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Keegan’s stare burned a hole into the back of my head.
The same path Raphael’s bullet will take.
The next words out of my mouth would carry an inescapable weight that would linger long past this moment.
As I prepared a pragmatic answer, Keegan’s hand came down on my shoulder, which was still healing. He gave it an aggressive squeeze, reminding me of what it felt like to catch lead.
“It’s been nice knowing you,” he teased, then nodded at Willa. “You two crazy kids behave yourselves. I’m gonna wait out front. I’m sure I can waste some time giving Grifin shit about something.”
In the next beat, Willa was pushing past me and into my office as though she’d expected me to slam the door in her face. I didn’t blame her after the way I’d left things on the stairs. I closed the door but didn’t approach her, not even when she tossed her coat on the chair Keegan had just vacated and made herself at home right on top of my desk, setting down a small paper bag beside her.
She looked like every other twenty-year-old Bostonian girl—tight jeans, tall boots, a sweater that swallowed her petite frame whole, and the tangled pile of hair on top of her head was back.
With Raphael out of town, she’d ditched the Mob princess look.
She looked cute.
I liked it.
I shouldn’t have fucking liked it.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I just told you—I want to talk to you.” She tapped her finger against her temple. “Remember—no cell phone. Apparently, I haven’t earned that privilege yet.”
I frowned. “You had Grifin drive you here so that you could talk to me?”
My heart roared like a lion. She grinned, and it happened a second time.
“If I say yes, will you take pity on me going out on such a shitty winter day and hear me out?”
I leaned back against the door and crossed my arms. “I didn’t realize that a forty-degree day devoid of precipitation was considered shitty.”
She rolled her eyes. When Raphael did the same thing, I found it repulsive, yet when Willa did it, I wanted her to do it again.
She hopped off the desk and stalked toward me, her gaze never leaving mine. The closer she came, the faster my blood flowed.
I pressed into the door. If she didn’t stop her advance, my body weight alone would splinter the solid wood behind me.
“I came here to meet with ...” She came to a halt in front of me, lifting her chin dramatically. “Hannah,” she chirped.
“Hannah?” I asked, forcing an unaffected tone.
Hannah had been a willing and consistent lay for the better part of a year before I’d ended it five months ago. She’d worked as a server while earning a degree in business management. After she’d walked in on an impromptu shakedown that had resulted in two casualties, my father rewarded her loyal silence with a promotion. She now helped manage the club and anything else the syndicate needed to be done that required her skills. Hannah was sexy. Smart. She both wanted and deserved things I didn’t have to give.
Willa dragged her head up and down slowly. “Yup,” she replied, popping the p. My gaze fell on her mouth. “She’s lovely ... Hannah.”
When I didn’t agree or disagree, a flicker of something other than whimsical, cheeky Willa flashed in her eyes.
Jealousy? Couldn’t be.
“She’s helping me plan the engagement party and wedding,” she added with an edge in her voice.
Regardless of what was going on inside that beautiful head of hers, I didn’t want to have a conversation with Willa about her fucking wedding plans and Hannah.
I slipped by her, moving back to the desk chair, but she was right on my heels. Nipping at my sanity.
“Did you think about what I asked the other night?” The panic in her voice was palpable, pulling me up short. Willa was so close that if I closed my eyes and focused, I’d probably feel her breath on my back. Her vanilla scent had already ambushed my senses the moment I opened the door.
