Page 516 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

Her jaw drops when she gets close. “It’s you,” she says in a shocked voice. “Zeno.”

She remembers my name. I get a little jolt from hearing it tumble from her red lips, won’t even lie. “Yeah,” I say with a smirk. “Last time I checked, it was definitely me.”

“Hey!” Chloe yells, pointing at me. “It’s the guy from the Montepremi, Lil!”

“Iknow.” She rolls her eyes at Chloe, then focuses her glare on me. “Any reason why you felt the need to jump into my fight?” she asks, an edge to her voice. “I think I’ve made it clear that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

I furrow my brow. “Really? That’s why you came after me?”

”Did you think I was going to thank you?” she snips. “Did you see what I did to the first guy who grabbed me?” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Besides, you made it pretty obvious not once, but twice, that you tend to walk away when things start to get interesting.” With a quirk of her brow, she flashes a half-smirk, almost challenging me.

Oh, fuck yeah. Game on.

Messina who?

I knew there was something about this girl, but I never expected this kind of fire, the kind you want to actually singe you.

And I’d have never guessed it’d blaze so hot.

Lily’s definitely not the sit-back-and-let-shit-happen kind of girl.

She’s a make-it-happen type.

Her way.

I like that spark.

I’d love to put her over my knee and spank it out of her, Alek’s warnings be damned.

I’ll deal with the consequences.

I step toward her, caught under her spell and so deep that I almost don’t hear the squeal of tires behind me, or the crack of bullets explode into the air.

I don’t think, I just dive to the ground with Lily under me.

Crack! Pop! Bam!

Lily’s screams are muffled by my shirt, and I keep my body plastered on top of her to keep her out of the sea of bullets.

Bruno has Chloe under him on the ground, as well, a few feet from us.

I fumble for my gun and pull it from my waistband, firing off a few shots as the car careens around the corner. More bullets pierce the air, shattering windows of cars behind us in the parking lot, until the assassins disappear.

Alarms blare out and it will only be a matter of time before people come pouring out of the club.

“We need to get out of here,” I yell. “Bruno, where’d you park?”

He groans. “Around front. And if we go out there, we’re dead.”

Lily slithers out from underneath me. “Come on! My car is out here.” She scrambles to her feet as Aldo picks up her friend and we make a run for her car together. Once we’re all inside, she fires up the engine and peels out of the parking lot.

Her shoulders tremble, her hands gripping the steering wheel tight. “I knew I should have just stayed home tonight,” she mutters, staring into the rearview mirror. “It was a bad idea to come here. Dammit!” she swears to herself.

She’s not wrong. This club, as hot as it is, really isn’t in the safest spot. Most of the big clubs are in hotels, but this one is off by itself. There’s always shit going down here, at least, that’s what I’ve read, anyway.

“We’re okay,” I grumble. “We’re safe.” For how long, though? That’s the magic question without an answer. Jesus, I was only half-kidding about not making it back to the hotel tonight.

Turns out I was actually right.

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