Page 9 of Consumed By the Mafia

His phone beeped with an incoming text so he swept it up. He was sure he knew what it said even before he looked, and of course he was right. Their ride had arrived. “I hope you have everything you need,” he said, meeting Abby’s gaze again. “Our chariot awaits.”

She snorted, then clapped her free hand over her mouth and nodded.

As much as she hadn’t wanted to be seen leaving the hotel in Ryoma’s company in what was obviously going to look like exactly what it was, Abigail consoled herself with the unexpected opportunities this unideal situation provided. For whatever reason, Ryoma wanted to stay in touch. He was at least acting as though he was genuinely attracted to her. It boggled her mind, but she could definitely use that to her advantage. She didn’t have time to play the long seduction game, but she could make it a priority to see about playing a shorter one.

It wasn’t a crime to use someone’s feelings against them in the interest of putting away real, violent, life-long criminals. But she would be lying to herself to pretend resorting to that sort of tactic didn’t feel terrible. She would just have to make it up to him by doing her best to keep him out of prison—if that even proved possible.

Then there was their escort. The man named Benny who had picked them up seemed nice enough. If she weren’t suspicious from the onset, she probably wouldn’t have found it curious at all the way Benny avoided looking at her or the way he phrased his questions. She doubted most people would give a thought to the technically unremarkable black SUV. The most blatantly suspicious thing were the overly tinted rear windows.

“You need anything else?” Benny asked as he pulled up beside one of two lonely vehicles in the bar parking lot.

“Nope, I got it from here,” Ryoma replied. He popped the door open and stepped from the SUV before holding out a hand to her expectantly. “Come on, Abby, let’s let Benny have his Saturday back.”

Abigail obligingly released her seatbelt and scooted carefully across the bench seat. She tucked her clutch under her arm and aimed a smile at their generous chauffer. “Thanks, Benny.”

Benny offered her a flash of a smile before looking forward again. “Happy to help.”

It really was interesting, though. She slipped her hand into Ryoma’s and let him help her down, suddenly remembering the way he’d growled at the cab driver the night before. She’d appreciated it at the time, but in retrospect, it seemed noteworthy. He’d made a point to avert the hotel clerk’s gaze, too. Was it just part of his personality? Was he the kind of man who couldn’t stand letting his woman be seen by other men?

The thought made her insides clench. That would make her newly devised, already undesirable interrogation-through-seduction plan more dangerous than it arguably was. She’d need to keep her eyes open and her guard up.

Ryoma opened his car door for her like a gentleman, clicked it closed once she was seated, and jogged around to duck into the driver’s seat. “Now, you are gonna have to tell me somewhere safe I can take you. If you don’t want to tell me your address, then maybe another place you can definitely get home from. That choice is yours, but remember your phone’s dead.”

She arched a brow at him at the odd statement.

He gave her a look. “If you choose a nearby park and presume you can make the walk, you won’t have a way to call for help if you’re wrong.”

Abigail winced and ducked her chin. “That’s sensible. I’m sorry.”

He clicked his tongue. “What the hell’d you think I meant?” He curled his finger under her chin and turned her to face him again, frowning. “I know you’re still feeling skittish about this, Abby, but I’m not gonna hurt you.”

She knew better than to trust him. She told herself it was their proximity, and the massive risk she was taking, that had her heart beating faster. “Sorry,” she said again. “I bet you underestimated how bad I am at this sort of thing.” ‘This sort of thing’ being the lying and manipulation she’d always associated with the criminal element. She was even worse at trying to have a social life. She offered him a small smile. “I’ll listen better.”

He lowered his hand to catch her nearest one and give it a squeeze. “I don’t know what kinds of morons you’ve dated in the past,” he said, “but don’t box me in with them.”

She couldn’t stop the short laugh that escaped her. “Oh, we’re dating already, are we?”

Ryoma growled low and leaned in, crowding her against her seat until his lips were a hair’s breadth from her own. “Yeah.” Then he kissed her, all lips and tongue, leaving her breathless when he retreated. “Now, where to?”

Abby had made surface conversation while they drove, confirming the bit of information he’d gleaned off her license and telling him how her work in graphic design enabled her to work from home most of the time. Something she admitted could get boring, but was still better than spending every day in an office. None of the information was overly personal, but Ryoma wasn’t bothered by that. He hadn’t told her anything personal about himself, either. The fact that he’d finally gotten her talking was satisfying enough for the time being.

He pulled up to the curb in front of her apartment building, eyeing the single-story unit beyond the small, half-dead lawn. The building looked to be in decent shape, and was in a fairly good area of town, but it was ground level. Easily accessible. The complex was neither gated nor guarded.Too vulnerable.

“Thank you for the ride,” Abby said, releasing her seatbelt. “I’ll text you once my phone’s charged so you have my number.”

Ryoma turned his frown away from the building and lifted his lips into a grin. “I know where you live now, so if you try to ghost me, I’ll just show up at your door.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “If that was my plan, I’d have had you drop me somewhere else.” She paused, then leaned over andpressed a quick, chaste kiss to his lips before swiftly popping her door open. “Have a good day, Ryoma.”

He licked his lips. “Call if you miss me.”

She graced him with a laugh before pushing the door shut and striding down the concrete walkway toward her door.

He stayed where he was, watching her hair swish across her back and the way her ass swayed in her wrinkled dress as she walked, until she had dug her key out from her clutch and disappeared from sight. She never looked back and he wondered if that was intentional or if she was still more anxious than she was letting on.

He let himself mull over his curiosities as he took the quickest route to his own home, a single-family house on the city-side edge of North Ward. It was small enough to be unassuming and close enough to the various people who mattered most that he could usually get where he needed to go quickly. The house had been acquired for him as part of a promotional gift—a sign of recognition and appreciation—by his employers for this thirtieth birthday.

He swung into the driveway, not bothering to raise the garage door since he wouldn’t be staying long, and another question rolled through his mind. Would he bring Abby here someday? He’d never brought a woman to this house. The only woman he could even think of who’d seen the inside was Felicity De Salvo. He kicked the front door shut, pausing before lowering to unlace and toe off his boots.

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