Page 7 of Secret Mafia Daddy

He hangs up and I’m free to do my job again. I roll my head around on my shoulders. Fun time is over, it’s time to focus on what I’m here for again.

I scan the area just to keep an eye on ole Claudio while he pigs out, my eyes wandering once in a while to keep me aware of my surroundings.

As I sweep the room for the fourth time since I got here, I find a pair of familiar silver eyes, flitting past mine before I catch the glare of recognition in them.

She promptly walks right out of the coffee shop, leaving behind her little friend. Claudio still has a lot to eat in front of him, and his routine tells me he’ll be here harassing the nice waitress a while still.

I get up and push past everyone, going out to the parking lot to find her.

“Wait up, babydoll,” I drawl, and she whirls around to face me.

“Don’t call me that. You don’t even know me,” she hisses, walking backward toward her car.

“Come on, don’t be that way,” I fake-whine, following her. “You can’t ditch your little friend, can you? Something tells me you’re her ride.”

She huffs out a breath. “Maybe not, but I can lock myself in my car to get away from you,” she seethes.

“Why are you so mad at me, doll?” I ask her as she unlocks her car and yanks open the door.

“Who says I’m mad?” she all-but growls.

I chuckle. “Is it that I didn’t call you back? After? You know, sometimes, I forget—”

“After what?” she asks. “I keep telling you, I don’t know you.”

I look at her curiously, tilting my head. Maybe she’s right. I don’t know the exact lines of her face, but there’s something about those silver eyes…

Maybe we never met, maybe we did, but with everything in me, I know her! Fuck. What is the deal with her? Who is she? Why can’t I just let her go, ignore her? Forget her?

“Just tell me your name,” I plead, but she shuts the door and locks it, staring straight ahead and putting on some booming music.

I sigh and walk back into the diner.

The waitress glares at me. Maybe she thought I’d stitch her up.

“What? I wouldn’t run on you, sweets,” I whisper and wink at her as I head to my table again.

I frown thinking about the girl outside. I remember those silver eyes, I just know it, but I can’t place them.

I’m going to figure it out come hell or high-water, though.

4

CATARINA

“Where the hell did you run off to?” Alyssa asks, her tone half-annoyed, half-curious.

“Nowhere,” I say. “Just out to the car.”

“Before we even got our breakfast burritos?” She brandishes one at me and I grab it from her, unwrapping it and taking a bite. I’m ravenous.

“Wasn’t hungry,” I lie, taking another big bite.

She snorts. “You’re so full of shit, Catarina DeLuca.”

“Takes one to know one,” I shoot back, and she laughs, loud and open.

I smile. I love spending time with Alyssa, even if she gets me into trouble half the time. Hell, I’d been out with her that fateful night, come to think of it.

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