Page 37 of Seductive Desires

“Oh my god! Mateo!”

He was flat on his back, blinking slowly. I dropped onto my knees next to him, looking him over frantically. The room was silent for about ten seconds before everyone burst out laughing. I buried my face into my hands. Great, I went from not reactive enough to too reactive in the span of a couple hours.

I felt his long fingers wrap around my wrists, pulling my hands away. He was sitting up, grinning at me. “Mariposa, if you wanted to repeat this morning, you only had to ask.”

I slumped, trying to hide my face again. It wasn’t just my face that burned this time. It traveled down my neck until it felt like my whole body was blushing. Mateo wouldn’t let me hide again though. He chuckled, holding my hands in his, kissing my knuckles.

“What happened this morning?” Gabi and Jo had wandered over and were standing above us.

“She broke the rules.”

My mouth dropped open. “Shut up!”

“How did she break the rules?” Jo queried.

I squeezed my eyes shut. This is not happening right now.

“By attacking me,” Mateo snickered, finally tugging me against him so I could bury my face into his chest.

“How is that against the rules?”

Mateo quickly explained about how a simple request led to a competition which apparently continued even after a month of being apart. Jo and Gabi were giggling when he finished. I pulled away, scowling at him.

“That sounds fun. I’m going to make Liam play that with me,” Jo snickered. Gabi nodded eagerly. Jo shot me a sly look.

“So, you lost huh? That’s why you were hiding?”

I waved my hand dismissively, pulling myself to my feet. “I plead temporary insanity.”

They both laughed. Offering Mateo my hand, I helped pull him back to his feet. He didn’t let go when he stood. Instead, he yanked me against him, leaning to whisper in my ear.

“You drive me crazy too, sweet mariposa. Especially the noises you make.” A shiver ran through me and I frowned. He didn’t play fair.

I shook my head. “What are you doing here? You aren’t dressed for a workout.”

“Which is code for: she wants to see you with your shirt off more,” Jo whispered loudly. When Mateo raised his eyebrows at me, I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t you have a workout you should be doing?”

She stuck her tongue out at me before wandering back to the weights where Jaime was waiting. Mateo wrapped himself further around me and I couldn’t help but sigh. James’s exercise was effective but I was really tense and it felt good to be able to relax in his arms.

“I’m just checking in, mariposa. I will be working upstairs with O’Connor and Volkov, so I won’t be far.”

I thought guys were supposed to be bad at communication. Mateo was not that guy. Especially now that I know what he does, he’s an open book. Why am I pushing him away again?

Liam poked his head into the gym. “Ramirez, there’s something I need you to take a look at.” Oh right. Big terrifying job with dangerous people. Like the mob boss who was currently housing me.

Mateo kissed the top of my head before releasing me, following Liam. I watched him go, frowning.

“So, are you playing hard to get or are you really not interested in that guy?” Gabi was taking a water break, coming to stand by my side. I didn’t look away from the door though.

“I… I’m not sure. It's… complicated and with everything that’s going on, it’s overwhelming to try and process it all. Which is why he agreed to wait.”

She pursed her lips, tilting her head. “I get that. I mean, things with Dmitriy didn’t start off easy, but that’s why we have the Mafia Wives Club. We can vent and figure out the hard stuff together so we don’t get so overwhelmed. You can talk to us, you know. We won’t judge you. Even if you break the rules,” she winked, bumping my hip. I smiled. It might be good to have someone to talk to. I’ve been wanting to call Carlos but if he knew what was going on, he might feel inclined to come home and it wasn’t safe.

“Thanks, that means a lot.”

“Ladies! Enough chit chat. Hit the treadmills and then we can call it a day!” James called out. Jo and Gabi both whined but I just shrugged. Running, I could do. Hopefully he wouldn’t be cruel and have people try and grab me while I’m on the treadmill. That seems unsafe.

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