Page 30 of The Mafia's Surprise Gift

I wanted to be wanted.

“It’s not like that.” Dino’s sunglasses slid down his nose a fraction, letting me stare into his brilliant blue eyes. “Rocco cares about you, okay? And he wants to make sure you’re safe, especially after what happened at the cemetery.”

“Don’t you think having his lap dog follow me around just draws more attention to me? I’d be safer if he just left me alone!”

“Hey!” Dino grabbed my arm, pulling me firmly against his chest. “I ain’t a lap dog.”

“What would you prefer?” I snapped up at him, my heart racing. “You follow him around. You bark and heel when he commands, right? Even Dozer does that, and he’s just an old mutt.”

“You don’t know shit,” Dino snapped, and fire lit up in the dark depths of his eyes. “Your concept of loyalty is fucking screwed.”

“What would you call it, then?” I demanded. “Assistant? Hell, I hope you get paid more than I do.”

“Why are you being such an ass?” Dino’s grip tightened on my arm. “He’s trying to keep you alive.”

“Why?” I glared at him. “I’m nothing to him.”

“You think people didn’t see what he did?” Dino snapped back. He leaned close, and a hint of peppermint tickled my nose amid the lavender scent sweeping off him. “Everyone saw him dive for you over his own mother. You might hate him, you might think you’re nothing, but everyone saw. Everyone. So now, he has a responsibility, just like he has a responsibility for everyone else in this fucking town. They’ll pat his back and accept his security, and no one cares that it cost him his father.”

Dino’s words quickly dampened my anger toward Rocco because I hadn’t even considered that anyone had noticed anything during that carnage. I swallowed hard, and my attention drifted down to his lips and then back up.

“So, why you?” I asked. “Why not some nameless goon?”

An easy smile slipped onto Dino’s lips and he slowly removed his sunglasses. They slid into his pocket and he slowly licked his lower lip.

“Because Rocco wants only the best watching you,” he replied. “And there’s no one better than me. Well, maybe one, but he’s not important.”

“So, you’re the best and he’s got you camping outside my house like some lovelorn teen.”

“What makes you think I’m lovelorn?” Dino snorted, squinting at me.

I leaned forward and lifted my leg, pressing my thigh against a very tell-tale hardness that had grown against my hip over the past thirty seconds. Dino gasped softly, and his gaze flicked down. His hand tightened further on my arm, and a wave of heat cascaded through my body, settling into my core.

“I’m a guy,” Dino remarked huskily. “We get reactions.”

“To being yelled at?” I raised one brow, and Dino rolled his eyes.

“What can I say? I get excited knowing I do a good job.”

“You’re doing a shite job,” I said, leaning backward. “I spotted you, which means other people will spot you.”

“I’m not hiding,” Dino said, his eyes darting all over my face. “I’m watching. And protecting.”

“Whatever. If you think?—”

Dino’s plush, soft lips suddenly landed on top of mine. His other hand slid through my hair and cradled the back of my head, while his hand on my arm slid around my torso and dropped to rest against my lower back. He crushed me against him, cradling me close and firm. The confinement against his body sent a rush of exciting tingles all over my body, and Dozer’s lead slipped from my hand. Along with all three of my shopping bags.

Luckily, he was too old and tired to move anywhere.

“What are you—” I tried to ask as our kiss parted briefly so Dino could switch angles.

“Stop fucking talking,” he growled, and he kissed me again hard enough that stars burst behind my eyes when I closed them, and my lips throbbed. His tongue swept across the seam of my lips, teasing and begging for entry. Part of me wanted to resist, but that urge was pure stubbornness against giving in.

I relaxed against Dino, slid both my hands over his broad, muscular chest, and allowed his tongue to slide deep into my mouth. I was giddy from excitement, unsure where to touch or how eagerly I should lean into the affection. It was too much and not enough all at the same time. One thing I did know was that I didn’t want it to stop.

Dino suddenly whipped me around, switching our positions. He pressed me up against the sun-warmed car, and a low grumble rumbled through his chest. His tongue licked all the way around my mouth, then massaged against my own. Each time the kiss broke to allow me a gasp of air, he switched his positions, and I was constantly in awe of how he dwarfed me.

His thick muscles, his height causing him to drape down over me, and the fact that his large hand seemed able to cup the entire back of my head. Dino was built like a truck, and I was so ready to be crushed. I could only begin to imagine what the thickness against my abdomen could do to me if I got those clothes off.

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