Free For Logan (Chicago Syndicate Book 5) by Soraya Naomi

delight. “Do you want to do it?” She gives me the bill and the lighter. “Just try it. If you don’t extinguish it quickly, it’ll burn.”
    I take both of the items from her. “That’s it? I can do that.” I click open the lighter and let the flame lick the edge of the money. Then I present it to her and Henry and shake it out.
    Rosa grabs my wrist and inches closer, her thigh touching mine. I’m enjoying her forward behavior.
    “Oh.” She shakes her head at me.
    I prepare for a mocking observation.
    “It’s a bit burned around the edge,” she complains playfully.
    “Then maybe my teacher should’ve told me to snuff it out sooner, Rosa.”
    Her lips flatten into a line when I still refuse to call her by her given name, but she replies huskily, “No. It’s all in the touch.”
    Is that a double entendre in her statement? This has gone beyond a simple chat in a bar and has progressed to something bordering on flirtation.
    The bartender drops a glass, bringing us back to reality, and we awkwardly break apart. Thank God, Fallon has already disappeared; she probably saw Luca. However, Meghan and Henry are still with us, and Meghan is desperately trying to engage Henry in conversation, making Rosa and me laugh.
    “I think you lost Henry to Meghan, Rosa,” I tease.
    She casts me questioning look. “I never wanted him.”
    Silence ensues after her words linger between us.
    She then adds, “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome. What’s with you two?”
    “I don’t know. Meghan’s passive aggressive to everyone.”
    Meghan is the kind of girl I thought Rosa was – entitled, privileged, and spoiled – but Rosa’s the exact opposite of Meghan.
    “When she calls you pretty, she actually means ugly; that kind of girl,” she explains with an eye roll, causing me to chuckle at her refreshing honesty.
    As she leans back against the bar, I follow, standing pressed next to her. “I wouldn’t call you pretty .”
    She clutches her chest theatrically. “Oh, you don’t find me pretty. Well, color me shocked—”
    “No,” I cut her off and dip my head. “I’d call you beautiful.”
    Rosa turns her face to me and an endearing blush colors her cheeks. She’s astonishingly quiet at the compliment, and I feel the corner of my lip lifting up into a smirk, but we’re interrupted.
    “Let’s go upstairs. We have safe places to check,” Henry says to me and winks at Rosa, much to my dismay.
    Especially when she smiles back before mouthing to me, “Bye, Logan.”
    By now, I’m getting used to her calling me Logan, so I grin. “Until next time.” And trail Henry toward the black staircase on the opposite side of the club.
    “Well, that was interesting,” Henry puts in.
    I don’t speak a word.
    “Maybe I’ll ask Rosalia out?” he continues.
    “Maybe you won’t,” I warn in a low voice,
    He gives me a pleased look. “You can’t have it all, Wade. Isn’t she a bit young for your taste?”
    I don’t even reply. Initially, I would’ve agreed. Nonetheless, as I’m learning more about Rosa, I’m beginning to understand that she’s not at all the young, reckless woman she depicts.
    I’m filled with a mix of desire and decreasing antipathy for Rosa Calderone and that damn dimple I’m unable to forget. Over the years, I’ve seduced many women without a second thought. Yet in this case, I can’t as long as I’m still an associate. And that’s becoming even more challenging now that I’ve discovered that this developing attraction between us is mutual.
    She’s kindling an emotion I’m unaccustomed to, and it’s absolutely unsettling while I’m in this uncertain position, because yearning can be a treacherous emotion in the mafia.
    ***
    T he next day, Henry and I are still going through all the Ukrainian safe place addresses in the decoded document in the office at Club 7 when I receive a call from Luca.
    My phone vibrates on the desk. As soon as I tap answer , Luca orders, “Get Rosalia.