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"Don't fucking remind me. Calla is trying to kill me," Ryker announced, moving to the steps to climb up them hurriedly. Following more slowly, I tried to convince myself I was better than him when it came to my possessive ownership of my woman. Considering I'd cut the hands off a man if he touched her, I probably didn't have a leg to stand on.
Sadie danced in a circle with all her friends in the center of the VIP level. Surrounded by every one of their personal securities, Dom stood guard at the top of the stairs and carefully screened everyone who entered the private lounge. With her assets on display in a tight black miniskirt and a corseted top, she sparkled from head to toe in the shimmering onyx fabric. With Ivory on one side, she turned and whispered something into her raven-haired friend's ear.
I hadn't known Irina would join them, and judging by his scowl from his place of guarding set back from the girls, neither had Scar. I smirked at him, raising a brow as his eyes met mine. Wondering when he'd find a way to get over his own issues and make a move with the woman. Their history was complicated, Irina suffering far too many rejections from him to put herself out there again.
Particularly after what had happened the last time she made her interest clear.
Sadie's honey eyes found me when she turned her attention back to Ivory. Smiling that seductive little grin she did so well, she turned and rolled her hips so that her ass rubbed against Ivory's thighs. With her hands over her head, she broke our eye contact to lose herself in the music.
With the love she had for dancing and the movement music brought her, it was a miracle she hadn't pushed harder to learn to pole dance. Sadie would have been a very expensive stripper if I'd have ever let her work at Tease. With her Filipino features that made her look so sweet and innocent, but a firecracker personality that knocked men on their asses, I didn't know that anybody could ever resist her.
Matteo interrupted their dance to take his wife in a claiming kiss, drinking from her mouth like it was the very air he needed to breathe. Sadie swatted him away. Probably the only woman in the world brave enough to risk the wrath of Matteo Bellandi like that. I chuckled as he grinned at her, patting the top of her head in a rare moment of affection between them and striding over to take the stairs up to his office. Ryker emerged from where he'd accosted Calla in her mauve mini-dress, her shoulder length wavy hair looking worse for wear with the way he'd undoubtedly assaulted her.
I followed them up the steps, glancing at Sadie one last time to give her a meaningful look that she understood. I'd fuck her so hard she couldn't walk if she tried to sneak out. It comforted me only slightly that she would have tried it before we arrived on the scene if she had any intention of it. She might not have been able to say the words yet, but Sadie knew damn well what she felt for me.
It was only a matter of time before she gave me those words, because I was many things.
But a patient man wasn't one of them.
Rafael sat in Matteo's chair when we walked into the office, looking far too comfortable in Matteo's space. If it had been anyone else, Matteo might have demanded he vacate it. But not Rafael.
I suspected Matteo was wary of him. With good reason. He even made Ryker look sane, and that was not an easy task.
"How did it go?" Rafael asked, but his voice was uninterested. He didn't need a summary to know that Tiernan Murphy wouldn't back down so easily. Still, a guy could dream.
"He'll strike soon," I said. "He's too volatile to wait it out and play the long game. He wants his revenge."
"Yavin?" Matteo asked, nodding his head to the quietest of our entourage.
"Probably a good bet. He's the one who stands to get everything Tiernan sees as his. Aoife, the O'Connell operation, all of it. He isn't stupid enough to think eliminating Yavin will solve the problem and get him the keys to the castle, but he'll still want him out of the picture," I agreed.
"What difference does it make?" Yavin asked. "If killing me won't get him what he wants, why target me at all?"
"Because he wants Aoife to be a virgin for him. Liam said he was very particular about that. Yet he called Liam antiquated." I rolled my eyes. "With you out of the picture, Liam will have to dedicate the time to finding another replacement. He'll be able to stall a bit. And then when he kills Liam, he'll force Aoife to marry him because most of her father's followers will do what it takes to keep her alive, since she is the O'Connell blood. The Irish are still much more traditional than we've become," Lino answered, plopping down into one of the chairs in front of the desk.
"So what do you need from my guys?" Rafe asked, spinning the office chair back and forth as he waited.
"I want someone on Yavin. An extra set of eyes and an extra gun," I said.
"Done," Rafe agreed. "I'll put Alejandro on him. He'll appreciate having the strip club as his scenery every day."
"I don't need a fucking bodyguard," Yavin protested.
"Neither do I," Matteo said. "But sometimes we have to tolerate these things for the good of the family. If you die, someone else will fuck Aoife," he chuckled, watching Yavin's hands tighten at his sides. "That's what I thought."
I strolled to the window that looked down into the dance
floors, my eyes tracking to the VIP area to search for Sadie. Mostly empty, it seemed like the girls had migrated down to the more intense excitement of the main crowd. "Motherfucker," I grunted. Charging for the door to the office, I pulled it open sharply.
"Enzo, what the fuck?" Ryker asked, coming up behind me and following me down the steps.
"Her fucking shitbag ex is here, that's what," I announced, grimacing at the sound of his dangerous laughter.
"Can I cut him?"
"This one is mine," I said, dissuading him from taking action. The wide eyes he gave me were a powerful indicator of just how rarely I got violent for circumstances that weren't life or death.
But the man ignoring Sandro's attempts to keep him at arm's length had successfully pushed the last button on my patience.
