Page 35 of Seductive Desires

The thought of leaving the safety of Liam’s well guarded compound scared the crap out of me. Jo shook her head.

“There’s a gym down the hall. You’ll have to actually leave your room though,” she pointed out, grinning.

“Shut up.” I peeked out the door again before nodding at her. “Okay, let’s go.”

She was walking too slow on purpose now, leisurely strolling down the hall past the entryway. At one point she stopped to check on her shoe laces. I had to grab her arm and tug her forward. She cackled, linking her arm with mine. We were just walking into the gym when I saw Mateo leave his room. I yelped, shoving Jo inside and pressing myself against the wall. The room was vast, treadmills facing huge windows in the back. There were mirrors all along one side and weights in front of them. The middle of the room was one giant mat and on the far wall was every exercise machine you could think of.

“You guys are into some weird stuff,” Jo commented as she sat on an exercise bench.

“Says the queen of getting it on in public spaces.”

The new voice belonged to Gabriella Volkov, Dmitriy’s wife. She was curvy and petite with wild red hair and mischievous green eyes. She grinned at Jo, who was sticking her tongue out at her. When I finally peeled myself away from the wall to join them, she thrust her hand out at me, giving me an exuberant handshake. “Hey! I’m Gabi. So, you’re the new member of the Mafia Wives Club, huh?”

“The what?”

She frowned at Jo. “You haven’t told her?”

Jo pursed her lips. “I thought she might not be ready. It was a rough day yesterday.”

Gabi winced. “Yeah, I heard about that. I’m so sorry that happened to you. But you’re okay, right?”

For the most part. The nightmare was terrifying and my throat still hurt. “I’m fine. What club?”

“The Mafia Wives Club!” they both shouted. When I gave them a blank look, they started talking over one another trying to explain. Eventually, Jo won, because apparently she made it up.

“It’s a club we invented. Wives of the dangerous men of Chicago all gathered together so we can eventually take over the world,” she bragged.

“But for right now, it’s just me and Jo meeting up to drink vodka and complain about our hardheaded alpha asshole husbands,” Gabi added. “Since you’re with Mateo, you’re our newest member!”

“I am not marrying Mateo, we barely know each other.”

“You are in love with a dangerous criminal, it still counts,” Jo insisted.

“I never said I was in love with him.”

They really shouldn’t say stuff like that, it would only encourage Mateo and he was already a distraction.

They both looked at each other, giving each other knowing looks. I crossed my arms, raising my chin. “I am not in love with Mateo.”

“Sounds like denial to me,” Gabi remarked. Jo nodded, raising her eyebrow at me.

“So, why were you hiding from him this morning?”

Nope. I was not telling them about that. I felt my face burn as they both gave me matching cheshire grins.

Luckily, James showed up along with Jaime and a few other guys I didn’t know. He turned to me quickly, waving me over.

“Mateo is in the hall, he wants to chat for a second. I told him to make it quick.”

I frowned, making my way out into the hall where Mateo leaned against a wall, looking a little grumpy. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, mariposa. I need to run to the hotel for a little while but I won’t be long. I did not want to leave without letting you know first.”

Well, that was sweet. I felt better than yesterday but the idea of him leaving still made me a little antsy. I wanted him here where he was safe. What if Stephen used the picture in the magazine and went after Mateo?

He must have seen the apprehension in my face because he pushed off the wall, pulling me against him. I wrapped myself around him, tipping my chin up when he cupped my face.

“I will be safe, mariposa. Amari will be with me the entire time, as well as a few more of my team. I won’t be gone long.” He pressed his lips lightly to mine before he grinned at me. “Someone decided to dirty my clothes and I need to change.”

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