“I’m not afraid of him.” He moved the flowers back onto the counter without breaking eye contact with me.
“You should be.”
The corner of his mouth rose in a smile. “I’m the one he should be afraid of.”
The warmth I felt a moment ago quickly disappeared. An ice-cold feeling replaced it, freezing my veins instantly. Those men stopped in their tracks the second I mentioned Bones’s name. It was a name people instinctively feared, a name that protected Vanessa when she was taken by those thugs. But Bosco seemed genuinely indifferent to Griffin’s power.
“I’m an opponent he can’t outmatch—and he knows it.” He spoke so confidently, so eloquently that he couldn’t be lying. “Especially now that he’s got a wife to think about now.”
Bones didn’t specifically say why Bosco was so dangerous, but he’d definitely emphasized his authority.
“I owed him a favor, and I repaid it. Now, I don’t owe him a damn thing.” He leaned against the counter slightly, his head tilted to the side as he stared at me. Unnaturally suave, he was hypnotizing to watch. Men were rarely as self-assured as this guy. They called him the king of this city for a reason—because he controlled all the money. And if you controlled all the money, you controlled everyone. “Call him. See what happens.” If it was a bluff, it was a damn good one.
That would be my first impulse, but since Bosco was far more intimidating than I realized, I found myself wanting to protect Bones rather than myself. “What do you want, Bosco?” My heart warned me with every beat. This guy was nowhere near average. He had more power than I could ever imagine. I’d dealt with sleazy guys who didn’t understand the word no. I’d slapped a few men for grabbing my ass when I walked by. But those men were nothing compared to him.
“These beautiful flowers.”
“Now that you have them, you should go.” I held my ground the way every Barsetti should. We were innately proud, even if it cost us our lives in the process.
As if he didn’t hear what I said, he kept staring at me.
I stared back, standing in my brown boots that zipped over my dark jeans. I wore a long-sleeved red sweater to fight the chill that came into the shop every time the door opened. At this time of year, the prices of flowers went up, but customers still stopped by.
He righted himself then grabbed the flowers off the counter. “Have dinner with me on Saturday night.”
Now I knew without a doubt his appearance wasn’t coincidental. He’d figured out I worked here and purposely stopped by. Who knew if those flowers were really for his mother. “I have a date.”
His eyebrow rose slightly at my answer, and he was clearly irritated by that response.
“And even if I didn’t, I’m not interested.”
“Really?” He stepped closer to me, making me suck in a breath at his movement. “It seemed like you were interested last week.”
“I was interested in my freedom. That’s all.”
That playful grin returned. “Sure. Whatever you say, sweetheart. I still have that stain on my jeans.”
I refused to show my embarrassment even though I was mortified.
“And I still have the memory of that orgasm I gave you.”
It was becoming harder to hold his gaze, more difficult to keep up this indifferent persona. When he was this close to me, I could smell the cologne and soap again. I could feel his lips without them touching me. I could feel the memory of that kiss wash over me like the waves of the ocean.
He moved even closer, until our faces were practically touching. His pretty blue eyes were even more brilliant when they were this close. For a man so dark, it seemed unnatural for him to be so beautiful.
I stopped breathing altogether, my entire body tensing at the way his proximity made me feel. My muscles tightened, and shivers ran up my spine. All I had to do was take a step back, but I didn’t. I tilted my chin slightly so I could look up at him, angling my neck back so I could stare at the tall man looking down at me.
Like he had every right, he circled his arm around my waist, right into the steep curve of my back, and held me against him. His fingers clenched the fabric of my sweater at my side, making it stretch over my body even more.
I still hadn’t taken a breath.
He leaned in and pressed his forehead to mine, his eyes shifting down to look at my body below him.
I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten into this position, why I allowed him to touch me like this. My body was naturally attracted to his, from his pretty eyes to his muscular frame. My lips remembered exactly how that kiss felt, and I wanted another round. But my mind was still strong enough to fight it. “I want you to leave.”