Page 56 of Protected By the Mafia

They sat like an ordinary couple in the booth at the diner, facing each other and talking while they skimmed the menu. He watched her gaze dart out the window, following the movement of some unassuming passerby for a moment. He paid no attention to the waitress who tried to flirt with him as if he weren’t already out with the most beautiful woman in the world.

Felicity, on the other hand, seemed to have noticed the waitress’s flirting. She scrunched up her face after their meals were delivered, watching the woman walk away.

“Something wrong, Foxglove?”

Felicity pushed her plate across the table until it crowded his and proceeded to slide from the booth. “Scoot over,” she said, coming closer. “I want to sit next to you. I can’t stand the way our waitress keeps drooling over you like I’m not even here, or worse, like I’m just your kid sister.”

Cristiano bit back his smile as understanding settled, but instead of making room for her, he moved to his feet and met her at the end of the table. She blinked up at him with wide eyes, obviously caught off-guard, and he curled a finger under her chin. “It’s safer if I’m on the outside,” he said. Before she could step back, he leaned in and closed his mouth over hers in a lingering, less-than-appropriate kiss.

He released her before they could forget themselves and indicated for her to sit again, which she did quickly. He helped her reposition their plates, drinks, and silverware, then settled beside her on what had been her side of the table. And he had to admit, he preferred this. As much as he loved looking at her, it wasn’t hard to turn his head for that. This way, he got to feel her up against him, too.

“Thank you,” Felicity said softly.

Cristiano scooped up her left hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “I’m more than happy to help you chase off the leering eyes.”

She laughed under her breath, finally stabbing into her potatoes. “We don’t even look related.”

“We do not.” Cristiano grinned. “If this doesn’t work, I can think of several other methods.”

Felicity swallowed her mouthful of potato before saying, “I don’t think I’m an indecent-exposure-on-the-first-official-date kind of girl.” She pointed her fork at him. “You’ll have to wait for that.”

He chuckled and cut into his meal. “Whatever you say, baby.”

The waitress was definitely flustered when she returned to check on them, too. So he made a point to find a way to refer to Felicity as his fiancée in their final interaction, keeping his eyes entirely on his woman and letting her address the waitress who barely stopped long enough to drop off their check.

They were just finishing up when another woman stopped at the table, a purse on her shoulder and a diner tab in her hand. “Felicity?”

Cristiano scowled as Felicity looked up, fork popping from her mouth. If he’d seen the woman before, he hadn’t made an effort to remember her. She was average height, a healthy build, had a pile of dark hair on her head and looked to be enough years older than Felicity that they couldn’t be old school friends.

Felicity raised a hand to hide her mouth. “Abby, hi!”

Abby? The name did sound familiar. Hadn’t she mentioned a woman from the apartment building by that name? The woman who disarmed Chuck.

Felicity gestured to Cristiano as she finished swallowing down her last bite. “Sorry. This is my fiancé, Cristiano. Cris, this is Abby, the woman I mentioned from the other day in Chuck’s office.”

Abigail smiled over to Cris, not making an attempt to reach across their dining table. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “Sorry about intruding on your date. I saw you from where I was seated and I thought I’d come say hi on my way out, since I don’t know how often we’ll run into each other again.”

Felicity shook her head. “You’re fine. I do feel like it’s kind of a shame we won’t be bumping into each other at the mailboxes or something, you know? But obviously I couldn’t stay there.”

“Oh, me, either. I already have a lead on a new place.” Abigail leaned closer, raising her check as if to hide her words from other patrons. “I heard a rumor this morning that Chuck’s up and disappeared, too.”

Cristiano barely kept the smirk off his face when his fiancée let her mouth fall open and said “He’s what?” Then she held up her hand. “No, wait. I actually might need a whole lot of distance and alcohol before I care.”

Abigail laughed quietly. “Yeah, I sort of wonder if he’s just ditching.”

Cristiano nudged his plate and coffee cup aside and stretched out an arm. “Give me your tab.”

Both women blinked at him.

“Sorry, what?” Abigail said.

“You stepped up for Felicity when I wasn’t there to do it myself. The least I can do is cover your breakfast.”

Abigail remained hesitant. “You really don’t have to do that. I was just doing the right thing.”

“Even so, I believe in repaying my debts.”

Felicity made a vague sweeping motion with her hand. “He’ll buy out the entire diner before he’ll let you refuse. He’s crazy stubborn.”

---