Page 10 of With This Kiss
I knew they were doing nothing but biding their time.
A part of me wanted to leave New York before it could happen. I should. There was nothing holding me back. Preston could take care of himself. And I knew there was a part of him that wanted to join the famiglia.
We both knew that wouldn’t happen since he was considered an “outsider.”
He should want to leave as well. New York wasn’t safe for people like us. It had never been.
It was only a matter of time before we became collateral damage.
A glass of Long Island iced tea was placed in front of me. I put a twenty-dollar bill down on the bar top without looking at the bartender.
I wasn’t going to stay long.
Just until I finish this drink.
I didn’t even want to come in the first place.
I looked around the club once more.
It was a bad idea to even set foot in here in the first place. I should have headed home and gone straight to bed, like I had really wanted to do. But I caught sight of the sign for this club, and before I knew it, I was already pulling my car into the parking lot.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when a small commotion happened near the door.
“What’s happening?” I muttered to myself, a small part thinking perhaps Kingston had shown up. My heart dropped sharply at the thought before I calmed myself.
“The prince has arrived,” the woman next to me answered. I turned to her.
“The prince?”
She looked at me, her red lips drawing my attention first before I noticed her dark eyes, surrounded by heavy makeup. She seemed like she had been here for a while. “Who else? Reign Mahankov is gracing us with his presence.”
She took a dainty sip of the amber liquid in her glass, leaving a red lip stain behind.
It took me a moment to place the name.
Reign Mahankov was Kingston’s younger brother. While Kingston had just celebrated his thirty-fifth birthday last month, Reign was…
Much younger.
Perhaps eight or nine years.
I couldn’t remember. But I knew he was closer to my age. Maybe a few years younger than my twenty-seven.
And while he was still young, he had already built himself a reputation for becoming just as ruthless as his older brother. And a bit of a player, just like hismarriedfather.
I sat up in my chair, trying to catch a glimpse of the man in question, but the crowd made it hard for me to see.
“Don’t bother,” the woman said bitterly. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay far away from him.”
My eyebrow twitched at her words. It sounded like she was speaking from experience.
She looked me up and down. “Although I don’t think you have to worry about that. He usually doesn’t go for women who look so… meek.”
I shot her a humorless smile. “You mean he usually goes for women like you?” I looked her over, unimpressed. “That doesn’t seem to be working out so well for you, now does it?”
She slammed her glass down on the bar top, drawing the attention of the bartender. “What the fuck did you just say to me, bitch?”
Before I could answer her, a laugh rang out on the other side of the woman. A man peeked around her and looked at me.
