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“Yes, my dad. He’s very protective of me and likes to look out for me as much as he can. I think he expected me to stay home all the time, but I just couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to live at home for the rest of my life. I want to get out there, have some fun, live a lot.” She giggled. “What about you?”
“My mom passed away too, some time ago. It’s just me and my dad now.” There wasn’t much else he could say. There’s no way he could tell her he was capo of the city and she worked in a restaurant run by the mafia, not to mention he had a cousin out for his very job.
“Is he proud of you? The club was amazing. The atmosphere was intense and the music, and I enjoyed it there.”
“Apart from where your friend abandoned you?”
“Yeah, that part still sucks.” He came to a stop, and he placed a hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t keep walking.
“We’re about to walk up the steps.”
“Okay. Wow, that didn’t take long at all to get home.” They walked up the steps, and he walked her to the elevator. “I usually hate the elevator, but since I’ve got my hero by my side, I’ll make an exception.”
“Why do you hate elevators?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Always have. It’s the weightlessness of it. That feeling of floating right before a crash. I know, it’s crazy.”
“It makes a whole lot of sense.”
He walked her out of the elevator, to her door. She already had a key ready, and he took it from her, placing the key in the lock.
No matter how much time he had to take, he had the patience with her.
He opened the door and waited.
“Thank you for walking me home and keeping me company.”
“You’re more than welcome.” He stared down at her full, inviting lips. He wanted to kiss her, but if he did, it would only make it harder to walk away.
“Would you like to come in for coffee?” she asked. Her cheeks were a deep shade of red.
“I’ve got to be heading back. Goodnight, Belle.”
“Goodnight, Diego.”
He waited for her to close the door before turning on his heel and leaving the apartment building.
He was more than aware of someone following him. He played it cool, passing across a street. He sank into an alcove, waiting for whoever it was to follow.
One.
Two.
Three.
He grabbed the man from behind, banding an around his neck, pulling him tight to his body, and dragging him into the nearest alley. With a blade in his hand, he slammed the guy up against the wall. A camera fell from his hand.
“Who do you work for?”
“Please, I didn’t mean—”
He slammed the blade into the man’s stomach and covered his mouth to stop the scream from filling the air.
“I asked you a fucking question. Who do you work for? If you do not answer me, the next one will be in your throat.”
He let the man’s mouth go, and he started talking.
“Angelo. He wants me to follow you. To get as much evidence on you as possible.”
“What kind of evidence?”
“I don’t know. Everyone you talk to. Who you hang out with. All of it. Anything he can use.”
Drawing the blade from the man’s stomach, he plunged it into his neck, holding him still, and staring into his eyes as he did so.
When he finally died, he withdrew the blade, wiping the excess blood on the man’s clothing before putting it away. He’d clean it later. Leaving the man propped against the wall, he pulled out his cell phone to make a call to his cleaner to come and collect him.
It would only be a matter of minutes before all of this mess was cleaned up.
Picking up the camera, he had a quick look at the pictures the bastard had taken. All of them were of him and Belle, each one looking more incriminating than the last. The look on his face showed how besotted he was.
He was a fucking fool.
The camera would need to be disposed of, and he needed to get his head out of his ass and stop visiting Belle. There was nothing between them. No chance of anything, and he was only putting her in danger because of it. Pocketing the cell phone, he helped his men pack the body into the back of the car.
It was time he put a call through to Richard.
Angelo needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later.
****
“Come on, Belle. Please, you really need to do this with me,” Melanie said.
Belle snorted. “I’m not doing anything with you.” She walked around her apartment, grabbing the two cups she needed. In her head, she counted the steps around her coffee table, which wasn’t glass. She had learned her mistake the hard way. Nothing around her apartment was breakable. She didn’t own any lamps for this reason, and there were no pictures.
