Page 38 of Jackpot Joker

Now I know I’m a woman with a certain reputation. I’m a ballbuster in the courtroom, and I’m known as a fighter. The truth is, I’ve never fought a day in my life. But, boy, I think I could make a living out of it with the way it felt so good to bring my fist to this motherfucker’s face.

“You bitch!” he screams, holding his nose.

I don’t stop to check if it’s broken, though I really hope it is. Instead, I step around him, wrenching open the door and darting out into the dark hallway.

My heart is racing as my bare feet quicken, and I hear the music pumping from the dance floor. When I finally break into the open space, my body collides with another. I look up and into the most beautiful pair of dark eyes.

“What is it, mio toro? What’s wrong?”

Glancing back quickly, I grip his shirt in my fingers, then I stare up at Dario with eyes I know appear frantic and say the same words I told him the last time I visited Inferno. “Get me the hell out of here.”

Chapter 20

Dario

The car is silent as I drive Jasmine to her condo across town. I want to reach out and hold her, pull her into my lap, and allow her to curl into me, but I know that is neither safe nor something she would do.

I turn into the parking lot, finding a spot close to the building, and cut the engine. After hearing a few sniffles on the way here, I expect her face to be tear-stained but find none.

“Thank you,” Jasmine says, her voice softer than I’ve ever heard, and it breaks my heart. This woman is fierce and strong. Whatever that man did to her back at Inferno has turned her into a woman I’ve never seen.

I reach across the console and take her trembling hand in mine. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad I was there.”

Her hazel eyes look at me, and I curse that it’s too dark to see the golden flecks in them. She snorts. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad you were, too.”

I laugh lightly at her honesty. “Wait here.”

Rounding the car, I open the door for her, but Jasmine stays in her seat as I asked. I can’t help but grin at this submissive side of her. When I hold my hand out, she hesitates.

“You’re safe,” I promise. “Let me walk you inside.”

She looks ahead, nodding, but makes no attempt to move. I reach over and unbuckle her seat belt, catching her gasp as my fingers graze her skin.

Slowly, Jasmine lifts her leg to step out of the vehicle, and that’s when I notice her feet are bare. “Where are your shoes?”

She sniffs. “I think they’re still back at the club. I was trying to get out of that room and didn’t think to grab them.” A ragged breath has me pulling out my phone and texting Valentina to retrieve Jasmine’s shoes. I’ll deliver them to her another day. It only gives me another reason to see her.

I lean down, placing an arm under her legs and another behind her back, pulling her up and out of the vehicle.

“Dario Caruso, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“You can’t walk across this filthy parking lot with bare feet.”

She rolls her eyes at me, and I notice my dick twitches at the movement. That’s new. “I’m from the country. We walk barefoot all the time.”

I lift her a little higher and stride toward her condo. “You’re not in Kentucky anymore.”

“I’m too heavy for you to carry. You’re gonna throw your back out.”

I laugh. “The only back I plan on ever throwing out is yours.”

She smacks the back of my head, and I laugh again. “There you are, mio toro. And while it’s nice to know you worry about me, carrying you is no chore. I much enjoy having you pressed against me, and while I may not have the bulk of my brothers, I am strong enough to take you wherever you need to go.”

She stops arguing with me, and I smile in the silence as I focus on carrying her carefully through the lot, into her building, onto the elevator, and to her door.

“You can put me down now,” she whispers as she retrieves her key from her pocket. Whoever put those on women’s dresses is pure genius.

I shift her so she’s able to open the door. “I’ll put you down when you’re safely inside.”