Page 31 of The Mafia's Surprise Gift

My mind was quiet, my body sang, and I forgot all the reasons I was mad at him in the first place.

I got what I wanted.

Until vibrations swept through my hip, followed by the untimely chime of my ringtone. Both of us froze, mid-kiss, and then Dino slowly pulled back.

I remained frozen for a moment, lips pursed and eyes still closed until Dino cleared his throat and the interrupting chime of my phone grew louder and louder.

“Fuck,” I grumbled, stepping back. My entire body was on fire, and all my clothes clung a little too close for comfort. I wanted to be naked in Dino’s arms, and I wanted?—

“So.” Dino smirked, slowly licking his lower lip as if savoring the taste of me. “You were saying we were to stay away from you?”

Fishing out my phone, I glanced at the screen to see Mom flash up on the screen, and slowly, reality trickled back. Whatever power Dino had to keep everything at bay only worked when I was touching him, apparently.

“Yeah,” I replied shakily, ducking and picking up Dozer’s lead and my shopping bags. “You need to stay away from me. Both of you.”

“Are you sure?” He draped one arm back against the car, an easy smirk on his face.

“Was it a bad kiss?” Dino winked at me, and my core throbbed.

“No, it was—that’s not the point. Just leave me alone, and tell Rocco to leave me alone, and–and, yeah!”

“What if I can’t do that?”

“I’m sure you’ll find the strength.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

It was taking all my strength not to throw my phone aside and leap back into those bulky arms. I wanted to know what that monster in his pants felt like, but I couldn’t.

I couldn’t give in.

“Tough. Because–Because I say so.” My mind was running slow, and with Dozer by my feet and my mom calling despite my having hung up three times, I was flustered. “Because Rocco will be pissed that you even kissed me because I’m pretty sure that isn’t in any job description. Really, I’m doing you a favor.”

I turned and started to hurry away up the street, followed by Dino’s laughter. “So you do care about me!”

“Fuck off, Dino!”

That was a moment of weakness I was not going to repeat.

13

MAE

“So, I walked away and told him to leave me alone.” Spearing two olives onto the end of my fork, I popped them into my mouth while leaning around the door to keep one eye on the party that was in full swing just inside. “Does that make me an asshole?”

“No,” Denise replied, and her sharp yet warm voice instantly soothed all the tumbling worry in my mind. “What makes you an asshole is that it took you over a week to call me and tell me all of this!”

“Okay.” I chuckled, tracking my mother as she hurried toward one of her old friends. “Things have been insane. I got here and within a few days, I’d met Rocco. There was the funeral and the shooting—which by the way, it’s so freaky how no one here seems to care. Like they did care for five minutes, and now it’s like it never happened! I don’t understand.”

“Criminal power,” Denise scoffed.

“And then I was trying to process that while planning my mother’s birthday and keeping Zack under control,” I added. “I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been in a daze since the cemetery.”

“No wonder.” Denise sighed deeply. “And you never had to talk to the police?”

“Nope. Not a word.”

“Damn.”

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