Page 81 of His Property

“I bet,” I say, glancing to my left at a large poppy field in the distance. The sun is setting, but it’s still easy to see the men in the distance traipsing around with AKs.

Victor opens his mouth, but the door flies open, and his attention is pulled away. An attractive woman with straight brown hair hanging past her shoulders appears, and I vaguely recognize her as Emily. She looks different without her jaw dropped.

“Hey!” she says, beaming as she throws her arms around Victor. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“I invited myself. It would have been strange for me to turn down my own invitation.”

Emily pulls back and rolls her eyes. “You know, for a minute there, I thought I missed you.” She moves her eyes to me and smiles. “You must be Mae.”

Emily juts her hand out, and I take it.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I say.

“The pleasure’s mine. Please, come in.”

Emily ushers us inside, and a heavenly scent wafts from the kitchen. I breathe it in while I glance around at the charming home, one apparently belonging to a capo. This is surreal.

A handsome man appears from the kitchen and smiles as he walks this way. The smile is friendly enough, but the bruises on his face make him appear threatening. There’s something in his eyes that sends the hairs raising on the back of my neck, and I try not to think about how the man might have gotten his name.

“Blade,” he says, holding out his hand toward me.

I grab it and swallow as I shake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Mae.”

He tips his chin and pulls his hand away.

My eyes zero in on his swollen nose. I haven’t asked Victor where he got the bruises on his face because I thought I wouldn’t want to know, but now my curiosity is piqued.

“Blade’s usually a lot prettier without his nose all fucked up,” Victor says. “Don’t stare, he’s self-conscious.”

My cheeks heat, and I look away from Blade. I could kill Victor right now. “Sorry, I didn’t—”

“You’re a fucking idiot, Victor,” Blade says, his tone hinting at annoyance.

“I’d be nicer if you hadn’t almost gotten my head blown off today.”

Emily’s head whips toward Blade, and her eyes narrow. “What?”

Victor winks when we lock eyes.

Blade clenches his jaw and glares at Victor, while Emily glances between the men. “What does he mean you almost got his head blown off?” she asks. “You said it was a small fight.”

“It was,” Blade says.

Emily moves her eyes to Victor and raises her brow.

Victor shrugs. “I don’t know. Personally, I thought it was more of an attack. We were having a decent enough conversation, and your boy here randomly punches me. Don Settimo walked in while I was defending myself.”

“You are so full of shit.” Blade rolls his eyes, but his shoulders relax and his tone doesn’t hint at any irritation.

“Isn’t that what happened?” Victor asks, no trace of disdain in his tone either. I don’t really know what they’re talking about, but it’s coming off as friendly banter.

“Whathappenedis I saved your ungrateful ass.”

“Saved?” Emily asks. “Was Settimo mad?”

Blade meets her eyes and shrugs. “Not really.”

She squints at him. “What do you mean ‘not really?’”

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