Page 51 of My Mafia Queen

“Have you visited the state before?” he asks, continuing to put stuff into his suitcase.

“No. Not really. This is my second trip to Las Vegas. So no.”

I haven’t been on a vacation either.

Not that I remember.

“Do you love spending time outdoors?”

“I love everything.”

‘About you…’I almost have a slip of the tongue, letting out more than I should.

“Good. Now go pack your things.”

I spin around, and then I remember I should at least know some details about where we’re going.

“Can you tell me where we’re spending the night?”

“Reno or South Lake Tahoe. If you’re not hurrying, we might spend the night on the road, stargazing,” he says before I quickly spin around and go to my room.

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” I say, finally cracking a smile without him seeing it.

Moments later, I enter my room and dig into my closet while he talks on the phone.

I can’t make out much of his conversation, but he’s giving them directions.

I can tell from the tone of his voice.

He talks differently with them than when he talks to me.

His voice is stern and clipped when communicating his wishes to his crew.

For the past twelve hours or so, I’ve forgotten who he really is.

He’s never shown me that man, the one capable of anything. He didn’t need to.

And maybe he didn’t want to. He just wanted to step out of that character and also didn’t want to scare me.

That man couldn’t get close to me, while the tender man in him knew how to get closer to me.

I feel safe with him, and in return, I help him take a break from his brutish life. And maybe this is one of our secrets.

I liked how he was last night. There wasn’t time to envision how things would happen for us.

I didn’t have time to imagine myself sleeping with him.

I knew I wanted him, and I knew it would happen at some point, despite of what he’d said to me in the restaurant downstairs by the pool.

The thought had popped into my head, and there was a lot of anticipation, but my life had been crazy since I left and went home, so figuring out how he was in private or in bed wasn’t something I could focus on.

When it happened last night, I was ready for anything, which helped me a lot. It was another reason why I appreciated that he was gentle with me.

He showed me how much I needed it. And I don’t know if this is something he usually does. Maybe I have inspired him to be that way.

At least, I hope so.

It would make me feel good about myself.

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