Reno Gabrini - Mallory Monroe Page 0,4

of them had to check in. They were both eighteen now. They had officially made it to adulthood! But Sophia knew her parents too well. She was still a little girl in their eyes. And she knew they’d both kick her ass all over the PaLargio if they found out she wasn’t sound asleep in her luxurious bed. Eighteen or ten. It didn’t matter to them.

“Come on,” Dana said, grabbing Sophia’s hand, and they made their way up to the second level where Dana had reserved a table for them. Although Sophia had gone to many clubs before, she’d never gone to a club quite that lit. The music was so loud, and the chatter was so excessive, that she could feel her heart pounding in tune with every drumbeat.

They sat down, and the waitress immediately came to their table with a round of shots.

“Isn’t this everything?” Dana asked her.

“It’s jumping, that’s for sure,” said Sophia.

“Girl, I’m so happy I don’t know what to do with myself,” Dana said with a grin. “Our finals are completed, and I passed each and every one. I get to graduate on time, something my parents always doubted would happen.”

Sophia smiled.

“But of course that’s never been a problem for you,” Dana added. “You aced every exam your whole school career and now you’re on your way to Harvard.”

“Helmhurst, Dana. How many times do I have to tell you that? I got accepted into Helmhurst. Harvard rejected me. Princeton and Stanford did too.”

“Smart as you are? I don’t know why!”

But Sophia and her parents had a darn good idea why. Those stuffy institutions of higher learning weren’t in love with the idea that the daughter of a man perceived to have too many mob connections would be anywhere near their campuses. The only reason Helmhurst accepted her and all of her family baggage was because her father made a huge donation to the school. And even that wasn’t enough. It took some not-so-subtle jabs by Reno surrogates to more than a few members of the board of governors to turn their no into a yes. Sophia wasn’t crazy about her father’s methods, but she accepted them because she felt those schools were being unfair to her anyway.

“Helmhurst is a highly rated elite private school too,” said Sophia, “so I’m happy I got accepted. But I’m thinking about taking a gap year.”

Dana laughed. “You know good n’ well your parents are not going for that. You know that girl!”

Sophia didn’t respond. She knew. But ultimately it would be her decision. “I like going to brand new clubs,” she said instead. “They treat you well because they’re new. Then it’s all downhill after that. But tonight it’s good. And loud.”

Dana laughed. “You think it’s lit now, just wait until the band comes on. This place will be on fire!”

“It’s already on fire,” Sophia said, but Dana was too busy checking out boys.

One boy neither of them noticed was Giovanni Dorsey. He’d come in a few minutes after they walked in and took a seat near them, but he stayed out of their natural view. And he watched his subject.

Sophia Gabrini. He expected to find this good-looking, arrogant bad girl who loved her place at the top of the chain. And she did have an edge to her. He could see that. But in person, he didn’t see the bad side. She was in a club, doing shots when she had to know it was illegal, but he didn’t see any street in her. She fit in. She looked like she knew her way around the club scene. But she looked above it all too. Sophisticated even. Which shocked him. For an eighteen-year-old, she had some grown lady swag.

Especially when he looked down the length of her body. Oh yeah. She was no wet-behind-the-ears kid, that was for damn sure. Not that one. And when she crossed her shapely legs beneath that mini-skirt she wore, he got hard. Just that fast. Which didn’t bode well for his assignment!

He wasn’t there for that, and he was experienced enough to know it. Her old man was in his old man’s crosshairs for a reason, although the old man wouldn’t tell him why. But that placed her in Von’s crosshairs. Which made her nothing more than a spoiled rich kid who thought she was entitled to whatever she wanted. Collateral damage was all she’d ever be to him. Nothing more. Nothing less. He looked away from her to cool his horny