Page 21 of The Hitman's Rose

“I’ll be there, Boss.”

“You better.” With that he heads inside the house. I finally let out the breath I’ve been holding.

“Well… that was unexpected,” Rosaline giggles, looking at me. “You can bail if you want to.”

Bail? Why in the world would I want to bail? I’ve never been more excited about something in all my life. A date with Rosaline is like a dream come true.

“Do you not want me to–” I ask.

“No! Of course, I want you too!” she blurts then closes her eyes and mutters a few words under her breath. She doesn’t open her eyes for quite some time.

“You okay?”

She nods then opens her eyes.

“I’m not as confident as my sisters,” she says faintly. Her body relaxes heavily. It’s like I see all of her walls come down and her vulnerabilities surface.

“Your sisters?”

“Yes,” she nods. “Sofia and Adrianna don’t show fear. They don’t make mistakes. They’re flawless.”

“Rosaline, who says you aren’t flawless?”

“Me flawless?” she scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I’m far from it. I’m little naive Rosaline Gabriella Romano.”

“Gabriella?” I smile.

“Ugh,” she rolls her eyes. “See what I mean? I make so many mistakes.”

“How is it a mistake telling me your middle name?”

“Because no hot guy gives a rat’s ass about my middle name.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted.

“Well,” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know if I’d be considered a hot guy, but I am honored knowing your middle name.”

“Aww,” she blushes. “That’s the sweetest.”

“Is that code for stupid?” I groan.

“What? No!” she laughs. “I mean it. It was really sweet.”

“The sweetest.”

The garden filled with our laughter for quite some time. We talked for a few more minutes before I walked her to her bedroom door so she could pack a bag. She made me promise to wear something other than a suit. She said a suit was too stuffy and not date-like, which threw a wrench in the works because I only earned suits and under clothes. So a trip to the store was in order because I doubted Giovanni would be happy if I showed up in just my boxers.

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