Page 47 of Of Grief And Gratitude

She sighed, and her lashes lowered to hide her expression. “You say that, but you already fired the first shot.”

I regretted blackmailing Riona more and more every day because it kept coming between us. Guilt ate at me whenever she reminded me of how I’d hurt her. I maneuvered us to a quiet corner, slipping behind the white curtains that concealed another room of the house. Her chest rose rapidly when I held her against the wall, my hand circling her neck and forcing her gaze to mine.

I stared at her intently, trying to come up with the right words. “I’ll give you the fucking memory card.”

“What?” Her question was barely more than a breath as her brows furrowed.

“I shouldn’t have held it over your head.” Apologies didn’t come easy, and I avoided them whenever possible. She deserved mine, though. “I won’t any longer. Please, just continue with this for a little longer.”

Riona searched my face, her mouth falling open, before she shook free of my hold and answered, “Okay. But only because I like your mother.”

I pulled her back to me, clasping the nape of her neck and pressing my forehead to hers, my lips grazing hers. “Thank you.”

It took an incredible amount of self-control to withdraw without kissing her, but I managed to contain my desire and lead us back to the party, impatient for the evening to be over. When I caught Riona covering a yawn with her hand, I decided it was time to take her home.

I brushed my palm down her back, letting my hand rest on the curve of her waist, and leaned close. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

She gave me a grateful nod and covered another yawn.

“It’s getting late,” I said, making an excuse to my family and those around us. They offered us their goodbyes, and my mother drew Riona to her in a lingering hug as she whispered something in her ear. My date nodded, and I caught tears glistening in Mamma’s eyes as she released Riona and kissed my cheeks. “Is everything okay?”

“Perfect, figlio mio.” She patted my cheek. “Take care of her.”

“I will, Mamma,” I assured her with a last kiss before I led Riona away.

Riona sighed as we stepped from the heat of the party into the cold air outside like she hadn’t been able to breathe all evening. A slight sheen of sweat glistened on her brow as I led her to the waiting car.

“Have you eaten dinner?” I asked when we’d climbed into the limo.

Riona leaned her head against the seat, melting into the soft black leather. “I had coffee before the party.”

“Coffee is not a meal,” I said reproachfully, tapping her thigh. “We’ve been over this before.”

Riona rolled her eyes. “I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, sure.” I pulled out my phone and dialed, holding up a finger to shush Riona when she asked what I was doing. I ordered enough food from Angelo’s to feed us for a couple of meals and directed the driver to stop by the restaurant on the way back to Riona’s place.

Armed with bags filled with boxes of pasta and pastries, I followed Riona to her doorstep, where she didn’t object to me entering behind her. She immediately kicked her heels off by the door and groaned with relief. “Thank fuck.”

“Not a fan of social events?” I asked, chuckling as I took over her kitchen counter with our late dinner.

She meandered after me, her dress brushing the floor without the heels to give her more height. “I’d rather be playing pool in jeans and sipping whiskey.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” I opened a box and inhaled the Italian spices when it revealed cheesy ravioli, then shrugged out of my tuxedo jacket, hanging it over a dining chair. “You were amazing tonight. Everybody loved you. Perfect arm candy for these guns.”

I grabbed her hand as she passed behind me and held it against my bicep as I flexed. She scoffed and shook her head. “Maybe a sub-compact.”

“Really, now?” I spun and trapped her against the counter, tickling her sides and learning a weakness I could use to my advantage when she curled to protect herself as she giggled uncontrollably. “I’ll show you guns.”

“Romeo, please!” she gasped, wriggling to escape my onslaught.

I was instantly hard, forgetting all about tickling her as my cock pressed insistently against the zipper of my tuxedo pants. We froze, our eyes locking for a long moment before I remembered Riona hadn’t eaten in hours. I cleared my throat and backed away, pointing to the boxes. “Food. And maybe some whiskey to help unwind.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” she said absently, pulling forks from a drawer and grabbing a bottle of Irish whiskey. “Do you mind saving the dishes?”

“Fine by me.” I took a fork from her and dug into the food while she popped the cork from the whiskey and took a couple of long swigs before handing the bottle to me. I downed some and returned to the food, watching as Riona sampled some of each dish before zeroing in on dessert.

She moaned when she slipped a forkful of torta pistocchi past her lips. “Oh, this. I could eat this for every meal.”

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