Page 5 of A Dark Mafia Christmas

But I need to get a grip. This isn’t real. A man just got killed, and there are sirens wailing through the city, spoiling the Christmas tunes going on downstairs, and this isn’t real.

I try to back away, but he has me cornered between the palm tree and the wall. “Game over. You can put the ring away.”

His eyes flicker sideways, and I can tell that he’s stone cold sober when he turns them back to me. “Be nice. They’re still watching.” He keeps his voice low.

“And you just happen to carry an engagement ring around in your pocket for special occasions?” I’m done reining it in already.

“Do you want to see Christmas or not?” Wow, he can flash those blue babies when he wants to.

“I… But I…”

I thought it was over. I thought when the suit walked away that I could go back inside, grab my coat from the office, and head home toChristmas with the Kranksand a glass of wine. In my head I was already in my pajamas eating a slice of leftover pizza and pretending this was all just a wild hallucination.

“What’s your name?” he hisses.

“Mary. Mary Chrysler.”

He blinks several times like he thinks I’m messing around. “Mary, will you marry me?” He shoves the engagement ring closer, daring me to reject him.

The diamond catches the glow of the fairy lights, and I find myself reaching out for it, like I’m having an out-of-body experience. This whole scenario is so surreal, it can’t be happening to me.

Emmett takes over, compensating for my lack of enthusiasm. He’s on his feet. His lips are on mine, and I’m staring into hiseyes, while he slides the ring onto my finger. Keeping his back to the suit, he murmurs, “You’re going to walk back downstairs to the party with me and you’re going to make this look real. Got it?”

I nod.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe we’re getting married!” I squeal like I’m a sixteen-year-old who just got asked on a date by her first crush. I hold the ring in front of my face, turning it this way and that, forcing myself to smile. “I love you, Emmett O’Hara.”

Getting into character, I throw my arms around his neck, wrap my legs around his waist, and kiss him hard on the lips. No tongue. I mean, I don’t even know the guy.

“Nice,” he says. “Bit OTT, but it’ll do.”

3

EMMETT

Of all the people in the entire fucking building, it had to be red-haired girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I should’ve known when I first set eyes on her that she was trouble. I should’ve walked away, gone home, and forgotten that she even existed.

Testosterone. It has a lot to answer for.

Now that I’m invested, I can’t walk away and leave her to dig herself a hole she won’t be able to climb out of. They know what she saw. Without me, they’d have shut her up using their own methods, and I can’t have that on my conscience.

The best thing I can do for her is to take her home, transfer enough money into her bank account for her to start over somewhere new, and wish her a merry Christmas. Job done.

I set her down on the ground gently, the smell of her perfume clinging to my skin. I don’t recognize it. Probably some cheap brand I’ve never even heard of.

“Right, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to keep that smile on your face and walk back inside with me. We’re going straight to the elevator, and then I’m going to take you home, and we’ll say no more about it, okay? I’ll personally see to it that you’re compensated for your inconvenience.”

“My inconvenience?” Her eyebrows disappear behind the red curls. “A man was fucking killed tonight, and you call it an inconvenience?”

I grip her arm and pull her towards me, trying to ignore her erect nipples pressed up against my chest. I don’t understand why she’s trying to make this way more difficult than it needs to be. I’m done here. Time for me to go home and prepare for my family Christmas. If only Mary Chrysler had worn her dancing shoes and gotten drunk along with every other fecker at the party.

“Walk. Smile. Act like you’re a woman in love.” She doesn’t move. “Look, I don’t want to see your face plastered all over the news tomorrow for all the wrong reasons, okay? I’m trying to help you here, so stop treating me like I’m the bad guy.”

My words must get through to her because she wrenches her arm free from my grip. “Fine.”

“Fine.” I smile at her, the smile I normally save for the tabloids when I’m out on a date. She smiles back at me, and her green eyes light up like someone just switched on flood lights above our heads. I swallow.

She takes over. “Come on, Emmett. I want to show everyone my ring.”

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