“And if Bosco hadn’t owed me a favor, you might be dead right now.”
“I know, Griffin.”
When he saw the remorse on my face, he finally simmered down to a gentle boil. “I’m not worried about you just for Vanessa. I’m worried about you because I care about you. If something bad happened to you, it would hurt me.” He placed his hand over his heart. “You’re family to me, Carmen.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“Then you need to learn from this. Learn from your mistake.”
“Trust me, I already have.” I knew I had no right to ask him for anything, not after I’d made him so angry, but I had to try. “Please don’t tell my father.”
He bowed his head and sighed.
“Please. It’ll just get him worked up, and I don’t want to do that.”
“I don’t know…”
“I’m not in danger, so there’s nothing to tell him. You’re just going to upset him.”
He considered my request before he lifted his gaze and looked at me. “I’ll make an arrangement with you. Never let that shit happen again, and we have a deal. You let me walk you home, or you get a ride. Alright?”
“Deal.”
“Promise me?” he pressed.
“Yes…I promise.”
He finally leaned back, his ripped muscles less tense now that the conversation was over.
“You saved my life, Griffin.” The Barsetti name wasn’t enough to spare me. It was only when I dropped his name that I get mercy. What would have happened if I didn’t have that weapon in my arsenal? “Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything,” he said quietly.
“But just your reputation spared me…”
“That’s not true either. Bosco owed me a favor. If he hadn’t, he would have ignored you.”
I wanted to know more about this mysterious man. Bosco said he was a monster, not a man. He said he was evil and didn’t flinch as he said it. But what kind of evil were we talking about? “Who is he?”
“Bosco?” he asked.
“Yeah. He scared off four guys…just by saying a few words.” He had immense power without having to enforce it. He was a strong man, clearly muscular but not beefy the way Griffin was. Every part of his body was hard like steel, even his dick. “He didn’t even have a gun.” The only reason why I knew that was because his body was crushed against mine and I didn’t feel it anywhere.
“Doesn’t surprise me. He’s the king of the city.”
“The king?”
“He controls all the money.”
I wasn’t following this. “What? What are you talking about?”
“It doesn’t matter, Carmen. He’s just like me—lethal. He’s one of the biggest criminals in this city, in all of Europe. He’s not someone you should interact with for any reason whatsoever. I told him to stay away from you. But if you see him, tell me immediately.”
“Did he say he wanted to see me again?”
“No. Why?”
It was becoming obvious Griffin had no idea about our kiss. “You warned him to stay away from me… Why would you do that?”
“Come on, Carmen.” He didn’t roll his eyes, but it seemed like he wanted to. “Look at you. He eats women like you for lunch.”
I knew Bosco was a playboy—that much was obvious. “Does he…traffic women or anything like that?”
“No. He’s not that kind of criminal.”
That was a relief.
“I just don’t want him to think you’re one of his girls. That’s all.”
“One of his girls?”
“Yeah. A man like him is used to getting whatever he wants.”
I already knew all that information, but hearing it out loud still disappointed me. Bosco wasn’t just a bad boy, but the kind of man that would ruin your life. It was smart for me to walk away without looking back. I would never see him again, and that was exactly how it should be. His kiss would be my favorite of all time, but that could just be a memory for me to look back on when I touched myself.
“Why are you asking all these questions?”
Griffin’s voice brought me back to the conversation, and I feared I was making my interest obvious. “He saved my life. I’m just curious.”
“I hope that’s all, Carmen. Because he’s not good enough for you.”
“You say that about every guy…”
“Because it’s true. There’re no men in the world good enough for Barsetti women.”
“What about you?” I countered, referring to Vanessa.
He held my gaze for a long time, not blinking. “I’m no exception.”
After a week passed, the memory of that night started to fade from my mind.
As did the memory of Bosco.
I had a date on Saturday night with one of the guys who came into the shop to buy his mother flowers for her birthday. He seemed nice enough. He didn’t have the sexy confidence I liked in Bosco, and he didn’t possess a silent power I found intimidating, but that shouldn’t matter. I wasn’t looking for a criminal.
Just a normal guy.