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Damn my brother to hell. Damn his money-hungry ways and his stupid ideas that always had him believing he’s smarter than those he plans to outwit. Smarter than the Stepanovs? There’s only one family smarter than them, and I’m standing in front of one.
Heath folds his powerful arms over his broad chest. Muscles pop against the golden-tanned skin. Even in my state of terror, I can still appreciate his beauty. If a Disney hero mixed with a character fromThe Fast and the Furioussank to the dark mafia underworld, that’s Heath.
It’s why I came to him. No one can protect me better.
He closes his eyes and opens them as if his temper’s on a short leash. I have no doubt it is. After all, I woke him in the middle of the night demanding sanctuary.
“I’m sorry, Heath. I have no one else. I don’t know where to go. I can leave the city—but they’ll find me so fast I don’t have a chance.”
He heaves a sigh and twists away. I’m afraid he’s turning his back on me, when he waves a hand for me to follow.
I keep up only a step behind as he leads me through the beautiful condo containing treasures and comforts in life that I’ve only imagined until this moment. High ceilings with enormous chandeliers that look more like modern art dangle above us. The floors underfoot are some sort of exotic wood I can’t name. Everything else seems to have been put here as a way to set off the beautiful god of a man before me.
We pass into the kitchen—black, sleek, sexy, if a place where you make food can be sexy—and he points at a stool. “I need coffee.”
As I hitch my petite form onto the high stool at a granite countertop that’s worth more than my life, I watch Heath drift to the coffee system with the bulky grace of a football player. He’s layered on even more muscle since those days.
I don’t want to think about what he did to earn it.
After a few stabs of the buttons, the rich aroma of French roast fills the air. I’d expect nothing less from my Irish mobster. He’s still a simple man. No froufrou coffeehouse cappuccinos for him.
He sets the mug in front of me and grabs another for himself. As he raises the mug to his lips, I can see in his eyes that I ain’t seen nothin’ yet—the hard part is yet to come.
“Where the fuck is your old men these days? Is he involved?” Heath’s question jolts me.
I leave my coffee untouched, my stomach too knotted up to keep down even a sip. “I have no idea where he is. I haven’t seen him since he…”
“Turned on my family?”
The lethal lash of his words whips through me.
“Y-yes.”
“How deep is Nathan in with the Stepanovs?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know that either. I rarely see him. He’s come by maybe twice in the past few years, asking for money to help him out of some situation.”
“And you gave it to him?”
Biting my lip, I nod.
“I thought you were smarter than that, Serenity. You help a man like Nathan once, you pretty much sell your soul to him.”
“No,” I say slowly. “I already did that to keep a roof over my head after what my father did.” I trace a fingertip over the pattern on the granite and then look up at Heath. “And I’m willing to do that again…if it sways you into helping me now.”
Black fury hits his eyes. His face mottles red with rage, and he slams down his cup, sloshing hot coffee all over and chipping the mug.
With both hands braced on the counter, he leans across to glare at me. “Are you whoring yourself out to me, Serenity?”
God, what made me say that? Regret pounds through me. The scent of coffee turns my stomach, and I push it away.
“Serenity.” His tone is a warning, one I must heed if I want him to keep me on this Earth.
Heath’s grown more than I first noticed. Now I see that not only has he grown into his father’s strong, rugged looks with meaty fists that can annihilate, but he’s mastered the same art of intimidation.
I meet his eyes. Swallow hard.
Deep down, he’s still the same to me—that boy who I ran into only one time the summer after my father made me into the invisible girl. Then, Heath and I hadn’t even spoken a word, but the attraction had been there. I can still feel its tug, right here in my core, and a small flutter slips low in my belly.
