Page 105 of The Woman on the Jury

“Okay,” I agreed, finished putting my clothes on, and walking toward him, pressing my hands into his chest. “Thank you,” I said, leaning up, and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

The look on his face at that was freaking priceless.

Kind of confusion mixed with shock and just a small bit of something akin to bashfulness.

Oh, it was going to be fun to see him soften a little.

Even if it was only for me.

But first, I had to do some damage control.

“Okay. I need to go and explain all of this to Lauren,” I said.

“You haven’t told her anything?” he asked.

“And how would I do that when you wouldn’t let me go get my phone?” I shot back, giving him a raised brow look.

“Touché,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist as he led me to the door, pausing only to grab the garbage bag that he tossed down the chute in the hall before we took the elevator down. “We can take a trip there tomorrow,” he offered. “Grab any of the shit you want. Everything else can be thrown on the curb,” he told me.

“Ah, no,” I said, shooting him a scrunched brow look. “I’m not getting rid of anything. Just in case.”

“In case, what? In case we don’t work out? Sorry to break it to you, baby, but you’re fucking stuck with me now,” he told me as the elevator met the lobby. “No one gets to see a softer side of me and lives. So, since I can’t kill you, you’re just gonna have to put up with me. Forever.”

If this was him starting to try, well, I was starting to think that maybe forever with him wouldn’t be so bad.

“Sorry, guys,” I said, wincing when I saw my guards from that morning standing outside. “I didn’t get you in a ton of trouble, did I?

“They got lucky that you are safe,” Cosimo said, using his big-scary-mafia-capo voice. It was absurd how attractive I found it.

There was a man I didn’t know standing near the car. Tall, dark, handsome, but with a hard gaze that reminded me a bit of Cosimo.

“This is Silvano,” Cosimo said, gesturing toward him. “My brother,” he added. “Sil, this is Halle.”

“You’re the reason my ma is going to be on my ass from now until eternity, huh?” he asked, sighing hard as he shook his head, then climbed into the driver’s seat.

“I’d say he grows on you,” Cosimo said. “But I’d be lying. Come on, you in the middle,” he said, holding the door open for me.

Then, flanked with Joey on one side of me, and Cosimo on the other, we headed back to the penthouse.

With Cosimo’s hand squeezing my thigh the entire way.

We made it up to the penthouse to find the entire island covered in food.

“She made me go pick up all the food she ordered for you two,” Miko said when he saw me looking at it.

“Where is she?” I asked, not seeing her anywhere.

Miko reached up, rubbing the back of his neck. “Snooping,” he admitted. “Said she was gonna make sure the boss doesn’t have a cage or torture devices anywhere in here.”

Yeah, that sounded like her.

“Lauren!” I yelled, walking toward the stairs. “Stop being nosy. I’ve already checked out the whole place!” I called, turning to look at Cosimo who had his brows raised, but his lips were tipped up.

“Okay, no torture devices,” Lauren said, walking out of Cosimo’s bedroom. “But a bag on the bathroom counter with a box of condoms in it. We love a safe king,” she said as I felt my face go on fire. “Oh, relax. We’re all adults here. We all bang. I know I do. I knowyoudo. I know youdo him,” she said, jerking her chin toward Cosimo. “And, well, looking like you look, I’m assuming you get plenty of pussy too,” she said to Miko who, incredibly, looked a little bashful at her bluntness.

“So, this,” she said as she got to the lower landing, and waved a hand down my body, “is a really nice outfit.”

“He took me to Saks,” I admitted. “I had a personal shopper,” I added, voice low.

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