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I had no idea what that meant. “No.”
“I’m with Prestige. If you ever get tired of independent work, look us up. Maybe if you came to work for them, they’d send us out on some tandem assignments.” He winked and smiled at me. I was totally lost.
Eventually, we stopped in front of a big door. When my companion knocked, Dante called, “Come in,” and Austin pushed the door open and towed me into the office with him. It took Dante a moment to glance up from the computer on his massive desk, and when he did, he looked absolutely stunned.
“Hiya, Mr. Dombruso,” Austin said. “I found your one o’clock out on the steps. His name’s Charlie. And I’m sorry to barge in like this, but I really need to get my equipment out of the playroom. I need it for an appointment this afternoon. I texted you a couple times this morning to ask if it was ok to swing by, but I guess you were busy. Mind if I go grab my stuff?”
“Go ahead,” Dante murmured. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me.
Austin squeezed my hand and whispered, “Good luck,” before letting go of me and leaving through a different door.
“What are you doing here, Charlie?” Dante asked quietly.
“I’m here to tell you I don’t accept.”
“Don’t accept what?”
“Our breaking up.”
He knit his brows and said, “Wait, what?”
“You heard me.”
“This isn’t a subject that’s up for debate, Charlie.”
I crossed the room and leaned forward, my hands on his desk. “I know why you’re doing this, Dante. You’re freaked out because you think you hurt me, and—”
“I don’t think I hurt you. I know.” Dante stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re not doing this anymore.”
“I disagree.”
“I don’t have time for stubbornness right now, Charlie. I’m getting ready to head out of the country, and I have a lot to do before my plane leaves. And there’s nothing to discuss here anyway.”
“You want this, Dante. Whatever it is that’s happening between us, you want it. I know you do. I make you happy. Just like you make me happy. You want this as much as I do.”
That seemed to make him angry for some reason, and he said, “I’m just the rebound guy, remember? You’re trying to get over Jamie, the love of your life. And I was just supposed to be a fling. You and I both know that. Only, you picked the wrong guy.”
“You and I both know it’s becoming so much more than that.”
His voice rose a little as he said, “Look, we had fun for a couple days. But didn’t you hear me? I was holding back with you. What I did to you yesterday? That was nothing. It gets so much worse than that, Charlie.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Sure it does.”
I paused for a moment, then said, “You know what, Dante? I realized early on that there was only one way I could do this, only one way to be involved with you. I knew I couldn’t date you a little. I couldn’t trust you a little. I couldn’t go to bed with you a little. If I was going to do this, if I was going to be involved with you, I had to be all in. And I’m still absolutely prepared to do that, to do whatever it takes to be with you.”
“But you’re making a huge mistake. You have no idea who and what I really am.”
“Of course I do.”
“What are you basing that on? A couple dates where I was on my best behavior? That’s not the real me.”
“Sure it is.”
Dante glared at me and unbuttoned his suit jacket. He crossed his arms in front of him and pulled a pair of sleek, black handguns out of twin shoulder holsters, slamming them down on the desk. “Charlie Connolly, meet Dante Dombruso.”
“Why…why are you armed?” I stammered, startled.
“Because I’m in the fucking mafia, Charlie.”
“I already knew that.”
“You don’t really get it, though. I know you don’t.”
“I may not know the details of your job, but I know who you are, Dante.”
“Do you know why I’m rushing off to Sicily on short notice?” he asked. “It’s so I can catch a son of a bitch I’ve been after for years and fucking kill him.”
“There’s no way that’s true.”
Dante threw his head back and ran his hand up his forehead as he growled, “What is it going to take to get through to you?” Apparently an idea occurred to him then. He came around the desk and grabbed my arm, and dragged me out the same doorway Austin had gone through.
As he towed me down a long hallway, I told him, “You don’t have to drag me, Dante. I’m going willingly.”
“Christ,” he muttered.
We’d reached an open doorway at the end of the hall, and Dante pulled me inside as he announced, “This is my playroom, Charlie.”
