“I’ll come,” Darcy says, nearly falling over herself. She smiles at him. “You can drive me wherever the hell you—”
“Darcy,” I snap.
“Sorry,” she mutters.
She makes a face and backs off, sitting her ass down on the bed. I sigh and turn back to Adam, who is leaning casually against the doorframe, that smirk still poised on his lips.
“You want a better reason to leave? Fine. I’ll give you one,” he says. “Lola, Julian’s fiancée? Her father is concerned Lily is going to ruin the wedding. He’ll do anything to stop that from happening.”
“Well you can tell him he has nothing to worry about, because Lily has promised to be on her best behavior. I speak for all three of us when I say”—I put my hand up when Darcy opens her mouth—“we’re not going with you,” I say sweetly. “And you can’t make us.”
“Can’t I?” he says, the edges of his lips lifting into a tiny smirk.
I shiver at the thought of him making me do anything, which quickly fills my mind with dirty, sexy thoughts I should definitely not be thinking. My entire body shakes, but I keep looking him in the eye.
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough for you to understand.” He presses his lips together as he smiles at me. “Does the name Alberto Domenicov mean anything to you?”
“Sure, he’s one of the biggest crime lords in the …” I swallow. Oh shit. “That’s Lola’s father,” I mumble.
“Yeah.” Adam chuckles and rubs his jaw. “That’s him. So, do you want to help me get Lily away from here or wait until he does things his way?”
“I knew it!” Lily gasps.
“You knew what?” I say, irritability creeping into my voice.
“I knew that bitch was no good for him.”
“Actually, Lola’s not so bad.” He grins. “It’s her family you need to worry about.”
“How do you know so much about this, anyway?” I demand.
“I know because I’m Alberto’s right-hand man.” His dark eyes sparkle as he leans closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Who do you think hides the bodies for him?”
Of course.
I laugh, because after being expelled from high school and shipped off to boot camp, where else could he go but into organized crime? I exchange a look with Darcy, who shrugs, then I turn back to Adam.
“This criminal thing you’ve got going on doesn’t shock me at all.” I smile at him and narrow my eyes. “I guess when you’ve got talent, you roll with it, huh?”
“It’s more of an art, than a talent, but thanks for acknowledging it,” he says. He glances at his phone. “Ten minutes and I’ll be back. Got it?”
His story has instilled enough doubt in me that I’m not brave enough to keep arguing with him. Besides, he’s right; Lily can’t be here. As much as I want to believe Darcy and I can handle her, after last night, I’m not so sure.
“Fine,” I say, gritting my teeth.
“Good.”
He gives me a satisfied nod as he walks away, the swagger in his step drawing my gaze directly to his ass. I’m still admiring it when he glances back over his shoulder, catching me in the act. He grins as my eyes dart to his face. I flush when they lock on his.
“Katie?”
“What?” I snap.
“I almost forgot. Can you thank Lily for the video for me? She’s right. I’ve definitely been missing …” He pauses rub his jaw, then he smirks at me. “Something.”
Oh, God, no. Please, no.
I press my back against the door, frozen to the spot, as he turns around and saunters off down the hallway, chuckling to himself. I can’t breathe. Or move. Or do anything other than will myself not to cry. My hands shake as I force myself to walk back inside the room and slam the door shut. My heart pumps wildly in my chest, like it’s about to explode. Darcy puts her hand on my shoulder, but I’m too busy glaring at Lily to acknowledge her.
“Hey, are you okay? I know it was a shock seeing him—”
“He saw it.” I interrupt Darcy.
Her eyes widen. “He was there?” she hisses.
“No. He told me to thank Lily for the video.” I snap my head up and narrow my eyes at Lily. “Want to explain what the fuck he meant by that?” I hiss.
Lily lets out a strangled sob.
“You sent it to him?” I gasp, glaring at her accusingly. “How do you even have his number?”
My heart stops again as another realization hits me.
If Adam and I both got that text … who else did?
“I don’t have his number,” Lily whispers. “He must’ve had Julian’s phone.” She pauses. “Or Craig’s. Or maybe Andrew’s …”
“Jesus, how many people did you send this to?” I screech.
She looks down at her fumbling hands.
“Lily?” I demand, my body shaking with anger.
“My entire contact list,” she croaks, her voice so low I can barely hear her. “I know this looks bad, Katie, but I swear I didn’t send it to him on purpose.”