Nico straightened. “I parked at the end of the block. I’ll give you a ride.”
“Are you kidding?” She snorted a laugh. “You and me in a car together? First of all, our families are enemies. Second, you are a known kidnapper. Third, I can’t show up at the community center with a wiseguy.”
He looked affronted. “How would they know?”
“How could you be anything other than a wiseguy?” She gestured vaguely, trying to encompass the entirety of his fine Italian wool suit with its mobster sheen. “You’re kicking it old school in that suit. Modern mobsters dress down so they don’t attract attention.”
“I have no fear of attracting attention.”
Mia smiled despite herself. “I’m just saying, you’re not really a suit kinda guy. I’ll bet when you’re alone, you kick back in jeans, T-shirts, leather jackets, and boots.”
His gaze dropped to her feet. “Boots like the one you left behind?”
“Actually, I’d like that boot back.”
Nico’s eyes flashed, and he licked his lips. “It’s very valuable to me. A souvenir of the first person ever to escape from my clubhouse. It comes with a price.” He closed the distance between them, and Mia’s heart drummed in her chest. He was so close she could feel the heat of his body. There was nothing terrifying or lethal about him as his hand slid around her waist. He was all hard, hot, deliciously sexy man.
“What price?” she whispered, looking up at his lush, sensual mouth, his lips only inches away from hers. She imagined all the wicked things that mouth could do to her, and her blood ran hot through her veins
He stroked a thick finger along the line of her jaw, his eyes locked on hers, dark with passion, his lids heavy with desire.
“Tell me.” She felt drawn to him, as if there was a magnetic current pulling them together. She moved closer. Their bodies touched, and she felt the unmistakable ridge of his erection press against her stomach. If he kissed her now, would she slap him or kiss him back? She really didn’t know.
“I’ll take you where you need to go.” He stepped away, breaking the spell.
She released a ragged breath, her body pulsing with unfulfilled desire. “You want me to accept a ride to get my boot back? That’s the price?”
“Yes.”
Still, she hesitated. It was no small thing he offered. If they were seen together, the repercussions could be severe, not just for them but for their families, too. And yet, how much worse could it be? Their families had already been at war for ten years. And if she texted Jules the details of his car, texted again when they arrived …
“Do you know what you’re asking? Even this”—she waved at her broken-down car—“was crazy. Us talking on the street is crazy.”
“Some risks are worth taking.” He leaned in, brushed his lips over her cheek, his breath warm against her ear. “Say yes,” he whispered.
Mia had never been averse to risk. Every time she confronted or defied her father, she took a risk that she might not make it out of his office on her own two feet. She had taken a risk the day she tried to save Danny, when she sent her application form to UCLA, and again when she’d dared move away from home. She’d taken a risk to start her own business with only bank loans and savings from her internship as capital. She’d taken a risk when she’d accepted the help of a mobster.
Suddenly, she didn’t care about the consequences. She didn’t have to be a victim. She didn’t have to run scared. She could choose this. Choose him. She could follow her gut instead of the rules, and her gut said go.
“Yes.”
*
Nico pulled his Cadillac Escalade away from the curb. He was out of his fucking mind. He had come perilously close to kissing Mia on the street, and only his fierce self-control had enabled him to pull back before he threw them headlong into disaster. So what the hell was he doing now with Mia Cordano in his car?
Frankie clearly wondered that, too, from the way he had scowled when Nico told him he’d meet him at the Sunny Heights community center. Frankie’s job was to protect Nico. He couldn’t do his job when Nico wasn’t with him. Nico understood that, but there was no way he wanted Frankie glowering in the back seat with Mia in the car. He wanted her all to himself.
“Black Escalade.” Mia ran her hand over the dashboard. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you suffer under the illusion that all wiseguys are the same.”
Her lips quivered in a smile. “How many guys in your crew drive either a Cadillac or a Chrysler 300C?”
Fuck. She was killing him. That sass. That smile. Her strength and determination. She wasn’t intimidated by him. Showed no fear. He’d never met a woman quite like her. And the way she handled her tools, tested her engine. Sexy. As. Fuck. “We’re talking about me.”