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“Pastries and you, Blackwood. The two most important things in my life.” I moaned as he trailed his fingers up the side of my stomach.
“Happy to see I at least made number two on your list,” he teased as I turned around and slid into his lap.
“You will always be my number one everything.” I kissed the tip of his nose and relaxed into his arms. I loved these little moments with him. Where he was playful and sweet, and not worrying about something bad happening to me or anyone else that he loved.
We had been through so much, but our love for each other was stronger than ever. I was so ready for my happily ever after.
If only the universe hadn’t had other plans.
Chapter Three
Nova
“C’mon, Juliet, you guys are late,” Valik shouted as Juliet locked her front door and trotted down to the SUV where we were waiting. He honked his horn louder the closer she got, and snickered when she flipped him off.
“Relax, knucklehead. When you’re the boss, you can be late.” She grinned as she climbed into the backseat and kissed my cheek. “What crawled up his ass?”
“Milliani is working today.” I threw my hands up to catch the empty water bottle Valik tossed over his shoulder. Oh, he would never admit it, but I had seen the way he looked at her with his big puppy dog eyes. He was crushing on her. Hard.
“Ugh.” Juliet rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath.
Milliani Voledetti, the sister of one of the biggest Mafia bosses in all of Chicago, was now our part-time sales clerk at our sexual wellness company, the Shiver Box. When she had approached me two months ago and asked me out to lunch, I had been surprised and apprehensive. Her brothers, Kaviathin and Althazair, were very dangerous men. I had seen that firsthand when Kaviathin had shot Cian in the shoulder only months prior.
Her story had tugged at my heartstrings, though. She had been living a simple life in Rome with her fiancé, Gabriele. Her eyes had watered when she explained how deep their love had been, and how it had all been ripped away by her retired mob boss father, Victorino Voledetti. She hadn’t elaborated, but I would never forget the first day I met her in the park where she’d confessed her father had had her fiancé killed. A mindless rambling to a stranger. We’d both had no idea back then how much our lives would be intertwined with each other’s.
Fate had had us meeting again soon after on the island where Ryzen had held me against my will. If it hadn’t been for Milliani showing up with Kaviathin, I would have never found out Ryzen had been drugging me. I owed her for that.
When she’d told me she wanted a job because she didn’t want to live the Mafia lifestyle, I had agreed. On one condition. She was to keep her family away from mine.
Juliet had been against the idea since day one, saying she was dangerous and couldn’t be trusted. But I hadn’t seen it that way. Milliani was looking for a way out, and I wanted to give her one. I would be lying if I said having her around wasn’t sometimes jarring. She had similar features to her brothers, including one blue and one gray eye, just like Kaviathin. But I had to remember that she was not her family.
“I still don’t trust her, Nova.” Juliet crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window.
“I know, Jules.” I rested my hand on her arm. “Things have been working out so far. Just give her a shot, K?” I knew it was going to take more convincing than that, though. Juliet was stubborn, and once she got an idea in her head about someone, it was hard to change her mind.
It was a short drive from downtown to our recently built new store. Barely nine a.m. and there was already a small line of people outside. The power of social media was absolutely crazy. Once my story about being kidnapped and almost murdered had broken, people had gone feral over it. The Shiver Box had blown up online. I had received such an outpouring of support that it was hard to handle sometimes. People wanted to know everything about me: who I was, what I ate for breakfast, what made me so special. I’d had to set boundaries, and quickly. Besides a few handfuls of fucked-up emails, and one reporter, Piper Lawless, who just wouldn’t take no for an answer, it was relatively easy to handle nowadays.
Valik entered the security code to drive into the enclosed parking lot, and we pulled into our spot out back. Our office was above the store, and our warehouse was just a stone’s throw away. Having everything so close had been a lifesaver. And now that Cian was a silent partner, he was helping us move our manufacturing closer to the city. Sometimes I had to pinch myself to make sure this wasn’t all a dream.
“Morning, Milliani.” I waved at her as she stood behind the cash register.
“Nova!” She beamed and put her clipboard down. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
I held up my left hand and wiggled my fingers. “Thank you. Looks like it’s going to be another busy day.”
Juliet grunted and ushered me in the opposite direction while Valik leaned against the sales counter to talk to Milliani. Her laughter echoed through the stairwell leading to our office, only causing Juliet to mumble more.
Owen, our long-time employee at the Shiver Box, sat behind his three computer monitors and clapped his hands when he saw us. “Congratulations, boss lady!” He came around to grip me in a tight hug. “Cian is a lucky guy.” He patted me on the back a little too hard, and I chuckled.
“Thanks, Owen. We’re both lucky.”
“Congratulations, Nova,” Sophie said so softly I almost missed it. We were going to have to crack her shell. She was sweet, bright, and funny, but painfully shy. And if there was one thing Juliet and I were good at, it was helping women to loosen up.
“Thank you, Sophie.” I walked over and handed her a little bag. Inside was a gift card to an Italian restaurant she had mentioned on her first day, Spazzianos, as well as one of our bestselling toys, the Octopussy. “Happy late birthday.”
She pushed her glasses up her nose, her eyes widening when she saw what was in the bag. “Oh, wow, thank you.” Her cheeks flushed, matching the color of auburn hair, and she gripped the bag to her chest. I had seen her admiring the toy many times, but always from afar, like it scared her to even touch it. She just needed a little nudge.
“Sophie, you are going to love the Octopussy. It’s mind-blowing.” Thora came out from the kitchenette with two cups of coffee in her hands. She handed one to Sophie and sat on the edge of her desk. “Seriously, ten out of ten. You’ll never want a man again after using that.”
