Page 43 of Mafia Made (Crowned Criminals)

“There was nothing that I could do,” I said, ignoring the feeling deep in my gut. I had been the one to expedite Annie’s termination. Julia was right. I could have gotten Annie a chance to get her paperwork in order. Human Resources would have likely thought it had been a mix up on the temp agency’s part. After all, who the hell didn’t check an ID properly.

“Julia,” Annie said, exasperation in her tone. “Please let it go.”

“It’s gone,” Julia said, lifting her hands. “I’m going to go back to watching my show.” She lifted up a laptop.

“Let’s go to the other room,” Annie said. She reached out and grabbed me by the hand dragging me towards the one other room in the apartment.

“Hey!” Julia yelled out. “I’m not going to eavesdrop.”

I laughed and shook my head as I walked into what I assumed was Annie’s bedroom. “Sorry,” Annie said. “I wasn’t expecting to have company today.”

Looking around the room, I was wondering what Annie was talking about. The room was immaculate, and a stark contrast to the living room, which was clearly Julia’s space.

“I’m sorry that I came over without letting you know.” I was realizing now that that wasn’t the move that needed to be made. I wanted to catch Annie off-guard in order to learn more about her, but I was beginning to realize that I’d stepped into a space that she kept private. From the looks of her bedroom, she didn’t like people in her space.

“It’s fine,” Annie said. “What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out what I’d come here to give Annie. “Here,” I said, handing her a credit card.

“What’s this?” she asked, turning the black card over in her hand. “Why is my name on it?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” I told her.

“You already gave me money,” she said, handing the card back to me. “I don’t need anything else.”

I wasn’t sure how Annie was going to handle me handing her a credit card. On one hand, I knew that her situation was dire. After all, she’d refused to give me any agreement until I gave her a check. From what I knew, I suspected that that money was to hold her over until she could find another job, something else that we probably should have talked about.

“There’s the event on Friday night,” I reminded her. “I assume that you need something to wear for that.”

“I still have money left over.” I was sure that she did. I’d given her a hefty chunk.

“There’s going to be more dates. Marcel, my campaign manager, wants us to be seen in public. Lunches, coffee, the whole works.”

Annie blinked a few times. It was almost as though she were just now fully processing what I was saying to her. “Are you embarrassed by me?” she asked. There was hurt in her voice, and it made me cringe. Never before had I cared about how I made a woman feel. It wasn’t that I was heartless, I just had never spent enough time around them to develop much feeling.

“I’m not embarrassed, but we are going to be photographed together. People are going to expect…” I trailed off and ran a hand through my hair unsure of how to say this without upsetting Annie.

“It’s fine,” Annie said, throwing the card on the small table that was next to her bed. The room was sparsely furnished, and I wanted to tell Annie that she should use the card to get whatever she wanted. But I knew it was a moot point. Annie had wanted the initial payment to survive, but she wasn’t going to take anything from me that she didn’t feel like she’d earned.

“This isn’t going to work if you are fighting me at every turn.”

Annie’s blue eyes snapped towards me, and I could see anger in them. I wondered if she was going to snap at me. She rarely did. Annie was the type of person who always chose her words carefully, and while that would benefit her as a politician’s wife, it was something that I found wildly annoying.

“I took the card,” she said. “I’m not fighting you on it.”

“You aren’t going to use it.”

She crossed her arms around her chest and bit the side of her lip. A sign that I’d learned meant that she was frustrated with me. “I never said that.”

“It’s all over your face, and frankly, I’m not interested in your stubbornness.” I knew that I was toeing the line here, but Annie’s controlled nature was both irritating and fascinating. I wondered how far I could push her before she snapped.

But Annie just paused, took a deep breath, and I could almost see the anger leave her body as she turned those blue eyes back on me. “What time are you picking me up on Friday?” she asked.

My brow raised. I hadn’t expected Annie to fold so quickly, and it disappointed me. Yes, having a wife who was agreeable in this was probably for the best. But it was boring. I wasn’t looking for the toxic relationship my parents had had, but I wasn’t looking for a puppy either.

But now was not the time. “I’ll be here at 7,” I said. “It’s black-tie, so you’ll want something appropriate. I reached into my wallet and pulled out a business card. I’ve got a personal shopper at Saks if you want to use her.”

Annie nodded, but I noticed her fingers gripping the card tightly.

---