I was a dead man walking.
“Santino,” Dante’s clipped voice tore me out of my inappropriate thoughts of his daughter. I turned toward the sound. He stood in front of his office at the end of the hallway with a look that suggested he’d read my mind. Of course I knew that wasn’t why his expression didn’t bode well.
I strode toward him with a neutral expression.
“I’d like to have a word with you in my office,” Dante said in a tight voice.
“Of course.” I entered the office then took the seat across from the desk and waited while Dante moved behind the desk, but he didn’t sit down. He stared down at me. “Senator Clark called me.”
“Clifford is a little snitch.”
Dante narrowed his eyes. “I assume it’s true that you beat up one of Clifford’s bodyguards and threatened the boy?”
“The boy had his tongue in Anna’s mouth. He’s lucky I didn’t cut it off.”
Dante’s eyes flashed with shock then fury before his mask slipped back in place. He looked toward the window, obviously trying to compose himself. I could only imagine what it did to him to find out Cliffy had his paws all over Anna.
“Anna and Clifford are promised to each other.”
“That doesn’t give him the right to touch her.”
“Indeed.”
“These people don’t share our values. They don’t have any honor. He might take Anna’s virtue and then decide not to marry her.”
Fuck, hear me talking about virtue like I had the slightest clue what that was. Anna was right. Virtue and I were total strangers.
“I’ll handle the Clarks, and you rein yourself in around them, especially around the boy. I don’t want another discussion with Maximo Clark. He asked me to punish you severely for the transgression and have you removed from the position as Anna’s bodyguard.”
If Clark were a Made Man, he could have asked Dante to remove me as a bodyguard. After all, Anna would be family. “Did you agree?”
“No. He doesn’t understand our rules, and I won’t have him try to stipulate any kind of rules himself.”
I nodded. Many people in the Outfit were concerned that a union with the Clarks would water down our traditions and ultimately pose a greater risk to the Outfit than be a benefit. My main concern with the bond was that Anna deserved better.
Dante still regarded me, his eyes practically x-raying me. “I want to make sure you protect Anna for the right reasons.”
This was dangerous ground I was treading on. “I protect her because of my oath. I’ve always served you and the Outfit with my life and that won’t change.”
Dante nodded but I wasn’t sure I’d completely convinced him.
Fuck. If he started suspecting Anna was making moves on me and that I was even the slightest bit tempted to give in, he’d use my balls as Christmas decoration.
I got up when it became clear that our conversation was over and headed out of his office and straight upstairs. I needed to have a word with Anna. She needed to use her magnificent lying skills on her daddy. I wouldn’t die for such a stupid reason.
I hammered my fist against the door once. That was all the warning Anna would get. I was done playing nice.
Anna was sprawled on the bed on her stomach, while she was FaceTiming Luisa. The last I heard was, “You should have seen the look in his eyes.”
If she started daydreaming about Cliffy’s eyes, I’d throw up.
I stalked over to her, took the phone from her hand and turned it off.
“Hey!” Anna said as she shoved to her knees, trying to snatch the phone out of my hand again. I pushed it into my back pocket.
Anna lunged forward and gripped my belt to drag me closer and reach for her phone. I hadn’t expected her to be this forward. I’d have thought she’d have qualms about touching me like that. I’d obviously been very wrong. Her face was right before my crotch while she tried to reach into my back pocket.
I gripped her shoulders and held her at arm’s length. She peered up at me with a coy smile.
“You’d just have to ask if you wanted me to touch your butt, Sonny.”
I took a big step back, narrowing my eyes at her. “This shit right there is exactly why I’ll get killed.”
She raised her brows.
“Your dad’s suspecting there’s more behind me attacking Cliffy than just my sense of duty.”
Anna pushed to her feet. “Well, he’s onto something, isn’t he?”
I bridged the distance between us, snarling. “This isn’t a fucking game, Anna. I won’t get killed because you’re playing games.”
“No, you won’t,” she said haughtily. “You’ll get killed because you’re unable to resist my games. That’s your problem, not mine.”
She was right. I should have more self-control. But with Anna? Control eluded me more often than not. She knew me too well and pushed all my buttons, and I enjoyed it too often.