last night. I nod. “Him. Antonio.”

Just saying his name out loud gives me the shivers. Smiling, I touch my lips.

Harper shakes her head. She doesn’t agree. “Vi, come on. He looked dangerous.”

I didn’t expect her to but seeing her express it makes me want to keep my excitement to myself. “How? To me, he looked like every normal millennial man. He had good composure, great character, and?—”

“He pulled out a gun from thin air,” she interrupts with wide eyes.

“Correction: he pulled the gun out from between his belt. Not thin air. And so, what? Papa has a room full of guns and some other things we don’t even know.”

“That’s the more reason you should be careful. Any man that has a gun somewhere tucked between his clothes should not be trusted.”

It stings when she says that, and I don’t hesitate to release that bitterness. “But you trust Papa with your life.”

She stops stirring her cappuccino, and her shoulders sag. I don’t have to look at her to know she’s looking at me soberly. “Vi, you know what I mean.”

I don’t want us to dwell much on Papa, so I shrug, swirling the foam in my coffee with a half-smile. “I don’t know; there was something about him. But it’s not like I’ll see him again.”

“Don’t rule out the possibility of running into him again. The way he showed up yesterday, he could be out there, positioned to show up out of the blues again to come to your rescue. If he does, just remember that he looks like the kind that shows up, messes with your head, and then disappears.”

Her tone is sharp, protective. Most times, she’s always like this, trying to save me from bad decisions. I appreciate it, but sometimes, I just want to live a little.

I open my mouth to defend him—though I’m not even sure what I’d say—when I suddenly get this feeling. It creeps up my spine, like a shiver but colder, heavier. My eyes flick around the room, scanning the faces. The couple in the corner, the guy at the counter ordering a pastry, the barista cleaning up… everything looks normal, but that sense of being watched clings to me.

“Vi?” Harper notices my shift. “What’s wrong?”

I don’t answer right away, still looking, still feeling it. I might be paranoid, but…

“I don’t know,” I whisper, pulling my bag onto my shoulder. “Come on, I think we should go.”

4

Antonio

Vivienne knows I’m watching her. She can’t see me, but I’m sure she can feel me staring at her from the driveway across the café. It’s obvious from the way she keeps looking around anxiously.

I wonder if her pulse is racing as she scans the place, or if her blood is whooshing in her ears from how nervous she is. It’s not a good feeling to know someone is watching you, and it’s even worse when you have no idea who it is.

My lips curl with a smile because Peter Cole doesn’t know what hit him yet. I can’t wait to relish in his shock when he finds out I’m hunting his precious daughter.

“Nio, I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to mess with Peter Cole’s daughter,” Luca says, his face marred with concern. “This could start a war.”

He’s right. Messing with Vivienne could start a war, but I don’t give a shit. Not when Dante is about to become food for bugs underground. Not when my mentor was taken from me in such a cruel way.

I’ll start a war… Scratch that! I’ll turn the whole fucking world upside down if it means I get the answers I need. And the only way to do that is through Peter Cole.

Vivienne picks up her bag and stands up. She urges her sister to do the same and her red hair falls over her face as she rummages her bag for something. She leans over the table, and my dick twitches at the shape of her ass.

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