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I heard the bed squeak as he shifted, and when I got to the bottom to look back, he was sitting off the edge, watching me with that intensity that had my belly wobbling.
After I dressed, and met him at the door, feeling his hand press into my lower back, and keeping it there as we moved down the hall, I decided that I could happily have this, with him, forever.
I just didn’t know at the time how short ‘forever’ would turn out to be.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Silvano
Stupid fucking meeting.
I’d never been so resentful about being included as I was when I got myself dressed, and had to leave a pantsless—because she’d shimmied out of them after breakfast, declaring even the elastic waist was ‘too tight’—Millie in my apartment all alone.
To be fair, I probably needed to take it easy with her. She would never admit it, but she’d been walking kind of stiff when we went to get breakfast, so clearly her ribs weren’t as healed as we’d thought. And I’d shown absolutely no consideration to that possibility when I was inside of her.
Even just the memory of the way she’d taken charge, had teased, had fucking sucked me like it was her damn job, had my cock stiffening as I started down the street toward Lorenzo’s brownstone.
Taking a cab, or making one of the associates pick me up, would have been faster. I just thought I needed the air. The exercise. The time to clear my mind of her, so I could focus on whatever was going on with the Family.
Honestly, I’d been checked out since Millie came to stay with me. More so since the run-in with Lorenzo and Giana. Since I’d been ducking my ma and her dinners. And giving clipped responses to invasive texts and calls.
I had to admit it wasn’t just because of how much I was keeping from the Family about the situation. It was more that I wanted to, I don’t know, protect what was growing between us. I knew that once the whole family got involved, it was going to feel less like something that was just our own. And with things really just starting to heat up, I didn’t want to invite that in.
I was kind of glad the meeting was for capos and other important members of the Family as a whole, knowing the women would never give me a break if they were there.
I might still get questions, but the guys would be easier to brush off. They weren’t the type to pry.
“Starting to think you fell off the face of the fucking earth,” Cosimo said as he climbed out of his car at the curb as I walked up.
A quick glance showed Miko’s little brother, Nero, at the wheel. Doing grunt work as punishment. Miko, surprisingly, climbed out of the front and made his way up the steps, leaving us alone to talk.
“Been busy.”
“Busy, huh?” Cosimo asked, lips twitching. “So, should I tell Ma that you aren’t coming to dinner because you’re balls deep in the new girl she still hasn’t met yet, or…”
“Fuck off,” I said, shaking my head.
“I get it,” he said, shrugging. “It’s nice when it’s… private,” he said. “But you gotta at least let Ma meet her. Even if you just go out to brunch or some shit,” he said.
“Yeah,” I agreed, knowing my ma’s feelings were likely hurt, and not liking being the source of that.
“A redhead, huh?” he asked, nodding.
“Yeah.”
“She as pretty as Giana’s been saying?”
“Prettier,” I said. Because no matter how gorgeous Giana might have said she was, she was more beautiful than that.
“And she’s not completely turned off by your surly-ass personality?” Cosimo asked.
“She thinks it’s… amusing,” I told him, thinking of how her head would cock and her lips would twitch when I said something that was grumpier than she thought was necessary. Definitely amusement.
“Shit, man. Get a ring on her finger. ‘Cause you’re never gonna find someone else who thinks you being a dick is charming.”
The ribbing stopped as we made our way up the steps, already hearing the racket of a dozen or more men gathered inside, having multiple conversations. And because we were all Italian, yeah, no one spoke in normal tones. Like everyone was battling to be heard over everyone else.
“You know what this is about?” I asked.
