Page 60 of Pink

A senator.

Even the Russian crime family in Little Odessa that Andino refused to fuck with for the same reason he didn’t want his business partner from Cali messing with this dude. Their heavy hand in the trafficking of humans could be a difficult pill to swallow when the reality of it was presented at your feet in the form of money made off the backs of broken and abused women and children.

Because apparently, though it was no business of Lev’s as his only job was to handle Andino’s safety and needs, there were criminals with a moral code. Some did have lines they would not cross. This was one of the Marcello famiglia’s lines.

He could have pointed out how the criminal activity Andino did make his money through hurt innocent people all the time, but Lev opted to remind himself that again, it was not his business. He wasn’t in Andino’s work, after all. That was not his concern.

Of course.

And maybe he was just fooling himself, too. They all had choices to make; they all had to survive. Even if that meant in the end, he chose to be the lesser of two evils.

“Could you excuse me for a moment?”

The question at the table across the room had Lev glancing that way when he lifted the cup of coffee in front of him for another fake drink. He wasn’t putting that sludge in his mouth. For such a boujee fucking place, their coffee was trash.

“Absolutely—washrooms are through the hallway past that corner there,” Jensen said as he stood from the table when Gigi did the same.

He offered his hand to help her out from around the chair and table, but she was quick to do it herself without letting him lay a finger on her. Part of Lev liked that way too much but not for just the obvious reason. The guy was clearly a fucking problem—and dangerous. But the possessive claw digging into his chest at the sight of another man eyeing Gigi like she was a thing he bought and provided for the lunch was enough to turn Lev into a psycho.

Because shit, wasn’t that what the guy basically said?

Unfortunately, to get to the washrooms, Gigi did have to pass Lev’s table. He did his best not to stare at her as she passed because the men at the table were still watching her go, and he certainly didn’t want to draw attention to himself.

She peeked at him, though.

Quick, and fleeting.

Green eyes so bright it ached.

So, yeah …

Maybe he looked, too.

But not for long.

The second she was around the corner and down the hall heading for the washrooms, the conversation at the table picked up again between Jensen and Andino’s partner from Cali.

“God, she really is fucking something, huh?” Jensen asked. “Cost me a quarter of a million to get those legs walking in here today. And that was for an hour—a lunch, man. Imagine how much somebody would lay down to get a taste of what’s between her thighs.”

A fire lit in Lev’s chest.

He remained still.

“Thirty percent of your cut—that’s what I want.”

Jensen dragged in a heavy breath, leaning back in his chair to survey the windows a few feet away from their table. “So, you’re in? It’s gonna be great.”

“Definitely in … unless circumstances change. And what about her, hmm? You’re not telling me you seriously just brought her here for lunch. You’re not even going to take a shot?”

“I may. Or I might just pay for it at a later date.”

Yeah.

Lev figured he got what he needed. For the Andino side of things, anyway.

He should have paid his tab and left the restaurant. Instead, he dropped a hundred-dollar bill on the table, grabbed his jacket and device on the table, and then headed for the hallway leading to the bathrooms.

He had to warn Gigi.