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Things start getting dangerous.
I work hard to stay anonymous. It’s kept me alive this long.
“No. Salvatore is looking to start over. His family has had it rough these last couple of years. He wanted some change and I told him that there was a house up for sale in the neighborhood.”
“And that house you were talking about just so happened to be the one beside mine?”
Brennan smiles and shrugs a shoulder. “It might be.”
His phone buzzes and he glances at it. When he smiles at me, mischief sparkling in his eyes, I know his fun is just about to begin.
“What?”
“Salvatore just pulled up. Come on and we’ll go meet your new neighbor.”
“How do you even know this guy?” I ask as Brennan gets up and heads for the door.
“Work acquaintance turned friend.” Brennan pulls on his shoes before motioning to the door. “Let’s go, Brielle. We have people to meet and things to do. You don’t want to seem rude, do you?”
I roll my eyes and get up, abandoning my coffee to follow him to the door. Brennan walks outside, humming to himself with his hands tucked into his pockets. I take a deep breath and follow him, pausing long enough to lock my door behind me.
Brennan is already halfway to the massive black and tan house beside mine. There’s a large black truck in the driveway, and when I see the man leaning against it, my heart skips a beat.
The way his dark hair catches the sun makes me want to take a picture of him. I have a strong urge to grab my camera and start snapping away. I’m sure that I could never capture the tortured look in his dark eyes properly.
He looks up at me and those tortured eyes narrow. In that second, Salvatore becomes the kind of man I’m sure only a mugshot would portray accurately.
I know what kind of men are Brennan’sbusiness acquaintances.
The fact that Salvatore has become his friend outside of work only worries me more. Brennan isn’t the kind of man who befriends many people. He likes to keep the men he works with at a distance.
“Good to see that you made it out here safely,” Brennan says as he walks up Salvatore’s driveway. I follow behind him, my hands in my pockets and my gaze still locked on Salvatore.
His full lips press together in a thin line and a muscle ticks in his angular jaw. When he crosses his arms, his muscles flex beneath the black ink that covers them.
“Brennan,” Salvatore says, nodding to my brother before his gaze cuts over to me again. “Who’s this?”
“Brielle, my sister of sorts.” Brennan gives me a pointed look when I stop several feet away from them. “Brielle, this is Salvatore Russo.”
I plaster on a fake smile, though a new wave of worry rolls through me at the name. Years ago, the Russos were all over the media. There was a big bust against their father but he died before he could be brought to justice.
This isn’t the kind of man Brennan should be around at all. He’s only going to get himself in trouble.
The Russos — from what little I have read about them — are the kind of people you avoid if you aren’t interested in jail time.
“You know, for a sleepy little beach town, this is actually a nice area,” Salvatore says, looking around at the houses.
Brennan nods. “I trust that you and me aren’t going to have any problems with a Russo foothold being established in the area?”
Salvatore’s jaw clenches as he jerks his chin in my direction. “Are you sure that this is the kind of thing we should be talking about around her?”
“I can hear you,” I say, crossing my arms and glaring at him.
“She has my trust.” Brennan acts as if I’ve said nothing at all, watching Salvatore as if he is a snake coiled and ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
“Yes, but I don’t know ifIcan trust her.” Salvatore’s gaze travels up and down my body. The fact that this man is dangerous paired with the look he gives me only succeeds in exciting me.
Those tingles of excitement are the only things that have made me feel alive since my life exploded.
