16. Isa #2
“Just watching,” I said, taking the beer he had placed in front of me. “They all seem so… carefree.”
He shrugged. “People all have their own shit to deal with. Some just hide it better than others.”
I supposed that was true. Elio moved in closer to me, and I looked up, meeting his brown eyes, which seemed to glow in the light. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“You’re welcome, baby.”
“You know what would make this night even more perfect?”
“What?”
“If you show me how to do the floss.”
He frowned. “The what? You want me to show you how to floss your teeth?”
I laughed. Elio’s eyes softened as he watched me clutch my stomach, trying to keep my composure.
“No,” I said when I finally found my voice. “The floss.”
I pulled out my phone and looked up videos of people doing it. Elio watched the video intently before looking up at me once more.
I lost it at the expression on his face.
“I’m not doing that,” was all he said.
“Oh, come on. I think you would be good at it.”
“Why don’t you show me?”
“Yeah, I’m not doing the floss in front of you,” I answered quickly. I couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing. One corner of his lips tilted up in a smirk.
A voice came out through the loudspeaker, drawing our attention. “Ladies and gentlemen. Please join us on the dance floor for our square-dancing session.”
I turned to Elio with animated eyes.
“No,” he said.
“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun.”
“You go ahead, baby. It’ll be fun for me to watch you.”
I pouted.
He leaned over and nipped at my bottom lip.
He was killing me.
“Go,” he said loudly over the music.
I hesitated. I had never danced in front of anyone before, except for a few dances I’d done at weddings, but the song was always slow, and the dance was nothing like this.
Elio pulled me out of my seat before I could react and turned me until I faced the dance floor.
He slapped my ass.
“Go, baby.”
I looked back and smiled at him, moving over to the dance floor.
The dance instructor was a woman in her fifties with long silver hair braided down her back. And I might have fallen in love with her boots. She clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, folks! We're going to start with something simple—the Virginia Reel. Partner up!”
I looked around nervously, feeling a little like a fish out of water, as couples formed around me. A guy in a plaid shirt approached with a friendly smile. “Need a partner?”
“Huh?” I glanced back to where I thought Elio would be, but I couldn’t see him. I needed a partner for this, but I didn’t want to partner up with anyone but Elio. Perhaps I should just sit this one out.
Before I could answer, I felt a familiar presence behind me. Elio’s hand settled possessively on my lower back.
“She’s got one,” he said, his voice carrying that edge that had the guy raising his hands and backing away quickly.
I turned to face Elio, surprised. “I thought you didn’t dance.”
“Changed my mind.” His eyes held mine. “I don’t like other men putting their hands on what’s mine.”
The possessiveness in his voice was clear. I should be offended. I wasn’t. I was happy he was here.
We didn’t dance with the group. Elio led me over to a small corner of the dance floor, and I quickly realized why when everyone ended up changing partners every few steps or so.
Elio did his own little dance with me, and he was…
Good.
“You know this dance,” I said when he twirled me around to face him once more.
He grinned. “Matteo likes this place. You pick up a few things if you come here enough times.”
I chuckled. “You are full of surprises.”
He pulled me in close to him, and I sucked in a sharp breath, feeling my heart stall from the move.
“You have no idea, baby,” he said close to my ear.
I shivered at the dark, seductive promise in his voice.
I was in trouble.
Hell.
We ended up staying for another hour, and Elio danced with me for most of the songs.
Sometimes, I would dance by myself, but that didn’t last long. Elio said men were watching me, and he didn’t like it, but I thought it was just his paranoia talking because I didn’t see any men watching but him.
By the time we got out the door, I was running high on the night.
It was so much fun. And then I get to go back home with Elio and…
I blushed and looked over at him. He caught my eye and pulled me in close to him, pressing a kiss on my cheek. I moved in closer. We didn’t say anything as we made the slow trek across the parking lot toward Elio’s car.
We were about halfway there when Elio suddenly tensed beside me.
“What’s—”
Elio placed his hand over my mouth, cutting off my words, and pulled me to the side of the building.
He pushed me up against the wall and held up a finger to his lip. I nodded.
He looked out into the parking lot. I was too scared to move. I couldn’t. I didn’t know what it was that had Elio acting like this, but I knew it couldn’t be anything good.
He pulled out his phone and texted someone.
For help?
He bent his head down low and spoke into my ear. “The De Lucas are warring with the Devil’s Wings MC.”
My heart stuttered in my chest as I already knew what he was going to say next.
“There are some members out there now. I don’t know where they rank or how skilled they are, but we’re outnumbered by three to one.”
Three to one. He wasn’t counting me in the equation. He was already planning in his head, and fuck, I was suddenly afraid he was thinking of taking them all on.
I fisted his shirt tightly, afraid he might leave me. He looked at me, and something passed over his eyes that I couldn’t comprehend.
“Don’t worry. I won’t ever let anything happen to you.”
I swallowed. It wasn’t me I was worried about. I shook my head, and he cupped my cheek.
“Don’t leave me.”
He shook his head. “They’re circling my car, which means they know who that car belongs to. Fuck, how do they even have that kind of information?”
I blinked, trying hard to process his words, but nothing made sense because of my fear that something might happen to Elio.
“I texted Massimo. He’s going to send someone here. They’re going to help me get you out of here, okay?”
“What about you?” I whispered.
“Don’t worry about me.”
Was he crazy?
I shook my head and tightened my grip on him.
He tried to pull my hand away. “Baby, I need you to walk normally out of this property, got me? There’s a coffee shop just down the street that way.
” He pointed somewhere to his left. I wasn’t even paying attention.
“I need you to hide out there and wait for help.”
“W-What about you?”
He cupped my cheek. “I’ll be fine.”
“No, come with me. Stay with me until more men arrive.”
He didn’t say anything for a beat. I knew he was conflicted. He wanted to catch one of them for questioning, but it was as he said, he was outnumbered.
Elio might know how to take care of himself, but there was a risk to taking on three men at once, and that just wasn’t a risk I was willing to take with him.
“Please.”
“Baby—”
“Well, what do we have here?” I tensed at the deep voice coming from our left. Three rough-looking men stood there, surrounding us. My mind told me to take in as much information as I could, as it might be useful later on.
I couldn’t focus on any details. They all blurred. Only one thing stood out.
They were all looking at Elio like they had won the lottery. Elio pushed me behind him and turned to face them.
“Well, if it isn’t the fucking MC rats, crawling out from whatever hole you’ve been hiding in?”
“Brave words coming from a man who is about to meet his maker soon,” one said.
Elio turned and pushed me toward the wall, into the shadows.
Another laughed. “There’s no point in hiding the bitch. We already know she’s there. And once we’re done with you, we’re coming for her. Don’t worry. I’m going to make sure she screams my name louder than she has ever screamed yours.”
They cackled, the sound sending chills down my spine.
I could see Elio’s entire body going rigid, a predatory stillness settling over him that made my heart stall. When he spoke, his voice had dropped dangerously low.
“You just signed your death warrant.”
I tried to swallow, but it felt like something was blocking my throat. Would I be able to scream if I needed to? To call for help?
The men laughed, but I sensed something in the sound, a hesitancy of sorts—uncertainty. They knew Elio wasn’t someone you should mess with. If they knew whose car was out there, then they had probably heard of Elio’s reputation.
“Three against one, pretty boy,” the tallest one said, pulling something from his jacket pocket.
Metal glinted under the neon lights—a knife.
I shook as my eyes blurred. I tried to focus on anything, just anything, but my mind seemed to be nothing more than a jumbled mess.
I had never felt more useless than I did then.
“Isa," Elio said without turning, his voice eerily calm. “When I move, you run. Don’t look back."
“I’m not leaving you,” I whispered, terror clawing at my throat. I was never leaving him.
The music continued playing inside, the hum of the beat going in tandem with my racing heart, shaking in my ribcage, as if nothing was happening, the square dancers oblivious to the violence about to erupt in our shadowy corner.
Elio’s voice hardened. “That's not a request.”
I didn’t fucking care.
The men positioned themselves in a rough semicircle around us. The one with the knife inched in closer to Elio. I didn’t dare make a sound. I didn’t want to distract Elio.
“Waylen is going to love playing with De Luca’s whore. Think we can get a nice reward for that?” one asked, obviously trying to egg Elio on, but I didn’t think they were joking either.
I leaned back against the wall, searching around for anything I could use to help Elio and defend myself. There was nothing but trash on the ground.