Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
"Uh, babe?" Quinn say, wincing. “What’s going on here?"
"I thought it was safe to bring you home. It's not."
One of my men is on the phone with the florist, while the others are scanning for fingerprints.
"They were stolen, Boss. Someone came into their shop and demanded a car and a set of keys. They took flowers with them, too. The florist immediately called the police. Whoever did this was smart. The cops found the truck, but they have no idea who drove it. Whoever it was left no fingerprints."
I'm taking her back to Bella Notte. I could take her to a safe house, but after the safety protocols I've put in place, Bella Notte is the safest place for us to go.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“MMM… THE LECTURE.”
Quinn
Why do I feel like this is my fault? I always feel like things are my fault, but I’m working on it.
I was the one that asked to see his place, when he was perfectly fine staying at Bella Notte.
Is he overreacting?
“Can I see the note on the flowers?” I ask, knowing the answer before he gives it.
“Absolutely not.”
My heart beats faster knowing that I’m on the cusp of seeing Adriano’s violent side again when he snaps off commands to his men, barking out orders with the precision and severity of a lieutenant.
Oh. That’s right, maybe it’s because he is one. Of a sort.
I’m not usually intimidated but I’m starting to feel like I’m in way over my head, and not just because there are people who want to hurt me… us?
When we get back to Bella Notte, Adriano asks me to stay in the car for a few more minutes while he makes phone calls. I don’t overhear them, but if he looked at me the way he’s staring at that phone, I might have a coronary.
Okay, so hubby needs to chill. Yeah, maybe there are good reasons for him to be royally pissed and ready to tear someone a new one, but I happen to have a few tricks up my sleeve.
When we get to a private room at Bella Notte, he curses under his breath and paces the room, running his fingers through his hair.
I pick up my new phone and call Eden.
“Yes?”
“Can I please order a charcuterie board for two, a couple of those delicious pressed panini things, some fries, and a big, and I mean huge, bottle of really nice wine?”
I can hear her smile on the other end of the line. “Yes of course, I’ll be right on that.”
Adriano swings around to look at me. “Who the fuck are you calling?”
“Room service,” I say sweetly, as I begin unbuttoning my top. I don’t wear fancy tops, but I wore this one especially because of the buttons and the ability to tease him with a little cleavage.
“We don’t have room service!” he snaps, very, very clearly in need of some… stress relief.
I only shrug.
“I’m not hungry,” he says, not unlike a petulant toddler protesting he doesn’t want to take a nap.
“I’m starving. I’ll eat yours, too,” I say innocently.
Adriano’s phone rings and he glances at the screen. “I have to take this, it’s Sergio. You stay right fucking there.”
That’s what he thinks. Ha!
The first way to calm the temper of an irate alpha is by feeding the man.
The second is, obviously, a blow job.
But first, I’m gonna let him take out a little aggression on my ass. I just hope I’m not biting off more than I can chew.
So as soon as he starts talking to Sergio, in Italian, the jerk, so I don’t understand a word he’s saying, I very, oh so carefully push myself out of bed and go to the bathroom, where I strip to nothing but my panties and take meticulous time plucking my eyebrows. I get exactly two errant hairs plucked before he’s pounding on the door.
“I told you to fucking stay put!”
“Had to pee,” I say, stifling a giggle.
“You should’ve asked me.”
“You looked busy.”
“Let me in!”
“Fuck off, darling,” I say sweetly, letting him get good and huffy.
I shake a little when he curses under his breath in Italian. I am absolutely in dangerous territory.
“If you don’t open this door, Quinn…”
I swing the door open and stare at him. “What? You’ll”—I cover my mouth in mock horror— “spank me?”
I watch his eyes go from intensely pissed to slightly shocked as he takes in the sight of me wearing nothing but a thong and my tats.
“Get your ass over here,” he growls, wrapping his fingers around my wrists. He’s still furious, only now he’s got an erection. “This is no laughing matter, woman.”
Mmm. The lecture.
Just to piss him off a bit more, I laugh. “Okay, some big bad scary people are after us. Mhm. They did something stupid and put some kind of a message in the flowers to get under your skin. And look. They did!”