Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I just got schooled by my friend. I turned to her and silently asked if that was the problem.
She wouldn’t look at me. “It was a gut reaction. Just being paranoid.”
So, she was scared. Scared that I wouldn’t be there to protect her if she needed me. It was untrue, because I could deploy my men to protect her the second she needed something. “Stay at my place until I get back.”
“What?” she asked quietly.
“Medusa would love to have you. But I gotta warn you, she likes to cuddle.” And she was a big dog who needed to stretch out across the entire bed like it was her house instead of mine.
“Oh, that’s okay—”
“Would I offer if I wasn’t being genuine?”
“Why don’t you talk about it later instead of putting the poor girl on blast right in front of me?” Rocco asked. He looked at Aurelia. “He means well. He just doesn’t get it sometimes.”
“Ganging up on me now?” I questioned him.
“Yep,” he said before he took a drink. “It’s nice to have someone to team up with.”
Aurelia gave a quiet chuckle, like she found our relentless back-and-forth banter humorous. “How long have you two known each other?”
“Years,” Rocco said. “What is it? Five?”
“Six, asshole,” I said. “Glad it’s meant as much to you as it has to me.”
“You want to celebrate an anniversary too?”
“I wouldn’t hate a box of chocolates.”
She chuckled again before she drank her wine. “You guys are cute.”
“Cute?” I asked incredulously. “You think two arguing six-and-a-half-feet-tall guys who weigh two hundred pounds are cute?”
“Um . . . yeah?”
Rocco smirked slightly before he changed the subject. “Con says you’re a photographer?”
“Yeah . . . I love it.”
Aurelia left and headed downstairs to use the restroom, so it was just Rocco and me alone at the table.
“So, what do you think?”
“Does it matter?” His arms were folded across the table as he sat there, leaning forward slightly. “If I said I hated her, it wouldn’t change anything, right?”
“You hate her?”
“No,” he said quickly. “But we both know my opinion doesn’t matter.”
“No, it doesn’t change anything. But I still want to know.”
“So, it does matter.”
“A little bit.” I shrugged. “Okay . . . maybe a lot. Tell me what you think.”
He wore a slight smirk. “She’s cool.”
“That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say, Con?”
“The truth.”
“Trust me, you don’t want the truth.”
“I asked, didn’t I?”
“Jesus, fine.” He threw his arms up quickly before he crossed them over his chest. “She’s out of your league.”
The smile that crept over my face made my whole body flush with heat. “Yeah?”
“A thousand percent.”
The smile just grew and grew, unstoppable. “She is, isn’t she?”
“I think she’s gonna be around for a while.”
I held up my hand, showing my crossed fingers. “That’s the plan, man.”
“And you can tell she’s really into you.”
“Fuck yeah.” I slapped my hand on the table. “That’s what I want to hear.”
Aurelia sat on the couch with Medusa seated beside her. She ran her fingers through Medusa’s fur, watching her with the same sappy eyes I wore whenever I cuddled with my dog on the couch. She was definitely a dog person.
I threw my bag over my shoulder. “I’ll be home tomorrow afternoon. Call me if you need anything.”
“All right. Are you sure it’s okay if I stay?”
My answer was a cold stare.
“Okay, message received.” She left Medusa on the couch and walked up to me, still in the little black dress and heels she’d worn to dinner. She hadn’t brought a bag because she’d come straight here. She would head home after she woke up because she had shoots scheduled.
My hand moved to her ass under her dress, able to look her in the eye because she wore five-inch heels that made her height comparable to mine. “I love how tall you are.” I wasn’t picky when it came to women, but I loved that I could actually look her in the eyes with ease, that I could slide my hand to her ass without having to hang down low.
Her eyes flicked away briefly, clearly caught off guard or uncomfortable by the comment. “It’s funny that you say that, because I’ve always hated it. Most guys are my height or shorter.”
“Then it sounds like you needed to find the right guy.” I dipped my head slightly and kissed her, squeezing her ass at the same time. I’d always been an ass man—and her ass was a fucking summer peach. “Good night, sweetheart.”
“Good night.”
Luca gave me a call to update me on the situation. “I asked around, and Bastien remembers a man named Vladimir from about fifteen years ago. His father dealt with him . . . giving up his workers who refused to comply. He couldn’t let them go, and he couldn’t get them to work, so . . . may as well make some money off it.”