“It’s fine.” I’m not entirely bothered by it, the verdict reached could have been far worse. “I just can’t go punching any other assholes for the next six months. You’ll have to do it for me.” I pull her into my arms, planting a kiss on Nova’s lips.
She wraps her arms around my neck. “Fine. Fine. I’ll be your great big protector this time.”
I carry her into my bedroom, laughing, my lips buried in her neck, her legs wrapped around my waist. I lay her down on the mattress, tackling her with kisses as she moans beneath my weight.
“Ashton,” her whisper sends heat flooding straight to my cock.
The room spins, and with her mouth on mine, I feel absolutely delirious. My body craves the heat and connection between us. I drink her in, the sweet smell of peaches and honey feasts at my senses as I nuzzle her neck.
Gently, she pushes me back, gasping for air, staring up at me as I straddle her waist. “Don’t you have practice tonight?” she reminds me.
“I know something else we can practice,” I say suggestively, raising my eyebrows. My mind is always on sex with her. I can’t help it.
Nova chuckles and stares up at me with a smirk. “Can I ask you something serious?”
“Shoot.” I drop soft, featherlight kisses across her cheekbones and nose like freckles as I wait for her question.
Her fingers wander through my hair, her touch tantalizing. “I heard Sophia is going to start working for Dante full-time, and Liam is going to take on some responsibilities for him too. Does that mean he won’t need you anymore?”
Her question catches me off-guard. “Where’d you hear that?” I’d just found out earlier that afternoon about Sophia. How long had she been intending to come and work for him?
The news about Liam, I’m not sure that’s fact.
Dante didn’t mention it to me. Neither had Liam.
“Harper texted me the news. She’s catching shifts at the bar where Harper works. Different days and hours. Sophia is doing weekday evenings. Harper is doing weekends. Well, I guess they might share Fridays. I don’t know.” Nova is rambling, and I gently caress her bottom lip with my thumb, finding it impossible not to touch her.
“I heard she was going to work for him. I didn’t realize it was at the bar.”
“And Liam?” she asks.
“You’re the first I’m hearing about Liam working for Dante.” I’d always wondered if he’d been hired to discreetly spy on Harper, like I had been tasked with early on in Harper and Luca’s relationship.
“If Liam is working for Dante, then does that mean you’ll still have to work for him too?” Her voice cracks as she glances away, those piercing sapphire eyes looking lost and conflicted.
“What’s wrong?” I move off her, sensing that being intimate isn’t in the cards this evening. Maybe tonight, when I get home and we go to bed.
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to go to practice tonight and?—”
Nova cuts me off. “No, with Dante.”
“What do you mean?” I don’t understand what she’s asking.
“Are you always going to work for him? I thought it was a temporary job. I thought maybe you’d try to get a real internship or job?—”
I pull away and sit at the edge of the bed. “A real job.”
Her hand finds my back as she comes to sit beside me. “That’s not what I meant.” Nova cringes. “Listen, I love my dad, but you don’t want to be like him or Dante, working for the mafia the rest of your life.”
“I am the mafia,” I say, glancing at her. “Don’t you realize that? Moreno, your father, he’s as much mafia as I am, as you are.”
Her eyes flicker. “Don’t say that.”
“Come on. You’ve never thought about working for the family?”
Nova’s eyes widen. “God no! I wouldn’t dream of it.”
