Chapter 2
TWO
Capri
Shit! I hadn’t meant for Sebastian Zikos to find out my name.
Damn Nikolas for screwing up this evening. First, by saying my name in front of the man they called Hades, and then trying to drug me so he could fuck me.
Calm down. I could still salvage this.
I took a deep breath and slowly released it like I did in yoga class. But the more I gazed into Sebastian’s stunning green eyes, the more my heart rate sped up. Those pictures I found of him online didn’t do him justice. He photographed like a model, but he looked like a Greek god in person.
Perfectly manicured beard, panty-dropping silver hair, and fantastic bone structure. Throw in the designer suit, expensive watch, broad chest, and muscular arms, and he was a romance hero waiting to emerge from the pages.
“Are you going to stare at me all night?” he asked with a smirk as he raised the strap on my dress and removed his hand from my shoulder. His touch forced scorching lava through my system. I prayed my deodorant didn’t fail me now.
“I wasn’t staring at you.” I guzzled the rest of my water, trying to coat my dry throat before I coughed in his face. “I was admiring your chiseled jawline. You’d make a solid model.”
“Where did you meet Nikolas?” he asked.
“Around.”
Nikolas and I met at a bar last week, around the time I stumbled onto Sebastian.
That was a total accident. I had seen an advertisement for Club Hades that featured him.
I wouldn’t have done a second take, even though he was pretty hot, if not for the Manhattan skyline tattoo on his forearm.
My father had the same one. It piqued my interest.
After researching Sebastian, I found out he owned this club but getting into the exclusive area where most social media posts said he frequented would be a challenge. When I mentioned to Nikolas that I wanted to see Club Hades, he said he could get into the VIP section.
I may have been using him, but that sleaze tried to drug me. If not for Sebastian, I would have been… Well, thank goodness for Sebastian. I just wished I knew what his connection to my family was.
“Do you know how dangerous it is to go on dates with random men whom you know nothing about in a country you’re not familiar with?” He ran his hand through his neatly styled hair. “How reckless that is?”
“I tried to be careful,” I said. “I only went out with him a few times. I always met him in public and never went home with him. I’d say I was pretty careful.”
“What about tonight?”
“I was almost drugged in your private club.” I tapped my fingernails against the bar. “If I chose to post about that on social media, that could be a real problem for you.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.” I clasped my hands together and rested my elbows on the bar. “I’m just saying that I did everything right. I can’t be blamed for what Nikolas tried to do. You’re not victim shaming me, are you? Because I could post about that too.”
His sexy lips curved into a smile, and I found myself lost in every inch of him. That was not my plan. I wanted a chance to see him in person, and maybe see his tattoo up close. If there was a connection between him and my father, I wanted to know what it was. Why had my father never mentioned him?
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing here.” He pulled out the stool next to me and took a seat. “How did you end up in my club?”
“I chose to meet up with the wrong guy.”
“It’s just strange that Nikolas hasn’t been here in over two years, and tonight he not only brought you here, but he decided to drug you.”
“I guess I’m lucky he attempted to do it here, or else you wouldn’t have been able to save me.” I touched his forearm, trying to adjust his sleeve so I could get a glimpse of his tattoo.
He looked down at my hand resting on his arm. “I’m tired of your games.” He dragged his arm out from under my hand. “What do you want from me?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t you, Ms. Ferrante?”
“How did you…” I shook my head. “Who?”
“No more games, Capri.” He yanked my stool closer to him, so that my legs were between his, holding me captive without even touching me. “Why are you here?”
I frantically scanned the bar area, but no one even looked in my direction. This man could probably do anything he wanted and no one would intervene.
“If you thought Nikolas was a problem for you, then you have no idea who I am and what I’m capable of.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
I gripped my thighs, trying to stop my legs from twitching, but being this close to him, putting myself in his direct path, sounded alarms that I should have heard before I even walked into his club.
“Did your father send you?”
“No!”
“Don’t lie.” He grabbed my wrist and glared at me with a deadly calmness in his expression. “I can’t imagine why he would send you, but he has my attention. What does he want?”
“My father doesn’t even know I’m here,” I said. “I saw you in a social media ad for the club. At first it was the cool music that drew me in, but then I saw your tattoo.”
“The one that matches your father’s?”
“I kept watching the video, freezing it so I could compare it to his. It’s odd that someone would have the exact same tattoo as his. I thought by coming here it would be a little adventure. That maybe I could snap a picture of you and show it to my dad when I got home.”
“Seriously?”
“Playing detective was fun.” I shrugged. “It was a stupid idea. I didn’t expect to almost get date raped.”
Most of my ideas turned into epic fails, but I was trying to outgrow my impulsive behavior. I swore to my parents that I would behave myself while studying abroad this summer. I almost made it, with the exception of tonight.
“That’s why you shouldn’t provoke strange men while you’re looking for answers you have no business seeking.”
“Are you saying you’re a strange man? Because I don’t—” The clearing of his throat cut me off. “Can I have my hand back?”
When he let go of my wrist, I ran my fingers over it, noting the red marks he’d left behind. This intense man intrigued me in ways that I never thought he could before I came here tonight.
“So, you do know my father.”
“I do.”
“Do you keep in touch with him?”
I wasn’t naive when it came to my father’s business practices. He didn’t openly discuss them, but people talked, especially kids whose parents knew who my family was. I had heard how dangerous my dad was my entire life. I chose to ignore it.
“I do not.”
“How come?”
“This is over.” He stood. “Whatever you came here to search for, you’re not going to get it. I suggest you stop playing detective before you get yourself into more trouble than you found tonight.”
“Why would I get into trouble?”
I slipped off the stool and inched closer to him. As frightening as it was to challenge him, I didn’t want this conversation to end. There was something about him that poked at my curious side.
“I’m going to have Atticus take you home now,” he said.
“Who is Atticus?”
“A loyal friend of mine.”
“I can find my own way back to my hotel.”
“Absolutely not.” He pressed his hand against the small of my back and guided me through the bar and toward the doors that led to an outside bar that overlooked the ocean.
I didn’t have time to protest. His determination was too strong.
“You sought me out, making you a responsibility I didn’t ask for. ”
He took out his phone and texted someone.
“I’m sorry if I hit a nerve,” I said. “I didn’t mean to stir up your past.”
He stared at me as he put his phone back into his pocket.
“Whatever happened between you and my dad is probably old news, right? I didn’t think grown men held grudges.”
“I’m not certain that you think at all.” He grabbed my upper arm and walked me down a staircase that led to a pier. The ocean mist sprayed my face as we hurried down the stairs.
“Can you slow down?” I grasped the railing, trying not to slip. “I’m going to fall.”
“Those shoes aren’t practical.”
“That didn’t stop you from checking me out when you first saw me in them.”
Speaking of checking people out, I couldn’t help but gawk at his toned backside on our way down the steep staircase.
“You came into my club dressed so that I would notice you and told me you were old enough to have sex.” When we got to the bottom of the steps, he faced me. “Was I not supposed to look?”
Did that mean I piqued his interest?
“I didn’t come here to provoke you.”
“You don’t even know why you came.” He swiped the windblown hair from my face, creating another fiery charge to jolt my insides. “You’ve grown into a magnificent woman.”
When he rested his palm on my cheek, my legs weakened. The waves cracked in the distance, but the crisp ocean air did nothing to cool my flesh. My fixation with him startled me. Why am I so drawn to him?
“You knew me as a child?” I asked. “What is our connection?”
“We don’t have a connection.” He released me from his desirable hold. “I know better than to go down this path.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re too young and far too innocent to be anywhere near me.” He nodded toward the car that drove up to the pier. “All of your actions proved that this evening.”
“Can I at least see the tattoo?” I touched his arm. “I did go through a lot of trouble to get here.”
An irresistible grin spread across his lips, revealing his perfect, white teeth. “You’re quite amusing.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Only because I find you entertaining.” He unbuttoned his sleeve, rolled it up to his elbow, and then straightened his arm so I could get a look at the ink that had brought us together.
I had seen the tattoo many times, because it was an exact replica of my father’s. Why had he never mentioned Sebastian?
“What’s the meaning behind it?” I ran my fingers over the Manhattan buildings with the elaborate dagger plunging into the sky above it. “Why do you and my father have the same tattoo?”
“That’s a story you can ask your father.” He placed his hand over mine and traced my finger along all the other intricate tattoos on his arm.
Sucking in a breath, I imagined feeling his skin against mine. I gazed up at him, focusing on his lips. What would they taste like?
“Atticus is going to take you to your hotel now.” He let go of me. “Enjoy the rest of your stay, and try not to get into any more trouble, detective.”
“What if I want to see you again?”
“We can’t always have what we want.” He opened the back passenger door for me. “Trust me, I know.”
“What do you want?” I breathed out. “Maybe I could help you find it.”
“I’m sure you could.” He smirked. “But I don’t need that kind of help.”
He guided me toward the car, but I didn’t want to let this opportunity go.
“Wait.” I stretched up on my toes and kissed his cheek, inhaling a blend of pine and cedar I would etch into my memory. “Thank you for the assist tonight, Sebastian.”
“No one uses my real name.” He ushered me into the car.
“I guess that will be my special thing for you.”
“Goodbye, Capri.” He closed the door and waited for Atticus to drive onto the main road before heading back up the steps of the pier.
This isn’t goodbye…not by a long shot.