Page 12 of Nico (Belles & Mobsters 2)

A sharp inhale and my lungs were full of fresh air. I did not expect this at all.

“I don’t understand,” I muttered into the phone. “Like an escort?”

“I guess you can think about it like that.”

“Why didn’t he ask you?” This conversation was getting weirder by the second. I watched my girls as they inched to the water, kneeling and splashing each other with their hands. I knew they couldn’t resist it.

Kind of like I wouldn’t be able to resist Nico Morrelli if I was around him nonstop. My body’s reaction to him was too intense, unlike anything I have ever felt before. He was dangerous, and I had to keep my distance.

I’ll just think about him while I touch myself. Great, I only decided a mere minutes ago that I’d put a stop to it.

“I actually asked him to consider me,” she admitted reluctantly. “I asked him about three months ago and then again now. He told me he wasn’t interested. He just wants a woman our age on his arm.”

A woman our age?

Well, Angie was my age. If she was willing and interested, it would be easier for him to have her on his arm. She could handle those situations. I was terrible at socializing. And she never stole from him… it was an added bonus for her.

But it shocked me to hear he wasn’t interested. Angie was beautiful, much more beautiful and accomplished than me. I imagined it shouldn’t matter to a man like Nico Morrelli what woman accompanied him to an event, as long as she did what he expected.

Wait a minute, he must have expected added benefits,I told myself. My pulse picked up and a sweet ache pulsed between my thighs. I suspected it didn’t have anything to do with being scared. It was because I found him attractive.

Not that I would ever go around that man. I wanted to stay alive, thank you very much!

“You are interested in him but you are dating Gabito?” The thought pierced through my Nico lust-hazed brain.

Angie would always be an enigma to me. Her way of thinking made no sense to me.

“It’s complicated,” she said.

I exhaled. With Angie, it was always complicated. I didn’t need anything complicated right now.

“I have some stuff going on,” I finally answered. “I’m not much for being a companion or hanging out.”

As if she expected my answer, she hurriedly replied. “It is like a job, Bianca. And he paysverywell.” She accentuatedvery.

This didn’t make any sense at all. “He pays to have someone accompany him to an event? Why? Can’t he find a date?” I scoffed the last few words. We both knew that man was looking for more than a pleasure of someone’s company.

“Well, that is just it. He doesn’t want to give the wrong impression to a woman so he sticks to having his plus one as a business arrangement. Believe me, it wouldn’t feel like a job at all, and you’d get crazy amounts of cash. Probably triple that of a normal salary.”

I stared at my children as wheels turned in my head. At this point, they took their shoes off and were splashing each other by jumping in the shallow water. I knew material things didn’t mean anything, but I had so many memories here. Was it wrong to want to keep this at any cost? Just for a bit longer?

After all, it was just being an escort to a wealthy man… correction, ruthless mobster that I stole from... to business events, right? I mean, even if I slept with him -

I immediately cut my train of thoughts.

Really, Bianca? You read plenty of articles and saw enough movies to know these kinds of arrangements entail a lot more. Plus, once he figured out William’s connection to me and the debt we owed him, he’d take me into the woods and put a bullet in my brain.

Just like inThe Godfather. Or was that inThe Sopranos? I couldn’t quite remember.

“Why don’t you hear him out and decide then?” Angie recommended. “He wants your phone number so he can contact you directly. Can I give it to him?”

Arianna and Hannah squealed in delight as they fell onto their knees. They were a complete mess, and it made me warm on the inside to see them so happy. They were all my happiness. I didn’t want them cooped up in a small apartment, in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Parents worked all night, stripped, sold their souls for their children… this wasn’t much different, was it? Besides, Nico Morrelli could be strictly looking for plus one for events and nothing more. Simple as that.

It would be good to get some money stashed up, for when we had to run. We’d have to run eventually.

Except that his touch burned and his eyes mesmerized me. And he would kill me if he knew we stole his money.

“No,” I finally told her. I wouldn’t be any good to my children dead. “I’m sorry, I can’t do it.”

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