Page 56 of My Broken Bodyguard 2: Ritchie & Tori

“Tori, he said it’s no problem.”

“Rich, I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Tori, it’s really no problem at all.”

She glanced between us. “Ok.”

“Tori, have a seat. I’ll make you a drink,” I said.

Dad and Tori talked for a while. He got a chance to get to know her. She loved the stories about him and Mom.

Two hours later, we sat around the table eating as a family. Dad and Callum Sr. seemed more like brothers than two guys who married sisters. The smiles on everyone’s faces brought a sense of peace at that moment. It was time to return home. Be the bodyguard my boss needed. He was lost. I’d carryout whatever brutal act required.

My hands pressed lightly against Tori’s eyes as I guided her steps over the threshold of the two-story brick home.

Her hands brushed mine. “Show me, Ritchie.”

“Ok.” I removed my hands from her eyes.

A gasp fell from her lips as she scanned the foyer. “Ritchie, it’s massive.”

The space was adorned with decorative wrought iron banisters, winding along one side of the black and white staircase. She hesitated before asking, “Is the house empty?”

I flipped on a light to my left, revealing tear-shaped fixtures on the cream walls that led upstairs. “Yes,” I confirmed.

Tori’s gaze shifted to the slender white chandelier above us. “You can decorate our home however you’d like,” I reassured her, placing a hand on the small of her back.

She turned to face me, eyes wide in amazement. “It’s a lot of house for just two people,” she commented.

“If you saw Catch’s mansion with seven bedrooms, our Chicago home would seem small in comparison.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Our Chicago home.” She seemed to be testing the words on her tongue.

“Yes, we also have a condo in downtown Jersey City, and soon we’ll have a third residence in East Hills, which is aprominent suburb outside of Jersey City. Catch and Bianca will be our neighbors.”

Her smile faded. “I understand.”

My fingers tightened around the front of her neck as I leaned my forehead against hers. “I won’t give up on you, Tori.”

“Damn it, Ritchie, I wanted you so badly...sexually. To be pleased by you. But I knew I couldn’t offer anything more.”

“It’s ironic. You wanted to sleep with a mafia bodyguard who could die at any moment while on duty.”

Her dark brown eyes held sadness. “We’re two messed up souls,” she sniffled.

“Baby, if all I wanted was a cookie cutter woman who would turn a blind eye and enjoy my wealth, I would have settled for that type of woman.”

“They’re in abundance,” she stated.

A smile lifted my lips. “Yeah, but there’s only one badass, spunky woman who gives me a run for my money.”

Tori grinned. “I definitely put you on edge. Never a dull day with Tori Corrigan.”

“Soon you’ll become Tori Toscana.”

Fear crossed her beautiful face, and she instinctively tried to back away. I held onto her neck tighter.

“You can’t mean that. I’m too fucked up, Ritchie,” she choked out.

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