Page 271 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“Good,” she says, twisting her head left and right and then narrowing her eyes at me. “So why don’t you tell me why you were so desperate to see me that you had to follow me into the park? You weren’t just hanging out here. You had to have tracked me.”

“What if I did?”

“Well, that would be hella freaking creepy! Especially since you could have seen me last night but chose not to come back.”

“You’re right. But you have to believe it was for a good reason. Besides, you’re not running away from me now,” I say. “If I’m so creepy, why are you still standing here?”

She shrugs, her long ponytail cascading down one shoulder. “Probably because I’m stupid and naïve. But maybe because…” Her voice trails off.

I take a tentative step forward. “Maybe because…?” I ask.

Her hand slides into her pocket, which is totally flat, by the way. She has no pepper spray. It was a bluff. But I did see her run, and she’s got some pretty powerful legs, legs I don’t plan to have near me unless they’re wrapped around me. “Maybe because I’m kind of glad you came looking for me in some weird, twisted way.”

“Why does that make you weird and twisted?”

She rolls her eyes. “Not me, dude.You.”

“I’ve been called worse,” I say with a smirk. “And if that’s the worst you can say, then I’ll stick around to hear some more.”

A smile plays at her lips. “What makes you think thereisany more?”

I take another step. “Because, like I said before, you’re still standing here. I take that as a good sign.”

The electricity cracking between us…she can feel it, I know she can. But how the fuck doesn’t she know it’s me? How can she not see me the way I see her? How can she not remember?

Unless the hate runs so deep, she won’t acknowledge what’s long been buried.

Pretty soon, she won’t have much of a choice but to unpack it all.

She clears her throat and tucks a stray hair behind her ear. “Yeah. So, um…Joe,” A nervous giggle slips through her lips. “What happens next?”

A loud ringtone pierces the air and I grab it out of my pocket.

“Yeah?” I say, dragging my eyes away from Marchella.

“Boss, Frankie’s on his way. We have to do this now.”

“Okay,” I grunt. “I’ll meet you at our spot.” I gave them the address of her apartment building under the guise that we’d tail her from there.

Dammit, I didn’t get enough time!

Why’d she have to run for so fucking long?

I click off the phone and stuff it back in my pocket.

“So, I, uh, guess you have to—” she starts to say, but I don’t let her finish. I close the space between us and snake my arms around her waist, crushing my lips against hers to silence the rest of her thought.

I drink her in, the taste of spearmint so sweet on her lips. I plunder her mouth with my tongue as I press my fingertips into the small of her back. A tiny moan slips from her mouth, her arms tightening around me, her fingers tugging at the hem of my shirt. Fuck, I want to sprawl her out on the ground and tear off her clothes so I can feast on her, tasting every inch of her frenzied body. Our tongues twist and tussle, coiling heat igniting the flames of passion deep in my gut…flames that I’ve never felt singe me, much less incinerate my insides.

Thisis what I needed to experience.

Thisis why I came.

Thisis what I had to know…at least for a few fleeting moments before her life completely implodes, courtesy of me and her dear dipshit brother.

I pull away, breathless, dragging my thumb and forefinger down the sides of her flushed face. Her eyes sparkle with lust and excitement, all signs of fear completely erased from her expression.

That’ll change soon enough.

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