Maverick’s jaw tightens. “That is not what I said.”
Stefano’s laughter follows him toward the horses, leaving me standing beside Maverick with my cheeks warm and my pulse acting like it has places to be.
“So,” I say, because silence suddenly feels dangerous. “Maverick.”
His attention settles on me again.
“Yes,bella?”
Oh, good grief.
I am in so much trouble.
“Ms. Moore, someone has a question for you about feed.”
I’m both grateful for and frustrated by the interruption.
“I’ll, um… see you around?” I say to Maverick.
He nods.
“Hey, can someone let me in this cage? I wanna pet that cat.”
“That’s a bobcat, Skip,” another voice says. “It’ll eat you, and then what will I tell Eli? Look at him. He’s about to faint at the very thought.”
“Aww, my pretty boy is getting all flustered.”
“Don’t worry about him,” Maverick says with a sigh. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” I say quickly. “You didn’t come here to be put to work.”
“He’s family,” Maverick says, though his expression is both fond and deeply frustrated.
I glance over to where the man near Bobcat Billie’s enclosure is wearing the same leather cut as the rest of the Iron Shadows.
“He’s a Shadow,” I say.
“Yes.”
My eyes swing back to Maverick and his lack of a cut. “You’re in their club?”
“No.”
“But I thought you were…” I lower my voice so no one else hears. “The Don of the local Italian mafia?”
“And I thought finding that out would scare you,” Maverick says, his mouth curving.
“It might,” I admit. “My self-preservation is currently very confused.”
His smile deepens, and that is wildly unfair.
“I’m not a member of their club,” he says. “But they are very much part of my family.”
“Should I be scared that you’re a mob boss?” I ask, fully aware that people are waiting on me and still somehow unable to walk away.
His gaze drops over my face, slow and deliberate, before returning to my eyes.
“Yes,bella,” he says softly. “You should be very scared that you’ve caught my attention.”
