Page 484 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

But it was what hedidthat has him front and center in my mind.

A hot flush spreads over my prickled skin at the same time a delicious quiver ripples through me. My God, even the mere thought of him has every nerve ending in my body alight.

But as I get closer and closer to the Café Metro, my shoulders sag more and more. He’s either not an early bird or worse, he’s just…gone.

With a quick twist of my head, I look to my left, almost as if some unknown force is pulling my eyes in that direction. I slow my gait, my eyes narrowed at a guy sitting at a slot machine alone. He’s wearing a faded, navy blue sweatshirt, the hood pulled over his head.

Weird. It’s not cold in here…

He absently slips coins into the machine, staring at the screen as the wheels spin and he loses…again and again. And then he just stops, pulling his card from the machine and standing up, his tall, lanky form stretching to his full height. When he turns to face me, his dark brown eyes flicker in my direction and a sharp chill cuts through me.

I swallow hard as his hardened gaze rakes over me, seemingly taking in every detail from my hair to my shoes. His mouth twists like he’s just sucked on a lemon, and a sinister expression shadows his face.

I take a quick look around me to see if the look is directed at someone else, but I’m alone standing on the shiny tile floor.

Nico’s words echo in my mind.

Keep your eyes open…

But he also said the threat was eliminated, that the men who tried to grab me were handled.

But a nagging feeling in my gut warns me that no matter how hard they try to keep me out of their business, I’ll never be truly separated.

I’ll always be a target.

I clench my fists.

But I won’t ever be a victim again.

I take a deep breath as I twist toward the creeper, my jaw tight. I blink fast, my eyes sweeping over the area where he’d just been sitting and losing. I stand on my tiptoes, but his hooded head is nowhere to be found.

It’s like his creepy ass just vanished into thin air.

I furrow my brow, nibbling at my thumbnail as I round the corner leading to the restaurant. I stash away the sense of unease, my mind back on Zeno. Thoughts pop between my ears like firecrackers. I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with the idea of seeing this guy again.

Last night was a celebration, and whatever happened was part of it. Period. I was uncharacteristically brazen and flirtatious and threw caution to the wind at the prospect of hooking up with a guy in a public place, regardless of how secluded it might have been.

That wasn’t me at all. That was my drunken, slutty alter ago. The reality that could have turned into more the morning after is just plain preposterous.

Besides, I have too much going on in my life right now…the future I dreamed of is within my grasp, and I can’t have any sexy and mysterious foreign strangers blow my plans to shit because I can’t ignore the incessant tingling sensation taunting me from between my legs.

I let out a huff and shift my handbag as I sidestep an elderly couple with coffees in their hands. Aww, they look happy. I flash a smile at them over my shoulder. Someday I’ll find the right person, under the right circumstances, who isn’t a?—

“Ow!” I yelp, my shoulder slamming into a wall right outside of the café. I stumble, the force driving me backward.

I twist around, rubbing out the soreness as I look up at the wall which wasn’t actually a wall.

Not in the traditional sense, anyway.

A broad, muscular chest can be mistaken for a wall, right?

A gasp gets caught in the back of my throat. “Zeno,” I croak.

His blue eyes darken, his fiercely dominating gaze rooting me to the spot, much like it did last night when I was writhing on his lap.

I avert my eyes so he can’t see the unbridled lust flickering in the depths. I know it’s there. I can feel it everywhere, and even though I’m sure it’s etched into my expression, too, I don’t need to give away the whole farm.

Especially since he willingly walked away from it last night…

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