Page 17 of The Hitman's Rose

“NO!” Rosaline shouts, sitting up straight. “Signore Tacchelli, please, don’t send Ademaro.”

“It must be taken care of, Rosaline. Ademaro is the best. He will return home safely,” Giovanni assures her and pats her hand. He looks at me. “Won’t you, Ademaro?”

Rosaline looks at me with worried eyes. She looks scared to death, but is she worried about me getting hurt or because she thinks I’ll botch the job?

“Rosaline, I promise I will succeed at the task,” I reply, nodding my head slightly out of respect.

“I’m not worried aboutthe task,” she huffs. “I’m worried about y–”

She stops talking mid-sentence. Her cheeks turn a dark shade of red and she lowers her eyes to the ground. Giovanni glances at her and smiles knowingly.

“I’m flattered,” I smile at her, but she doesn’t see me. “Rosaline?”

She finally looks at me.

“I will succeed and return back safely,” I assure her. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“You might be some badass for my godfather,” she sasses, waving a finger at me, “but you aren’t invincible and you will be in a foreign country! So don’t tell me not to worry! I’ll worry if I want to. You aren’t the boss of me!”

Giovanni bursts into laughter. That earns him an evil eye from Rosaline. He quickly stops laughing.

“My apologies,” he says, holding up his hands. I can tell he’s trying to hold back more laughter. “Sweet Rosaline is ripping my head off.”

“What?” she gasps. Her face softens and she lets out a sigh. “I am so sorry, Signore Tacchelli,” she whispers.

“It is okay. I am only teasing,” he chuckles. “I like seeing you have fire in your eyes.”

Rosaline giggles faintly.

“I don’t know what came over me,” she admits. Her hands fidget with her dress and she bites her bottom lip.

“Oh,” Giovanni looks at me and grins. “I believe I do.”

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