Page 48 of Hot for Hostage

“Okay, it’s a deal.” I held up a single finger. “I’ll play your hostage—excuse me,guest—on one condition.”

Davian’s eyes lit with amusement. “This isn’t a negotiation.”

“It is now.” I raised my finger higher. “I’ll stay here if a couple of your men go to the shelter today to protect the other dogs and staff.”

Davian didn’t even take time to consider it before nodding. “Deal.”

I frowned at the quick agreement. Had I just willingly become a pseudo prisoner?

“And I’ll need to call Emily again to warn her they’ll be there, or she might think they’re the sketchy guys I mentioned.” I chewed on my lip. “No offense to your guys.”

“None taken.”

Davian let me borrow his phone again, and after my short call with a very confused Emily, he left to do whatever mafia princes did.

I padded over to the large French doors, which opened to a small balcony overlooking the back of the compound. The day was bright, the sun warm on my skin, and Davian’s ridiculously nice pool looked all too inviting.

I sighed. Despite Davian’s warning that I couldn’t leave, I didn’t feel like a prisoner. Maybe that made me delusional, but it wasn’t like I wanted to put us at unnecessary risk when a threat still loomed. For now, Bear was safe.

The rest could wait.

Sunlight glinted off the surface of the pool, beckoning me to come out and play. I looked at Bear—who was watching mefrom the bed with his head cocked to the side—before placing my hands on my hips with a smile. “You know what, buddy? I think we’re overdue for a vacation. Let’s take the day off and enjoy ourselves a little.Carpe diem, right?”

He wagged his tail in agreement.

just keep swimming

. . .

Davian

For the first time in years, my mind wasn’t on the job.

My men had spent weeks looking into our latest loyalty problem, and they’d brought in Lorenzo last night. The rat had been stealing money and could’ve shared secrets with rival families, but I’d ditched questioning him to go comfort a scared girl.

And today, instead of cleaning out the filth or getting revenge, I was thumbing through a collection of pink lace panties and bras with cartoon cupcakes. For such a sweet girl, Sadie’s underwear drawer was…intriguing.

It was the right decision not to let Shane paw around in it.

After grabbing a handful of the skimpier options and a few colorful bras, I left Sadie’s apartment and spent the morning handling family business in the city. Boring meetings. Illicit deals.

More than once, my mind wandered from work, thinking about a certain pair of frightened bunny eyes looking at me over the barrel of a gun.

Sadie was like a potent drug I should be weaning myself off—andquickly—but where was the fun in that? If there was aproblem with doing something that brought a shred of sunshine into my life, then I’d handle the problem.

When it became clear no more work was getting done, I cut my last meeting short and drove back to the compound. Antonio must’ve known I was coming, because he had a tray of sandwiches and fruit already prepared in the kitchen.

“A tray?” I asked the chef, a talented man who I’d lured here from a restaurant in Bologna. With more grey in his hair than my old man, Antonio was the most respected member of the compound’s staff—mostly because he oversaw the food and was very skilled with knives. But this tray of fruit cut into bite-sized pieces was above and beyond what Antonio usually did for me. My brow rose. “That’s new.”

“Vince tells me you have a lady visitor out in the pool.” He waved a knife at the spread. He was already bustling around the two large islands in the kitchen, working on dinner prep and paying little attention to me. “Take the tray and eat outside with her.”

I blinked up from the strawberries in surprise. “Sadie’s swimming?”

She hadn’t brought a suit with her, and I hadn’t thought to grab one. Though from what I knew of her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was swimming in her pajamas.

Antonio shrugged and plucked a tomato from the bowl. “That’s what Vince said. I wouldn’t know, because I’ve been in here all day, slaving away and feeding all your men, who have pits for stomachs.”

His complaining was all for show. He loved feeding the troops. “Are we expecting more guests? This is too much food for me and Sadie.”

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