Page 17 of Royally Embraced: RBMC

She paled, then recovered quickly. “Maybe we should split up.” Her eyes widened.

He smoothed his hands up and down her back. Jeter wanted to explain to her the complicated relationship he had with his family. “You don’t need to fear me or what you think I’m part of. Well, not the Calderone part anyhow. I left my place within the family business years ago, joined the military, and instead of returning to the familial fold, I decided to stay in California to find my own way. You see, I found a family who welcomed me and helped me through some rough times.”

She stopped squirming and trying to get away as he spoke. Her hands held his hips, sending little zings of awareness straight to his groin. Jeter ignored his body’s urge to pull her closer. Hell, he knew she could still flee from him at any moment.

“You obviously know what my family here in Chicago is,” he said, giving her a chance to respond.

They stared at one another for what seemed like minutes but was probably more like seconds. He didn’t dare speak first. The wait nearly choked him.

She bit her bottom lip and then nodded once. “The Mafia families scare me. Knowing you’re connected to them doesn’t make me feel safe, Jeter. I’d have never guessed with a name like yours that you were—a member, let alone family.”

He lifted his brows, grinning at her. “Our mama was an oddity; that’s for sure. My older brother’s name is Kendrick. He’s the head of our family. We both were named after our mother’s family. Her father, our grandfather, was Kendrick and his father, our great grandfather, was Jeter. Hence our names. While Kendrick has our father’s middle name, she gave me her maiden name for my middle.” He waited to see her reaction.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You and your brother are both Italian mobster born, but your father allowed your motherto name you after her family? That is not the norm in our society.” She sucked her lips into her mouth like she wished she could call her words back.

Jeter used his thumb to pull her poor abused lips free. “Our father was totally smitten with our mother. Besides, he didn’t care what she named his sons, especially me,” he growled. This time, it was he who wished he could call the words back.

He brushed his thumb back and forth over her plump lip, rubbing the moisture in. She closed her eyes and sighed. Fuck, if they weren’t in a hurry and he wasn’t worried their location could become compromised, he’d love nothing more than to take her lips in a searing kiss.

“I think there’s a lot more to the story than you’ve said. Maybe one day, you’ll tell me all about it. What’s your middle name?” she asked and pressed closer to his body.

His mind scrambled to catch up to her question. “Jeter Weston Calderone. My brothers call me Cowboy.”

She snorted, mirth swirling in her gorgeous dark eyes. “Like yeehaw, giddy up, Cowboy?” she asked.

He liked the glimmer of happiness replacing fear in her features. “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever said either of those terms, but yeah, that’s kinda what they’ve dubbed me. I assume it’s on account of the Weston bit. I did sort of have an affliction for cowboy boots a couple of years back.” Jeter still loved a good pair of boots, but the ones he wore now were black leather riding boots. Expensive as fuck boots.

“I bet you’d look amazing in a Stetson.” She waggled her brows.

TORI COULD PICTUREJeter on a horse like her favorite character in the series Yellowstone. Jeter would give Rip Wheeler a run for his money, for sure. In fact, she’d bet Jeter would make a much sexier cowboy with his sexier swagger and good looks. If he looked half as good under his clothes as he does with them on, she’d bet women would go gaga over him like they do the man who plays the fictional Rip.

“What are you thinking about right now?”

She shook her head, refusing to admit the wild things she imagined about him. “Should we be getting on the road?”

He let out a sigh and nodded. “Yeah. You good?”

They both glanced toward at the door that led to where she’d tossed her stomach contents not too long ago. She moved her palm between their bodies, brushing against his rock-hard abs, then placed it on her own.

“I’m fine.” She prayed her body didn’t decide to make her a liar.

“We’ll stop at a gas station when we leave here and grab you some crackers and ginger ale. If there’s anything else you want or need, we can pick it up then, too.”

Tori felt tears prick her eyes. “Can we stop by my house and grab some things?”

His jaw moved back and forth. She knew his answer before he spoke. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, babe. While nobody knows we’re here yet, they would most certainly be aware of your address if they were looking for you. Hell, if they had you in their sights, it would be a safe bet they’d have eyes and ears on every corner of your home.”

Tears prick her eyes, but she blinked them away. His words were nothing but the truth. “Got it.”

“We’ll figure this out, and everything will go back to normal,” he said. Jeter pinched her chin between his fingers, holding her face up to his. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you safe.”

“Yeah, it just sucks having to rely on a stranger for that.” She slid to the right, moving away from his tempting embrace.

“Let’s roll,” he rumbled.

Tori winced at the anger in his tone, knowing she’d done that with her actions. But fuck it, she was tired and angry herself.

He strolled out of the bathroom. His ass muscles flexed with each step he took. She swiped up the toothbrush she’d used, along with the other essentials that were complimentary for guests who stayed at the hotel. Jeter’s murmuring from the other room got quieter as his footsteps took him farther away from her. A few hours’ sleep somewhere safe, and maybe they’d learn who had targeted them. A girl could hope for miracles.

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