Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
OLIVIA
T wenty minutes later (and not a second sooner), I stepped out of Gabriel’s closet, ready for a night out.
Even though I wanted to swap out the dress he’d picked for me, I went with his choice, figuring it was easier than getting into another argument. After all, if I was going to survive the next three months, I would need to start choosing my battles more carefully.
The hemline was a little shorter and the neck a lot more low-cut than what I bought for myself, but even I had to admit it looked good on me. Since I didn’t have a lot of time, I didn’t do anything extravagant with my hair or makeup—simply taming my curls with a little oil and refreshing my mascara and lipstick.
The rest of the time I spent trying to get the hang of the ridiculously high heels. But when I needed to cling to Gabriel’s arm for support while walking down the stairs, I realized it would probably take me the entire summer to master them.
Gabriel didn’t seem to mind. The smile that had spread across his face when I’d first grabbed onto him mid-wobble was still plastered there when we got down to the car.
“Don’t worry,” he said, opening the passenger-side door for me. “I’ll always be right here when you need someone to hold on to.”
I didn’t take the bait, keeping my mouth shut as I slipped into the seat.
After all, if I didn’t talk, we couldn’t argue. And if we didn’t argue, then he wouldn’t pull me close or push me up against the wall or touch me in a way that made my heart pound and my skin burn.
Unfortunately the downside of this new strategy became immediately clear when he blew past the turn he’d taken last night, driving farther south.
“We’re not going to La Sera?” I asked.
His smile turned wicked as he shifted gears. “Do you want me to take you there again?”
“No,” I answered quickly, almost afraid a yes might accidentally slip out. “It’s just…if you’re not taking me there, then where are we going?”
“There are a lot of nightclubs in Manhattan, Liv,” he said.
Well…yeah. That much I knew, but how many of them had private rooms with erotic performers and two-way mirrors? This time, though, I kept the question to myself. Gabriel was already treating me like some naive innocent instead of a grown, professional woman. The last thing I wanted to do was give him more fuel to add to that fire.
So once more, I snapped my mouth closed—this time more determined than ever to keep it shut.
That lasted all of ten minutes.
“ The Relic ,” I read the name of the club off the lighted sign as Gabriel pulled up to the curb.
He cut the engine, and as he jumped out of the car to come over to my side, I eyed the line that stretched nearly half a block down from the front door.
Clearly, this wasn’t the secret hideaway La Sera had been. This dance club looked to be the definition of trendy and popular.
“It’s really busy,” I said as he opened my door and helped me out. “I’m not sure we’re going to get in.”
Deep down, I hoped Gabriel would see the crowd, agree with me, and give up on the place. Maybe jump right back in the car and take us back to La Sera.
It wasn’t where I wanted to go—I swear—but I already knew what to expect there. It was simply a devil you know situation, I told myself.
Amused grin still firmly in place, he shot me a look that said nice try as I grabbed his arm and held on tight. “We will.”
And sure enough, as soon as we turned around, I saw that the valet was already coming toward us.
“Good to see you again, Mr. D’Angelo,” the young man said as he took the keys—along with what looked to be a couple of hundred dollar bills—from Gabriel’s hand. “The manager has your usual spot in the VIP Lounge ready for you.”
“Thank you, Dominic,” Gabriel said.
After that, one of the bouncers held the doors open for us as we were ushered past the line. I must not have disguised my confusion very well because just a few steps inside the dimly lit interior, Gabriel glanced over at me.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I said loud enough to be heard over the pounding music.
“You’re staring at me like I’ve sprouted horns, so it’s not nothing.” His tone was now tinged with annoyance as we snaked our way through the crowd. “Say what’s on your mind.”
Another command. I wondered how long it would take me to get used to him throwing those around all the time.
“It’s just I’m surprised you know the valet’s name.” Especially since the man wasn’t wearing a name tag.
“Of course, I know Dominic,” he said. “He takes good care of my car every time I come here.”
“For two hundred bucks a pop, I bet he does,” I said under my breath, thinking the blaring dance beat would cover my sarcastic comment.
But it turned out Gabriel had better ears than I thought. Stopping along the edge of the packed dance floor, he stared down directly into my eyes.
“Dominic’s a good kid paying his way through City College with the tips he makes working nights. You don’t think that someone who works hard should be paid well? That they shouldn’t be given the chance to make something of themselves?”
“No, of course not,” I answered quickly. That wasn’t what I’d meant at all. “It’s just…I didn’t expect a man like you to remember people’s names or know about their lives.”
In all honesty, I’d thought he’d just been using the moment as an excuse to flash his money around and show off his wealth. That was far in keeping with the kind of man I thought Gabriel was.
“A man like me?” he said. “And exactly what kind of man do you think I am, Liv?”
Oh, no .
There was no way in hell I was walking into that trap.
“You really don’t want me to answer that,” I told him.
“You’re probably right,” he surprised me by agreeing. “But you weren’t surprised when I knew everyone’s name last night.”
“That was before I knew who you were.”
Gabriel shook his head, not willing to let me off the hook so easily. “You knew who I was,” he said. “Just not what I was.”
“Knowing someone’s name isn’t the same as knowing them,” I countered.
There was something about his dark, unforgiving gaze drilling into mine that made the clamor and chaos of the club seem to disappear around us. Even though the whole building was humming with a frantic kind of energy, Gabriel was the only thing I focused on. Everything else seemed to fade into the background.
Especially when that sinfully gorgeous half-smile lifted his lips.
“Don’t lie to yourself, Liv.” He raised his hand and brushed the back of his fingers down my cheek. “By the end of the night, you knew a lot more than just my name, didn’t you?”
Despite the suffocating heat inside the club, his suggestive tone sent a shiver straight up my spine. Suddenly, the memory of every wickedly wonderful thing he’d done to me in that private room replayed in my head, causing my face to flush with heat. I tilted my head down, trying to hide the reaction, but apparently not quickly enough.
“That’s what I thought,” Gabriel said with a laugh.
It wasn’t hard keeping my thoughts to myself after that. At least until Gabriel led me through the crowd to the VIP section—a roped-off area at the back of the club overlooking the dance floor. An attendant with long legs and lashes took us over to a sofa in the center of it all before giving Gabriel a seductive wink.
“Don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything you need, Mr. D’Angelo,” she said, slowly bending over to tidy the already pristine table and showing off her cleavage. With every move she made, her arm brushed against his thigh. “Absolutely anything .”
“We’ll start with champagne, Bianca,” Gabriel answered.
I couldn’t help but notice that his gaze never once flickered down from her eyes…not that I was paying attention or anything.
“Of course, sir,” she answered with only the tiniest bit of disappointment in her voice as she straightened up. “I’ll be right back with that.”
I waited until she was out of earshot before I muttered. “Well, she’s not the subtle type, is she?”
Gabriel pulled his attention away from the dance floor just long enough to glance at me. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on.” I rolled my eyes and didn’t bother hiding it. “I thought she was about to give you a lap dance right in front of me.”
The corners of his dark eyes crinkled slightly as a ghost of a smile flickered across his face. “Jealous, dolcezza ?”
“No,” I snapped. “Of course not. You could have a Roman-style orgy with every woman in this place for all I care. Just so long as I don’t have to take part.”
For a moment, the dark depths of his eyes were lit up with a roguish sparkle. “So, you’re the kind that prefers to watch. Good to know.”
Even though I knew he was teasing me, for some reason, I couldn’t resist taking the bait. “No, I?—“
“ No ?” He cut in. “So now you want in on the orgy? Make up your mind, woman.”
My face was back to burning again, but this time, it didn’t have anything to do with embarrassment or shame. Apparently, all it took was a couple of minutes of talking to Gabriel for him to get my blood boiling. I would have thought I was smart enough to have figured that out by now.
When would I learn to keep my fool mouth shut?
Right after I got the last word, apparently.
“Screw you, Gabriel.”
“Right here and now? Because that can be arranged if it’s what you really want,” he said, leaning in closer to make sure I didn’t miss a single word. His tattooed hand slid over my bare knee. “For the right price, the manager of this place has been known to lend me his office for an hour or two.”
I couldn’t pretend to be surprised by his words, even as they shot a sizzling bolt of awareness through my whole body.
“Is there a place in Manhattan you haven’t fucked in?” I asked, trying my best to sound disgusted…and failing. “The confessional in St. Patrick’s Church, perhaps?”
That dead sexy smile of his only widened. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?”
“Absolutely not.” I shook my head hard enough to send my curls flying around my face, but I don’t think my fierce denial convinced either of us.
Because deep down, a desperate, buried part of me really wanted to know. Not just to listen to him tell the story and soak in all the deliciously dirty details, but to experience something like that myself. To throw caution to the wind and give in to all the sinfully devious desires I’d spent so much of my life tamping down.
I’d come close last night. Closer than I ever had before.
And just look at the trouble that had brought me. All it took was one moment of letting go of the reins, and now I was tied to the side of a damn mob boss.
Gabriel might have seized control of my body in our deal, but that was just one part of me. I needed to be more determined than ever that he would never get anywhere close to my mind or soul.
“Well, if that’s the kind of night you’re looking for, don’t let me stop you,” I said. “Something tells me any other girl in this place would willingly follow you to whatever sacred space you’re in the mood to defile.”
“You’re right. They would,” he said without even blinking. “But what I want to know is, would you? Just how willing would you be?”
Damn ! There went that electric tingle again—racing up and down back my like a damn carnival ride.
There was an undeniably powerful feeling that came from being the focus of his attention. Something that melted my insides until I was liquid and hot.
But thankfully, before I could answer, Bianca returned with our drinks and a bucket of ice. A part of me wanted to grab it and dump it over my head just to cool down from our conversation.
“Are you expecting more company this evening, sir?” she asked. “Because I can always bring out more champagne flutes.”
“No need. Liv will be my only female guest tonight,” he said. “In fact, it’s going to be just the two of us for the rest of the summer.”
“Oh,” the waitress said, letting out a breath that somehow managed to express both a sense of surprise and disappointment in equal measure. “If that’s what you want.”
A second later, she popped the cork out of the champagne and started to pour. I couldn’t help but notice the way her fingers lingered on his as she handed over his glass.
“Of course, if you change your mind, Mr. D’Angelo?—“
“I won’t,” His expression turned dark as he cut her off. Dark and cold enough to send goosebumps up my arms. “And, Bianca, if you ever disrespect my woman again, I’ll see to it that you not only lose your job here at The Relic but that you never find another one in this city again. Is that clear?”
An unfamiliar thrill swept through me as the woman trembled in fear. No one had ever stood up for me before.
Not my brother. Not my family.
Nobody .
For a moment, I didn’t even care that, in Gabriel’s mind, he was probably just protecting his property. It still felt satisfying as hell.
“I asked if that was clear,” Gabriel repeated through tight lips when Bianca stood there, blankly blinking for another few seconds.
“Y-Yes,” she stuttered. “Perfectly clear, sir.”
“Good,” he said, already waving her away. “Then I’ll let you know if we need anything else.”
Then, just like with the drunk in the hotel last night, I watched as the woman skittered away as fast as her feet could carry her.
After a couple of sips of champagne—the best I’d ever tasted in my life—Gabriel finally turned toward me, his eyes still stormy and tumultuous. “Let me guess—that’s the way you were expecting a man like me to talk.”
Actually, it was.
And the strange thing was I kind of liked it.