Page 162 of Mafia and Gold Digger

This is the Emerald I’ve seen in glances here and there. Brief moments where she’s shown me who she really is. This is the Emerald who’s managed to worm her way into my life. And I almost lost her.

My heart clenches, and I can’t find my voice as I stare at her. I want to reach out to her. Brush the tears from her face and tell her that she, her siblings, and our baby are the most important things to me in the whole world.

But she won’t believe me.

Not yet.

And I don’t blame her.

“Emerald…” But my voice trails off.

Because I don’t know how to fix this.

How to show her that I do mean every damn promise and word I’ve said to her.

How to fucking show her that I do love her.

Now comes the hard part. The part that makes my palms sweat and heart race. How I show her that I love her, I haven’t a fucking clue. But I have to figure it out—or lose her forever.And that isn’t happening.I tell myself it’s just another chess game I’ve yet to figure out. But when I do, Emerald is going to be mine until death do us part. “I’m sorry, Em…” And jaw tightening, I step back from the bars and give her a curt nod as I turn to leave.

Her eyebrows shoot up. “That’s it? What about getting me out of here?” she squeals.

I take another step, then stop. “I’ll figure it out, Em.”

“What are you going to do? Hold on, you can’t kill a police station full of cops!”

I roll my eyes. Of course she’d think that. That’s the kind of monster I am, right? The hitman without a heart. “I wasn’t planning on it, Emerald.” I go to walk away but stop once more. “And for the record, Emerald, you and me? We were never fake. I lied to you, but I’m done lying.”

And then I walk away for real.

“Saint!” And that’s the last thing I hear as I keep walking away…

CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN

EMERALD

I chip away at my nail varnish as I watch officer after officer do their rounds of the cells. Officer Rawlins brought me a bag of chips and a bottle of water and comes to check on me once in a while.

I don’t know how long it’s been since Saint left. I don’t know how long it’s been since I let the tears fall.

“Still doing okay, Ms. Fiorelli?”

“Yeah, still the same since you last came in like half an hour ago.” I look carefully at him. “Why are you doing this?”

“I owe Saint a couple favors. Looking out for you is just me being a good cop.”

I manage a grin. “Pretty sure being on the Imperiosi’s payroll negates that.”

“Maybe. But I’d rather not answer to Saint if something were to happen. I like breathing.”

Of course. I fight the urge to roll my eyes.

“Just holler if you need something, okay?” As nice as Officer Rawlins is, he’s still a cop, and being around them makes me feel more than a little uneasy. I chew the inside of my cheek as I stare at the blank brick wall.

Is this Saint’s way of figuring things out?By telling some cop to keep an eye out for me while I’m in this godforsaken place? It’s got to be late by now. I’ve taken to tossing the bottle of water in the air to pass the time.

He could have bailed me out.

He could have left with me in tow.

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