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“So, I didn’t totally blow it all up?”
“You pissed off Paulie and definitely pissed off Carmine, even though he won’t show it, but fuck it. They’ll be gone soon enough.”
“Hell yeah, they will,” I say.
He smiles before starting the car and backing up, taking me to Jerzy Girls because I can’t head home right yet—I told everyone I have some important plans.
While he drives, I reach into my bag and grab the notebook I brought with me and start scribbling down everything I learned at today’s meeting. I take note of where the weak spots might lie and who I think will be the hardest to turn.
THIRTEEN
-Lilah-
The door creaks as Dante slips into my room that night, earlier than usual.
Not that I’m complaining.
He does his normal routine of locking the door, stepping to the vanity, laying his gun inside, and placing the brown paper bag with some kind of meal to feed me on top before moving to me.
“Hey,” I say, standing from where I was sitting on the bed scrolling mindlessly and padding over to him. My arms go up to his neck as I move to my tippy toes to kiss him, his own arm wrapping my lower back and pulling me closer.
The kiss is gentle and sweet, but the heat of untamed lust still burns beneath.
“Missed you,” he whispers when he breaks the kiss, pressing his forehead to mine, and as always, I get flutters in my belly with the words.
“You’re early tonight.”
“The men are going out tonight, part one of Paulie’s bachelor party or something, I think.” His hand moves up, tangling in the hair at the back of my neck, and he presses his lips to mine again, this time a bit longer, a bit hotter.
“We haven’t even had an engagement party,” I say with a laugh when it breaks, my words a bit breathless.
“He’ll take any excuse to go out and party, get drunk and do something fucking stupid,” Dante says, his voice exhausted.
“Hmm,” I hum, then I step back and tip my head to the brown bag. “What’s in the bag?” I ask because I never really know what he’s going to bring me.
“Nuggets, fries,” he says with a smile.
“Mmmm,” I say, moving around him and grabbing the bag excitedly.
“Your reward,” he says with a smile as I bounce on my bed with the bag.
“My reward?”
“Your reward for being so fucking amazing today.” I smile, basking in the sunshine of his compliment.
“You think I did okay? I was nervous I went too far.”
“Nope. You left and I could see the steam rolling off my father the whole rest of the meeting.” I smile. “You got Vinnie for sure.”
“Did I?” I ask with a smile.
“To be fair, the man is nearly seventy and is won over by a pretty smile almost every time, so there’s that. It’s why he wasn’t Carmine’s second. But you won him over with the event idea. That was a good one, by the way.”
“Thank you,” I say, munching on a fry. “I thought of it on the way over. I mean, I wanted to start doing that kind of stuff anyway, but I figured why not announce it today? If the men were on board, Carmine couldn’t argue the idea too much, especially if I did it in your mother’s name.” He comes up to the bed, sitting next to me and pushing hair behind my ear.
The touch is strange, normally something sweet that makes me feel warm and cozy, but considering I haven’t had him in so long, it feels almost electric.
It’s barely been a week, but both of us have held strong, trying not to cave, trying to tease the other into losing without breaking our own restraint.
