Page 39 of Mafia Maiden

I was dressed casually in an oversized sweater and biker shorts, and I could feel the sun shining on my face. It was warm and wonderful, and for a moment, I forgot all about my problems.

Of course, the universe could not allow that moment to continue for long. “Katarina?” I turned, surprised to see Isaac Petrov. He was in running gear, and his blonde hair was stuck with sweat to his face.

“Isaac!” I exclaimed.

He gave me his easy, all-American smile. “Fancy meeting you here.”

I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “You aren’t stalking me, are you?”

I asked the question as though it were a joke, but there was a part of me that was being serious. I hoped that he was not stalking me, but it struck me as odd that I was suddenly running into every mafia made man in the entirety of New York.

Isaac laughed. “Nope,” he said. “I always run through the park. Rain or shine.” He looked at me coyly. “Maybe, I should be asking you if you are stalking me.”

This made me laugh.

“Nope,” I said. “It’s a nice day. I thought that I would just walk around for a while. Get a little sun on my face.”

My grandmother would have cringed if she knew I said that. Freckles were apparently the worst thing a woman could have. It was why Natasha was pale as a ghost, and I frequented tanning beds. I liked the more olive look, and my fair skin needed it so that I did not look like the color of a sheet.

“Would you like a hot dog?”

“What?” I asked, with a chuckle.

Isaac shrugged. “Would you want a hot dog? I always get one after my run. It’s like a treat.”

I probably should have said no. There was something going on with Leo and me, and I knew that Leo and Isaac had a difficult relationship, so I knew that I should probably steer clear.

Naturally, I was not going to.

“A hot dog sounds great,” I said. “I’m starving.”

Isaac gave me a wide smile. “Great!”

Isaac walked towards the closest cart and grabbed the two of us hot dogs. I loaded mine with ketchup and took a large bite savoring the flavor.

“My grandmother would murder you if she knew that you bought me this.” I said holding it up with a chuckle.

Isaac released a laugh as he bit into his own dog, practically demolishing the entire thing in one second.

“I heard that she is quite a formidable woman.” I could not tell if he was being serious or not, and I felt my lips turning down in a frown. I did not want to talk about my grandmother. There was nothing that could make my mood turn as suddenly as the discussion of my grandmother.

“I also heard that she’s a huge pain in the ass.”

I choked on the piece of hot dog I was chewing on as I started laughing uncontrollably. “I can’t believe that you just said that.” I swallowed the piece of food that I had been chewing on as I continued to chuckle at what was said.

Isaac shrugged slightly and gave a lopsided smile. It made his already handsome face even moreso. “I have not had the benefit of meeting her, but it’s well known that she’s a raging bi—”

I placed my hands over his mouth to stop him from saying anything more. “Stop,” I gasped out, my side in stitches. I could feel tears streaming down my eyes. “You are going to kill me.”

He laughed as he sat next to me on the bench I collapsed against. “No one would ever say that in front of you, of course.”

“I don’t know why. You only have to spend about three minutes in the same room as me and my grandmother to know that the two of us don’t get along.”

Isaac chuckled. “She is kind of a lot.”

“That’s an understatement,” I muttered under my breath.

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