Page 106 of The Woman on the Jury

“Oh, was it Jeffrey?” she asked.

“It was!”

“He’s the best. He knows how to style me. I had this one other older lady who seemed to think that because I am plus-sized, I should just put tents over my body all the time. So, food?” she asked, waving toward the island. “I think we have enough to share,” she added, looking to the guys.

“I, ah, I gotta go see my ma,” Miko said.

“I’ll leave you two to talk for a bit,” Cosimo said. “I don’t think I need to say this, but just in case your stubborn ass forgot… stay in the penthouse,” he said, his hand tracing my lower back as he passed on his way to the door.

“Okay then,” Lauren said as soon as the door clicked closed. “Girl, what thefuck?” she said.

“I know. I know. It’s a lot.”

“Oh, I’m not even talking about the attacks and private security,” she said. “We’ll get there. We have to start with… holy crap… the way that man looks at you.”

“The way he looks at me?” I asked as I grabbed plates.

“Like you’re the only person in the entire world that he likes,” she said, taking a plate from me.

“That’s… probably not that far off,” I admitted. “He’s… difficult.”

“Obviously, or you wouldn’t have run to my place. I mean, not for nothing, because I love my place, but no way in hell would I willingly leave this place. Did you see his tub?” she asked. “I mean, he would need to learn to sacrifice half of his closet. Well, maybe two-thirds,” she mused.

“Laur, he’s dating me, not you,” I reminded her, smiling huge.

To that, she let out a dramatic sigh as she opened the carton of Chinese food. “Listen, let a girl fantasize, will you?” she said, picking up the carton, and shaking some rice onto her place before handing it to me. “So, he got you a private shopper. We have to start there.”

“He got me an entire wardrobe. Minus bras and pajamas.”

“I mean, obviously,” she agreed. “You’re gorg. Of course he wants you nearly naked all the time. “If my girls sat as high as yours do, I wouldn’t wear a bra either.”

“You can’t compare when yours are twice as big as mine,” I said, shaking my head.

“I had to lift my shirt to get an EKG at my yearly physical. I swear the little baby doctor looked shellshocked when he saw the girls in their balconette,” she said, patting one of her boobs. “Anyway. Designer clothing haul. Score. Love that for you.”

“He went down on me in the dressing room,” I admitted, watching Lauren’s mouth fall open in what I could only call joyful scandal.

“You little slut. I love it. Is he good with his mouth? He carried himself like he knows what he’s doing between a woman’s thighs.”

“He is good. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”

“So he’s stupidly good-looking, rich, generous, and a good lover? And you’re running away because…”

“Because we weren’t communicating,” I admitted.

“It sucks to have to be all mature in grown-up relationships, right? Sometimes I miss the games and dramatics of relationships in our teens. But that was all surface, y’know? If you want to dig deeper than that, you have to have the hard talks and rip open the old wounds. I figure a guy growing up in the mafia has plenty of those.”

“Yeah, it seems like his father was physically and emotionally abusive. Which has made this thing with us… challenging for him. But he said he wants to try.”

“That’s a lot from a powerful man like him,” she said, grabbing some sweet & sour chicken, then opening the box for the pizza.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “He’s an asshole, but he’s… he’s nice. To me.”

“That’s like the ultimate goal, isn’t it?” she asked, passing me a container with pasta and meatballs in it. “To be a strong man’s weakness? I could swoon just thinking about it,” she said, pressing a hand to her heart. “I’m so incredibly happy for you and not at all jealous,” she said, making me laugh.

“I can ask if any of his cousins are single. There’s like a million of these guys. What?” I asked as her smile went lascivious.

“Just… having a moment,” she said, closing her eyes. “Imaging myself with half a dozen of those yummy guys,” she added. “Oh, that’s right, baby, help him take off his shirt for mama,” she said, making me toss a noodle at her.

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