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“Christian!” I shout again, pulling the door shut behind me. He spins at the end of the hall by the elevator, worry all over his face as I hurry towards him.
“Iris!” he says, putting a hand around my waist and tugging me close protectively, look around for whatever is attacking, “what’s wrong!?”
“What the hell!” Frankie shouts, yanking the apartment open and storming into the hall after me, Nico on his heels.
“Can we please,” I say through gritted teeth, grossing my arms and glaring up at Christian, “have a moment alone?”
It takes Christian about half a second to realize that nothing’s wrong, that I just chased him out here to have a word in private. He sighs, holding up a hand towards Nico and Frankie, who stop dead in their tracks – even if they don’t look happy about it.
“You have until this elevator comes,” he seethes at me, clearly not pleased with my antics. But he lifts his chin towards his bodyguards, sending them back inside. They do as they’re told, both glaring at me as they shut the door behind them.
“Christian,” I hiss the moment they’re out of earshot, “are you seriously leaving me here alone with two strangers!?”
He just looks at me like I’m crazy.
“I don’t know them, Christian! They could be anyone! And I know enough about this world to know that men here are…well, it’s a rough world, Christian, isn’t it?”
I look up at him, my mouth set, stubborn.
He works hard to keep his features straight, I think hiding a smile. “This heightened state of security won’t last long, Iris, but
‘ll have to endure it for a bit. After all, your safety is my top priority, and Frankie and Nico are my top men. One of them will be at your side at all times.”
“But…alone?” I say, pushing it. “Even when I like…take a shower? I’m worried about…” but I bite my lip, not wanting to say out loud that I’m worried about being sexually harassed. Frankie seems nice enough, but Nico?
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Nico slapped my as s coming out of the club and both of them saw me stripping yesterday.
I have no idea, really, what they think of me and of my relationship with Christian.
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I mean, do they think that he just liked my performance? That I’m just some…girl, some h ooker who got caught up in all of this?
And if they think that…will they take liberties!?
“Iris, Frankie and Nico aren’t going to touch you,” Christian says as the elevator dings and the doors slide open. “They’re very loyal, and I trust them with my life every day. Besides,” his voice lowers as he steps into the elevator, “if they did touch you? They absolutely know what the consequences would be.”
Christian presses the button for the parking structure below, but he keeps his eyes on me, looking me slowly up and down with a gaze that scorches with….
G od, I don’t know what it is. All I know is that while Christian’s gaze drifts down my body from my head to my toes, I see a distinct pleasure – even a greed in his eyes. Like I’m some great hard-won treasure he’s going to jealously protect.
My lips part a little as I stare at him, shocked by the intensity of it.
Neither of us say a word as the doors squeeze shut.
And then I’m alone in the hall.
For a split second, I consider pressing the button and calling the carriage back. But then I notice the key-card receiver next to the elevator buttons, which means I’d need a card to make it work. My eyes shift to the fire escape, but it’s alarmed, and there’s no way I’d get far before Nico heard it go off and caught me.
Sh it. I really am captive here.
So I sigh, and head back to the apartment, and push open the door.
Nico just glares at me from the kitchen, but Frankie pats the couch next to him, shaking his head at me in disappointment even while he calls me to his side.
“Don’t do that again,” Frankie murmurs to me, handing me the controller to the video game again. “Or Nico will put restraints on your ankles so you can’t run.”
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I gape at him a little. “You guys have, like, chains?”
He raises his eyebrow at me with a smirk. “Do you really want me to answer that, Bambs?”
I sigh deeply and sna tch the controller from his hand.
Christian is gone all, da mn. day.
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Frankie and I kill probably every alien in the universe, and even he gets sick of it after a few hours. Then he turns the game off and the TV on and the three of us sit in silence, watching game shows and eating stale caramel corn that Frankie found in the back of a cabinet. Nico does indeed escort me to the bedroom for a shower and to change into my post-club clothes, sitting outside the bathroom door the whole time. When we come back to the living room, I order some clothing basics with the ipad Christian gave me – just stuff I’ll need to sit around the house for a few days.
Because, apparently that’s all I’m going to be doing anyway.
“Nico?” I say, as the sun starts to go down.
He flicks his eyes to me. I flick mine to my cell phone.
“I know I’m not supposed to ask,” I say quietly, “but can you please just tell me if my brother texted me? He’s… he’s not well. You don’t even have to tell me what it says – just…if he texted?”
Nico studies me for a second and then sighs, reaching for my phone as I tell him that the text would be labeled Damon. He flicks through my messages and shakes his head, and I’m filled with relief. Damon-he’s kind of in a delicate place these days, and he leans on me when things get dark.
“Thank you,” I whisper to Nico, who nods to me before murmuring something about ordering groceries and getting up.
“Why aren’t there any groceries here?” I ask, taking my eyes away from the gorgeous sight of the sun going down over the city and turning it to Frankie, who yawns next to me. “What, does the chef just like, bring all the food and take it with him when he goes?”
Frankie smirks at me. “No, we just don’t use this place a lot.”
I blink at him, confused, and then look around the sp arse apartment. This place could be a gorgeous AirBNB for all the personality it has. “Wait, this isn’t Christian’s apartment?”
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Frankie laughs, digging into the tub of caramel popcorn for another handful. “No, this is one of his flop houses.
slways empty in case we need it, and off the books, technically, so very few people know it belongs to the Romano family.”
“This.” I say, waving a hand around in shock, “this multi-million dollar apartment is your flop house!?”
“I know, nice, right?” Frankie says, laughing harder now and relaxing back into the couch that probably cost ten grand. “Sometimes it is very nice to be connected to the Romanos
“Walt so,” I say, curling my legs up beneath me and pitching my voice lower. “Where does Christian actually
live”
“in the family house, obviously, Frankie answers passively, his eyes fastened on the tv. “Though, I guess house is kind of an understatement – it’s a huge mansion just on the edge of the city.
“Stop!” Nico shouts from the kitchen, making us both turn towards him. “Quit spilling secrets to the prisoner, Frankie, just because you think she’s pretty.”
Frankie rolls his eyes and looks back to the tv. “Nothing she couldn’t read in the newspapers, Nic! All of this was posted in that New York Times expose four months ago-don’t get your shorts all twisted over it.”
I grin at the mobster next to me, a little cat’s smile. “You think I’m pretty, Frankie?”
“Eambi,” he says, flicking his eyes to me, “I am not allowed to think you’re pretty. Don’t listen to Nico, he was just
born in a bad mood
“Wait, so,” I say, lowering my voice again, eager for more insight into Christian’s life. “Do they really all live there? Even though they’re like, grown up?
Frankie nods. “Don Antonio likes to keep the family tight-thinks it’s important. Of course, everyone’s got their own places all over the city in which they live their actual lives,” he says, popping another kernel in his mouth, “but, they’ve also all got suites at the house as well it’s very busy all the time, and very locked down.”
I sit quietly, a thousand more questions cropping up every time Frankie gives me even a tiny sliver of information: “So, how many people are in the family? Christian said something about brothers.
“Do you seriously not know any of this?” Frankie says, turning his head towards me. “If you are a spy, you’re a very sh itty one.”
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“I’m not a spy!” I insist through gritted teeth, punching him on the shoulder and making him grin. “I knew Christian from the neighborhood he grew up in – when I knew him his last name was Allen, not Romano. So no, I don’t know any of this.”
“Wait, seriously?” Nico says, walking over to us, suddenly interested. “You knew Christian from his dark days?”
“His dark days!?” I ask, a little aghast. “That’s a little dramatic, Frankie. We had a very nice childhood, I’ll have you know.”
“They’re not dark because they’re bad, they’re just dark because Christian doesn’t tell anyone anything about them only his father knows anything about his mom and his childhood.”
–
“Oh,” I say, my eyes going wide as I sit up straight and realize that…well, that I guess I actually do have secrets that other people don’t know. I mean, not big or interesting ones, but I certainly know everything about the years before Christian left abruptly in the night.
“You just got much more interesting, Iris,” Frankie says, turning to me with an eager smile. “So, spill. Where the hell did you actually meet the Boss?”
“He grew up next door,” I say, shrugging, because it’s not some deep dark secret.
“Wait, holy sh it,” Nico breathes, coming suddenly around the couch to stare at me. “Are you…are you Daisy?”
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