Chapter 19
Hannah
I woke to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar curtains, my body deliciously sore in places I’d forgotten could hurt. For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was, then everything came flooding back. Leonardo. Sugar Daddy. The mind–blowing sex that had lasted well into the night.
1 stretched, wincing at the tenderness between my legs, and reached across the massive bed. Empty. The sheets beside me were cold.
“Mr. Salvatore?” I called out, my voice raspy from all the screaming I’d done last night.
No answer.
1 sat up, letting the silk sheets pool around my waist as I scanned the luxurious hotel suite. No sign of him. His clothes were gone from where they’d been thrown haphazardly across the floor in our rush to get naked.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. There were no messages, but a notification showed that $20,000 had been deposited into my account overnight–more money than I’d ever seen in my account at once.
The time on my phone read 9:52 AM. Beneath it was a notification I’d missed a message from Emma.
I opened it, still in a daze from the money.
Emma: Still alive? Or did your sugar daddy either kill you or fuck you into a coma? It’s been HOURS since I heard from you, and I’m starting to worry he’s got you chained in some red room of pain situation. TEXT ME BACK!!!
I snorted, imagining Emma pacing around her apartment and creating increasingly dramatic scenarios. If she only knew how close to the truth the “killing” part had been.
My fingers hovered over the screen. What exactly was I supposed to say? “Hey, guess what? My sugar daddy murdered three people right before we had sex! Wild night, right?”
I took a deep breath and typed.
Me: Tm alive. And you’re not going to believe what happened. I walked into his suite and found THREE DEAD BODIES on the floor. Actual dead people, Emma. With bullet holes and everything. He killed them because they tried to kill him first..
I hit send before I could overthink it. The message was out there now, floating to Emma’s phone through cyberspace. I tossed my phone onto the bed and buried my face in my hands.
“What am I doing?” I whispered to
o the empty room.
My phone started vibrating almost immediately. Emma’s face filled the screen, and her contact photo showed her mid–laugh at a party last semester. I wasn’t ready for this conversation, but ignoring Emma when she was worried was impossible.
1 grabbed a plush hotel robe from the bathroom, wrapped it around myself, and wandered through the suite. No sign of Leonardo anywhere. Not in the kitchen area, the living room, or even a note. Just the lingering scent of his cologne and the ache between my thighs as evidence he’d been
I settled onto the luxurious couch and accepted the call.
“Hannah Mitchell, what the actual hell? Emma’s voice exploded through the speaker. “Dead bodies? DEAD BODIES? Are you pranking me right now? Because if you are, it’s not funny!”
“I wish I was joking,” I said, running a hand through my tangled hair. “But no, there were definitely three corpses on the floor when I walked in.“
“Holy shit.” She paused. “I knew he was loaded, bu
1, but I fix
I figured he was just some tech bro or finance guy. Not freaking John Wick!”
“Yeah, turns out he’s more in … alternative business management industry.”
“You mean the mafia? Your sugar daddy is in the MAFIAF
I winced and held the phone away from my
y ear. “Could you maybe not scream that? I think dogs in the next county are howling.”
Chapter 19
“Sorry, sorry,” Emma lowered her voice to a stage whisper. “But Hannah, this is serious. Like, witness protection serious. I mean, he’s gorgeous and all that, but is 520,000 worth possibly getting whacked?”
1 laughed despite myself. “Nobody says ‘whacked anymore except in movies, Em.”
ir-
“Whatever! The point is that you could be in danger. What if someone comes after you to get to him? What if
“I know, I know,” I cut her off. “Trust me, I’ve thought about all of that. It was thrilling in this weird, messed–up way, but I’m also terrified. What if someone targets me? I can always earn more money but can’t get back my life if I lose it.”
“Exactly! So you’re backing out, right?”
I hesitated, thinking about the way Leonardo had looked at me, touched me, and made me feel “It’s only a three–month arrangement. And what if The gets bored with me before then? He could cancel the whole thing, and I’d be back to square one with nothing but some crazy stories.”
“Hannah Mitchell, are you seriously considering continuing this sugar baby arrangement with a literal murderer?”
“He’s not a murderer,” 1 argued weakly. “Technically, he is, but they were trying to kill him first. It was self defense.”
“Oh my god, listen to yourself! You’re defending a mafia guy! This is like Stockholm Syndrome speedrun!”
I couldn’t help but faugh. “It does sound ridiculous when you put it that way.”
“Look,” Emma’s voice softened. “I get it. The danger, the excitement, the hot sex with a dominant older man who can probably bench press a car
“How did you know about the sex?”
“Please. Your voice gets all breathy when you’ve been properly laid. But Hannah, just… be careful, okay? Don’t let your lady parts make decisions your brain will regret.”
I snorted. “That’s rich coming from you, Miss I–slept–with–the entire–lacrosse–team.”
“Hey! It was only half the team, and none of them had body counts! Well, not the killing kind anyway.”
We both burst out laughing, the tension breaking
“Seriously though, Emma said when we calmed down. “I want you to text me every day. And we’re meeting up tonight. I need to hear every single detail about this sugar daddy situation that doesn’t involve people getting murdered.”
“Fine,‘ I agreed. “But you’re buying the wine.”
“Deal. And Hannah?”
“Yeah?”
“If you feel unsafe or want out at any point, just say the word. I’ll come get you, no questions asked.”
I felt a rush of gratitude for my ridiculous, loyal best friend. “Thanks, Em. I love you.”
“Love you too, you c crazy girl. Now go put some clothes on before Daddy Dangerous ravishes you again.”
way from
After we hung up, I flopped hack on the couch and stared at the ceiling. The rational part of my brain screamed at me to run far away Leunardo Salvatore and never look back. But another part of me, a part I hadn’t known existed until last night, wanted to stay and feel that danger and excitement again.
Vincent and
1checked my bank account on my phone. The $20,000 was really there, no longer just a promise. With that money, I could pay off V Live some money for the future.
All I had to do was spend three months wi
with a dangerously sexy mafia boss
s who kil
killed people as casually as most men ordered coffee.
What could possibly go wrong?
