Chapter Six

Anna practically frolicked up the stairs on her way to her room, probably to talk to her besties about every boring detail of her kiss.

My pulse picked up thinking about the moment I’d walked in on them. Seeing Clifford’s lips fused to Anna’s…

I’d wanted to kill him in the cruelest way possible. I’d already imagined calling Arturo and making a weekend-getaway out of Cliffy’s dismemberment. He wasn’t worthy of her. A man should be able to defend his woman. Cliffy couldn’t even defend himself against a kindergarten kid.

I’d told Anna I’d wanted to protect her virtue… which was a half-truth. I wanted to protect her virtue from Cliffy and every other guy so I could destroy it myself. Fuck. For a few months, things had gone downhill. My mind couldn’t stop seeing Anna as the woman that she was. A fucking gorgeous, very tempting woman who played her assets in all the right ways. Fuck, and she knew it.

I was a dead man walking.

“Santino,” Dante’s clipped voice tore me out of my inappropriate thoughts of his daughter. I turned toward the sound. He stood in front of his office at the end of the hallway with a look that suggested he’d read my mind. Of course I knew that wasn’t why his expression didn’t bode well.

I strode toward him with a neutral expression.

“I’d like to have a word with you in my office,” Dante said in a tight voice.

“Of course.” I entered the office then took the seat across from the desk and waited while Dante moved behind the desk, but he didn’t sit down. He stared down at me. “Senator Clark called me.”

“Clifford is a little snitch.”

Dante narrowed his eyes. “I assume it’s true that you beat up one of Clifford’s bodyguards and threatened the boy?”

“The boy had his tongue in Anna’s mouth. He’s lucky I didn’t cut it off.”

Dante’s eyes flashed with shock then fury before his mask slipped back in place. He looked toward the window, obviously trying to compose himself. I could only imagine what it did to him to find out Cliffy had his paws all over Anna.

“Anna and Clifford are promised to each other.”

“That doesn’t give him the right to touch her.”

“Indeed.”

“These people don’t share our values. They don’t have any honor. He might take Anna’s virtue and then decide not to marry her.”

Fuck, hear me talking about virtue like I had the slightest clue what that was. Anna was right. Virtue and I were total strangers.

“I’ll handle the Clarks, and you rein yourself in around them, especially around the boy. I don’t want another discussion with Maximo Clark. He asked me to punish you severely for the transgression and have you removed from the position as Anna’s bodyguard.”

If Clark were a Made Man, he could have asked Dante to remove me as a bodyguard. After all, Anna would be family. “Did you agree?”

“No. He doesn’t understand our rules, and I won’t have him try to stipulate any kind of rules himself.”

I nodded. Many people in the Outfit were concerned that a union with the Clarks would water down our traditions and ultimately pose a greater risk to the Outfit than be a benefit. My main concern with the bond was that Anna deserved better.

Dante still regarded me, his eyes practically x-raying me. “I want to make sure you protect Anna for the right reasons.”

This was dangerous ground I was treading on. “I protect her because of my oath. I’ve always served you and the Outfit with my life and that won’t change.”

Dante nodded but I wasn’t sure I’d completely convinced him.

Fuck. If he started suspecting Anna was making moves on me and that I was even the slightest bit tempted to give in, he’d use my balls as Christmas decoration.

I got up when it became clear that our conversation was over and headed out of his office and straight upstairs. I needed to have a word with Anna. She needed to use her magnificent lying skills on her daddy. I wouldn’t die for such a stupid reason.

I hammered my fist against the door once. That was all the warning Anna would get. I was done playing nice.

Anna was sprawled on the bed on her stomach, while she was FaceTiming Luisa. The last I heard was, “You should have seen the look in his eyes.”

If she started daydreaming about Cliffy’s eyes, I’d throw up.

I stalked over to her, took the phone from her hand and turned it off.

“Hey!” Anna said as she shoved to her knees, trying to snatch the phone out of my hand again. I pushed it into my back pocket.

Anna lunged forward and gripped my belt to drag me closer and reach for her phone. I hadn’t expected her to be this forward. I’d have thought she’d have qualms about touching me like that. I’d obviously been very wrong. Her face was right before my crotch while she tried to reach into my back pocket.

I gripped her shoulders and held her at arm’s length. She peered up at me with a coy smile.

“You’d just have to ask if you wanted me to touch your butt, Sonny.”

I took a big step back, narrowing my eyes at her. “This shit right there is exactly why I’ll get killed.”

She raised her brows.

“Your dad’s suspecting there’s more behind me attacking Cliffy than just my sense of duty.”

Anna pushed to her feet. “Well, he’s onto something, isn’t he?”

I bridged the distance between us, snarling. “This isn’t a fucking game, Anna. I won’t get killed because you’re playing games.”

“No, you won’t,” she said haughtily. “You’ll get killed because you’re unable to resist my games. That’s your problem, not mine.”

She was right. I should have more self-control. But with Anna? Control eluded me more often than not. She knew me too well and pushed all my buttons, and I enjoyed it too often.

“That’s over now.”

“If you say so.”

“And you stop provoking me. And stay the fuck away from Cliffy.”

Anna stepped even closer and her scent, like spring and ocean and goddamn sunshine, hit my nostrils. “Why are you really angry, Santino?” she asked with a knowing smile. She was too clever, too cunning, and too goddamn beautiful.

I hurried up the stairs and FaceTimed Luisa the second I reached my room.

Stretched out on my belly, I told her about the kiss, wanting to keep the best for last.

“So how was it?” Luisa asked curiously. I could tell she was sitting at her piano. There wasn’t a day without music for her. For a while, I’d tried to be as good as her but Luisa didn’t just love music, she lived music and I didn’t. I loved drawing, especially humans and clothes. Music was a nice way to get in the mood to do what I really enjoyed.

“Pleasant.”

Luisa made a pained face. “That doesn’t sound as if you enjoyed it.”

“I did. It was nice really. Like a pleasant ride on one of those slow water rides in that theme park we once visited.”

“You hated it. You only rode the craziest rollercoasters afterward.”

I grinned, remembering that day and how pissed Santino had been because he had to go on every ride with me. But a few times I’d caught his excitement. He just didn’t want me to know he enjoyed anything I did. “It was okay. Clifford did nothing wrong. I think he’s a really good kisser.”

Luisa watched me silently. She sighed. “I know you, Anna. Good isn’t what you’re looking for.”

A grin crept up on my face. “Santino caught us.”

Luisa made a face as if she knew I’d set it up. “And?”

I bit my lip, my belly bursting with nervous butterflies.

“That expression…” She points at my face. “Should have been on your face while you talked about your kiss with Clifford.”

I waved her off. This wasn’t about the kiss or Clifford. “Santino completely lost his shit. For a moment I thought he’d kill Clifford. He grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off me.”

“He was on top of you?”

“Not really. He was just leaning into me but that’s not the point. Santino cared.”

“Are you sure he didn’t just follow your dad’s orders?”

I shook my head, still not able to stifle my grin or excitement. “You should have seen the look in his eyes.”

Santino burst into my room like a madman. Luisa’s eyes widened in alarm. A normal reaction seeing the murderous look on Santino’s face. My body, however, flooded with desire for him. My heart began racing and butterflies swarmed my belly. This was the reaction I wanted.

“Why are you really angry, Santino?” I asked.

Santino and I stood close, close enough to smell his aftershave, a familiar scent I often dreamed about since I first smelled it years ago. His brown eyes brimmed with anger, but it wasn’t all there was.

Santino looked as if he was torn between kissing and killing me. I should have been wary of his wrath like any sane person would have been but desire simmered in my veins. Nothing compared to the flood of desire I felt whenever I saw Santino’s furious expression. He was like a caged beast—wild, furious, untamed.

He was the wild ride I needed before marriage and Clifford’s political career caged me in, before life became a string of duties and pleasant kisses.

Santino desired me. Maybe he didn’t dare admit it to himself, much less show it, but I could see it in his eyes. In a few months, I’d be of age, and I knew deep down that then all bets would be off. Like Santino had said, eventually he’d give in. It was only a matter of time and my perseverance.

I lowered my voice to a seductive whisper. “I think it’s because you’re pissed at yourself for wanting me. And you’re even more pissed that Clifford kissed me first.”

Santino looked ready to explode. “You—” He cut himself off. “Fuck it.” He grabbed my neck and jerked me toward his body.

Our lips clashed. All the air left my lungs. The kiss was overwhelming. A wild rollercoaster ride of teeth, lips, tongue. Santino demanded I let him steer this crazy joy ride, and I relinquished my control, knowing the ride would be worth it.

His eyes blazed with fury. He wanted to resist. But he couldn’t.

His grip on my neck tightened and the kiss became even harder. His body pressed into mine, forcing me a step back, toward my bed.

My mind went into overdrive, and my stomach filled with nerves and excitement.

Suddenly Santino released me and I almost fell back on the bed.

I gasped for air when his lips no longer held me captive. He glared, his eyes hooded and furious, his lips parted, breathing harsh. “That’s a kiss.”

“No,” I got out. This wasn’t just a kiss.

Santino narrowed his eyes.

“That was unbridled fury wrapped in a kiss. This was a revelation.”

Santino shook his head. “If you like angry kissing, you’ll love angry fucking.” He trailed off, a look of regret passing his face. But he couldn’t take the words back.

“I bet,” I whispered. Hearing Santino for once use the word in the actual sense sent an excited shiver through my body.

He stepped back, his jaw clenching. “It won’t happen again. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“But you wanted it to happen, and what you really regret is that you didn’t get my first kiss. You didn’t want it, so Clifford got it.”

Santino took a deep breath. “He’s your future husband.”

“Clifford doesn’t care whom I kiss, or if I do more before marriage.”

“I don’t care what Cliffy allows or not. I’m a soldier of the Outfit and abide by our rules.”

I snorted. “Tell that to Mr. Alfera.” He banged the wife of a captain and he wants to tell me about rules?

“That’s irrelevant. I won’t be your plaything until you seal the bond with Clifford.”

“Why not? You’ve been the plaything of married women before but you can’t be my plaything?” I hated the word but Santino had started it. “Clifford is having fun before marriage, why shouldn’t I?”

Santino shook his head with a frozen expression. “Make sure you get your father off our trail. Make him believe you’re a good girl and I’m your dutiful bodyguard.”

“I probably would have been more convincing before you sexed my mouth.”

“Your lying skills are above par. You’ll do fine,” he muttered then turned on his heel and left but not before dropping my cell on the floor with a heavy clung.

I let out an enraged cry. Then I stared up at the ceiling, listening to my pounding pulse and racing heart, feeling the dampness between my legs and the heat in my belly. If this was what a kiss from Santino did to me, I understood why Mrs. Alfera had risked her husband’s wrath for a quickie with him. My chance at freedom had an expiration date. Whatever I wanted to experience, I needed to do it before I married Clifford. I needed to soak up all the adventures I could. Love wasn’t written in my stars. But I wanted lust and excitement, danger and joy. I wanted to collect a myriad of memories before my future caught up with me.