Page 29 of Married to the Mafia

His voice gave no indication that he’d seen her silliness. “How’d it go?”

Both of her brows went up. “Are you calling to check up on me after your mom’s visit?”

“Should I not?”

Brandi continued inside, wandering toward somewhere she could sit. “Your mom seems sweet. If anything, I think she was worried you’d forgotten human interaction so much that you had just plucked me off the street and declared we were getting married.”

He scoffed, but his verbal response was less abrasive than she expected when he said, “Good. It sounds like you got along.”

“Either that, or she’s a great actress and she’s on her way to write a check to a hitman.”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

Brandi grinned. “See, that is where you’re supposed to reassure me.”

“You want me to tell you we don’t have hitmen?”

“I want you to tell me that you wouldn’t waste your time bringing me into your home, and having me sign a contract that does not include putting you in a will, if you were going to turn around and off me before we even get to the courthouse.”

Mikey chuckled. The jerk. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Brandi rolled her eyes and let the joke fall. “Hey, um, how long do you think you’ll be out?” She didn’t know why she was asking. She had voluntarily hidden herself away, she hadn’t once promised to stay in isolation for the foreseeable future.

“I’ve got a couple things to finish up, so probably another hour at least. Did you need me for something?”

The kiss he’d shocked her with rushed to the forefront of her mind and she barely bit back a groan. She absolutely needed him for something, but that was not the thing she planned to be talking about. She had no idea what had come over him, if it had just been a curiosity thing or something more. If it had just been a passing curiosity, she feared that would fracture her resolve to see their arrangement through. The fear was nearly as startling as the kiss, and she didn’t know how to handle either.

“I actually … need to go out.” Need was a stretch. It was a chore that did, arguably, require doing. Did it need to be done that very afternoon? Definitely not. “I thought if you’re busy, and since I’m feeling better, I might as well make the most of the time.”

Mikey didn’t speak right away. “Brandi—”

“I have a plan,” she said quickly. “I just was hoping you might have a person you could spare to help me see it through. I don’t want to draw attention anywhere I don’t have to, but I don’t have a car to just get myself places. So what I need is kind of awkward sounding, but if I can pull it off, it keeps you and everyone connected to you out of the proverbial spotlight.”

Mikey sighed. “That defeats the purpose of the protection. I’ll assign you a driver.”

“I agreed to that before my stalker turned into a killer, Mikey.” The argument was past her lips before it registered in her brain, and Brandi felt her throat close up. That could have been me. She didn’t know if George had necessarily planned to kill her on his very next visit, but there was no doubt in her mind that he didn’t plan to leave her walking and talking before he skipped town. All presuming she could have given him what he claimed he was after.

“He’s a goddamn ghost,” Mikey said. “He hasn’t popped up since that dumbass lost him outside your condo last night. You could walk right into him, and if you go out without anyone with you, you’ll get hurt. At best.”

He wasn’t saying anything she didn’t know. She just… “I don’t want to get anyone else dead.” The driver she’d unintentionally gotten tangled up in her mess had probably had a family. He’d had one of those customizable thermoses with photos wrapped around it. She hadn’t paid much attention, and she wished now she had. It wouldn’t make a lick of difference, but she felt as though she owed it to the man she’d gotten killed to remember something more than what he looked like in death and what he’d done for extra income. She didn’t remember his name; she couldn’t remember his face without blood. It seemed discourteous somehow.

At the same time, that realization and old familiar pangs still reverberating in her heart insisted that she was a much better candidate. Her driver had had people. The man trying to protect her because she’d allowed him to see her at her lowest had a lot of people, including a warm and forthright mother. Who did she have? On paper, of course, she had a fiancé. But their relationship was a ruse. In reality, she had a father who would hand her over on a platter if it worked to his benefit—in some ways, he already had.

If someone had to risk death, it should be her.

“That’s admirable, but not the point or your fault,” Mikey said. He was responding to her words, but he may as well have been reading her mind. “Let me wrap this up and I’ll take you where you need to go myself.”

No… She couldn’t do that to the one person who’d gone so out of their way for her. Or to his mother. “I’m sorry, don’t worry about it. I’ll be careful.”

“Brandi—”

“I’ll let you get back to work.” She hung up before he could put together more than a syllable of his response. She was probably being unreasonable again, but the idea of just sending someone out to the wolves on her behalf didn’t sit right with her. I’m no one important. The best thing she could do was be honest with herself about that.

She hurried to change into better walking shoes, grabbed her purse, and let herself out of the house. It felt weird not to lock up, but Mikey hadn’t given her a key. There were guards on duty and the property was completely surrounded by a tall privacy fence. That would have to be enough.

A man in black security clothes, with Mikey’s company logo stitched in thin silver, stepped out from the guard house as she passed it on her way to the gate. “Ma’am, is everything all right?”

Brandi stopped and offered him a smile. She was honestly surprised he wasn’t growling at her go back inside. “Yes, completely fine. I just need to do a couple things.” She had no intention of spelling out her transportation situation, so instead she said, “Please keep an extra eye on the house. I can’t lock up.”

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