Page 104 of Carnal

I take a swig of beer and admit, "I convinced him I had a job for you, but I needed to oversee it. I also said it was important to do it today. So I told him he could give you a quick trip wherever you wanted to go and also work on the plane while I bugged the place."

"And he fell for that?" she questions, her voice full of doubt.

"Yep."

"What am I supposed to be working on?"

"Helping me code the new shipments. I don't trust my new assistant yet, and Dante knows how important it is to be correct," I add.

"So, where are the forms?" She glances around the room.

I grin, confessing, "In my safe. I did them yesterday. And don't breathe a word to Dante that I told you about bugging the plane. He'll go apeshit."

She nods. "Understood. Can I see what we're using to bug this plane?"

My gut churns. I reach into my coat pocket and pull out three tiny metal pieces.

She picks one and holds it in the air, squinting. "It's so small."

"Yeah. It'll pick up a whisper."

"Wow! It's amazing what technology can do. Plus, you'd have to be looking for it to find it," she adds.

"Exactly."

She puts it back in my hand. "So, where are we planting these things?"

My chest tightens. Everything about this feels wrong, but Massimo isn't acting like himself. If he ever finds out, he's going to kill us. I glance around and assert, "We need one in each of the three rooms." I point to the chair across from us. "That seat will work, probably five or six in the front cabin, and then the bedroom." I rise and go to seat eight then take a safety pin out of my pocket. I put the record button in the on position and crouch down to attach it to the bottom of the seat.

"Should I do the one in front?" Pina asks.

"No. I'll do it when Danika's back here talking to you. I don't want her to see anything," I reveal, feeling more guilty.

"Understood," Pina replies, then rises. She steps in front of me, slides her hands up my chest, and laces her fingers behind my neck. She looks up at me, smiling. "Hi."

Our disagreement from the previous night races back to me. I blurt out, "I'm sorry I couldn't stay for dinner."

She nods. "I know. I'm sorry about how I acted."

I circle my arms around her, feeling vulnerable but admitting, "You realize you're all I think about, right?"

She bites on her smile. The gold in her eyes flares against the brown.

My heart swells. What I thought in the beginning was just an itch I needed to scratch has proved false. I can't imagine her not being mine anymore. Every moment I spend with her only confirms it further, even when we have our disagreements.

She reveals in a soft voice, "You're all I think about, too."

My pulse pounds hard in my neck. I blurt out, "I love you."

She inhales sharply. Time seems to stand still as tension builds between us.

I add, "Don't freak out."

She swallows hard. "I'm not. I love you, too."

Adrenaline shoots through me. I tug her closer, grinning like a schoolboy. "You do?"

She nods. "Yes."

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