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Despite my initial hesitation and, of course, extreme jealousy toward her and her overly friendly way with Ricardo, I like her. “Oh, man. I need to work on an introduction like that. It might save time down the road,” I say with a chuckle.
“I know this isn’t the kind of place where a lady like you normally goes, but if you ever want to come and relax a little bit, take in the sights, and even get rip-roaring drunk, you come on a night when I’m here, and I’ll take care of you. Girls gotta stick together.”
Her smile is a beautiful thing.
And odd to have someone offer me a night out. No strings attached. Odd, also, to talk to a stranger associated with the business and have them actually want to talk to me, not for my family name.
“It might be nice to have a night out,” I hedge. Entirely unsure if I’ll be able to go out on my own ever again. But a night where I don’t have to think about anything…. a miracle. A gift.
Sarah nods knowingly. “I’ll have Mr. Assante pass my number along since I know you’re not stashing a phone anywhere. Not wearing that dress, which looks amazing on you, by the way. You text me. We’ll see what kind of trouble we can get into.”
“This one needs no help getting into trouble,” a cold male voice answers from over my left shoulder just before Ricardo drops his hand to my skin. “She comes by it naturally.”
Sarah flashes him a smile with a little more bite than any I've seen her offer before. “All the best people do.”
10
ISABELLA
Sarah shoots me a carefree wave before she grabs her empty tray and gets back to business, once again balancing on those sky-high stilettos. Does she dance in them as well? God, I’d kill to have her legs. They’re muscled in all the right ways.
“It’s good to see you’re making friends,” Ricardo says a little too casually for it to actually be true.
“Are you afraid I’m going to distract your employees and take away from the job you’re paying them to do?” I pop another piece of melon into my mouth and chew slowly.
“Absolutely not.” He pats his pocket. “That was Carter on the phone.”
I freeze at the mention of his uncle. “And?” It has something to do with my father and Mia, I’m sure of it.
“We are both requested at dinner tonight,” Ricardo answers. “It’s not an option.” He drops down into the lounge as far away from me as possible. “We can do whatever the fuck we want in the meantime, his words, as long as we’re back before six.”
“Then we better get down to business quickly because I want to go home and take the longest shower known to man.” It was a not-so-subtle jab for him not to waste any more of my time.
And that I have no plans to spend the afternoon with him.
Carter is the messenger in this case, and I wonder if Ricardo understands what it really means: use the time before dinner to do whatever fuckery you want but deliver Isabella home when you’re done with her. Or else.
Like a piece of meat. I shake my head and hope the thought goes with it.
“Well, pack to the matter at hand…I get the feeling Drago is used to calling the shots without competition. He clearly had a plan for you long before he approached you with the bracelet,” Ricardo says. He slides his palms to the top of his knees. “Which means he won’t be expecting us to get ahead of him and deliver a message. Correct?”
“Is that what we’re going to do?” I ask. A chill takes root at the base of my spine.
“We get the message to him that we want to meet as soon as possible. We’ll have to do it on his territory, but getting the jump on his missive will give us a slight upper hand. Then we go in. Take stock.”
“He’s not going to like you coming with me.”
“He’s already seen us together. It won’t be such a stretch to say I am going with you as a personal bodyguard assigned by your father. Drago owns you. Let’s not forget. He got the drop on the Balestras. He won’t want to insult your father by throwing me out and will more than likely be more accommodating because of his supposed victory.”
“You’re banking a whole lot on the feelings of a man you do not know.”
“I know the type.” Ricardo reaches out for a glass and takes a sip of water.
My attention focuses on his mouth, on the purse of his lips, and the way he licks at a wayward drop of water. Oh, fuck. Not good to get distracted now.
I push all hesitation aside and focus on the conversation. Not the way we’ve always had issues miscommunicating, now and in the past, or how I’m halfway afraid to argue with him at this point for fear of saying the wrong thing and getting us off on a tangent again. He wants to contact Drago. How? What will we even say?
And where do we go to get more information on the man who now “owns” me?
