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CHAPTER 2
SERGIO
I look up and down the alley again, my head on a swivel and everything in me paying attention to my surroundings. It’s been months since someone has gotten the drop on me, but I won’t be allowing that shit to happen to me again. It could have cost something far more important than my life. It could have cost the life of Zinnia Agosti, even though she wasn’t an Agosti when she was taken.
She might not have had the last name, but she was still Elio Agosti’s woman, his queen.
I was given one of the most important tasks in the organization and she was taken while I was watching over her. The guilt gnaws at my belly and it’s hard to forget about it sometimes. Elio could have killed me the moment he saw me again and I’m not sure why he didn’t.
He would have been within his rights. I was expecting it. I allowed Zinnia to be taken. I’m not sure if I’ll ever understand why he didn’t take my life in retribution.
I’m thankful every day he didn’t; maybe he knew the guilt I would live with for the rest of my life. Maybe this is just a different kind of torture.
Not only was my life spared, but I’ve continued to be Zinnia’s personal bodyguard since then. I think she’s the one who convinced Elio to let me continue to do my job. I’m going to make sure I rise to the occasion and never let her or Elio down again.
I wouldn’t be able to walk away with my life a second time.
Honestly, considering Zinnia is now Mrs. Agosti and is carrying the next heir to the Agosti family, I would take my own life if something were to happen to her on my watch. I would lay it at Zinnia and Elio’s feet as a sacrifice.
It’s the reason I can’t relax and I’m always watching. I’m relieved that this is the last class Zinnia is teaching at the dance studio until after the baby is born. It’s a miracle Elio hasn’t lost his fucking mind already over her continuing to work while she’s been pregnant.
He hovers over her, always worried about her and telling her to relax. It doesn’t seem to faze her, but she wasn’t going to be stopped from doing something she loves just because she’s pregnant. I have no doubt that behind closed doors Zinnia lays into her husband.
One side of my mouth tips up at the thought because Zinnia is a force in and of herself, and she’s only grown in the months since she met Elio and was crowned queen of one of the biggest crime families in New York. She’s taken to her role as if she was born to it and, considering she’s the other half of Elio’s soul, maybe she was.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and take a look at the cameras inside the studio to find Zinnia still teaching her class. It was a feature Elio insisted on after rescuing Zinnia from her abduction and she was adamant about continuing to teach herclasses. It gives me peace of mind because she won’t allow me to shadow her inside the building. She says it would scare all her primas.
Granted it probably would.
I pride myself on being intimidating. It’s gotten me this far in life and has given me a place within the family, one I wasn’t sure I would ever have.
My brother, Lorenzo, had it easier than me. He grew up with Elio, always his best friend, and it was a given he would sit at the right hand of Elio when he took over at the head of the family. I’ve always wanted to be just like my big brother, but I knew I would have to prove myself.
I was doing just that, happy to show them my worth, for years, mostly while working at Sala, a club the family owns, as a bouncer. I’m not sure what Luca Agosti, the youngest of the brothers, saw in me to have him suggest it was time for me to be given more responsibility. Maybe it doesn’t matter.
I’ll continue to prove my worth and to prove that Elio made the right choice in not taking my life months ago when I couldn’t protect his queen.
A noise has my head snapping towards it as my senses sharpen. I won’t be taken by surprise again and I won’t ever allow Zinnia to be in danger.
The first thing I notice about the woman is her blonde hair which is hanging down her back in beachy waves. As she pulls a bag of trash out of the back door of one of the shops close to the dance studio, my eyes travel down her body and land on her pert ass. My hands fucking tingle with the need to spank her globes. I bet it would redden so beautifully with the contact.
When she turns, her large eyes widen and her pretty pink lips part as she gasps. I suck in a lungful of air before I exhale sharply at the sight of her.
I guess Iwillbe taken by surprise again.
My entire body feels like it’s humming and it’s not because of danger. It’s awareness. I’ve never seen this woman before in my life, but it doesn’t matter.
She’s mine.
I have to have her, and nothing is going to stop me. Not even the innocence in her gaze. Not even the danger that always surrounds me. I’ll protect her.
My feet start moving before I even realize it as I stalk closer to her, removing the distance between us. Any distance between us feels distasteful.
I bark, my voice harsh and demanding, “Who are you?”
The woman in front of me lets out a squeak and fear swims in her eyes. Now that I’m close to her, close enough to touch, I can see her eyes are gray and framed by dark eye lashes. She looks like a fucking princess, one who hasn’t been allowed out of the castle to be tarnished by the riffraff.
Her voice is soft, a scared quiet whisper as she stutters, “W-wh-what?”
