Page 95 of Wild Ace

Laughing, he slaps my ass. “Do your worst, baby,” he mumbles against my lips.

Rolling us back over, he kisses me until I lose my breath, and then he’s sliding right back inside me, surprising me with the intrusion.

“Vinny!” I gasp, and he chuckles.

“Yeah, dolcezza. I need you again.”

Chapter 33

Lexi

“How did you do this, Alexis?” nonno asks me, looking around the deli. It’s been two weeks since it flooded and Lindsay made sure the work stayed on schedule.

Vinny comped nonno a room at The Aces while all the work was done, and he hadn’t been back since the pipe burst, so I was able to keep it all under wraps.

“I took care of it, nonno. I wasn’t going to have you give up when I know this is where you want to be. It’s where I want to be, too. After I finish school, I’m going to work with you. If you don’t mind, of course.”

“Mind? Nothing would make me happier. I don’t want to hold you back, though.”

“You’re not. Being here is what I love. But how about this? If I ever change my mind – which I know I won’t – I promise to tell you.”

“Deal.” Nonno wraps me in my favorite hug and my heart soars. “I love you, Alexis. But I have one condition. You can’t keep hovering and treating me like I’m going to keel over at any moment.”

“Deal.” I smile. “I’m just protective.”

“As I am of you. Which I made sure to tell Vincenzo.”

“Nonno!”

“What? That’s my job.”

“Thank you,” I tell him gratefully. But the truth is, no one is more protective of me than Vinny, and I love it.

I met his family last weekend and he was in full protector mode. It made me nervous because I didn’t know why he would have to protect me from his own family, but it all went well. They were nothing what I thought a family like theirs would be like, and I was welcomed like I was already a part of the family. And as someone with only two family members left, it was nice to be surrounded by a loud Italian family like I never had.

“Oh, I almost forgot! I have good news, nonno. Vinny told me last night that they arrested Eddie. He was pulled over for speeding in Pennsylvania and they saw he had warrants.”

“Good. I’m glad he won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

“Me too. And now that we can open again, we need to hire someone. Though, I insist on being involved in the process this time.”

Nonno surprises me by agreeing. “I welcome your help. I clearly don’t know how to pick a good employee.”

“You gave someone a chance, nonno. That’s never a bad thing. He just wasn’t deserving of that chance, and he’s paying for it now.”

My phone starts ringing and I dig around in my purse for it. “You go look at everything and make sure you like it all. I have to take this.”

I walk outside and answer it.

“Hey, sexy Lexi,” Cassie says as soon as I pick up.

Laughing, I take a seat on one of the new benches. “Is this a new nickname for me? Because I kind of love it.”

“You should tell Vinny that,” she suggests.

“He already has a few names for me.”

“I’ll bet he does.”

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