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He wants me so angry I make a sloppy move.

And I am going to disappoint him in every way.

Caruso looks at me, waiting for a reaction. "What do you want to do, boss?"

I watch the flames. A section of roof collapses inward and sends a column of sparks spiraling into the sky.

"We wait," I say.

Caruso looks confused. "Wait?"

"We don't retaliate, not yet."

Grazalov expects a reaction. He burned our warehouse, knowing exactly what would come next. A war that bleeds us and leaves us exposed and vulnerable to our rivals.

"Then what do we do?" Caruso asks.

I turn back to the burning building. "We wait and give Grazalov enough rope to hang himself."

39

SUNNY

When I wake up the next morning, I’m still alone. Dante didn’t come home last night, and when I realize it, my spine tingles.

I reach for my phone on the nightstand, but there is no message.

I don't know if he's okay or what's going on. All I know is that something big happened last night. Big enough to keep him out all night.

As if he’s a mind reader, my phone buzzes in my hand, and excitement surges inside me when I see his name appear on the screen.

Good morning, my little lock cracker. I won’t see you until the gala tonight. Charles will escort you.

A grin spreads across my face.

He’s safe.

And hello … my little lock cracker?

Him calling me that shouldn’t make me this damn giddy. But it does.

He sends another message.

And after the gala, I'm taking you home, peeling your clothes off you, and spending the rest of the night with my mouth between your thighs. I want you screaming my name by midnight. Consider yourself warned.

Heat floods through me so fast I have to clench my thighs together.

Oh.

Okay then.

I read the message again, then a third time because now all I can feel is his head between my legs and his tongue doing torturous things to me.

God, all I want is for him to drag me into his enormous bed and claim me so thoroughly I forget my name.

And I’ve never wanted to be claimed by anyone, let alone an unhinged mafia man who turned my entire life upside down yet somehow has me craving the chaos.

But here I am, my body on fire and an unrelenting ache for him between my legs.