Page 24 of Taming Mika

The fashionable young woman must know what she’s doing around horses because she holds out her palm, fingers pressed together in a soft cup to allow Fate to sniff her without mistaking her for a carrot.

And when Fate flares her nostrils, wiggling the tip of her nose against the girl’s palm, Alfie’s fiancée lets out a soft, delighted giggle. Seeming oblivious to the possibility of getting dirty, the girl steps close to stroke Fate’s forehead as the filly lowers it—a sign of trust not everyone earns from my wild child. And she doesn’t bat an eye when several white hairs from Fate’s star come loose and land on her pretty dress.

Despite the ugly knot of jealousy I can’t quite seem to squash, I find it hard not to like Alfie’s future bride. She has a gentle, natural touch and is clearly at home with animals. Not to mention, she seems fully invested in showering Fate with some much-deserved affection. It dawns on me then that Fate might have been intended as a gift, that Alfie came to buy her for his fiancée, and my confusion intensifies.

Stunned into silence, I observe the exchange.

Did I dream it all up?

I would be sorely tempted to consider the possibility if the feeling of his lips against mine weren’t seared into my memory, if the thought of his hand down my pants didn’t send a shiver up my spine. Just thinking about it makes my skin feverish, and my lips tingle with the ghost of his kiss. But it seems almost impossible to believe that the man who came on to me so brazenly is the same man standing in front of me right now. Anyone who saw him with his fiancée would say he genuinely loves the girl currently smothering my top athlete with adoration.

Alfie seems to notice Hector’s frozen uncertainty as the groom waits to bridle Fate. Piper shifts awkwardly on her feet, not saying anything but also aware that I told Hector to finish tacking Fate up. Alfie gets the young woman’s attention by tapping her bare shoulder, and she turns to beam at him, her full-lipped smile as model-worthy as his. Hers is no less charming but glaringly more genuine than the one he uses for everyone but her.

“Sorry, where are my manners?” Alfie says as he gently guides the young woman back to his side. “I haven’t introduced you yet, have I?” His striking hazel eyes find mine, and my traitorous heart skips a beat when he flashes that winning smile. “Mika, this is my sister, Nina. Nina, Mika is the woman training your new horses.”

Alfie’s fingers move in an intricate dance before his chest, and the girl’s eyes flash down to watch them. It hits me like a sledgehammer, practically knocking me off my feet—he’s using sign language, which means she must be deaf.

Am I hearing things, or did he just call her his sister?

My mind reels as I realize my unexpected flare of jealousy wasunnecessary. The wave of heady relief that follows is nearly as baffling. I feel as though Alfie just keeps pulling the rug out from under me. At the same time, several puzzle pieces fall into place. Alfie wasn’t buying Fate as a source of entertainment—which explains his lack of interest in her. He was looking at her for his sister, who’s clearly smitten with the animals. Alfie looks at Nina with such gentle affection—it clearly brings him joy to make her happy. I don’t quite know what to make of it. This man standing before me is someone entirely different from who I imagined Alfie Bonetti to be. I don’t have time to riddle that out before Nina’s fingers are moving at the speed of light, and Alfie translates for me.

“Nina says, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you. My brother has told me a lot about you, so I feel like I already know you. I’m excited to see how your training philosophy plays out on the track today.’”

Heat pools in my cheeks to hear that Alfie’s been talking about me to his sister.

I try to keep up with my racing thoughts, but it’s too much. Alfie has a sister who he bought a horse for—no, he bought an entire barn for her. He didn’t bring his fiancée to the track, but he did bring his deaf sister, who he’s translating for, to include her in the conversation. Not to mention, apparently, though he hasn’t visited the barn in almost a week, he still felt the need to tell Nina about me. He’s talked about me to the point that she feels like she knows me. That’s a lot to wrap my head around.

I don’t know what to make of Alfie anymore. I took such a dislike to him the day we met, and until now, he’s done little to change my mind. Yes, he paid an outlandish price for the barn, which demonstrated that he wasn’t trying to swindle the Carvers. But even that seemed to have an underlying motive—the message that he could spend whatever it takes to get what he wants. What he did for his sister, on the other hand, seems entirely generous. The only thing he’s getting out of it is the pleasure of her happiness.

Alfie’s playful gaze finds mine once more, and his smile seems more genuine and open, making my pulse quicken. Maybe it’s because my perception of him has changed. Either way, it steals mybreath away, and I’m left gaping at my employer as I search for an appropriate response. Before I can find one, the overhead loudspeaker crackles to life, announcing the upcoming race, which means it’s time for Piper to mount up.

“That’s our cue,” I say, pointing up to the speaker tucked into the corner at the top of the barn wall. “We don’t want to miss a race we drove all this way for, right? Nina, it was a pleasure to meet you.” I’m surprised by how sincerely I mean that. Usually, meeting people requires a certain amount of tolerance on my part, but I’m pleasantly surprised to find I actuallylikeNina, just from the short time I’ve known her.

Nina signs a quick reply before taking my hand, and she doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by my dirty palm.

Alfie translates for me. “She says, ‘It’s wonderful to meet you too. I hope we can become good friends.’”

I glance up at Alfie’s chiseled face, and when our eyes meet, my heart skips another beat.

“Good luck,” he says, speaking for himself this time, though he continues to sign for his sister. “We’ll be rooting for you from the stands. See you in the winner’s circle.”

He winks, and an unexpected wave of giddiness washes through me. Pressing my lips together to avoid saying something embarrassing, I give a curt nod. Nina gives Fate’s nose one last affectionate stroke, then she accepts her brother’s arm as he offers to escort her from the barn. Alfie’s bodyguards follow, and I’ve been so engrossed with the Bonetti siblings, they almost look like they form out of the shadows as they depart. He’s brought a whole team of them today, I note, not just his usual two.

I stare after the Bonetti siblings, dumbfounded, as Hector jumps into action, bridling the red filly.

14

ALFIE

Rather than sitting up in the posh seats of the clubhouse, I knew that Nina would want to be in the thick of the excitement. The “cheap seats” standing near the railing would leave us too exposed, so I reserved box seats for us in the grandstand instead. I can’t help but chuckle as Nina bounces excitedly in her chair, binoculars clasped firmly in one hand as we settle in to wait for Cosmic Fate’s race to start. My sister peers down at the racetrack with a single-minded focus. She’s determined not to miss a thing, and it’s hard not to smile when she’s brimming with such joy—joy that I brought her.

Nina doesn’t get out of the house as often as I wish she could. Most of the time, I just can’t rationalize the risk. She’s exceptionally vulnerable—not only is she my sister, which makes her a target for my enemies, but Nina wouldn’t hear danger coming, which leaves her far more defenseless than even the average mafia princess. When we were growing up, my father stressed the importance of “hiding Nina’s handicap” because he was even more paranoid than I am about who might take advantage of it. So, few people outside our household know my sister is deaf—if they even know I have a sister.

Nina surprised me when she was so adamant about meeting Mikatoday. I suspect she wanted to meet the horses just as much, but my sister made me take her to the barn as soon as she found out Mika was the trainer caring for her new horses. I didn’t see the harm in it. Now that Nina knows about her present, I’m sure she’ll visit the barn upstate often. I wouldn’t be able to keep her condition a secret from Mika or the hands much longer, and the racing stable is a world away from the danger in New York City. I doubt any gossip that starts there would make it down to our enemies, and one day at Saratoga won’t be too risky. I still tripled our protection for the day, though, because I don’t like taking chances when it comes to my sister.

Today is a rare treat for her, and from the looks of it, I’d say I found just the right surprise. The horses haven’t even reached the field yet, but Nina’s watching with rapt attention, ready for the first signs of life. In her colorful ankle-length dress and wide-brimmed summer hat, she looks the part. I love the fact that she guessed her surprise as soon as I gave her the hat.Well,I amend as I watch her animated expression,she guessed that we were going to the racetrack.But when I told her some of the horses we would be watching today were already hers, she lost her mind. My sister rarely shrieks, but that’s the only way I can describe the sound she made when I told her. Just thinking about it now makes me chuckle.

She needed this—and honestly, I did, too. It’s nice to take a day for myself. I’ve had my hands full managing the Russians.

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