Page 40 of Entangled Mafia Princess

“Does your dad want a marriage or a merger?” I ask. “Or are they one in the same?”

“They’re the same for him!”

“So princess doesn’t want to do what daddy wants?”

“Hell, no. I’ve already done a lot of what he’s wanted. I went to Notre Dame because of him. I would have preferred to go to UC Merced. Closer to Mammoth Mountain.”

Even though I had told her this wasn’t a date, I end up asking date-like questions. I tell myself that the more I know her, the better my position will be.

“You like to ski or snowboard?”

Her eyes gleam. “Snowboard. I love it. I’ve done a few snowboard cross events, and it’s amazing.”

“You like speed.”

“It’s fucking exciting.”

Between the BDSM and snowboarding, I wonder if she’s an adrenaline junkie.

I take the chicken from the server and head back to the alley.

“You a cat person?” Casey asks me.

“No. I own a dog.”

“What kind?”

“She has some German Shepherd. Not sure about the rest. She was a stray I picked up.”

“Awww, how nice of you.”

“No tag, no microchip,” I say as I recall how easily Athena took to me, like she knew she was being rescued.

After setting down the chicken, I lean against the wall and wait.

Casey leans against the wall next to me. “When I was a girl, I wanted a kitten soooo bad. But my father doesn’t like animals, so we never got one.”

“You’re an adult now.”

“They don’t allow pets in the dorms, but I think I might try off-campus housing next year. Then I can get a cat. If my parents let me go off campus. My dad thinks the dorms are safer.”

“Why is safety such a big concern for him? Plenty of college students live off campus.”

“He’s just…paranoid.”

“You always do what your parents want you to do?”

“Well, I’m not marrying Kenton.”

“Yeah?”

She hesitates. “My dad has a…stressful job, I guess, and a unique one. And my mom has bouts of anxiety. Sometimes the smallest thing my brother or I did would send her into an episode. So I try not to upset them.”

“I’m gonna guess they don’t know about Club de Sade?”

Her eyes widen. “Hell, no!”

“Is that your way of secretly rebelling against your parents?”

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