Page 49 of Liberated By Sin
“Out of state.”
A resounding fuck no.
“We’re still down a dancer. Maybe when Cambri gets back,” I lied.
While I knew how capable she was, I was also aware of her compulsivity regarding matters close to her heart. The Tarasov shitshow came to mind. And something about a flight out of state, coupled with her body language, screamed that this trip was highly personal.
She pursed her lips, a gesture that only made me want to bite them.
“I’m not exactly asking. Just giving you a courtesy heads up.”
I chuckled and folded my arms. “Is that how this works?”
Amara’s mouth parted, then closed, her reply stifled when her eyes landed on the smeared blood on my sleeve.
“You’re bleeding,” she said, placing a hand over mine and gently flipping it to examine my palm.
“It’s just a small cut.”
She eyed the shards still sitting on my desk. “How does that happen?”
“Flimsy glass.”
Her eyes flitted back to mine, a grin cracking her red lips. “You’re a bad liar.”
“Almost as bad as you.”
“Wrong. I’m a great one.” A first aid kit was tucked in the bottom drawer of my desk. Amara knew where to find it without having to ask. “Sit,” she commanded, nudging me down into the seat. I obliged, if only to revel in her closeness and attention.
“Where are you flying to?”
She glanced at me briefly. “Pennsylvania.”
“What’s in Pennsylvania?” I asked, momentarily taken aback by her honesty.
She blotted at the blood with a wipe. “Loose ends.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Santino, we’re not a team. I don’t need your help. And you wouldn’t understand.”
I tenderly touched the black bands around her wrists, caressing the scars I’d seen hidden beneath. Someone had hurt her, and I was itchingto know whose heart I needed to tear from their chest. “I can try.”
She shook her head with a softened expression. “Two weeks,” she said, purposely ignoring my statement.
“I’ll make arrangements and have an aircraft ready for us both. Just say the word.”
It was about time I paid Silas and Leni a visit anyway, and it would be the perfect opportunity to meet Maksim. But more so, a chance for some alone time with her.
A response died on her lips for the second time when she lifted her eyes to the monitors behind me. The tinge of confusion in her gaze prompted me to turn around.
Luca sat adjacent to the stage, a familiar man to his right.
That son of a bitch. I shifted to my feet, fist pounding against the desk before I stormed toward the door. Blaise and Ash followed the moment I crossed the threshold, but with a single wave of my hand, I ordered them to fall back.
I wouldn’t tolerate outright disrespect, especially from my disgraced cousin. He knew damn well not to set foot inside my establishment for the rest of his sorry life. As I neared, the familiarity of his companion’s face finally dawned on me. Gregorio Andretti was one of my father’s trusted business partners and long-time allies, though I was unsure what he was doing in Miami, considering the man lived full time in Sorrento. I’d spent years running contracts for him alongside Hades and The Six. It struck me as odd to find him in the company of Luca—an outlier and family fuck up. I didn’t doubt my cousin was plotting something up his sleeve.
“Santi, wait. He’s not alone.” Amara’s warm touch against the hand on my gun and the unexpected use of a nickname briefly pulled me from the fury propelling me toward the stage. She motioned ten and two o’clock, where two men with stiff expressions stood, pretending there weren’t a pair of bare tits on the stage because they were too busy looking out for Luca.