Page 19 of Shield

“It’s a start,” he says, his lowering his voice. “Listen, I love you, man, but you’re fucked up. You can’t be in this shitty mental place if we’re going to neutralize the old man. You can’t. We’re about to do the Luminous job, and Tommy is going to need us when he tracks down his girl. I need you sharp, not….” He waves his hand, indicating all of me.

“I don’t get how alcohol and sex add up to me being ‘sharp,’” I clip.

“Olivia has been blowing my shit up about this party she and Eleanor have been putting together for this weekend. It’s inyourbuilding,yourfucking house, for Christ’s sake. You have no excuse not to show.”

I know he made good on his threat to stage a pop-up club at Dragovari Tower, because Olivia has been texting me constantly about it.

“Construction just wrapped up on the penthouse, and I need to—”

“Come on, man. Just a couple drinks. A night out. Some decompression. I need it. Tommy needs it. God knows you need it. Can we just keep it at that?”

“And you’ll shut this thing down with Siena? Before then?”

“As long as you’ll keep your word and show up, yes.”

“I always keep my word.”

I just wish I could have kept my word to Siena, kept her safe. If this is all I have to do to enlist Vin’s full cooperation in getting her to give up this quest to connect with Valentina and disconnect from our world entirely, I’ll do it.

As I head back to the elevator, Vin calls out from the office. “I’ll have some food sent over. Real food, not fucking breakfast.”

I chuckle, knowing that that means piles of gnocchi, steaks, rosso bucco, and risotto. “Fuck you.”

“No, not fuck me, brother, but I’ll make sure you’re hooked up on that front this weekend, too.”

I can hear him laughing as I step into the elevator. He’s an asshole, but I feel better than I have in weeks. I hate it that Siena reached out to Vin and not me, but it shows that she hates me as much as she needs to in order to keep her far awayfrom me and safe.

I have no intention of fucking anyone this weekend, but I’ll have a drink or two as long as Vin stops me from hunting down Siena if I get too drunk to stop myself. In the meantime, I’m resolved to take care of myself for a change and focus more on setting up the Luminous job and preparing to be the underboss of the new Demonio family with Vin at the helm.

Then the elevator doors open into the parking garage, and all my resolve evaporates.

10

Siena

Holy fucking shit.

It’s him.

I’ve been waiting at the car for a while now, fully prepared to wait all day for Vin to appear. Venomous, primed to attack, I was ready to force him to give me answers by any means necessary.

Then Matti steps off the elevator, and every ounce of that anger dissolves. My legs feel like jelly, and my breath catches in my throat.

I forgot how devastatingly handsome he is. Even with his tie loosened, his shirt wrinkled, his hair tousled, he’s stunning. His muscles are pulling at the fabric of the shirt and jacket. His pants are tight enough to outline… everything.

A flush creeps up my skin, and I fight to keep my expression neutral. Our eyes lock, and he shows no sign of surprise as he strides toward me with purpose. If anything, he seems… intent. Focused. Did he plan this? He’s always so irritatingly in control.

“Have you been following me?” I blurt it out when he’s stilla few yards away from me. “I’ve seen this car before. I’m not as stupid as you’d like me to be,Mr. Dragovar—“

He’s on me before I can finish, his hands rough and unapologetic as he pushes my hat off my head, tears at my coat. Crushing his mouth into my neck, his teeth scrape my skin, biting me, marking me. I yelp, eyes wide, frozen in shock.

His touch is chaotic, unhinged, and it unlocks something equally reckless in me. Weeks of suppressed desire surge to the surface, leaving me trembling and needy.

I press my hands to his chest, intending to shove him back, but instead, my fingers dig into his steely muscles, and my pussy grinds against the hard ridge of his cock. I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, to tell him I don’t want him, that he needs to leave me the fuck alone. But that’s not what comes out.

“Matti,” I moan, throwing my arms around his neck.

He stops and pulls back. Locking eyes with me, he searches my face, his eyes dark and desperate. He runs the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip, staring at my mouth.

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