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“Good girl.” His eyes finally break contact with mine as they track down the bare flesh of my neck. “Your heart is beating so hard. Are you nervous?” His hands tighten around my forearms, holding me in place as if predicting I might try to move out of his grasp, but honestly, the thought hadn’t occurred to me.
“No,” I lie.
Every moment Elijah is close is another moment I live in fear of what he might do, and what I might allow him to do.
Elijah chuckles, his fingers moving back up my arms and resting on my shoulders, rubbing the bare flesh beneath the spaghetti straps in comforting circles. “You forget I’ve been watching you for ten years, little Snowflake. I know you better than anyone else ever could.”
“You know that’s creepy, right?”
“I’m very aware that my obsession with you is untraditional, but that doesn’t change anything. If you’re a good girl for me tonight, you’ll be rewarded. But if I so much as suspect you’re up to something, I can promise you will not enjoy the consequences.”
“Just so we’re clear, if I don’t behave, you’ll hurt one of my loved ones?”
“Exactly.” Elijah smiles widely as if pleased we’re on the same page and not at all concerned by the fact he’s blackmailing me into compliance.
I take a steady breath, calming myself for the words about to slip from my lips because I don’t know how he’s going to interpret them, and although historically my favorite thing to do is poke the bear, Elijah is a whole other kind of unpredictable that makes me hesitate.
“They’re going to know. We’ve told them we’ve been… dating, for lack of a better word, for a month, but in reality, we’ve spent less than an hour together, and most of that time has been spent with you threatening me. There’s no way they’re going to buy this.” What I don’t say is that I hope they see through the farce and whisk me back to the safety of the estate.
His grip on my shoulders tightens, and he brings my body back until I’m flush with his front, and his very obvious hard-on presses against my ass. The first time I felt that thing against me, I hoped I was imagining the size, but I wasn’t. He brings his lips right to my ear, the softness brushing against the shell of my ear and causing an involuntary shiver throughout my body.
“I can assure you they’ll believe I’m infatuated with you, little Snowflake. You just need to convince them you’re equally so with me. Shouldn’t be too hard for you, you’re constantly leading everyone to believe you’re something you’re not, isn’t that right?”
“No,” I hiss, attempting to move from his embrace, but he holds me tightly, his hands moving around my torso and anchoring me to him.
“Little liar.” He nips at my ear, the sting only making my anger simmer hotter. “You want everyone to believe you’re the spoiled little Mafia princess trapped in your ivory tower. You allow them to believe the mask you portray in front of the world, the partying rule breaker, the black sheep of the family, if you will. But in reality, you’re so much more. You were meant to lead just the same way your siblings do.”
I stare at him in the mirror, his eyes barely blinking as his gaze remains on mine while I assess him. If I thought I wished I was wearing more before, that’s doubled, hell even tripled now because I may as well be naked. I’ve never felt so seen. No one has ever called me out like this, and my brain screams for me to move, but my body is powerless to move away from the man who seems to know me better than I do myself.
18
Elijah
Perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut. The moment the words rolled off my tongue, Snow retreated into herself, and she hasn’t said a word since. It’s not that I wanted to point out her shortcomings, because that was never my intention, but she’s so embroiled in the life she leads and the way she leads it that without someone pushing her in the right direction, she’s always going to play the part of the littlest Saint James who doesn’t compare to her siblings.
We sit in the back of the SUV I usually use to get around in. My driver Pete, whose name I finally learned, dodges a mess of traffic and pedestrians. I chose to bring her out on a Saturday night because it would be busy. Most would say it’s a security nightmare, and they wouldn’t be wrong, but if she chooses to make a scene, which certainly isn’t off the table, I can claim a security breach and whisk her out of there before she can finish her plea for help.
Snow stares out the window, her hands tangled together in her lap as she watches the city go by. She didn’t even complain when I placed a hand on her bare thigh when we climbed into the car, and she’s made no attempt to remove it. Perhaps that should have been my first sign that my words affected her so much.
Pete turns a corner before coming to a stop outside Snow’s favorite restaurant. When I sent the invite to Wynter this morning, it won me some points for knowing her sister so well, but I left out the part where I’ve been stalking Snow for the last ten years. That definitely wouldn’t have won me any favors.
I squeeze her thigh. “We’re here.”
Her head snaps around, almost as if she didn’t realize the car had stopped moving. “Oh, this is my fav…” She trails off when her eyes meet mine, and she realizes her mistake. Of course I know it’s her favorite. I know everything there is to know about her.
“Come on, let’s get inside.” I smile and take one of her hands in my much larger one.
I nod to Pete once we’re on the sidewalk and quickly tug her toward the door. The bitter Chicago wind whips around us, and I pull her closer to shield her as best I can. The coat she picked up on the way out of her room is doing nothing to protect her, and her body trembles from the cold.
Warmth and the scent of authentic Italian food envelop us the moment we’re through the door, and Snow lets out a little sound of contentment.
I scan the restaurant for threats despite the fact I had two security teams do a sweep before we arrived. It’s a habit more than anything else, but you can never be too careful, not when all the surviving members of the two families of Chicago’s underworld are in the same place at the same time.
I catch Storm’s gaze across the room, his gray eyes filled with anger as he stares me down, but he won’t intimidate me. I haven’t been planning a life with Snow all these years without factoring in her overprotective brothers. They were never going to be happy about their enemy dating their sister, but if they want to continue being in her life, they’re going to have to get used to the idea.
I hold his gaze as we weave through tables of people to the one in the back corner, the one I purposely requested so no one could sneak up on us. The moment Wynter sees her sister, she flies out of her seat and crashes into Snow, who immediately tears her hand from mine to wrap both arms around her sister.
“I missed you!” Wynter mumbles. “If you’re going to take off with a new boyfriend, can you at least give me some heads up?”
