10. COMPULSION
TEN
compulsion
Enzo
Everything in Pippa’s condo is deliberate—clean lines, quiet luxury, nothing wasted. And I can’t appreciate any of it because I’m fuming about how damned easy it was to break in.
Yes, I’m a professional criminal and breaking into a private residence is second nature, but the fact that it wasn’t harder? That gets under my skin. She should know better. She shouldn’t leave herself exposed, not with the kind of enemies she’s collecting.
Hudson spoke to Luna today, but I decided I could sell the alliance better if I could talk to her privately. At least, I’ve convinced myself that’s the reason I’m here.
Where the fuck is she? She left the Hill over two hours ago.
Is she with a mark?
Is she with Luna and Jules?
Is she on a fucking date?
Does she date?
Fuck. I need to get this boiling rage under control.
I look around her place again. It’s exactly what I expected of her.
Modern elegance. White marble countertops.
Luxury cream walls and drapes softened by gold accents.
A scent from the peonies on the table and something spiced lingers in the air.
There’s a decanter of bourbon on the sideboard, next to a glass sculpture that looks fragile enough to shatter if I breathe too deeply.
And beneath all that polish, there’s heat. A crimson velvet blanket draped carelessly over a cream sofa. A painting that’s all chaos and color—a burst of flame against an otherwise polished room. It’s her in visual form: all refinement and clean edges, but underneath? Wildfire.
I give myself a healthy pour of bourbon as a reward for my patience before sinking into one of her leather armchairs. Tension coils in my neck and shoulders.
The seconds stretch, turning into long moments. And then I notice it.
An almost imperceptible red dot winking from the corner of the ceiling.
Cameras. Of course.
I take a deep breath, letting some of the tension out of my neck.
Eva didn’t find any tech she could hack in this unit, but I’m glad to see Pippa is smarter than I gave her credit.
No sooner do I realize my break-in didn’t go unnoticed than the lock clicks.
“Honey, I’m home,” Pippa’s voice rings out, light, amused, the sound of a match striking. She steps into view with a slow, knowing smile. “Your stalking tendencies are becoming worrisome, Enzo.”
And just like that, the fury I’d been nursing finds something new to burn on.
Her.
How is she sexier every time I see her? How does the mere sight of her make my pulse race? And why does every outfit she wears fit her like it was custom made for her flawless fucking body?
Her white pants are tailored impeccably and starkly contrast a black blouse that drapes in all the right places. Red lips. Red heels. A wet dream.
I use every bit of my waning self-control to remain seated. “You should change your security system.”
Her brows lift, teasing. “Should I? You worried about me, hot stuff?”
“Worried,” I echo. I lean forward and place my elbows on my knees. “No. Frustrated, yes. You circle dangerous people and you’re too reckless for your own damned good.”
That gets a flicker of seriousness from her, maybe annoyance—brief but telling. Then, she smirks and slides out of her heels, but she doesn’t leave the foyer. She’s waiting for my next move. “You’re here for a reason, Enzo. Spit it out before you start lecturing me about my safety.”
I exhale, drag a hand through my hair. “I’m here to discuss Vale.”
There is a long beat of silence. I wonder if she’s going to acknowledge what I said.
We hold eye contact like a dare.
“Ah yes, the offer of ‘good faith,’ I believe it was. Didn’t Luna tell your lap dog we’d be in touch?”
“Should I let Hudson know you called him a dog?”
“Whatever does it for the two of you. Look, I get that you’re used to people falling at your feet, desperate for your protection and help. I’m sure waiting for us to come to you is killing you.”
“I’m not known for my patience. I have to admit, though, I’m surprised you’re not jumping at this offer.”
“I bet you are,” she says, voice cool, chin tilted like she’s the one with the upper hand.
She is.
I force a slow exhale and rise from the chair, setting the bourbon aside. “Then enlighten me, Pippa. Because from where I’m standing, delivering Vale to your doorstep looks like the fastest way to get what you want.”
“What I want?” She laughs—sharp, cold, dismissive—as she walks past me to the kitchen counter.
As she walks, she flips open the clasp on her designer watch like the conversation bores her.
“See, that’s where you’re already wrong.
You think Vale is a chess piece. A token.
Something you slide across the board to negotiate a truce. ”
“He’s leverage,” I counter.
“He’s a landmine,” she snaps.
There it is. That fire under her polished exterior.
She turns, leaning a hip against the counter with her arms crossed. “You don’t understand what he is. What he was to us. What he’s capable of. You think handing him over makes you heroes, but it doesn’t. It makes you na?ve.”
A beat. My jaw ticks. What he ‘was’ to them? Did she mean to let that slip? “You think I don’t know what Vale is capable of?” I ask quietly.
“I think you don’t know what happens to the people around him,” she replies.
“I think you’re walking into a storm you’ve never seen before and assuming your power will carry you through.
” She pushes off the counter and closes the distance between us.
“But this isn’t your world, Enzo. This isn’t the mafia.
This isn’t dirty politics. This isn’t money and compliance and bending people to your will.
” Her voice drops to a whisper when she says, “This is hell. And you don’t walk into hell offering gifts. ”
My pulse jumps. Not at the warning—at her. At the heat radiating off her, at her closeness, at the fury vibrating through every elegant line of her body.
“Even if we agreed to Vale,” she continues, “even if we accepted your alliance, you’d be stepping into something you can’t control.
And when it blows up—and trust me, those odds are high—you’ll put your entire business at risk.
Your family, your crew. These aren’t the kind of kills that can be allowed to find their way back to you.
You wouldn’t survive it. It’s why we work alone.
” She begins walking to the front door, as if she’s seeing me out.
Something inside me snaps. I step toward her and grab her arm. I turn her around and crowd her, forcing her backward until her spine meets the wall with a soft thud.
She gasps. Not in fear, in challenge. Her eyes blaze up at me. “Don’t.”
“You think I’m afraid of your warnings?” I growl, hands planted on either side of her head, caging her in. “You think I don’t know exactly how dangerous this is? How dangerous you are?”
Her breath hitches. I watch her tender neck move as she swallows. I can see her pulse quickening and it’s taking everything in me not to lick that pulse point in her neck.
“You keep pretending you’re warning me off,” I say, lowering my voice, “but what you’re really doing is trying to convince yourself you don’t want this—that you don’t feel anything.”
Her jaw flexes. Her gaze drops to my mouth for half a second. Half a fucking second, but I see it. And I can’t unsee it.
I lean closer, then lower my hand to hers. I hold our two hands between our chests. “Tell me you don’t feel this, Pippa.”
Her other hand goes to my chest, not to push me away, but to steady herself. The slightest tremble betrays her.
She swallows hard. “I d—” Then she closes her eyes, collects herself, and when she opens them again, the ice is back. “I don’t have the luxury,” she says, quiet but fierce, “of making decisions based on how I feel.”
The words hit me harder than if she’d laid hands on me.
She presses her palm to my chest and pushes just enough to signal me to step back. Not enough to break the tension. Not enough to breathe. But the small space between us might as well be the Grand Canyon.
“I don’t make decisions based on how I feel, either.” I tilt her chin up, forcing her to look me in the eye. “But I don’t seem to have the luxury of staying away from you.”
Our breathing grows noticeably heavy.
“And what about Hudson?” she asks defiantly.
I shake my head and take a step back. I release her hand and it feels painful to not touch her. “Yeah, this is complicated, you’re right about that, but it doesn’t seem to be keeping me away, does it?”
“Does he know you’re here?”
That question makes me pause. I didn’t tell him. I had Eva help me locate her address, but didn’t loop him in. I told myself it wasn’t a big deal, but it seems like one now that Pippa is calling me out on my own bullshit.
Fuck.
After a few beats, she says, “I didn’t think so. You should go.” She points to the door. “We’ll be in touch about Vale.”
“Pippa—” I start, not sure how to finish that sentence. I step closer. I have to close my fists to stop myself from touching her. “This isn’t over.”
“I know,” she breathes out. “But you know this is a bad idea.”
“The worst.”
“Then tell me why you’re really here, Enzo. I know it’s not about an alliance.”
“I wish I fucking knew, Pippa.”
We are staring at each other, both vibrating as we breathe in and out, using all our restraint to not touch each other again.
“Fuck it,” she says and then her lips are on mine, her arms around my neck. My arms wrap around her waist to pull her deeper into the kiss.
We are ravenous—tongues colliding, breathing each other in, kissing like we might not survive the next moment without them.
I move one hand into her hair, pulling slightly at the nape of her neck.
Her breath hitches as she moans into my mouth. Her arms drop to my waist as we begin our exploration of touches, caresses, squeezes.
My erection presses into her stomach. “Pippa, I need—”
“Yes, I—”
More moans, more touches.
“Fuck. We should stop.” I need to stop this. Can I stop this?
“Mm…probably,” she says as she kisses my neck.
My already racing heartbeat speeds up. Hudson’s face enters the forefront of my mind. I find my last ounce of self-control and pull back.
I can’t do this.
Not yet. I need to know what he wants.
Her eyes clear from a haze of lust as she stops. She shakes her head. “That’s for the best.”
“For now,” I say.
Pippa hums and runs her hands through her hair. She checks her outfit, tucking her shirt back in. “Luna, Jules, and I met tonight. We agreed to a meeting. Luna plans to tell Hudson tomorrow.”
Disbelief curls at the corner of my mouth and I shake my head. “I can’t tell if I’m winning or losing with you. Or what the rules are. Which should send me running, but instead I want all in. Drives me crazy.”
I earn a smile from her. The first real smile I think she’s ever sent my way. That smile could talk me into anything.
“Crazy suits you. Me too.”
I return her smile and we just stare for a beat.
“One last thing: Luna, Jules? Who are they to you?”
“None of your business.”
I smirk. “That figures. You’re sure you can trust them?”
She laughs. “More than I can trust you.”
“We are far from trust, I know that, but how do you know you can trust them?”
She looks at me for a while, assessing, then sighs. “Thank you for being worried. I want to be more annoyed by your protector alpha vibe, but I know it comes honestly.”
I offer a small smile, appreciative of her genuine observation.
“You don’t have to worry about Luna or Jules. They are the only two people I trust with my life.”
“But how did you all meet? How did this all start? There is no real information to be found about any of you.”
“Enzo—”
“I know. I know. I just—”
She puts her hand on my bicep. “I appreciate your concern.” She means it.
I just haven’t earned any answers yet.
As I open the door to leave, I clasp her hand in mine and raise it up to kiss the inside of her wrist.
She lets out a shaky breath as she closes her eyes.
Then, I release her hand and walk away, hoping it’s not too long before I see those green eyes again.