Hostile Secret : A Dark Age Gap Mafia Romance (Souza Cartel: Giovanni, Duet #1) by Autumn Archer & Hostile Kingdom

Author:Autumn Archer & Hostile Kingdom [Archer, Autumn & Kingdom, Hostile]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Autumn Archer Author Ltd
Published: 2023-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

17

INDIA

Giovanni stalks away from me and the air grows colder. He saunters toward his discarded joggers and steps into them, regrettably tucking himself away.

For a wishful moment, I thought he was going to take this arrangement of ours to the next level. Instead, he’s part dressed and punching a pin code into a digital keypad.

I’m not head over heels for this guy. That would be stupid. He just has a dominant energy about him that sucks me in.

He glances over at me for a beat and then moves to a set of cabinet doors, opening them wide. Spotlights automatically reveal a collection of neatly presented handguns hung like wall art.

“Pick one.”

“But… these are yours.”

Reno had his own arsenal of weapons in the spare room of our Miami apartment. They were locked away too, and the code was my birthday. He let me look at them to familiarize myself with each make and model. Every so often, we’d clean them together. It had been our thing.

Giovanni shrugs. “I have a bunker full of rare and eclectic weapons. The ones in this cabinet are my favorite, and now one of them belongs to you.”

My stomach knots. “You remembered what I said.”

“What did I remember?”

“That Reno gave me a gun every year for my birthday.”

He leans into the side of my face, his breath hot against my cheek. “Don’t get all sentimental, India. You like guns and I have a shitload of them. Take your pick.”

“Careful, Giovanni Souza. You’ll make me think you like me.” I close the distance between me and his high-priced arsenal.

His distant chuckle rumbles like thunder on a hot night. “I like you enough not to kill you—and to gift you a handgun.”

“And I like you enough not to shoot you with it,” I whisper, my eyes roaming.

The gold P22 Combat TB catches my eye first, but the custom Cabot 1911 steals my breath, probably because Reno had one just like it. From an early age, I was fascinated with the trio of stars on the trigger. I guess that’s how my love affair had started.

“That one. The stainless Damascus steel Cabot.” I point to the matte silver pistol.

“Good choice.” He unhooks it and offers it to me.

The weight of it in my hand feeIs good, substantial yet not too bulky. I do my best to swallow the rollercoaster of emotions it brings. Tears sting my eyes and I blink them away. Crying won’t raise my brother from the dead, but shooting targets would certainly make my day.

“Reno had one just like this.” I clear my throat to stop my voice from quivering. “He had a black Cabot.”

Giovanni closes the cabinet doors and places his large hand on my lower back. The sensation of his firm touch is comforting, as if he senses the grief twisting around my heart and wants to soothe it. But he doesn’t really care. I know that.

“And now you have one of your own.” He cocks his head; his inky hair draping over his brow.

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