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Was that why I wanted to escape so badly? Why I created my freedom step by step.
And the next step would be hopefully taking over Sophie’s bookstore in Dublin and escaping this world once and for all.
I wanted no part in organized crime.
None at all.
And I sure as hell wouldn’t let this Italian macho gangster have any say in what I was wearing.
“Really, Alex?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady and infused with the right amount of sarcasm.
He gave me a boyish grin. Gone was the intensity. Gone was the darkness. Back was the Alex from earlier, the one who smiled at me, the one who told me peeing in front of him was nothing to be ashamed of.
I narrowed my eyes.
His, how had he called it?—easygoing-ness—was deceivingly alluring.
And all a front.
He was as dangerous as they came. He hid it better than the others, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous.
Quite the opposite, really.
I shifted on my heels, suppressed my uneasiness, and went toe to toe with him.
Alex looped an arm around my waist.
Close, too close.
I could feel the panic bubbling up. But I couldn’t back down now.
“Let—”
He laid one finger over my lips, stopping me before I could give him a piece of my mind.
“Listen, Fee, you’re an independent woman, I get it.” He narrowed his eyes. “But since I’m buying, I’ll have a vote.”
I tensed, then shook my head, my pulse skittering.
“Trust me. I know you’ll look stunning in anything.” He dragged his gaze down my neck. “But especially out of it.”
He was toying with me.
So what if his obviously fake flirtation left me unsure and nervous? He’d told me he didn’t like me, so why was he acting like this?
Was this his weird, twisted sense of humor?
Not cool.
And what did he have to gain?
Unless he saw me as a trophy, something to conquer and boast about. Something to keep his self-image as a stud intact.
All good reasons for me to run in the other direction as soon and as fast as I could.
“I’ll play along under two conditions.”
“And those are?”
