Page 26 of Play With Me

Luca has the guy's arm twisted behind his back at an awkward angle that looks seconds away from snapping bone. Tears stream down the guy's face, his high-pitched squeals assaulting my ears. “You know the rules,” Luca booms, “you don’t touch unless you get invited!”

“I was going to ask if I could join! I wasn’t going to touch her, I swear! Besides, she wasn’t wearing wings. I didn’t know, man! I didn’t know!”

Carmela sighs and waves her hand. “Let him go. I recognize him. He’s not who we’re looking for.”

“Are you sure?” Martin asks, eyeing the manskeptically. Nikolai is watching what Luca is doing with interest, his face transparent, like he’s taking mental notes.

“I’m sure,” she reiterates.

Luca lets the man go with a gruff, “You’re on a two-week suspension.”

The man grabs his mask off the table and hightails it out of the room while Nikolai engages Luca in conversation about his technique. The larger man’s eyes are pinned on Carmela, who is rubbing her temple and turning to leave, obviously wanting to call out to her instead of entertaining the assassins.

Earlier, she told me she didn’t like me looking at other women. Watching Luca watch her, I’m beginning to not like how he looks at her.

I reach for her, wrapping my hand around her waist while I wait for Luca’s eyes to find mine. When they do, I hold his gaze, returning his glare tenfold before following Carmela out the door. We walk the hall in silence, and when we reach her office, she leans against the wall and cants her head as she looks up at me.

“Thank you. For tonight. I felt safe the whole time.” Her words are sweet, drifting between us like a sugar-coated cloud. Either she’s genuinely grateful, or she’s completely forgotten how I left her office earlier.

“Good,” is all I can manage in return. I don’t wantto break whatever post-orgasm spell she seems to be under.

Seconds pass, both of us clearly struggling for more to say, when finally she opens the door to her office and goes inside, throwing a farewell over her shoulder. “Goodnight, Anders.”

“Yeah. Goodnight, Cara.” The door closes before I finish speaking. With a nod, I return to the other room to debrief the guys.

It isn’t until much later, when I’m back at my hotel and drifting off to sleep, that I realize she avoided my question all night and never told me where she was today.

Carmela

Ihate the smell of hospitals.

The antiseptic smell that permeates the halls no matter where you are in the building. The desperate stench of family members who haven’t showered while they wait for news of their loved ones. Thick, cloying, overly fragrant scents waft off the nurses at the end of their shifts that should have been over hours ago—anything to ward off the smell of perspiration and cloud how tired they are.

It all balls together and slam dunks anxiety through me as I get my visitor badge and make my way up to Ginny’s private birthing room at Lennox Hill—where literally none of those scents linger, and the smell ofbabyovertakes my senses when I arrive at the maternity ward.

Knocking lightly on the door to signal my arrival, I walk in to see Jackson with a giant smile on his faceas he cradles his new baby boy, wrapped in a powder blue blanket. Ginny is absolutely glowing as she turns her attention to me. “Hey! Thanks for stopping by.”

“Of course. How are you feeling?” I set the flower arrangement I brought on one of the small side tables near the entrance, noting the absence of flowers and gifts from the significant-sized room.

“Happy. Seriously, I’m lucky. He might have taken his sweet time coming, but he was quick about it where it matters at least,” Ginny says with a laugh as she raises her bed to more of a sitting position.

“Already a momma’s boy,” Jackson coos as he walks closer to show off their son. “Do you wanna hold him?”

His question takes me aback. Jackson and I aren’t exactly close, and I’m not as close with Ginny as Lenni is. But as I look between them, she nods and motions for me to take him. “Jackson literally hasn’t put him down except when he has to hand him over for feeding time. You’d think the person who grew the little guy for nine months would be more deserving of baby time.” She laughs as Jackson gives her a pointed look while he sets the sleeping bundle in my arms.

“I just want you to rest, Red. Plus, you’ll get Benjamin all to yourself while I’m in Chicago,” Jackson says grimly.

Pulling my attention from the baby, I raise aneyebrow and ask, “Chicago? What are you going to Chicago for? Your wife just gave birth, and you’releaving?”

Benjamin makes a sighing sound accompanied by a little hiccup as he starts to move, signaling he’s awake. I coo at him while he yawns and opens his bright blue eyes to settle on me. He’s the spitting image of Jackson as he fixes me with a stern look, though I know he can’t actually see me clearly yet, scrunching his non-existent brows like ‘who the hell are you?’

“I’m leaving next week, just for a few days. We’re in talks with a private equity firm there to join up to purchase a large retailer. One of the managing partners is also pregnant. She’s beginning her last trimester and was advised not to fly, which is why I’m going there. There’s another conglomerate looking to purchase as well, so instead of waiting, we’re going ahead with the meeting,” Jackson explains.

“She’s having a girl. Maybe one day, the kids will meet, and we’ll have another type of merger,” Ginny jokes.

“Stop trying to marry off our son. He’s barely a day old. He needs to play the field before he settles down,” Jackson bites back playfully.

“No, you’re not gonna be a player like your daddy was, are you, sweet boy?” I singsong to him while his parents start bantering back and forth.

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