Page 369 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“Don’t look, Anya.”

“Don’t scream, Anya.”

But I can’t help myself.

I do both…

Again.

* * *

“Maks!” I gasp, sitting straight up in my airplane seat, my heart throbbing so hard, I press a hand to it to make sure it stays in my chest.

Yeah, I’m still alive.

I made it out that night.

I survived and my brother…didn’t.

After all we’d been through together…losing Mama and Papa, being forced from the only home we ever knew, on the run and living in hell with our uncle in a shithole apartment in Brooklyn…he was gone.

Forever.

Those splintered memories come back to haunt me pretty frequently, even though it’s been almost a year since he was murdered.

The book I’d been reading right before I fell asleep…when my mind was filled with steamy rock stars, hot surfers, and swoon-worthy FBI agents…falls to the floor. I let my eyes flutter closed for a second, trying to calm my breathing before I bend over to pick it up. Beads of perspiration pebble on the back of my neck as I force the images out of my mind.

Hence, the reason for the book.

It’s one of the reasons why I became such an avid reader over the past few years. It’s my only real escape…when I’m awake.

But once my eyes droop closed, the demons take over and my sexy romance fantasies morph into gruesome horror story plots with me as the main character.

“Oh dear, I think you dropped this.” A kind old lady next to me nudges my arm with the fallen book.

“Thank you so much,” I say, forcing a smile as I clutch the book tight in my hand.

“It certainly looks like an …interesting read,” she says with a little chuckle. “I love romance novels, too. I read at least three a week! Although, not this week. Oh, no. This week, I’m going to be parked in front of my favorite slot machines at the Excelsior!” She clasps her hands together. “It’s just going to be such a fabulous trip! My girlfriends and I are all meeting at the luggage carousel since we’re flying in from different places. And we’re so excited…”

The woman continues to talk and I just smile and nod, my mind tripping back to the handsome stranger who managed to get caught in my crosshairs last night.

I’d much rather think about him than about my sordid past, not that there’s any shot I’ll ever see him again.

When I ran away from Velvet Lounge last night, it was partly because I was afraid he could see right through me. He called me out on so much and came damn close to connecting the dots that were never meant to be linked.

I stayed with him at the bar last night and let him in further than I have any guy in what feels like forever.

And I knew if I stayed for a single second more, he’d have peeled away enough of my layers to find what lay tangled and twisted inside of me. And I’m not just talking about my clothes either.

I couldn’t allow that to happen, especially after our hot little tryst outside of the restroom.

He had…has…the power to undo me.

And I can’t afford to unravel like a cheap fucking rug.

Not now, not ever!

I’ve played that role and it almost got me killed.

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