Sabrina
“No,” I shout after him and follow him into the hallway. “I won’t let you dismiss me after what I’ve had to put up with.”
He pivots around to face me and shoots me a withering look. “I’m not taking advice from someone so close to my bread and butter. Thanks for the offer, but no.”
“How are you so sure? What I have to say can turn out to be a godsend.”
“I don’t know what game you’re playing, Sabrina, but I’m out.”
“Are you hell bent on ignoring me just because I’m a woman?”
“Don’t fucking go there,” he warns me. “You’ve known me for less than two days and you already see me as a fucking pet project.”
“That’s not true. I—”
“Stop talking. I don’t need you to fix me or to tell me how to live my life.”
“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you!”
“Everything I did for you was to protect you. If you don’t believe that, it’s not my problem.”
He’s so stubborn I can scream. “You won’t listen to what I have to say?” I’m so frustrated, but it figures. We’re combustible in and out of the bedroom.
“Leave it alone, Sabrina.”
“I never asked you for your help on that elevator. You just charged in and did your thing. So why did you do that?”
“Don’t test me, woman. I did it and it’s done.”
“What was in it for you?”
A vein on his forehead pops up and begins to pulse. “Nothing.”
“And why am I here with you now?”
“I protect my investments.”
“I wasn’t your investment when you helped me on that elevator. You didn’t know who I was then. So why did you take time out of your precious life to help? Tell me why. Maybe you’ll figure out why I want to return the favor.”
The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs is the only thing that stops me from pushing the issue further. Cole stops at the top of the landing when he sees us in the hallway. “Let me guess. Trouble in gangster’s paradise? Or is this what you kids call ‘foreplay’ nowadays?”
“What the hell do you want?” Silas asks.
“You’re needed downstairs.” He points down the stairwell, and Silas heads down without another word to me.
“What?” I ask Cole. He’s just standing there studying me with an irritatingly sympathetic stare as he chews on the end of the cigar hanging out of his mouth.
“I’ll level with you, honey.”
“If anyone else around here gives me a piece of their mind I’m going to scream!” I tell him, and storm back into my room.
He follows me, stopping in the doorway before I can slam it shut. “I need you to listen because I’ll only say this once. Got it?”
“Fine. Say whatever the hell you want, then leave me the hell alone.”
He points down the hallway. “There’s no future there. Everyone knows it. You’re too much of a good girl for him, even with your mobster family ties. And you can’t change him, so let that idea sink in for a minute. In fact, whatever you’re thinking, forget it. You’re engaged, and he’s as good as taken.”
“He’s with someone?”
