27. Chapter 27
Sasha
Taking her shopping seemed deceptively domestic. Perhaps it should have been my first warning, because there was nothing domestic about my little devil.
She needed clothes. This part was simple. While I found it deeply satisfying to see her wandering through my villa in one of my shirts, it wouldn’t do for the days ahead. She looked far too good in my clothes, and I refused to let my men see her like this all the time.
I chose a district I controlled. My uncle had established a territory here months before my arrival, so there were confirmed safe zones we could venture into without fear of an ambush … theoretically.
Theoretically meant lines had been drawn. Lines backed by blood and unwritten agreements understood by both sides. This stretch of coastline and these streets, with their businesses, were mine.
Ours.
Bratva territory.
You didn’t walk into it uninvited unless you were stupid, desperate or looking to start a fight you couldn’t finish.
I sent word ahead and brought a decent amount of security along. I did everything correctly, there should have been zero issues. Nil. Nada.
And still, the moment Addy stepped out of the SUV, it dawned on me that the risk was not external.
It was her.
Addy walked beside me like this was a slightly unhinged honeymoon. The sun hit her hair and she kept tilting her face toward it, closing her eyes and soaking it in. She commented on the architecture, the color of the doors and a fucking stray dog that was completely irrelevant to our mission.
I kept my hand on her waist the whole time. Not because I was afraid she would run away, but because I needed the physical contact. Then again, she might not run away, but I wouldn’t put it past her to chase after a kitten or some other creature.
Two of my men were trailing us at a distance, blending easily into the crowd, yet Addy spotted them almost immediately.
“Are they with us or are we being followed?” she asked conversationally.
Fuck, maybe she was more observant than I’d anticipated.
“They are with us.”
Addy nodded thoughtfully. “Thought so.”
She accepted the presence of the armed security guards the way other women might accept the presence of pigeons in a park: with mild curiosity and minimal alarm.
Inside, the boutique was airy and sun-drenched. The walls were painted a soft coral pink, which made the turquoise ocean visible through the open doorway stand out even more.
The faint clink of fishing boats echoed from the port outside, mingling with the occasional squawk of a seagull.
Behind a carved wooden counter, the owner stood, greeting me with careful respect, his eyes briefly flicking to Addy but never lingering.
That part, at least, was understood.
Addy moved through the store, running her fingers along fabrics, holding dresses up to herself and tilting her head at her reflection in the mirror.
“This one makes me look like I’m about to inherit something,” she called from across the room, holding a fancy dress up to herself.
“I mean, you would if anything ever happened to me,” I replied without thinking.
She peeked around the rack. “What?”
“I told you I’ll take care of you. In, ahh, let’s say my line of work, it’s important to think … ahead.” I cleared my throat. “If you catch my drift.”
Addy cast a furtive look around and ducked her head. “Are you trying to tell me I have some kind of mafia trust fund?”
I snorted. “Sure, if that’s what you want to call it?”
“This is so fucking crazy,” she murmured. I watched her laugh softly to herself as she disappeared into a fitting room my men had already cleared. The door closed behind her, but my body remained alert.
A decade surrounded by hostility had taught me to measure space instinctively: You clock entry points, exit lines and angles of approach.
When the door chimed and two men stepped inside, I felt the shift before I saw them.
They did not belong on this street; in fact, they did not belong in my territory at all.
These men knew exactly where they were and didn’t give a fuck. That was the problem. They had the audacity to move as if they were assessing ownership. I felt my muscles tighten, ready to pounce, but then I remembered who I was with.
Fuck!
One met my eyes immediately and I saw recognition flicker in them. Not surprise, but calculation. They had come here on purpose.
Addy reemerged from the fitting room at the worst possible moment.
She stepped out adjusting the strap of a dress, completely unaware the atmosphere had thickened by several degrees.
“Well?” she asked me, turning in a slow circle. “Am I mysterious or am I overdressed for brunch?”
I was rendered speechless for a moment because she looked stunning in this dress, but then the gaze of both men snapped to her.
Stepping forward instantly, I settled my hand at the small of her back and spread my fingers just enough to communicate two messages at once: she was not alone and she was not available.
I ground my teeth at the realization that I also might’ve just put a target on her back. Things could not have gone worse.
“It looks good.” I barely glanced at her, and her brown eyes narrowed slightly.
The taller of the two men smirked faintly and Addy finally noticed them. Instead of backing off like a reasonable person would, she smiled.
“Oh, hi,” she said to them with a cute little wave.
My composure was thinning dangerously and I wanted to rip their fucking eyeballs out for staring at her in her pretty new dress. They didn’t answer at first and she walked a step closer, unaware of the powder keg she was fucking tap-dancing on.
“Question,” she continued. “Does this place run small or are all the cupcakes finally catching up to me?”
The shorter one blinked, while the taller one’s gaze flicked to me once again.
I did not move. I did not raise my voice. I let my hand remain exactly where it was on her back, thumb pressing slightly deeper into her waist.
Any move could be the wrong one here.
“We don’t need help,” I said stiffly.
Addy glanced up at me. “I wasn’t asking for assistance. I was asking for an outsider’s perspective.”
“They aren’t staff.”
“Oh.” She turned back to the men, her eyes wide with apology. “Sorry. How embarrassing!”
The shorter one actually laughed this time, then muttered something in rapid Spanish. Knowing that not understanding my opponent was less than ideal, I tensed even more.
“Yeah, my bad. I tend to do that. It’s a habit I’m working on,” Addy said looking at him.
“Who are you talking to?” I looked at her with furrowed brows.
She pointed at the men. “Ummm, them?”
“You speak Spanish?” I gaped at her.
“Oh, yeah. A bit. My grandparents were from Puerto Rico and my dad used to speak Spanish to us.”
How had I not known that? I’d read pages and pages about her background, and not a single word about her speaking Spanish. I didn’t know whether this would be to my advantage or not.
She extended her hand to the men again. “I’m Addy.”
No. Fuck no.
The taller one hesitated, then — against his own instinct, I could see it — shook her hand.
“Rafael,” he said.
His eyebrows lifted slightly as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her.
“Do you know where you are, Rafael?” I cut in, my voice dropping in pitch, growing colder.
His eyes flicked to mine. “We go where we want.”
“Not here,” I said simply. “Not without permission.”
The shorter one shifted slightly — just enough for me to clock the outline of a gun under his shirt.
Rafael’s mouth curved faintly. “Territory changes.”
“I’m glad we agree on that,” I drawled. “Because this here is mine.”
He sucked his teeth. “Not for long.”
The air snapped tight.
Behind them, the boutique door burst open and my men flooded in, weapons drawn and breathing hard. They’d had to have been drawn away from their posts. Distracted. That alone was enough to send a fresh wave of cold fury through me.
Hands twitched, instinctively moving to the weapons we all carried. None of us had our fingers on the triggers, but the lines were now drawn in steel, not just implication.
Addy went very still beside me.
“Okay,” she said softly. “This is a lot more tense than I’d anticipated.”
Rafael didn’t flinch at the guns. It told me everything I needed to know. This wasn’t a mistake. This was a message.
I tightened my grip on her, my jaw clenched so tightly I was certain my molars would grind to dust. Rafael’s eyes flicked to my hand on her waist, and I saw understanding sharpen in them.
“You bring her here?”
“I bring her everywhere.”
“Then you should teach her where she’s standing,” he said, nodding faintly toward Addy. “This is contested ground now.”
“No,” I corrected him. “This is mine.”
There was a beat of silence, then Rafael’s gaze sharpened. “Your shipments say otherwise.”
There it was.
It seemed the Familia were testing the boundaries to see where we’d break. I tightened my grip on her, clenching my jaw so hard I was certain my molars would grind to dust.
“You think you can choke supply lines and walk into my territory like this?” I asked quietly.
“We think,” Rafael said slowly, “you’re new here.”
“And we think you’re overextended.”
“And we think,” the shorter one added with a grin, “you’re going to pay for that.”
The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
At that exact moment, Addy leaned slightly into me. It wasn’t deliberate seduction — though my cock certainly took note — just instinctive contact-seeking. Her shoulder brushed my chest and her delicate fingers hooked lightly into the front of my shirt, as though she needed balance.
Rafael took a measured, deliberate step back.
“We came to say hello. And to let you know … This doesn’t stop here.
You don’t get to settle into this island like it’s already yours.
” He smirked and studied me with cold, hard eyes.
“Your shipments will keep bleeding. Your people will keep disappearing. And next time,” he added, glancing once more at Addy, “we won’t be this polite. ”