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Her gaze flickers to my mouth. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“Why don’t we try this and find out?”
I press my mouth to hers. Her lips part and she lets me claim them, one after the other. I feel her inhale as her eyes drift closed. For a sheltered Catholic girl, she has a seductive kiss. Mm, yes, the others will enjoy her, too. Just enough innocence for Cassius. More than enough vulnerability for Lorenzo.
One of her hands is on my chest and the other is clutching those precious cards. She’s unguarded, and I reach down to her ankle and slide my fingers up the inside of her leg.
Maybe I like an ambush just a little.
Gasping, Chiara breaks the kiss. We stare into each other’s eyes, our breath mingling. What a bold girl she is. I wonder what it would take to make her go all in.
She pulls away and brandishes the cards. “Let’s just get this over with.”
I stop her with a hand on her arm. “Wait. Let’s make this more interesting. Are you up for that?”
“More interesting how?”
“Don’t show me where the lady is. Deal all the cards face down, switch them around, and I’ll just pick one.”
“But that makes it even less likely that you’ll pick the queen. Why would you want that?”
I shrug one shoulder. “I like you, Chiara. After you’ve won the bet, maybe I’ll ask you on a date. You’ll never want any of us if we force you.”
She looks at the cards in her hand and then back at me. She’s still puzzled, but she’s going with it. “All right.”
Victory races through me, tasting almost as delicious as her lips. A conman knows one thing for sure: you can’t con someone who’s not greedy. Chiara just got greedy.
She lays the three cards out, face down. Then she starts shuffling them back and forth on the table. “Go on, then. Find the lady.”
I tap my heart. “I’ve already found her.”
Chiara glances at my chest. “That’s pretty cheesy. Don’t try and wriggle out of this. Pick a card.”
“I’m not. I’ve already found my queen.”
“Choose anyway.”
“Fine, but I have her already so it doesn’t count. The middle one.”
She reaches for the middle card, and stops. “If I turn this card over and it’s the queen of hearts, then either you have the luck of the devil or you’ve tricked me, and I won’t rest until I figure out which it is.”
I smile a slow, heated smile. “The devil’s definitely on my side, but I don’t need his help tonight. This is between just you and me.”
Chiara takes a deep breath and flips the card over, revealing the ace of spades. She puts her hands on her cheeks and gasps. “I won! I can’t believe I won.”
I shake my head. “Sorry, kitten. No, you didn’t.”
“Don’t be a sore loser. I beat you fair and square.”
I reach into the front pocket of my jacket, draw out a playing card and show it to her. The queen of hearts. “Told you I already had her.”
“What?” Chiara snatches the queen of hearts from me and stares at it. Then she grabs the other two from the table. The ten of clubs and the jack of diamonds. “But…but I had the queen of hearts! I didn’t let go of the cards even when you kissed me. How did you get hold of her?”
I smile wider. “First rule of playing with a conman. Suspect everything, especially when things seem to be going in your favor.” I may enjoy a risk, but I’m not a fucking idiot. There’s no way I’d make a bet like that if I didn’t already know I was going to win.
Chiara’s shoulders slump as she realizes the trick. “You switched the cards before you even gave them to me. I can’t believe I didn’t check the cards.”
She was too busy enjoying being kissed by me. Now I know she wants me I’m going to fight twice as hard to make her my wife. I want the security of having Mayor Romano in my pocket wherever I go in this city.
