Page 91 of Captive Vow (Mafia Marriages 2)

“Did you have fun today with your daddy?” Paige asks. Her attention is entirely focused on my daughter.

Nova stops scribbling on the paper for a second and nods vigorously. “I missed you.”

My heart aches at Nova’s admission.

Paige encompasses Nova in a hug. “I missed you too, but I promise next time that you go to the children’s museum, I will come with you.”

“Pinky promise?” Nova holds out her pinky.

I don’t want to stare, but I can’t help myself. It’s like I’m eavesdropping on a private moment.

Paige glances up at me with a coy smile. “On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you at me right now?”

That catches me off guard. I chuckle under my breath. “It was a ten, but seeing how good you are with Nova, it’s dropped significantly.” I never thought a woman could turn my ice-cold heart and warm it up.

She smiles cheekily. “Good. My plan worked.”

She’s teasing. I can see it in the glint in her eye.

Paige is the least manipulative person I know, but she left without a guard, which still bothers me.

It’s only because I want to protect her. The thought of anything happening to her, Vance coming after Paige next because she works for the family, it makes me want to vomit.

The waitress comes by the table, and I order a sandwich for myself, mac and cheese for Nova, and Paige gets herself a slice of chocolate pie for dessert.

“So, you and Ariella are friends?” It didn’t even occur to me what she might have wanted to do or who she’d have liked to visit on her day off.

While I knew they’d met at the park, I had hoped that was the end of their interaction.

Her eyes tighten. “Is that a problem?”

“No. I have no issue with Ariella.” It’s her husband and his band of boy scouts, the Eagle Tactical team, that rubs me the wrong way. They’re not a bunch of saints like everyone thinks of them.

“Okay. Who do you have an issue with because I’m a grown woman and can hang out with whoever I want or date whomever I want?”

Her sassy attitude has surprised me, and the comment about dating whomever she wants leaves my stomach in knots.

She isn’t wrong.

Paige isn’t mine.

“You’re dating Ariella?” I know that’s not what she means, but I want her to elaborate since she brought it up.

She snorts and rolls her eyes. “No, but you can’t lock me up in your house until you feel it’s safe for me to leave. By your standards, I will never be allowed outside.”

That isn’t true.

But she’s right. I’ve been strict with her, but it’s because I’m worried about her well-being.

“Do you have a hot date?” I need to know if she’s been conversing with someone in secret. She has the entire weekend off. Is she planning on meeting up with a stranger tonight or tomorrow?

“Jealous?” she quips.

“No,” I answer a little too quick.

Nova glances up from her coloring and flips the paper over since she’s colored practically every inch of the placemat.

“We should go out, just the two of us,” I say.

Where the hell did that come from? I should keep my mouth shut.

She purses her lips, mulling it over. She hasn’t said a word, which just makes me more nervous. I haven’t dated anyone in years. The last girl I dated, I ended up marrying, Serene.

“Unless you have an aversion to dating your boss?”

Paige’s face is as red as the crayon gripped tightly in Nova’s fist. Is it from anger or embarrassment?

I hope she’s not about to slap me from overstepping.

---