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“You’re drunk,” Ryan said, arms going across his chest. “Sleep it off. Tell us what’s going on in the morning. But we’re not leaving.”
Enzo remained quiet as he drank more, his gaze lingering on me as he did so.
I faced Natalia and pleaded, “I need to talk to him alone.”
“I’m his best friend. I’m not leaving,” Natalia insisted.
“And he’s my ...” I looked over my shoulder to find him at the window, his back to us again. My what? “Take my keys and go next door. You’ve been on your feet all night. You should sleep. Stay in my room.” I snatched my keys from my purse before tossing the small bag onto the armchair by the couch with no plans to leave.
Natalia exchanged a look with Ryan, searching for what to do.
“Please.” I shoved the keys into Ryan’s hand. “I can handle this.” I nodded, hoping to convince the both of them.
I honestly had no clue if I could handle a drunk, angry Enzo, but I was certain he’d throw us all out on our asses in a minute if I didn’t reduce the number of us in the room.
Natalia stole a quick look at the brooding man by the window, then squeezed my forearm. “We’ll be right next door if you need us.”
“Thank you,” I mouthed.
“Don’t be an ass, Enzo. Talk to her,” Ryan bit out before he and Natalia left, and once the door thudded shut, I started for the fire, unsure what to do next.
“Stop,” Enzo commanded. “There’s glass over there.”
I went still and looked at the fireplace, where I’d barely noticed the shards of glass. From the looks of it, he’d angrily hurled more than one glass. “Talk to me,” I begged, slowly turning, not expecting to see him inches away, his gaze on me.
The light from the fire bounced off his hard features, and I flinched when he reached out and ran a finger up the column of my throat before tipping my chin. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“But I am.” I hoped he wouldn’t notice the nervous swallow, but the slight tip of his head with his eyes focused on my throat meant he had. “Why are you drunk? Why are your brothers flying here?”
He closed his eyes and his hand fell back to his side. He started to bring the bottle to his mouth, but I reached for his forearm, an attempt to stop him. His eyes flashed open, catching mine, and his lips hardened as if I’d defied him.
“Always playing with fire. What will I ever do with you?” he murmured instead of answering me. He pulled his arm away and brought the rim of the bottle to my lips. “Want a taste, baby?”
I had to remind myself he’d been drinking, and I’d never experienced this man at anything less than 100 percent in control. I had no idea what to expect.
He dragged the bottle tip along the line of my lips, forcing them to part, and I was certain he wanted to see my lips wrapped around something and it wasn’t the bottle. And I shouldn’t have been aroused by that fact. Because the unspoken reason why he was drinking from the bottle still hung in the air between us.
“I want you to stop drinking so you can talk to me. Sober up first if you have to, but—”
“If you want me to stop drinking, then you’ll need to distract me.” He lowered the bottle to his side.
I wet my lips, growing both hotter and more nervous by the second. “How do you propose I do that?”
The side of his lips hitched. “Tell me about that list of yours. What’s on it?” He turned and went to the window, but he set his back to it instead of looking out at the city.
“Why would you care about that right now?” I crossed the space and boldly took the bottle from him, and he didn’t stop me. Once the whiskey was at a safe distance away from him, I returned to find him with the back of his head against the glass, eyes steadily on me.
“I’m angry. If you don’t want me leaving this apartment and unleashing hell on the first fucker who crosses me,” he began while shoving away from the window to stalk closer to me with confident strides, “then distract me.”
“With the list?”
He stopped before me and gently cupped my cheek, a contrast to the asshole-like attitude he was trying to portray. “What’s number five? Does it go that high?” A dark smile cut across his mouth.
“Higher,” I whispered, captivated by the powerful man before me, ready to bend to his will when I normally loved to challenge him at every turn.
“So?” He angled his head, waiting. “Number five?”
Dizzy with need but knowing I’d never act on it, given his state, I closed my eyes, and my entire body heated as I admitted the truth. “That you take me, well, um ...”
