“You all live together? Isn’t it crowded?” She looked inquiringly at Alek.
“It’s a big place. Sharing saves us from having to keep places of our own. Maks—who you’ll have to learn to ignore if you want any peace—is a self-proclaimed genius. He does a good job of keeping out who we don’t want in. V’s a great cook, when our housekeeper allows him to be. And your man does the financial thing for us. Made us all rich,” he added with a crooked grin as the doors slid open on the top floor to reveal two guards.
Her man.
Before she could stop it, Eva’s imagination ran with that, bringing about images of what dating Gabriel might be like if his brother wasn’t in the picture. Waking to his beautiful face on the mornings he stayed over at her place, lingering in his bed on those lazy weekends she spent at his. Them lounging on the couch in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn between them, arguing about what to watch, her giving in to the football game just to make him happy, then receiving a foot massage because she’d been so generous…
Him, being a mobster and all, telling stories about killing an enemy.
Her…following in her mom’s footsteps.
She landed back in reality with a thump.
“Don’t worry, Eva,” Alek added good-naturedly as they moved down the corridor. “The place is big enough that if you don’t want to see our ugly mugs, you won’t have to.”
She forced a smile as they passed two more guards stationed in the corridor. They came upon two others outside their door. It was like they were on a movie set, she thought as they entered the suite.
Having been waved to go in first, she embarrassingly jerked to a halt when she entered the main room and saw Vincente turn from where he’d been looking out the window.
He wore a black leather duster that fell from his broad shoulders to his ankles—had to be custom-made to fit that big body so perfectly. Underneath, he had on a black tee and a pair of distressed jeans. He wore the same kind of heavy motorcycle boots Caleb wore, and with all that thick black hair and those dark, menacing eyes staring at them…yeah. His nickname made sense.
Alek moved around her and Gabriel to meet Vincente in the middle of the room, the two of them banging fists before man-hugging one another.
She was in a world of giants, it seemed.
“Is it a prerequisite that your friends be so large?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Hard to intimidate someone when you have to look up at them,” Gabriel said with a wink and half smile that melted her bones.
God, she was in so much trouble here.
And it had nothing to do with his stupid brother.
† † †
Gabriel gave Eva’s waist a squeeze as he passed by without capturing that mouth and playing for a while. Fuck, he needed to get her alone.
“Didn’t think your leash reached this far,” Alek drawled, taunting their friend with a wry grin.
“Tether snapped,” V said as his fist met Alek’s left pec with a love tap that had to hurt. He then clasped Gabriel’s hand.
“How you doin’, brother? Look at you,” Gabriel murmured as the close connection they’d always shared nailed him in the chest. “You’d make the devil himself shit his pants.”
They hugged hard then separated so V could give Eva a respectful nod. “How you holding up, squirt?”
She was toying with the ends of her hair where it lay just at her ribs. “Better now that I know what’s going on.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that. Couldn’t do much more than I did to let you know things would work out.”
“Of course not,” she said, offering one of her smiles. “As confusing as it was, thanks for trying.”
The scent of well-kept leather wafted around them as Vincente reached out and tipped her chin up, turning her face left then right. “Fuuuck. You’re your old man, only prettier.” He let go and it was Gabriel’s turn to take a hard one on the pec before the guy went over to join Alek who’d settled on one end of the sofa.
Now why didn’t Vincente’s one-on-one interaction with Eva bother him the way Paynne’s had? All about trust, he supposed as a tap sounded on the door.
V looked at his watch. “That was quick.”
Gabriel’s brow went up in inquiry.
“Won’t be Maks yet. Probably Paynne. Not that Kirov would knock.”