Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
Sable
Walking down the dark streets of Manhattan could be dangerous, especially in shoes that would make it impossible to run if the need presented itself.
Most women wouldn’t attempt it alone at midnight.
But I wasn’t like most women. Navigating the seedy streets of the city didn’t seem too scary considering I slept next to a killer.
Well, most nights I slept next to Milo. The other nights he didn’t come to bed until the sun peeked through the curtains. He brought me to the penthouse so I could be close to him when he did make it home, but after two nights of tossing, turning, and waiting for him, I decided to get proactive.
Leaving the penthouse hadn’t been as difficult as I would have imagined. There wasn’t even a guard on the other side of the door. Why would there be? Milo wasn’t there. But you’d think he wouldn’t leave me unprotected.
As I turned the corner, the line for the club stretched all the way down the block. It was the middle of the night in the city that never slept. Milo’s club trended all over social media. What did I expect? Everyone who wanted to be someone would kill for a selfie with Milo.
I had been living this life with him for days without ever stepping inside the club. I didn’t have to. People posted his every move all night long. There were entire pages dedicated to him. A mafia celebrity. What a strange world we live in.
The inappropriate women didn’t bother me, because even in the short time that Milo and I had been together, I didn’t feel like he was interested in them. I wasn’t sure what we were to one another, but my instincts told me that when he said I was his, he also meant he was mine.
The urge to be with him took over, and here I was, taking a huge chance and showing up unannounced where he conducted questionable business. Dangerous and dark deals for men who lacked any moral compass.
Texting him and letting him know I was here would have made me lose the element of surprise. The idea wasn’t to piss him off. I didn’t wear this revealing dress for nothing. Losing an hour standing in line wasn’t part of my plan either.
As I strolled along the sidewalk, I passed the people who stood in the cold, trying to nonchalantly cut the line. If I could get to the entryway of the building, I could tell the guy at the door who I was and that Milo would be expecting me.
I was certain I wasn’t the only girl who tried that trick, but I was pretty sure I was the only one named Sable, and Milo would let me through. I think…
A few people yelled at me, but I pretended I didn’t hear them as I shimmied into the crowd, making my way to the front of the line. People pushed and poked at my back, but I didn’t let them deter me.
“Excuse me.” I wiggled close to a man who appeared to be alone. His imposing frame and expensive suit would have made him stand out, but considering this club was full of mafia men and cartel members, he blended in.
When he turned and smiled at me, I stepped back out of instinct. There was something not quite right in his gaze, but I couldn’t say what it was.
“I need to get to the front,” I said. “It’s kind of important.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Oh, well, someone inside is waiting for me.”
“Why would he leave you out here?” A scorpion tattoo on the top of his hand glimmered under the street light when he checked his watch. “At such a late hour.”
“How do you know I’m meeting a guy?”
“A hunch.”
“I’m really late. Do you mind if I go in with you?” I should have approached someone else, but now the eager customers were shoving forward and I was about to get inched out of the line. “If I’m with you, the crowd behind me might not mind if I cut the line.”
I didn’t want to cause a ruckus and have the guys at the door bounce me out before I got in.
“I’ll escort you in if you have a drink with me once we’re inside.”
“Um, I…” I rocked on my heel, causing me to stubble back.
The ominous stranger slipped his arm around my waist and steadied me. “Come on, we’re up next.”
He guided me toward the entrance as I dug in my bag to get some cash to pay the cover, but before I could get the money out, the doorman tapped the stranger’s credit card against a tablet.
“You didn’t have to pay for me,” I said. “I have money.”
“I figured any woman who can afford those shoes can pay her way into this club.” He glanced around. “I don’t know what the draw is. This place is a dump.”
“They’re going to renovate.”
Once we were inside, I peered around, trying to locate Milo through the throngs of trendy clubbers.
“There’s a bar back here.” The man pointed down the hall. “It’s less crowded.”
“Do you come here often?” I followed him, but I had no intention of having a drink with him. As soon as we got out of the horde I wanted to text Milo and tell him I was here. Coming to the club wasn’t my brightest idea.
“I’ve been here a few times.” He placed his hand on my back and guided me to a quieter area. “What can I get you to drink?”
“I’m sorry.” I reached in my bag for my phone. “I have to text someone.”
“The man who left you stranded outside?” He slipped my coat off and draped it over the back of the high-top barstool. “You can keep him waiting for a few minutes.”
“Really, I can’t.”
“Since you’re wearing a dress like that…” He trailed his gaze along my body, making me feel vulnerable and exposed. Why did I come here without Milo? “You must come from money, or your boyfriend does.”
“I appreciate your assistance with getting in.” I flung my coat over my arm. “But I really have to go.”
“What about our drink?” He caught my wrist before I could leave.
“I don’t think so. ”
“At least tell me your name.” He grinned. “You owe me that much.”
I hesitated, but the quicker I indulged him, the faster I could get to Milo. “Sable.”
“Lovely.” He tightened his hold on my wrist. “I’m Diego.”
“It’s nice to meet you, but I have to go.” I twisted my arm, trying to get him to release me. My heart rate sped up when he didn’t take the hint. “Let go of me.”
“Not until you agree to have a drink.” He nudged me toward the chair. “I promise I can hold an interesting conversation.”
“I said I don’t want?—”
“Get your fucking hands off her.” Milo wedged himself between me and Diego, and then rammed him into the wall.
“Milo!” I touched his shoulder, but he shrugged away from me and went after the man who wanted to buy me a drink. “You don’t have to?—”
Milo’s fist connected with Diego’s jaw as Ricardo jostled me behind him, shielding me from harm’s way.
“Ricardo,” I said. “It’s my fault. I let him escort me in. He didn’t know I’m with Milo. Please stop him.” I didn’t want to witness another incident with Milo’s knife. Or worse, his gun.
“No one, with the exception of his father or brother, can stop Milo when he’s like this.” Ricardo backed me away from the commotion. “Trust me, that man deserves the beating.”
My legs quivered when Milo took a hit. Was it possible to have sympathy pains in my jaw? I swore I felt the impact of Diego’s fist connecting with Milo’s face.
Milo got the final three jabs in before his men picked Diego off the floor. Diego wiped the blood from his mouth, and then shook out the hand that he had hit Milo with.
“Obviously,” Diego said, “an introduction isn’t necessary, Mr. Accetti.”
“Milo.” I stepped around Ricardo. “The line was really long, and I wanted to get in to see you. He helped me. He had no idea we were together.”
“Ricardo.” Milo didn’t look at me when he spoke. “Get her out of here.”
“ Sable. ” Diego smirked. “This is the man you were meeting? The one who let you fend for yourself outside?” He clicked his tongue. “You deserve better.”
Leaving the penthouse was a poor choice. But accepting assistance from this man could prove to be one of the worst decisions I ever made.
“Mr. Accetti,” Diego continued. “You should know better than to allow such a stunning woman to walk the streets of the city alone. Just ask your father what could happen if left to her own devices. There are plenty of bad people out there waiting to make money off her.”
“Fuck you.” Milo shoved him.
“Such a coincidence that she sought my help, isn’t it?” Diego continued to taunt Milo. “If you hadn’t shown up, who knows where we’d be now.”
“But I did show up,” Milo said. “And now you’re going to be dead.”
“Milo.” I squeezed his arm. “This is my fault.”
“Ricardo!” Milo shouted. “What the fuck is she still doing here? Take her to the office.”
“Let’s go.” Ricardo hooked his arm in mine and led me down the same hallway that Milo had taken me the first night we met. The night my fate was decided. “You really have to learn when to lay low and let Milo handle things. ”
“I don’t want him to kill someone because they offered to buy me a drink,” I said as we entered the drab office. The old, wood desk and the brown paneling covering the walls could make a person want to jump out of a window. “Milo is being absurd.”
“This has nothing to do with you.” Ricardo closed the tattered curtains. “Well, maybe just a little, but that man who wanted to buy you a drink paid three million dollars for my best friend.”
“What?” Why didn’t I stay at the penthouse?
“Diego is the reason Lissia and Marchello can’t come home.” He switched on a lamp that looked like it had been here since the eighties. “He’s a despicable human being and also one of the reasons Nico is unavailable.”
Of all the people waiting to get into the club, I had to seek the attention of Milo’s enemy. There was no way Diego set our meeting up. I had approached him. Our unfortunate encounter was my dumb luck. The story of my life.
“I didn’t know who he was.”
“Which is why you can’t be lurking around here without security.” He pulled the chair from around the desk and motioned for me to sit. “If you’re going to be with Milo, you need to get smarter.”
I draped my coat over the chair before taking a seat. I slipped my shoes off and rubbed my aching feet. Walking six blocks in those heels wasn’t smart. Nothing I did tonight would win me any awards with Milo.
“I didn’t know that I shouldn’t come here,” I said. “There wasn’t even a guard posted at the penthouse.”
“Just because you couldn’t see any guards didn’t mean there weren’t any.” He sat on the edge of the desk. “To be fair, I don’t think they expected you to leave the penthouse in the middle of the night. They’re going to pay for that mistake.”
“Great.” I sighed. “Now I’m responsible for Milo taking out his anger on the guards I didn’t even know I had?”
“With Diego showing up tonight, and now that he knows who you are, things are going to get a little more complicated around here,” Ricardo said. “We’re all going to have to be more diligent.”
“How can you be sure that Milo won’t kill him?”
“I can’t.” He shrugged. “But he’s not going to do that in the middle of the club. He’s too smart for that.”
“Ricardo.” I twisted my hands when an awful realization loomed in my mind. “What if I don’t know if I can live like this?”