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The next day is no better. In fact, it could be worse. Last night I ended up asleep on the couch watching an old western movie with a tray of almost a hundred dollars’ worth of room service that I barely touched. I also finished off the minibar. Not that I have a drinking problem, but sometimes you need to take the edge off.
Mia’s final inspection of her apartment is today, and the rest of her boxes will be picked up, the smaller items are going in my truck. I hope she hasn’t got a shit load of stuff because the last thing I feel like doing today is hauling boxes.
I check my phone and find there’s a message from Mia. I open it, one eye still closed, as I realize it’s only fucking five o’clock.
I feel like I’m on a merry-go-round. It’s confusing. We make out, you ghost me, then you go all macho on me with Tom. What gives?
Fucking Tom. Why is she still talking about him?
She sent it at two-thirty this morning.
I scratch my chin, wondering what the fuck I say to that.
I need coffee before I can even contemplate a reply. I order one from room service, since Angelo is footing the bill. I also order a large breakfast in the hope that it’ll cure my mildly growing hangover.
The hit out at the gym only mildly cured my annoyance over last night. I needed more than that to distract me from getting back in the elevator, going up to her room, and banging the door down.
I’ve never had to work so hard for a woman’s attention in my life, and I think I like it.
Mia Michaelson is a woman in her own league. She’s beautiful, intelligent, funny, and has this innocence to her that is just begging to be tainted…but only with me. I’m the only man allowed to taint her. She just doesn't know it yet.
I’m very jealous, not to the point where I’m a dick about it, but dealing with Tom last night was nothing. The only reason I left him standing is because he was visibly weaker than me, and it’d cause embarrassment for Mia if it went on much longer.
Guys like that never learn.
Then it occurs to me; am I in the friend zone?
Did she make out with me that night in the kitchen because she was sad and upset? Did it even mean anything? Maybe I’m the fool after all. Maybe it was the excitement of the raid mixed with the close proximity. Fuck knows we both seem to be electrically charged, and it makes me want her all the more.
I sit up and stretch. My neck cracks uncomfortably as I didn’t bother to use a pillow last night in my drunken stupor and used a cushion instead.
I open the message again as I chug down half a bottle of water and begin to write out a reply.
Me: I didn’t ghost you on purpose. When I saw Tom all over you, it struck a nerve. I don’t want any man's hands on you except mine.
I press send before I can even think about changing my mind. It’s abrupt and in your face, but that’s how I feel, and I want her to know that. I haven’t been with another woman in six fucking months. That’s some kinda fucked up shit right there.
I know that I shouldn’t be starting something when she works for me and is Rayne’s sister, but sometimes I get sick to death of following these archaic rules that Angelo doesn’t even stick to himself. He fell in love with the woman sent to assassinate him.
This isn’t nearly as fucked up as that. I can’t help that Mia lights a fire inside me that’s never been lit before. She intrigues me like no woman I’ve ever met. There’s a sweet innocence to her that you don’t see in many women these days. Even though she was kidnapped and left for dead, she still has a sweetness that touches something inside me. I not only want to protect her from the harshness of the world, but I also want her to have everything she desires.
I want her to be a free little bird, and I feel like she’s still trapped in a cage.
The gray bubble appears, and I wait impatiently for her reply.
Mia: Then why don’t you do something about it?
I stare at the message, my heart thumping in my chest.
I’m about to reply when my phone chimes. It’s Rayne.
My voice is hoarse as I grunt, “Morning, Rayne.”
“Dante? Is that you? You sound weird,” she says with a laugh.
“I had a fight with the mini bar,” I reply. “What’s up?”
“I was hoping to do something nice for Mia’s birthday, as a surprise for her.”
