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“You don’t know me well enough to make that statement.”
He didn’t blink as he stared me down. “I know everything about you.”
“Not possible.”
He sat up, propping up his body on his elbow. “I know you’re a tough woman who needs a tough man. I know you’re drop-dead gorgeous but can’t find a man who can handle you. I know you’re smart, sassy, and fearless. You need a man who can complement you in every way—but you haven’t found him. You can walk into any room and have any man you want—but there are no men good enough for you. If that weren’t true, you’d be married. Your problem is you’ve been looking in the wrong place. Men who follow the rules and live a quiet life are boring. You aren’t boring, sweetheart.” He lay down again, his heavy frame tilting the mattress slightly in his direction.
“I told you not to call me that.” He hadn’t done it in a few weeks, but the name had slipped through again.
“Why does it bother you so much?” He turned on his side and faced me, his powerful body rippling with his movements. The sheet clung around his waist, hiding his muscled thighs and long length from view.
“I already said you need to earn the right to call me that—and you never will.”
“You know I’m always up for a challenge.” He gave me that handsome lopsided grin. “An old boyfriend called you that? Is that why it bothers you?”
“I already told you I’ve never had a boyfriend.”
“I know, but sometimes you act like you’ve had your heart broken.”
“Never.” I’d never been in love. The only time I’d experienced real passion was with a man so wrong for me I judged myself for lying beside him at that very moment.
“Then who’s earned the right to call you that?” His hand moved to my belly under the sheet, and he gently rubbed me, the same way Griffin rubbed Vanessa’s pregnant stomach.
“My father.” He’d been calling me that since the day I was born. Carter didn’t get a special nickname, but I did. My father hardly used my first name because the nickname was second nature to him. He was overly protective, and he loved me so much that he couldn’t think straight most of the time. When he saw Griffin get too close to me, he went ballistic.
It was the first time I’d seen Bosco’s eyes soften. He covered up the reaction quickly, like it never happened in the first place. “Alright. That’s fair.” He scooted closer to me until he was snuggled into my side. He wrapped his powerful arms around me and kept me warm, his thick muscles acting as individual heaters. He pulled my leg over his hip and brought us close together, his face burrowing into my neck.
I’d never been this intertwined with anyone, my legs and arms all over his hard body, but somehow, it was the most comfortable position I’d ever been in. My arm hooked around his neck, and my face rested against his cheek. With his powerful man tangled around me, there was nothing that could ever hurt me. A group of thugs couldn’t take me, not when he was there to chase off all the hunters who wanted to take me. He had twenty-four men on the streets surrounding my apartment, making sure no one that didn’t belong there could bother either of us. Maybe Bosco was a dangerous man, but having him in my bed made me feel safer than I’d ever been in my life.
It made no sense—but that didn’t make it untrue.
A few days had come and gone, but I didn’t hear from Bosco. He’d crashed at my apartment for the weekend, cooking in the kitchen then fucking me in the bedroom. We didn’t talk much, spending most of our time naked and sweaty.
I was at the shop when my brother called me.
“What do you want?” I asked, answering the phone like a bratty sister.
“Hello to you too,” he said sarcastically. “I was hoping you could do me a favor.”
“Sure. But it’s gonna cost you,” I teased.
“Mia and I went to Milan for the day so she could pick up her dress. We dropped off Luca at school in the morning and thought we would be back in time to pick him up at the end of the day, but our plane was delayed—”
“Of course, I’ll pick him up.” I rolled my eyes. “His school is right down the street. I’ll take him to get something to eat, and then we’ll hang out at my place.” Luca had become my nephew, a sweet little boy who was curious about everything. He’d come into my life unexpectedly, but now that he was there, it was hard to imagine life without him.
“Thanks so much, Carmen. We’ll see you in a few hours.”
