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I narrowed my eyes and found the boat he’d told me about. A good-sized yacht with the name Ally written along the side in a fancy script. Ally. Mysterious lunch date on a ship, courtesy of one of the only Massimos that regularly appeared in public. And he’d requested that I come on my own rather than bringing any of my friends.
Right.
I was suspicious, and that was putting it mildly.
Though that obviously hadn’t stopped me from showing up.
***
I leaned against the rail of the ship and watched him walk toward me, reminding myself again and again that I wasn’t supposed to be thinking of him as attractive. I was here on a mission, and that was all. We suspected that Anthony’s family was planning something against the Rossis. I’d seen footage of Anthony following one of my best friends. And the Carusos had been getting mouthier and mouthier, possibly because the Massimos were paying them to. Rossi and Brennan soldiers were dying on the streets, Rossi ships were being sabotaged, and they’d found spies in one of their warehouses in LA.
Something was going on, and I thought the Massimos were involved. I was here to find out whether I was right, and that was it. No kissing. No flirting. No funny business.
But as Anthony strode toward me, all long legs and messy brown hair, dancing eyes and scruff on his chin, I almost forgot about all of that. Because the man was drop-dead gorgeous.
I didn’t forget, of course, because that wasn’t who I was. But a lesser woman might have.
“Awfully quick for a lunch date, don’t you think?” I asked when he reached me. “We only just met again.”
Anthony leaned in and brushed his lips against the shell of my ear. “I know you well enough to know that you don’t like to move slowly,” he whispered. “I figured I’d miss out if I waited too long.”
When he pulled back he was laughing, and I grinned at him. “Well, now you’ve got me out here. What exactly are you going to do with me? I don’t drive all the way to the harbor just for fun.”
His eyes turned serious, then. “Do I have to have a reason to want to visit with one of my oldest friends?” he asked, pretending innocence.
Ah. So there was more to this visit than just friendliness. Anthony was sneaky, and no mistake, but he also had tells that evidently hadn’t changed over the years. Accuse him of doing something sneaky and he immediately became defensive. He was slick about it and could get it past you if you weren’t looking.
Luckily, I’d come here looking for exactly that.
“No,” I said quickly. “But do you? i mean you’re a big famous musician now and I’m just...”
He put his hands on the rail at my hips, penning me in, and stepped forward so quickly that I didn’t see it coming. I pressed back and stared up at him, surprised at the speed of his move and how close he suddenly was. I could feel the heat of his body through his clothes, the slight tremor running through him.
“You’re just what, Brooks?” he whispered against my mouth. “Because I’ve never thought you were ‘just’ anything.”
He got even closer, pressing his body against mine, and I gasped.
The man was a lot bigger than I remembered, and one hell of a lot more solid. The length of steel pressing against my belly told me that he was also happier to see me than I’d realized. And though I should have been suspicious, should have been on guard at this sudden change in him, my body responded of its own accord, turning to some sort of liquid and melting into him.
“I guess that’s what sets you apart from everyone else,” I murmured back. “No one else seems to think I’m anything special.”
There was that lazy, curving smile again. The one that made me want to ravage his mouth. “Liar.”
“Call me that again and see what it gets you,” I said. “I dare you.”
One eyebrow lifted in a perfect arch and his smile grew wicked. “You dare me? What do I get if I win?”
I was about to answer him—as soon as I got my voice to start working again—when the phone in his pocket suddenly rang. He jumped back from me like he’d just been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing and grabbed for the phone. When he got it into his hand, he jammed it against his ear.
“Anthony Massimo.” A few moments of listening and his eyes went right to mine, hard enough to drill holes through me. “Joseph Rossi. Fancy hearing from you.”
My heart dropped and my stomach contracted so quickly that I wondered if it even still existed. What the fuck was Joseph doing calling Anthony Massimo, and when I happened to be here? I shot a quick glance over my shoulder, wondering if he’d had me followed. Was he fucking watching me? Why would he be doing that? For all he knew, I was at my apartment with Penny or at his house with Sloane. He had no idea I’d contacted Anthony or that I was out here on Anthony’s fancy ship.
Did he?
My gaze shot from one side of the pier to the other, searching, but I didn’t see any telltale signs of a tale. No Rossis hanging out where they shouldn’t have been.
And I wasn’t surprised by that. Joseph knew better than to have me trailed.
