Chapter 2
DIANGELO
Present
I’m on my feet before I know what I plan to do.
Renzo’s going to kick my ass for ignoring him, but that doesn’t matter.
All that matters is getting his little sister to understand the danger surrounding her.
Even if that means she sees me as part of the threat.
Otherwise, she’ll make this impossible. I’ve seen how she plows through life like a bull in a China shop.
In some ways, I respect the hell out of how she’s handled the loss of her husband. That shit couldn’t have been easy. But her reckless disregard will get her killed, and I refuse to let that happen.
Not on my watch.
I made a promise to Renzo—the man I consider my closest friend.
His father was the boss of the Moretti Family when I first became a Made Man many years ago.
Renzo and I worked our way up in the organization together, though he advanced faster than I did because of his father.
When Renzo’s Uncle Gino declined to be next in line for succession, the title went to Renzo.
He took over as underboss at only twenty-eight.
It wasn’t easy. He needed loyal men around him that he could trust to keep the Family in line.
I helped during the transition, and we’ve been close ever since.
I won’t fail him.
I wouldn’t want to fall short of his expectations on any front because I respect him, and this task is more important than anything else. He’s relying on me to keep his sister alive. Not even he will get in the way of my fulfilling that duty.
I made a promise, and I’ll keep it, no matter the cost.
And the tab will be steep because I’ve already started to pay the price. I’ve spent years steering clear of Rina Donati to make sure she doesn’t so much as cross my mind. She’s a beautiful woman and totally off-limits—two things that don’t pair well.
I don’t do relationships, and I refuse to disrespect my best friend by screwing around with his little sister. No reason to tempt myself with something I can’t have. Therefore, I’ve always kept my distance.
Until now.
Terina has become my responsibility, and after only a handful of minutes into this new dynamic between us, she’s already clawing her way under my skin. Drawing emotions from me that are normally well-controlled. I don’t like it. Not one bit.
She’s just started up the winding staircase at the front of the house when I reach her. She doesn’t look back, even though she has to know I’ve come after her. I wasn’t exactly quiet about it.
Her stubbornness reinforces my determination.
I ignore the way her perfectly sculpted ass looks in her gray yoga pants and grab her wrist to stop her progress on the second step. “You acting like a child does jack shit to reassure me you’re going to follow instructions,” I chide her.
She yanks herself free of my hold and crosses her arms over her chest. “Being upset doesn’t mean I’m acting like a child. I have a right to be frustrated when you all dictate how I’m to live my life.”
She looks just as furious as I do, which is the whole problem. She shouldn’t be angry. She should be grateful someone is looking out for her during such a dangerous time. That anger is how I know she needs a new perspective.
It’s time to prove a point.
In two seconds flat, I have my hand clamped tightly over her mouth and her entire body held against me, her back to my front. With one arm around her middle, I’m able to completely incapacitate her and sweep her down the stairs and out the front door with hardly a sound.
She puts up a hell of a fight. I’ll give her that. But she’s simply too small and ill-equipped to fight off a man like me.
That’s the reality I want her to experience.
A possibility I need her to understand.
To fear.
Once we’re outside and around the front of the house, I still don’t release her.
Not fully. I keep her body pressed against mine and try to ignore how well she fits against me.
She’s on the taller side, which I like more than I should.
She’s a decade younger than me, but she’s still a full-grown woman.
A woman with curves in all the right places.
Am I seriously thinking about this right now? Jesus Christ.
I give myself a mental kick in the nuts.
“No one is dictating how you should live your life,” I growl close to her ear. “They just don’t want awful fucking shit to happen to you. If you’re not careful, you could get yourself killed, and I’ve made a promise that I won’t let that happen.”
I’ll be goddamned if the little hellcat doesn’t get her teeth around my fingers just enough to bite me. Hard.
“Fuck, woman.” The hissed words are a mix of fury and wonder.
I let her go and shake the smarting hand. She didn’t break the skin, but she was close. My bad for letting my guard down.
Message received.
“You’re assuming an awful lot. You don’t know anything about me,” Terina shoots back at me, her chest heaving with angry breaths.
“I know you well enough to know you always assume everything will work out for the best, and that could get you killed. Do you see how easy it would be for someone to take you? I didn’t even work up a sweat.”
I inch closer until her back is against the stucco exterior of the house, and her eyes have to lift to hold my stare.
I place my palms on the wall on either side of her and lean that little bit closer so that my body is inches from hers.
“The Russians could pluck you off the street just as easily as I took you from the house.
If I were some other man, I might already have my cock buried deep inside you, and there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do about it.”
The ragged scrape of my lust-filled words paints a graphic image. I see it perfectly, and I know she does too, when she draws a shaky wisp of air through her parted lips.
“You’re a real dick, you know that?” she breathes softly. Only problem is, her statement doesn’t carry the insult she intended because the heat in her eyes is no longer fueled by anger. Those mossy irises spark with a totally different kind of heat that stuns me.
Little Terina Donati is turned on by the thought of me fucking her.
Jesus Christ.
That is not information I should possess, and now the notion is seared into my brain. I’ll never be free of the visual.
Doesn’t matter. She’s off-limits, and you’d do best to remember that.
“I know exactly what I am, and if being a dick keeps you alive, I’ll wear the title proudly. Now, get back inside. I think I’ve made my point.”
I slowly draw away from her and wonder if it’s moisture in her eyes or a trick of the setting sun. Surely, it’s the sun. I can’t imagine a woman as headstrong as her would let an ass like me get to her so easily.
“Anyone ever tell you that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar?” She charges past me toward the front door.
I let her go because I don’t need to catch a fly. She’s already in my grasp.
All I need to do is keep her there. Alive and untouched.
Renzo is trusting me to protect Terina, and that should be my sole objective. I will not let him down.