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Another week had passed and I was starting to feel itchy and irritated. Things had been going better between Nico and I. He was hanging around with me more, stopping in to play mid-afternoon games of Scrabble and Call of Duty. Talking with Sam and Paolo had helped so much in me shelving some of my guilt about pursuing a relationship.
As much as I was enjoying the way our relationship was building, Sam had gone home, yet we weren't getting back to the mission of eliminating targets, and I didn’t know why.
My step stuttered on the treadmill and I almost ate shit. Since when had I started thinking of my list asours? I thought about that as my body screamed at me to stop torturing it. My lungs were burning, heart heaving, as I grumbled at myself. Being locked away in this house had been great for my workout routine. I’d been in the gym a few times a day, trying to relieve the boredom.
Nico hadn’t put me back on lockdown after Sam left. He’d taken me out to dinner a few times and had started joining me on my evening walks through the forest that surrounded his home. I was still a little confused, but he was slowly laying that to rest.
Paolo and I had gone to the zoo a few days ago. He’d looked kind of sad. Since he made me feel better when I was feeling down in the dumps, I’d insisted we go animal watching.
It took almost the whole afternoon to drag the reason he was so melancholy out of him, but he’d finally told me it was his little girl’s birthday. Then he’d opened up to me about losing her at ten years old to a terminal illness.
My heart hurt for the man who had quickly become my friend. Chance had thrown us together, but I was grateful for him. To think, not long ago I thought so little of him. How wrong I was.
This would’ve been a much more difficult process without his warm presence by my side. Sometimes, I wondered if Mom and Dad had sent him my way. He had such a fatherly feel to him, it comforted me in a way that only a dad could.
I glanced over as the door to the gym opened. Nico strolled in and went over to the squat rack. He reached up and grabbed the bar, leaning into it. He was in gym shorts and a tank top and I damn near swallowed my tongue as his biceps bulged under the weight.
He shot me a smirk as he caught me staring.
That look did naughty things to me. My core clenched—not a pleasant feeling while you were running. “What do you want?” I panted at him. Then I winced when I realized how that sounded. He’d been bending over backward, putting in an effort to do things that would make me happy. Ever since Sam pointed out something I hadn’t realized—that there was a piece of me that wanted to be here with him—I began to notice how withdrawn I’d been around him. It was the way I’d lived my life since the bombing, so it was a hard habit to break. Not to mention, in the beginning I hadn’t had a reason to be nice to him. That was changing though.
Watching as Nico went over to a bench and sat, I tried to regulate my breathing. It was one thing to be fighting for breath—and your life—when in the gym alone. The last thing I wanted was for him to hear me chugging away like a freight train, though.
He gave me a look I could only describe as hungry. I was sweating, red-faced, and hyperventilating and he looked like he wanted to eat me.
I’d like him to,that naughty voice in my head purred. I pushed the errant thought away.
“I have a ball I have to go to tonight.”
Slapping the stop button on the treadmill, I stared at him. A ball? Those were still a thing?
“Will you go with me?”
“You want me to go to a…ball?”
“That’s right.” He looked me up and down. “You’ll have to wear a dress.”
Thanks to him I had one of those. “Alright.” What the hell? It might be fun and it’d get me out of the house.
The grin spread over his face and my breath caught in my chest. He was too good looking. No woman was safe near this guy. How was I supposed to handle the feelings that were fluttering around inside of me when he looked at me that way?
“Come here.”
I clenched my thighs together. I wouldn’t have ever thought I’d like such a dominating man, but Nico made it work for me. I considered my situation. I was starting to like him. The sex was over the top amazing, but I was actually beginning to enjoy his company.
This could be the perfect opportunity to show him that.
My hips may have swayed a bit more than usual as I strolled over to him. He watched me with hooded eyes.
I came to a stop in between his outstretched legs and ran a finger down his chest. “Need something, Mr. Romano?” I purred at him.
He chuckled then reached forward and brushed his fingers over my pussy through my shorts. “I wish we had time,” he grumbled. “I need you to shower and get dressed.”
I pouted when he let me go and stood up. Seeing the look on my face he smirked, then gave me a quick peck on the lips before he walked out of the gym.
* * *
I smoothedthe beautiful silky fabric of my dress down over my thighs again as Nico stood talking to the valet.
