I continued toward her, stopping right outside the bars. When I’d first seen her on her channel, she’d seemed like nothing remarkable. One of the countless YouTube hosts using the medium as their own personal soapbox. But being in her direct presence felt different. There was something about her. Something unusual. Now if I could only figure out what that was.
Obviously, she didn’t let anything deter her from saying what was on her mind, but honestly, that could be due to a low IQ. Yet, I didn’t think that to be the case with her. Though she might be uneducated, her wit and intelligence sparkled in those eyes of hers like a beacon. She had carefully sculpted dark eyebrows, waist-length chestnut hair, and a bow-shaped mouth.
That mouth. Not only did she say whatever she wanted with it, the texture of the lips themselves drew me in. They looked plump. Welcoming. I wondered what it would feel like to touch them with my fingertips, to feel them against mine. In a rare show of nerves, she flicked her pink tongue out to moisten those lips and I felt an arrow of desire sizzle through me.
A bevy of enticing images spun through my head, and my gaze dropped to the rest of her. She wore a simple white cotton nightshirt, nothing remotely sexy, and yet it was threadbare enough that I could tell she was braless. The instant I recognized this, my body responded. Astounded, I took a step back. I’d no longer believed myself capable of this, of wanting a woman in that way again.
But here was the proof, and I had no idea what to make of it.
Christ.
“So is your family like uber sensitive or something?” she said, dragging me back to my senses.
Marco pushed off from the wall, losing his patience. He’d always been one to act impulsively when riled. His temper tended to stay under wraps right up to the point of detonation, but then he’d cause all hell to break loose.
He came up beside me and intoned in a furious whisper, “A smart woman who valued her life would not keep insulting the leading mafia family of Philadelphia.”
She spat at him, and his Glock sprang into his hand so fast it could’ve been a magic trick. He pointed the silencer directly at her forehead, and she froze. I shoved him to the side, and things would’ve come to blows had it not been for Alessandro.
“Hey, maybe she’s not so much stupid as she’s got a screw loose or something,” he called out, raising his voice over our scuffle. More of a peacemaker, my youngest brother sat back in his foldable metal chair and assessed the situation from his spot at the table.
“Why are you allowing this? All this insolence from her? What is she to you?” Marco demanded, still in my face.
“She’s…” But I didn’t know how to rep
ly to him any more than I knew how to reply to myself. Instead, I told him, “Stop being an ass.”
“Answer my questions, then. What is she to you?” Marco repeated, not willing to give in. And though we’d frequently fought over the years, I realized I didn’t want to. All I could do was give him the truth.
“I don’t know, all right? I don’t know.”
Marco pulled back, staring at me. My gaze flitted over to where Molly stood in her prison, and something my brother saw in my face made him put his gun away. “Wow,” he released a puff of air. “Didn’t expect that.”
“What?”
“You want her. I don’t know whether to clap you on the back or warn you off,” Marco said, shaking his head. His expression somewhere between a grimace and a smirk, he sauntered back upstairs.
Alessandro didn’t look nearly as conflicted. His face wore a smile as he rose from his seat. “Well, on that fascinating note, I guess I’ll leave you to it.”
5
Molly
Terrified out of my mind, I eyed Luca Varasso.
I’d been knocked out, kidnapped, and had two different guns pointed at my head. Now I’d been left alone with the man who’d thwarted those guns, but only so he could have me all to himself. It didn’t take a genius to ferret out his intent. Jutting out my chin, I shored up my confidence as best as I could.
While I’d absorbed that these men meant business and had to be criminals, I’d had no idea that they were members of the mob. I’d always considered myself to be street smart, but now I wilted at my obvious naivete. Why hadn’t I looked up Angelo Varasso before I said anything? I’d been blowing off steam, not attempting to get myself murdered.
And yet, I’d put myself on their radar. Not only was I stupid, I really did wonder if I had a screw loose. Maybe Alessandro had been right on both counts.
“Listen,” he spoke up. “I have something I’d like you to consider, but I need to discuss it with my father first.”
I couldn’t even contemplate what men like this might propose to me, but I knew it had to be bad. The worst thing imaginable. I’d heard of some of the business transactions the mafia were suspected of having. Drugs. Human trafficking. Hired hits. And that was just a few of the crimes I’d heard of.
Maybe they were going to sell me into prostitution. I’d take my own life if they did. Death would be preferable; I knew that for a fact. Working up my fury at the injustice of it all, I shouted at him.
“Just kill me already.”