23. Shaw
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SHAW
“You’re avoiding me.” Dante shut the door to the empty student union club room with a soft click.
I tensed on the couch where I’d been hiding, cutting one of the classes we shared.
He crossed the room to stand before me. “You’re seriously giving me the silent treatment? Real fucking mature, Shaw.”
“No, I was thinking.” I looked up at him. “How did you know where to find me?”
“Trent told me. Answer my question.”
I shrugged. “You made an assumption. You didn’t ask a question.”
“Do you deny it?”
“Why are you and Jace so fucking paranoid?” I muttered.
Dante straddled my waist and pinned my wrists above my head. “Are you really comparing me to that dumbass?” His grip tightened, a quiet threat dressed as restraint.
“When you’re both acting like children, yeah.” His weight pressed me into the couch, his thighs locking against mine.
“You’re deliberately dodging my question.”
“And your attitude is pissing me off,” I shot back. “Why are you even here?”
“I wouldn’t have to be if you weren’t avoiding me.” His thumb traced small circles on the inside of my wrist.
I bristled. “What difference does it make to you?”
He exhaled sharply. “Is this about Jace and what happened the other day?”
“Aren’t you worried he could find out? That anyone could?” If Jace uncovered Dante’s secret life, it would expose my sexuality and bring the Gennaro family’s fallout directly to our door.
“As if anybody would believe that degenerate, anyway.” Dante kissed me hard, all teeth and aggression.
I pulled back as much as my trapped position allowed. “Are you going to risk it?”
“Will you stop coming to see me for such a stupid reason?”
“Why? Would you miss me?” I challenged, pushing against his wrists.
“Maybe.” He leaned in, capturing my mouth again before I could respond.
His body pressed harder against mine as I strained against his grip, desperate to touch him. One hand released my wrists to undo the buttons of my shirt.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked when he broke the kiss.
“Proving a point.” Another button gave way under his fingers.
I grabbed his hands, stopping their progress. “About what?”
“About why you shouldn’t have left last night.”
Fighting the fog of arousal, I struggled to form words. “I couldn’t—I can’t—”
“Can’t what? Handle that asshole finding out?” His fingers traced the exposed skin of my chest.
“No, I can’t stand that you work there. And stop insulting Jace.”
Dante stopped moving. “Where’s this coming from? It obviously hasn’t stopped you from visiting in the past.”
I shoved hard against his chest, needing space to think. “I’m being serious, damn it.”
“So am I. It’s none of your concern, so stop asking.”
“It is my concern,” I insisted.
“No, it’s not,” he replied, his voice dropping flat.
Desperation crept into my tone. “You’re really working there because you enjoy it?”
He shrugged. “Pleasure is pleasure, regardless of what form it takes.”
“Oh, and if Jace showed up, you’d still find pleasure in that?”
“That can never happen, so the possibility is of no consequence to me. You know he can’t afford me.”
Relief flickered through me, but it didn’t address the real issue. “I’m sure there are others you can’t stand having to…”
His lips curled in a smirk. “Having to fuck?”
“Why?”
His jaw tightened. “I have my reasons. Your understanding or approval of them doesn’t matter.”
I finally asked the question that had haunted me since our first encounter. “Is it because you’re part of the Gennaro Mafia?”
He snorted. “What do you know about that?”
“I know the territory is run by Salvatore Gennaro. They own the brothel.”
“And?”
“And they’re too dangerous for you to be part of it,” I insisted.
He let out a dry laugh. “It’s way too late to worry about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was adopted into the family as a child. There’s no getting out at this point because there’s nowhere I can run where the Gennaro family doesn’t have leverage. Their reach extends across every borough and precinct in this city.”
“But if you’re part of the family, then how can they make you a sex worker?”
Dante’s casual tone contrasted sharply with the horror of his words. “I’m evidence that no one is safe as long as he’s in charge, including his own son.”
“I thought you said you were adopted?”
He nodded. “I was, but as far as the rest of the organization knows, I’m his biological child. It’s how he keeps everyone in line. If he’s willing to put his own son into sexual service, he’ll make anyone who displeases him do it.”
Nausea clawed at my throat. “What the fuck?”
“It is what it is. For now, anyway.” He stared past me.
I sat up and pulled him against me, arms wrapping around him.
Dante went rigid in my embrace. “What are you doing?”
I pressed my face against his neck. “I’m not sure.”
He wrapped one arm around my waist. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“I noticed.” The questions I wanted to ask died on my tongue.
We stayed locked together before he shifted back, lifting my face. His thumb brushed my cheek. “You care, and you shouldn’t.”
“Are you any different?” I challenged.
He pressed his mouth to mine, slower this time. “You’re going to get me killed one of these days.”
Dante pushed me back down onto the couch, and I welcomed his weight. He worked the remaining buttons free, pausing at the waistband of my jeans. He kissed the dark bruise on my hip he’d left. “Is this what you came to show me last night?”
I flinched as Dante’s teeth grazed the tender skin, arching upward. “No.”
“Or did you just want to see me?”
I stayed silent out of frustration at how he could extract information from me while giving up nothing.
“Not answering me is the same thing as telling me, you know,” Dante murmured against my skin.
I wanted to point out his hypocrisy, but my hands found their way under his shirt, desperate for the feel of skin on skin.
Voices in the hallway penetrated the heavy quiet of the room. Dante pulled back, his eyes taking in my disheveled state.
When he moved to stand, I grabbed his wrist, yanking him back. “You are not leaving me like this.”
He pushed us off the couch and onto the floor. I groaned as he straddled me again, pinning me with his weight as he ground his hardness against mine. “Why not? You do it to me all the time.”
“I do?” The evidence of his arousal pressed against me.
“Mm-hmm.” He gave me another hard kiss. “Consider it payback for leaving last night.”
I tried to protest but he rose and walked to the door, leaving me aching and unsatisfied on the floor.
I stood on unsteady legs to follow, shoving my shirt back into place.
When I caught up with him in the hallway, I pushed him against the wall.
“You think you can walk away after that?” I demanded.
Amusement spread across his face. “What are you going to do about it?”
Instead of answering, I kissed him until his smirk faded.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I said. “And this time, I won’t be leaving early.”