Page 123 of Savage Ambition

“Promise me you’ll keep your distance.” When he hesitated, I softened my voice. “Please. I couldn’t live with myself if he hurt you because of me. My world is too dangerous for you, Shaw.”

He rested his head on my shoulder with a heavy sigh. “I hate him.”

I wrapped my arms around him, disturbed by his trembling. “Join the club.”

“Don’t make me wait too long, okay?”

Relief washed through me. “Thank you.” I hated punishing us both by asking him to keep his distance, but his safety demanded it.

Shaw looked up with a shy smile. “I still want to see you, though.”

I ran the back of my fingers along his flushed cheek. “I never said we couldn’t see each other.”

“But how? You’re always at Gennaro Corporation.”

I kissed him with a tenderness I had never expressed before. “I’ll figure something out.”

“How?”

“Don’t worry, I have my ways,” I teased, rising to collect my clothes.

He watched me dress. “Do you work every day?”

“I’m there every day, but I only work when someone requests me.” I didn’t bother mentioning how Salvatore sometimes forced me to entertain his associates outside of my normal responsibilities.

“Oh.”

When I finished dressing, I sat beside him again. “This isn’t permanent.”

“Which part? You working there or me staying away?”

“Both.” I was stuck for now, but I was gathering the leverage I’d need to free myself from Salvatore’s control. Every client’s secret, every blackmail opportunity, every financial transaction I overheard became ammunition. “I have no intention of being his toy forever.”

Shaw’s gaze pleaded for reassurance I couldn’t give. The less he knew about my plans to kill Salvatore, the better protected he’d be. “I wouldn’t risk everything if I didn’t think you were worth it.”

His eyes widened. “Really?”

“You’re worth it.” I kissed him goodbye, lingering longer than I’d ever dared.

“Dante,” he whispered, his voice thick with unexpressed emotions.

No matter how many times he said my name, I never tired of hearing it. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I savored one more stolen kiss. Walking away proved harder than it should have been, but I’d learned long ago that protecting what mattered required sacrifice. And keeping Shaw safe from Salvatore was worth any price.

After my amazing afternoon with Shaw, returning to Gennaro Corporation felt like putting on chains I’d briefly escaped. Knowing his visits would stop made the gilded cage of my penthouse suite even more suffocating. But choice wasn’t a luxury afforded to men like me while Salvatore held Raphael’s safety in his hands.

A knock interrupted my thoughts. Ishi entered my private suite with a formal bow. “Mr. Barlinger has requested your presence in the Viewing Room.”

Any other day, that news would have lifted my spirits. Barlinger was a voyeur who paid premium rates to watch from behind mirrored glass while Renato and I performed for him. But after what happened in the limo, the professional boundary between us had crumbled, leaving something far more dangerous in its place.

After getting ready, I went down to the Viewing Room and made myself comfortable on the bed. The door opened, and Renato sauntered in. Black pants hugged his muscular thighs, and his red silk shirt hung partially unbuttoned, revealing the tan skin beneath. His golden eyes sparked with hunger as they traveled over me, lingering on the erection tenting my silver robe.

“Someone’s excited to see me,” he drawled, his Italian accent thickening with desire.

There was no point in denying the truth my body had already betrayed. Despite my eagerness, anxiety prickled under my skin. After the honest confessions and intimacy we’d shared in the limo, I worried he’d forget where we were.

All it took was one slip, one careless touch captured on Salvatore’s cameras, and we’d both pay the price. If he crooned, “Tesoro,” Salvatore would make me suffer for it by making my brother pay for my indiscretion. Renato would disappear.