Page 23 of Unleashed
I burst into laughter. Too loud for this room. Several heads turn. I don't care. Hudson asked me to pretend to be his girlfriend, not pretend to be a new woman entirely.
"Right? Women must have cute little fruit and cocktail umbrellas in their drinks."
She laughs. "The truth is, I bet we could out-drink most of these bastards."
"I grew up on a ranch full of cowboys. I can handle most things."
She takes a step closer to me. "Okay. I love that. Did you have your own horse? I'd love to learn to ride."
I smile, and the memory rises before I can stop it. Penny. Chestnut mare, white blaze, the sweetest temperament of anyhorse I've ever known. Ace bought her for my eighteenth birthday. He made me close my eyes as he led her out of the barn with a yellow ribbon around her neck.
I left Penny behind when I left Arizona, but I knew Ace would love that horse like his own.
"I mean, I can teach you, if you'd like," I offer.
Everyone should feel the freedom and pure joy that comes with riding a horse. This isn’t my smartest idea. She’s dangerous. But she might just be able to offer me insight I couldn’t get anywhere else in the world.
"I'd love that. And Arizona, you say? Where?"
I bite my lip. "A small town called New Falls. You probably haven't heard of it."
She frowns. "No. I haven't."
She opens her Chanel bag, pulls out her phone, and hands it to me. "Put your number in here. I'll text you. We should go for drinks. I'm here for business tonight, so I can't party. But I don’t get a chance to make friends very often."
Jesus Christ. The daughter of the most feared crime family in LA wants to be my friend. And I sure as hell can't say no to this. Maybe, if I dip a toe into this life with her, one day, I’ll be brave enough to call Ace.
I type in my number and hand it back to her.
"Lovely to meet you, Gianna," I say.
She glances at Hudson and then leans in closer to me. "Be careful of that man, Harper. I'll text you soon."
I keep my smile safely secured on my face, but I can feel the blood draining from my body.
She pivots back to my date like she didn’t just drop an ominous warning. "Hudson, I need to speak to you privately."
She turns to me. "Do you mind if I steal your man for five minutes?"
I shrug. He's not my man. She can have him. But if a mafia princess gives me a warning, then what skeletons is Hudon hiding?
"Sure."
She turns, motioning with one finger, and out of the shadows, a beast of a man appears by her side. He doesn't say a word. Six-five, six-six, built from concrete, dark hair cropped close, jaw carved from stone. His hands are clasped in front of him with the stillness of someone trained to wait and trained to act.
"This is Dom. My talkative younger brother. He will stay with you for a minute, okay?" Gianna asks, but it isn't a question.
My mouth drops open, and she places a hand on my shoulder. "Harper, you know who I am, don't you?"
I nod. "A little."
"Okay. So that little part you do know is much, much bigger in reality. Take the protection I offer; there are snakes in every room you walk into. Every woman has this battle every damn day."
I swallow. She's right. Predators are everywhere.
"Thank you," I whisper.
She nods, linking her arm through Hudson's.
