The click is audible, and Val’s eyes dart to the side mirror.
She’s fascinating to watch as her eyes narrow while she takes in the details.
When she leans forward to get a better look in the mirror, I know when she sees it.
Val spins around in the seat to look out the back window. “Is that my car?”
“Uh-huh.” I unbuckle myself, then reach over to unbuckle Val.
She jerks back from me so violently she hits the back of her head on the window.
“Jesus, Val.”
She makes a sound of pain as she hunches her shoulders.
And then I get it.
And then I get mad.
“I wasn’t gonna fucking hit you,” I growl, and it sounds like more of a threat than a promise.
“Well, I don’t know!” Val’s voice is high pitched as she reaches up to rub at the spot on her head.
“I’m never going to hurt you.” I work to steady my tone.
But Val replies with a broken laugh. “Oh, won’t you?”
She’s aiming for sarcasm, but it just comes off sad. So damn sad.
This isn’t going well.
“Have I ever been violent around you?” I try to use reason, wanting her to understand.
Val drops her hand from her head to stare me right in the eyes. “I’ve never even met you.”
I’ve never even met you.
Her words have rolled around in my head for the last hour and a half of our silent drive.
She’s wrong.
And as I pull into the parking garage below my building, I decide it’s time to set her straight.
CHAPTER 19
Val
Dom turns the engine off, and quiet descends around us.
I didn’t bother trying to figure out what part of downtown Dom lives in. I’m not familiar enough with the city for it to matter. And I’m guessing he has a pretentious penthouse, so I’m sure I’ll be able to look out the windows and figure out where I am.
I may still be ignorant about what exactly being the head of the Chicago mafia entails, but I’m assuming it involves massive amounts of money.
Dom climbs out of the SUV, and I want to slap myself in the face.
It seems so obvious now.
That’s why he didn’t bat an eye at the armed guards outside King’s gate.
Probably also why that guard pulled his freaking gun out. He must’ve recognized Dom.
Love that I’m apparently the only person who doesn’t know who Dominic is.
My door gets yanked open, startling a yelp out of me.
An angry-looking Dom leans into the open doorway, crowding me as he reaches across to unbuckle me.
This time I don’t flinch. I just freeze.
His scent has been filling the car this whole time, but his leaning across me brings it right to my senses. No avoiding it.
As Dom starts to pull away, he grips my knees and spins me on the seat.
I should protest. Slap him. Something. But I’m too surprised to react.
Hands still on my knees, Dom drags me forward until my butt is ready to slide off the seat.
Geez, someone is in a hurry.
But instead of letting me slide out to the ground, Dom moves his hands to my hips and yanks me to him, lifting me out of the vehicle.
My body reacts on its own. Arms wrapping around his neck. Legs circling his waist.
Unwanted heat spears through my body as he digs his fingers into my sides. And he takes two steps to the side before shoving my back against the vehicle.
“Put me down,” I try to snap, but it comes out weakly.
“No.”
I unhook my arms and push at his chest.
Dom presses me harder into the side of the SUV as he lets go of me with one hand so that he can catch both of my wrists and press them to my chest.
My cleavage heaves against his knuckles as I try to catch my breath.
“Just hold still,” he demands, but my focus locks on his hands. Those big, strong hands, covered in ink.
It never even crossed my mind that he was a gangster. But knowing what I know now, I don’t know how I didn’t see it. His eyes, the ones I thought were full of so much history, really are. But it’s a darker history than I imagined. His calloused palms. The skull permanently drawn into the middle of his chest. The confidence.
How did I miss so much?
“I don’t know how much you know about your brother’s life, but mine is much the same. You’ll have a driver everywhere you go. And a bodyguard who will accompany you when you leave the car.”
“What?” Someone escorting me, too? “No.”
He shakes my hands a little. “Yes.”
“I can’t have a bodyguard come with me to work.”