Page 205 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

Or so broken.

I was shocked to see it the first time.

This time is plain surreal.

Little body.

Larger-than-life attitude.

And we can’t forget that huge chip sitting right on her shoulder.

I can’t help but ignore the question of why.

She sniffles, flexing her fingers. I instinctively move away from her, just in case she’s getting ready.

With a small smile on her face, she drops her hand to the mattress. “I’m not going to hit you.”

“I don’t know if I should believe you,” I say with a quirked eyebrow. “Past experience dictates something very different.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jaelyn lets out a sigh, pushing her hair, matted with tears, away from her face. “So why did you uncuff me?”

I shrug. “Because I was afraid I’d kill you if I kept you locked up that way. I took a chance that you wouldn’t run or attack me if I freed one of your arms.”

“Well, I appreciate you saving my life.”

“I, uh, also heard?—”

She holds up her free hand. “No. Don’t go there.”

I rake a hand through my hair. ‘Why? Because you don’t want it to get out that, contrary to popular opinion, you’re not a complete bitch twenty-four-seven and that you do actually have a sensitive side?”

With a roll of her eyes, she collapses back on the mattress. “You’re a big gangster-type guy. You know emotion is for the weak.”

“Yep, and the weak ones get the ice pick to the head. I know the story well.” I smirk.

“Good, so then let’s just agree to drop it.”

I nod. “Okay, it’s forgotten. Anything else off limits that I should know about?”

Her eyes take on a glower. “You’ve already made it clear that anything I say is worthless, so why even ask?”

“Look, Jaelyn,” I say, sliding off the bed and walking over to the far wall. Jesus, I really need to keep my distance from this girl, for a lot of reasons. “I know you don’t understand what’s happening, but there’s a good reason why you’re here. A very good reason.”

“What’shappeninghere?” she asks, her voice rising. “There is nothing happening here! You kidnapped me for this alleged ‘good reason’ but you seem to have no plan for what to do to me or with me. That tells me your ‘good reason’ is actually total crap.”

I clench my fists at my sides. “I know exactly what I’m doing! Don’t fucking challenge me!”

Jaelyn lets out a huff. “Okay, so first, you’re getting pretty defensive for a guy who has everything figured out. Second, I heard you on the phone with one of your idiot friends! So don’t feed me that garbage! Admit it, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing! Maybe you should just stick to running strip clubs into the ground! You’re fucking great at that!”

I stomp over to the bed and grab her chin so she has to look up at me. I also make sure I grab her free hand to keep myself alive and unmaimed. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!”

“Don’t I, though?” she snips, wrenching her face out of my grip. “You wouldn’t be so pissed off if I was wrong. You’d laugh it off, thinking the joke is on me. But it’s not, is it? You didn’t think this through and you don’t know what you’re going to do next!” she shrieks. “And my brother could die because of it!”

That’s when her feet flail, one of them coming dangerously close to my groin.

“I don’t really give a damn what sob story you think you can sell me. It won’t fucking work! And your brother’s death would be fucking justice served!” I thunder.

Her eyes widen and she gasps. “What the hell are you talking about?”

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