Page 7 of Bound By Her Mafia Bosses

“You didn’t seem to have any problem with my last name while I was keeping you and Michael safe from Isabella. You let me kiss you back then, Jules. Hell, you liked it when I kissed you. I know you did, so don’t even try to deny it.”

“Oh, and how would you know that I liked being kissed by you, Bruno?” she asked.

He shot her his wolfish grin, knowing that what he was about to say to her was going to make her gasp again, but he didn’t care. “Because every time you climbed onto my lap, I could feel your heat through your clothes. You were wet for me, weren’t you, Jules? I could smell you and God, I wanted to taste you, baby.”

He was right, her gasp filled the car, this time, waking Zan up completely. “Fuck, you two are loud,” he breathed. “How is a guy supposed to get any sleep while you two are going at it?”

“Going at it?” Jules challenged. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”

“I mean, you both seem to be hung up on the past and it’s getting fucking old listening to the two of you. You like him, don’t you princess?” Zan asked. Lucky felt as though he was holding his breath waiting for Jules to admit to Zan that she did in fact like him. He should have known that her stubborn ass wouldn’t give in to either of them very easily.

“No,” she denied.

“You’re a fucking liar,” Zan shouted. Lucky barked out his laugh as he nodded his agreement. She was lying and there was no way of changing that. Jules was stubborn and she wouldn’t admit to anything she didn’t want to.

“What the fuck are you laughing about, Lucky? You like her too, don’t you?” Zan asked. Lucky looked over at Jules who sat quietly in the passenger seat. She had herself pressed up against the car door as if trying to keep her distance from both of them. The way that she looked at him made him want to admit that he was in love with her—he had been since those two weeks that they spent locked away with little Michael while he kept them safe from his family. But Jules had made it very clear that she didn’t feel the same way about him—she just said that she didn’t like him. He all but begged her to see him again once she and Michael were able to leave the safe house, and Jules turned him down flat. She said that she didn’t date guys like him. That a relationship with a Gallo family member wouldn’t work out for her since she worked for the Commissioner’s office. She even went as far as to call him a conflict of interest and he hated that she felt that way about him. All he wanted was a chance with her, but she denied him even that.

“That’s none of your business,” Lucky shouted. Jules looked about ready to jump out of her skin when he raised his voice, and he hated making her feel that way.

“Okay, well, if you won’t admit that you like Jules, I will,” Zan said. He sat forward on the backseat of the SUV and held out his hand to Jules. Lucky wanted to shout at him to stop, but he didn’t have the right to do that. Only Jules could tell Zan to stop, and she didn’t seem to be willing to do that.

He watched as Jules took Zan’s offered hand, smiling back at him over the seat. “What are you doing, Zan?” she questioned.

“I’m letting you know that I like you, Jules. I’ve been completely honest with you about who I am, and well, I’d like a chance with you, if you’re willing to give me one.”

“But you hardly know me,” Jules countered.

“That’s right, and what we do know about you, has been a lie,” Lucky reminded.

“This isn’t about you, Lucky,” Zan said. “It’s about me and Jules.”

“There is no you and Jules,” Lucky challenged. “You just fucking met her today. There wasn’t you and Jules in the past—that was me and Jules. You don’t know her, so how can you say that you like her?”

Zan shrugged and Lucky wanted to pull the car over on the shoulder of the highway and beat the shit out of the guy for even touching Jules. “I just do. I don’t know, but I just get a feeling about her, and I like her. It’s almost like I’m drawn to you, Jules.”

“Oh, so now you have fucking feelings for her?” Lucky spat.

“I think that you two need to stop this,” Jules insisted. “I mean, Lucky’s right. You can’t like me. You don’t even know me, Zan.”

“Okay, then how about we get to know each other?” Zan asked.

“Not a fucking chance,” Lucky shouted, causing Jules to jump again.

“Can you please stop shouting?” Jules asked.

“Fine, as soon as you admit that you have feelings for me, I’ll stop shouting,” Lucky insisted. He sounded like Jules’s nephew, bartering for things that he didn’t deserve like a fucking child. Hell, Michael was more mature than he was currently acting.

She barked out her laugh and released Zan’s hand. At least she wasn’t letting him touch her anymore. “How about that you admit that you have feelings for me, first?” she asked, turning the tables on him. If he told her that she was right and that he did have feelings for her, she might never let him live it down. But now was the only chance that he might ever get to tell her exactly how he felt about her.

“All right,” he breathed, “I have feelings for you, Jules. I have since we spent those two weeks together at the cabin with Michael. Hell, I fell in love with you during those two weeks and you pushing me out of your life, as soon as it was safe for you both to leave, hurt like hell. That’s why I reached out to you so many times. All the phone calls and me showing up at your door, begging you to answer should have given you that clue. Instead, you chose to push me out of your life and ignore me as though we never met. Do you have any idea how much you hurt me?” he asked. God, he sounded like a needy baby, but he just didn’t care. It was finally out there—everything he felt for Jules and so much more than he ever intended to tell her.

“You love me?” she asked.

“Jesus, I don’t know,” he whispered. “I’ve never felt this way about any other woman—ever. If this isn’t love, I have no idea what to call it.”

“See now, was that so hard to admit, big guy?” Zan asked. Lucky shot him a look in the rearview mirror and Zan had the foresight to actually back down. That was something his partner didn’t do often.

“I’m sorry, Bruno,” Jules breathed. It was too late for sorry, but he didn’t tell her that. The damage was done and there was nothing that could undo it.

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