Page 27 of Married to the Mafia Devil

“He’s persuaded the appropriations committee to put back the deadline. Given himself another couple of weeks to crack the code.”

“Fuck.”

Emma's hand finds mine. “What can I do?” she asks, her willingness to stand by me in this moment reinforcing the inexplicable bond that's formed between us. “Do you need to go deal with this?”

Her ability to give warms my heart more than I thought possible. Having just got married, she’s willing to take a step back to help me out. I get a sudden vision of two possible futures. Her giving nature will either save us both or get us killed.

“We just got married,” I say, leading her to the main doors. “We’re going on our honeymoon.”

ELEVEN

Emma

Two weeks later…

“This hotel room costs more per night than I made in two months,” I say to Pamela down the phone line. “I’ve no idea how much he’s spent on me so far.”

“Mr. Right Now comes through,” she replies with a laugh. “Where are you today? I’m losing track.”

“Monaco.”

I've seen places like this in movies, but standing here, with the Mediterranean breeze teasing my hair through the open window, it all feels unreal. “We’re here for a couple of days.”

“Lucky you.”

“All I’ve have to do is choose what food I want each day. Hell, half the time he’s willing to do that for me. I just relax and enjoy.”

“You’re sure you’re safe? I mean he hasn’t done anything I need to worry about, has he?”

“Not a thing.”

“Good. Look at my bestie, getting married, swanning around Europe on someone else’s dime. I bet you haven’t even had any time for working through your To Read list, have you?”

“Actually, he’s got calls to make from time to time so I’m chipping away at it. He bought me a new Kindle just for this trip.”

“Of course he did.” She laughs again. “No wonder you sound so happy. Yours was first gen, wasn’t it?”

“Something like that. How’s Amelia doing? Have you seen her much? Whenever I ring, the line’s engaged.”

“I called in again yesterday. She’s on the phone to her therapist for hours at a time. Seems to be doing her some good. She’s not sleeping anywhere near as much this last week.”

“That’s good. I’ve had a couple of messages from her but tell her to give me a call. I miss her.”

“Will do. Have you made a decision yet?”

“About staying married? I don't know. It's all happening so fast. There's something about him. Sometimes, I feel scared and I don’t even know why.”

“Scared of him?”

“No, just scared. I can’t really explain.”

“I can. It’s because you’re used to taking care of everyone else, not having someone look after you. You don’t have to decide yet though, do you? He gave you six weeks, right?”

“Yeah.” I sigh, tracing the intricate ironwork of the balcony with my fingertip. “Honestly, I don’t know. Part of me wants to stay with him. I could get used to this life. But he can be so cold at times, like he’s pissed at himself for having emotions at all. It’s like he’s ashamed to show he cares for me.”

“Remind you of anyone?”

I frown as I look down at the bay, a pleasure boat drifting out to sea in front of me. “What do you mean?”

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