“I’m not leaving you two alone,” Cas responded, lips to my ear, voice corded with tension.
“It’s okay,” I whispered back. The other members watched us. The last thing I wanted was for Max to turn them against me before I’d even had a chance to talk to them. “He can’t hurt me here. Don’t make a scene.”
I pulled Cas along with me, following Max down the hallway to the bathrooms.
Max jerked his head to the bar, where Chiara still watched us. “Wait there, Cas.”
“Fuck you,” Cas growled.
Max rolled his eyes. “I could kill you both, or I could have you thrown out of here. If I wanted to, it would be done.”
I didn’tlovethe idea of talking to Max alone, but what could he really do to me? Nothing. My men were surrounding therestaurant. Cas would be only feet away. A morbidly curious part of me wanted to see what Max could have to say to me.
“Two minutes, Cas.” I nudged Cas with one arm, my fingers curling around the knife tucked in my pocket.
“I’ve got you, baby girl,” Ciel said in my earpiece. “We’re all right here, Cas. We’ll be able to hear everything he says.”
Cas huffed a breath. Without warning, his hand cupped the back of my head, and he pulled me to him in a blistering kiss. A shiver trailed down my spine as I gasped into his mouth.
“Ti amo,” he murmured before he gave Max one last glare and walked to the bar.
I smoothed my blazer down, trying to quickly compose myself. Max’s hands clasped tightly in front of him.
“What do you want?” I asked. “If you haven’t noticed, I have a meeting to attend.”
He stepped closer. I tensed. He searched my face, looking for something, but clearly not finding it.
He didn’t reply. I shifted from foot to foot.
“Where’s Lucia?” he finally asked.
I inspected my nails. I needed a new manicure. Maybe Fallon and Willow would go with me. “She’s taking a vacation from her computers.”
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” he hissed. “What you’ve done.”
I rolled my eyes with a sigh. “I think I know enough to know that I’m bleeding you, Max. I’m taking you apart piece by piece, and you can’t stand it.”
He opened his mouth, ready to snap back, but he closed it, and gusted a breath.
“Got anything else to say?” I smirked. He looked like he was about to spontaneously combust, and the joy that gave me went all the way to my toes crammed into these heels. God, I wanted my boots back. “You’ve underestimated me. Again.”
Max glared and stepped a foot closer.
My gut clenched at the fire blazing in his eyes. I stepped back, moving to turn. “I’m going back to the table.”
A hand clamped around my arm. I whirled to come face to face with my archenemy.
“Max,” I hissed, yanking my arm in his grip.
“Don’t move,” he replied, voice low. I felt the prick of a blade against my ribs.
Shit.
“He’s got a knife on her,” Ciel said in the earpiece. “Cas.”
“Wait,” I said to them. Confusion passed over Max’s face before he tilted his head and caught a glimpse of the transmitter in my ear. I narrowed my eyes at him, making sure he could feel the full force of my threat. “You kill me, and you’ll be dead within a minute. My men will skin you alive. Trust me, I know.”
He huffed. “I heard you were there when Kofler was killed.”
