Twisted Bonds (The Camorra Chronicles 4)

“You’re younger than us,” Leona said.

Savio flashed her a cocky grin. “Barely, and we don’t look it.” He was right. They appeared like grown men, not teenagers, hardened by what they’d seen and done, and with a confidence usually reserved for older guys.

Savio gave his friends a sign. “Let’s go.”

Together we headed for the end of the alley and passed the queue toward the two bouncers, tall tattooed guys. Savio gave them a curd nod and they let us through.

“Does this club belong to the Camorra?” I asked Diego because he was closest to me.

Surprise crossed his face, then pride. “Every club in Vegas does. The Falcones kicked the Russians and the MCs out when they claimed power.”

Savio turned briefly and smirked. Diego returned the look.

A hard beat which pounded in my body greeted us inside the club. Everything glowed in a pinkish light and the ceiling looked as if it was made of thousands of crystals which threw the light right back. The club was crowded with convulsing bodies, trapped in the thrall of the music. I took everything in, the way everyone seemed to lose themselves to the bass, some of them with eyes closed. People rarely understood what music did to me, but in this moment, in this club, everyone was a slave to the melody.

Excitement bubbled up in me and my pulse picked up, caught up in the magic of the fast beat. Serafina flashed me a grin, and Leona, too, looked ecstatic. We headed over to the bar and ordered a Cosmopolitan for each of us.

“This is cool,” Serafina shouted over the noise.

I nodded, sipping my drink, taking in everything. Savio, Adamo, Diego and Mick were at the other end of the bar, pretending to be on a boy’s night out, and maybe to strangers it looked convincing, but I saw the concentration and vigilance on their faces.

I turned away from them, taking another sip, and began to bounce to the music. Soon all three of us were buzzing with the need to dance, so we drank faster.

“Here they come,” Leona shouted.

I followed her gaze, and saw a group of three guys heading our way. Nicely dressed, smiling. I was trying to come up with a nice way to let them down. Serafina was quicker. She shook her head at them and lifted a finger, looking like the ice princess she told me she’d been known for in the past. The men came to a stop, unsure if Leona and I shared Serafina’s opinion. I shook my head as well and finally they turned away.

I gave Serafina a grateful smile. “I didn’t think it would be this easy to keep them away.”

Serafina shook her head. “They’ll return later once they’ve had more drinks.”

We made our way over to the dance floor and began to dance close together, grinning at each other. I raised my arms, twisted and turned, letting the music guide my movements. Trying to ignore the looks of the surrounding men soon became difficult, and I noticed how several of them danced closer and closer to us, so Leona, Serafina and I had to build an even tighter circle. Soon the presence of two guys behind me, the way they tried to dance with me, became overwhelming. I shook my head at them, but they smiled as if they thought they only needed to try harder. Serafina glowered at a guy behind her and shouted something—from the look on her face, nothing nice.

Leona shoved a guy’s chest when he came too close.

One of the guys behind me danced even closer and reached for my hip. I shoved his hand away, my pulse picking up. “No. Leave.”

He scowled at my rebuke. From the way his eyes shone it was plain that he was drunk. He took a step closer and tried to bring our bodies in for a dance. A tall figure shouldered him out of the way and for a moment I thought it was Savio. Then I saw the curls. Adamo faced off with the guy like Savio and Diego did with Leona’s and Serafina’s admirers. Mick stayed a few steps back, keeping an eye on the general public.

Adamo shouted something and the guy backed off. After that Adamo danced close to me while Diego danced with Leona and Savio with Serafina. I smiled up at Adamo who moved easily to the music and he gave me a small smile in return. Serafina and Savio had their own private dance battle and they seemed to enjoy it thoroughly and Leona was grinning too, even though Diego looked tense dancing close to her.

Eventually my bladder asked for relief. I leaned up to Adamo. “I need to go to the bathroom.”

“I’ll go with you,” he shouted back. We motioned at Savio who nodded. Adamo grabbed my hand and we made our way through the crowd until we arrived in the back where the restrooms were located. The music was a distant throb that still reverberated in my body, calling for me to return and lose myself again. Of course, there was a crowd in front of the girls’ room, which meant at least a ten minute wait. I really wished I’d gone sooner because I wasn’t sure I could wait that long.