Page 28 of Corrupted Heir (Mafia Kings: Corrupted 1)

“No! No, I didn’t!” I ignored the way my cheeks grew warmer because it wasn’t entirely untrue, if I was being honest. Dominic might have been a dick, but he was a hot dick. I would have had to be blind not to notice.

Corinne eyed me closely, leaning her face toward me.

“Corinne, I don’t think you quite get my point here… I can’t stand him,” I said as much to myself as to Corinne, shoving any thought of pants or dicks or any of Dominic’s other body parts out of my head. “He’s a typical rich boy who expects every woman to climb in his bed. And unlike most men, this guy actually has women who’ll do it.”

Corinne popped a crouton in her mouth, chewing loudly. “Uh-huh. Okay. Whatever you say, honey pie.”

“Seriously. I called Dad after that train wreck of a date and told him I was done paying his favor. But he told me he’d actually bartered me for three dates! Three!” I dropped my head on the table. “I’m spineless, right?”

“You can’t wait for your next date, can you?” Corinne poked my arm.

“I’m only going for Dad. Captain Spineless, remember?”

“No, you’re not. But, honey, honestly, your dad’s a grown man. Maybe it’s time you start letting him handle his own problems.”

I merely shrugged.

“Yeah, I know.” Corinne flashed me a small smile and laid her hand on mine. “Then just take it for what it is. Free dinner with a hot guy. If nothing else, it beats an ordinary night at home. We can make fun of it after.”

Maybe my love life sucked, but I had the best friend in the whole world.

***

The morning sun spilled bright and hot through my bedroom window. I’d passed out the moment I walked through the door last night. Apparently, I’d slept right through my alarm. The pounding on my front door, though, was bringing me wide awake in a hurry.

I flung my legs over the side of the bed, wrapped myself in a satin kimono, and dragged my feet to the door.

Looking through the peephole, I saw Corinne’s face smiling back at me. She knocked again, and the sudden thud so close to my head made me jump, but I unlocked the door for her. She had a giant paper bag in each arm, both of them brimming with baking ingredients and kitchen tools.

“You seemed so down yesterday, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I know you probably would have spent the whole day in bed, so I’ve come to mother you,” Corinne said. She pushed past me into my apartment.

Corinne and I kind of looked after each other, but she was the one with the amazing maternal instinct for the people she loved. She could tell when someone was struggling and when they needed a pick-me-up. After my breakup with Jake, Corinne helped me get back on my feet. She’d been there for me even when I tried to push her away.

Corinne made herself at home in the kitchen, unpacking the bags she brought while a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

I stood in the narrow archway that led into the kitchen, leaning against it. “Don’t you have plans today, hon?” I asked. “You don’t have to—”

Corinne lifted her finger to my mouth without looking up at me. “Pssh.”

“But—”

“Nuh-uh,” she said. “Stop arguing. I’m doing this and you have no choice in the matter. You got me?”

She pressed her lips into a flat line as she glared at me. She looked so damned cute when she was trying to be serious, I couldn’t keep it in. Out of nowhere, laughter bubbled up my throat and burst out.

Her eyes went wide, which only made me laugh harder, and then her serious expression gave way to mirth, and she joined in, dissolving into laughter until both of us were clutching our stomachs and tears leaked from the corners of our eyes.

It was a long time before I could rein it in, but when I did, it was almost cathartic, like the moment I finished a vigorous exercise and all my muscles sagged with sweet relief.

“I needed that,” I told her, wiping the tears off my face.

“I know,” she said with a shrug, then turned her attention back to her bags of goodies like nothing had happened.

“Just give me a minute to get dressed, and I’ll be with you.”

“I knew you’d crumble,” Corinne said.

When I came back to the kitchen in a pair of tights and a T-shirt, Corinne had two champagne flutes in her hands.

---