Page 23 of The Woman on the Jury

It was a set of dark eyes.

And that deep, smooth voice.

And the way his simple, casual touch had created sparks.

In my dreams, those sparks became fires.

Ones that threatened to consume me completely.

CHAPTER SIX

Cosimo

“Didn’t expect you to willingly show up here again so soon,” Lorenzo said as I walked into his Brownstone, finding him walking from the kitchen with a coffee in his hand.

“No offense, but I don’t want to be here either,” I said, getting a smirk out of him. “Oh, hey, Milo,” I said when Emilio came from the direction of the kitchen too.

It didn’t escape me that he was suddenly wearing one of his oversized belt buckles again.

“Cos,” he said, brows furrowing.

“Heard you have a girl now,” I said.

“Avery,” he agreed, and there was a ghost of a smile on his lips at just the mention of her name. “And two cats,” he said, shaking his head a bit.

“A Lombardi,” I said.

“A step-daughter of a Lombardi,” he clarified. “It’s a bit of a long story,” he added.

“Which I don’t have time for,” I said.

To that, I got a snort out of Emilio. “Charming as ever, huh, Cos?” he asked as he walked into the dining room.

“Did you expect house arrest to make memorefriendly?” I shot back.

“That’s fair,” he agreed.

“So, what’s going on? Can’t imagine you’d be here if you didn’t have to be.”

I was a little resentful at having to be, but I couldn’t exactly tell him that. I was on thin enough ice already.

“Yeah, I got a problem.”

“With your crew?” Lorenzo asked.

“Yes, but that’s being handled. I was at the bar today with Gav and a woman came rushing in. She was kinda desperate.”

“Must have been if she was coming to see your surly ass,” Emilio teased.

I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but something was different about him. He was more like the Emilio I’d grown up with. More lighthearted and easy-going.

He’d gone dark for a few years there.

Seemed like something had turned the light back on.

Or, maybe, someonehad.

“I know, right?” I agreed, not offended. I wasn’t the kind of guy most women would come to for help. “No, this was Juror Number Twelve from my trial,” I told them.

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