The First Sin (Sins of the Past 1)

me. “Go right the fuck ahead. Who will buy your gravesite for you when I’m dead?”

“We need her,” Marco said to Pete.

Pete smirked but lowered his gun to his side.

Angelo closed the distance between us within seconds. “G, stop it.” The seriousness of his tone made me cringe. “Don’t egg him on. He will shoot you without blinking an eye. You have no idea how much danger you could have put both of us in by you being here.”

I knew Angelo was right. His brother was an irredeemable asshole who enjoyed killing people.

“I’m sorry, but I had to know what I was buying before I signed the papers. Sonny doesn’t let me pee without talking to him through the door. Do you have any idea what it’s like to have someone watch you twenty-four seven?”

“Yeah, I do. Have you met my family?” Angelo gripped my shoulders and held me at an arm’s length. “Why do you have to be so curious about everything, G? You don’t seem to understand what’s going on here. There’s a reason I have someone watch you day and night. It’s to keep you safe.”

“Is your brother going to kill me?” I squeaked out the words.

“No.” Angelo hugged me to his chest and whispered, “I would kill him before he got the chance.”

“Now that you’re done holding hands, you think you can get your ass over here and help us finish the job,” Pete said to Angelo.

Angelo sucked in a deep breath and let it out.

“Go with Sonny and wait for me at your car. I’ll drive you home.”

“You don’t have to baby me, Angelo. I’m not a delicate flower. I can take care of myself.”

“Not against the men who want to kill me. No, you can’t.” Angelo pressed his forehead to mine, his words coming off like a growl. “You are mine, Gianna. No one is taking you away from me. Now, do as I say and get your sexy ass back in that fucking car before I throw you over my shoulder.”

I should have been afraid of Angelo. Instead, I had the opposite reaction. I was so turned on by Angelo my juices pooled between my thighs. “I need to feel you,” I said to him under my breath.

“You will, baby. You’ll feel me everywhere.” He squeezed my ass and pushed me toward Sonny. “Go. Now.”

On our way back to my car, Sonny hooked his arm through mine and kept me at his side.

“I promise not to run, Sonny. You can let me go.”

“I was serious about what I said earlier.” His tone had so much anger in it I was stunned. Sonny was never nasty with me. “If Angelo was anything like his brothers, he would have killed me for letting you out of my sight.”

“I’m sorry.” I squeezed my fingers between his and held his hand until we reached my car. “We’ve been friends as long as I’ve known Angelo. I don’t want to see anything happen to you because of me.”

Sonny helped me into the passenger seat, rolled down the window, and then shut the door. He crouched outside the car next to me, meeting my gaze. “You’re a pain in my ass, Gia. I hope you didn’t get me put on shit duty for the next month.”

“I hope that’s not literal shit.” I laughed, but Sonny’s face remained stoic. “If I had known, I would have listened. Angelo never tells me anything anymore.”

“You don’t want to know about the things we do. When Angelo is with you, he wants to be someone else, the person he used to be. He doesn’t want to be the person he is when he’s with his brothers. Understand?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “He used to include me in everything. Angelo told me everything.” I touched my fingers to his hand and gave his skin a light tap. “You did, too. I miss that.”

“It’s not that simple. For such a smart girl, you sometimes lack common sense. What were you thinking coming down here? You would have been dead if that was Enzo and his men instead of Angelo and his brothers. This shit isn’t a game. We’re not stealing DVD players off the backs of trucks anymore. All of us are in over our heads. Some things you’re better off not knowing. The more you know, the worse it could be for you. Someone could use it against us. You could go to jail for knowing too much.”

“That’s why Angelo has you watch over me. Isn’t it?”

Sonny turned his head to the side, avoiding my question. Before I could ask him to elaborate, Angelo came up from behind Sonny. He tapped him on the shoulder and told him to take a walk with him. I was nervous for Sonny since I was the one who had gotten him in trouble. Angelo would never hurt his best friend.

They disappeared down the path together, and after five minutes, Angelo opened the driver’s side door and hit the ignition button to start the engine. “Never do this again, G.” The anger in his tone shook through me. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” I muttered. “Don’t yell at me. I promise not to do it again.”

Angelo took my hand in his and threaded his fingers between mine. He looked at me with so much fire and intensity behind his beautiful blue eyes that my body trembled. “I can’t lose you. Think before you act. Do you even know what I would become without you? What I would do to anyone who hurt you?”