shouting his name from above. His gaze would flicker that way, a smile on his face as he waved politely.
It was strange to Genna, how loved her brother seemed to be by almost everyone they encountered. Not to say she didn't love him, because she did. She would be hard pressed to name someone closer to her. He wasn't just her brother—he was her best friend, too. He was her confidante. He was the one person she could count on, her constant in this world. But this was Dante, passive and playful… yet the people of New York revered him, treating him like he was so much more. No matter what she knew about his involvement with their father's business, regardless of the fact that she knew he carried a gun at all times, he was still just her harmless, overprotective big brother in her eyes.
"Where to now?" he asked, cutting his eyes at her as they walked south, casually swinging his keys around on his fingers.
"I wanna stop by the music store on Mulberry," she replied. "Then you can take me home. I'm sure you have other things to do."
It had to annoy him sometimes, she thought, being ordered to shadow her around like a bodyguard. He never complained about it… he never complained about anything , really. But she still felt guilty, him being treated like an employee within the family on account of her.
She never wanted Dante to resent her for anything.
They headed down the block and turned the corner onto Mulberry. Her gaze wandered the street as they walked, taking in the scenery, her footsteps faltering when a flash of bright red caught her eye, gleaming in the afternoon sunshine. A familiar car whipped in along the curb down the block, the loud bass of music coming from it echoing through the neighborhood.
No fucking way .
A Lotus Evora.
There was no way he was here—no way she'd run into him in the middle of Manhattan, a city of well over a million people. But what were the odds of someone else driving that car? One in a fucking billion.
She stared at it, watching with awe as the driver's side door opened and Matty stepped out. Her breath hitched, her heart thumping erratically, lodging in her throat. The very sight of him brought back all of those feelings her brother had laughingly dismissed just moments ago. Matty was even more handsome than she remembered, dressed impeccably in a light blue button down, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off his tattoos.
Snatching a hold of her brother's arm, Genna yanked him to a stop, unable to drag her eyes away from Matty as he laughed radiantly, shouting to a group of guys stepping out of the music store in front of him... the same music store they were heading to.
"That’s, uh…" Holy shit . "That's—"
"Barsanti."
That name, ground out in a harsh voice, drove her attention straight to her brother. Whoa , Barsanti ? She turned to Dante, suddenly on edge, knowing he sensed serious trouble to speak that name out loud. Coldness rushed through her, bitter and unwelcome, sending a tremor down her spine. Dante's narrowed eyes shot daggers down the block, right to where the Lotus was parked.
Her gaze frantically followed his as Matty approached three others, greeting them. Immediately, she recognized Enzo Barsanti along with two others, vaguely familiar guys… ones who had come into The Place the night before.
'Friends of the family,' Matty had called them.
No. No. God, please, no .
He couldn't be, could he?
She would know, wouldn't she?
"Dante," she said, tugging on her brother's arm, trying to get his attention. He tore his gaze away from the group, his expression stone cold serious as he regarded her. "You know all of those guys?"
"Enzo Barsanti," he responded, focus going right back down the street. Enzo was a beast of a guy at only twenty, with the mass of a bodybuilder and enough hair coating him to make him damn near part-werewolf. "You know him."
"And the others?" she asked, desperate for this to be some kind of mistake.
"Two of his lackeys." Dante
Janice Kay Johnson - His Best Friend's Baby