Page 93 of Assassin's Obsession

"Language, young lady!" Mom pats Cookie's shoulder to soften the rebuke.

Oh, we're bothyoung lady. We're so in trouble right now.

Cookie tries to look repentant. "Sorry, I should have said douchebagbiological father. My bad."

"Diamond Marie Miller!"

I appreciate Cookie taking the heat off me but I don't want her in trouble on my account. "I can't believe I slept that long. I'm really sorry, mom. I should have called earlier."

Mom turns her attention back on me. "You're an adult. You can stay out all night. You texted to say where you were going, but then Mr. Bianchi came by and he said things did not go the way you said they did in your text."

"When we got here, they wouldn't let him past the gates with us." How much Cookie enjoyed that is in her voice. "Mom wouldn't wait with him because she was worried about you, and I wasn't missing out on seeing this house. It's epic!"

I can't help smiling. Cookie's one of the few people that has that effect on me. Angelo is now one of the others. Not sure how mom is going to feel about that, but it is what it is.

"Let's go sit down in the living room." Mom's not in her wheelchair.

She can walk, but the lines around her mouth say she's in pain.

"I'd like to talk to you alone,without him." Mom nods toward Angelo with her head.

Before I can reply to that, a big black dog comes running toward us.

"Mars!" Cookie drops to her knees and puts her arms out in welcome.

The dog gallops toward her.

Terrified he'll eat her, I leap toward them, but Angelo lifts me up with an arm around my waist. "Don't startle the dog. He knows your scent, but he still has to get used to you."

I struggle against his hold. "That's my sister he's about to eat."

"He's not going to eat her."

Fortunately, the dog does not make a liar out of his human. He nuzzles Cookie, licking her face. My sister's giggles at the dog's attention are as carefree as I've ever heard her.

She hugs him and tells him all about how she got here in babytalk, calling him a good dog and her friend.

Cookie adores that dog.

Which raises the all-important question. How does she know him?

A gray haired man comes rushing after the dog, yelling it's name but skids to a stop when he sees Cookie and Mars loving on each other.

"That explains it." He looks past my shoulder at Angelo. "Sorry, boss. He got away from me. But I guess he scented Cookie."

"Looks like it," Angelo says wryly.

"You can let me down. I'm not going to scare your dog." Apparently being trussed up by Derian and Mario had more impact than I thought, because I donotlike being immobilizedagain. "I swear if one more guy manhandles me this month, I'm going to stab him in the eye with a stiletto."

"Shoe or knife?" Angelo asks, his voice laced with eager curiosity.

"Keep holding me up like this and you'll find out," I promise.

His laughter no longer shocks me. Something about me makes the mafia assassin happy.

Speaking of happy, my sister and the dog are so delighted with each other, no one else registers. Mom, on the other hand, looks ready to find that stiletto and use it on somebody.

My best guess is Angelo, but she's pretty mad at me too.

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