Page 16 of Forbidden Mobster's Daughter

The wedding planner chuckles. “How funny. Well, I’m excited you two are on this journey together. A support system is important.”

I could high-five her right now. “Oh, you have no idea. Especially under my circumstances, a support system is life-changing,” I say to her, but my gaze locks with his.

9

Matteo

“How about this one?”Sienna asks, retrieving yet another sexy lingerie from her bag. After the wedding planner, she insisted I take her to a boutique for shopping.

It was easier to ignore the items she picked when I was at the store and slipped into security mode, watching for suspicious movement, the ins and outs of the door, and the small details. Now, we’re in the living room of the guest house, the sun has gone down, and the atmosphere is a lot more intimate. I was sitting on the sofa, scrolling through my phone mindlessly, until she started this nonsense.

She even lit some candles.

She’s waving the sparkly purple set of lacy bra and underwear like a flag. “C’mon. Should I try it on?”

“What game are you playing?” I ask, impatience lacing my voice.

She fishes another lingerie from the bag. This one is a red leotard. “Well, do you think I’ll want to wear these for Francesco?”

The thought of her wearing anything sexy within ten feet of Francesco makes me want to hurl. A deep wave of heat washes over me. Fuck, I can’t worry about that. She’ll marry him, and I’ll dip out. End of story.

“Why can’t I have a bit of my fantasy come true? Why can’t I have my first time with someone who’s hot?”

My blood pressure rises. “Why me?”

She sets the lingerie aside and sits beside me on the couch. Of all the other places she could sit, she chose next to me. “Am I really in the position to go out and meet a random attractive man?”

I growl. The idea of her with any man burns a hole in my chest. I ball my fingers into a fist, wishing I could clock the imaginary face of a random man lucky enough to touch her. “I won’t let you.”

Mischief twinkles her eyes. “There you go. So you need to take one for the team.”

“What makes you think I’m so good in bed? I may be a huge disappointment for you,” I say casually, eager to dispel the tension brewing between us. In my work history, I’ve had to steal treasured information from slippery criminals and use different methods to make them talk. I cursed myself for a while for having to do it, for doing it, and in the beginning, had to wrestle that moral seesaw. Yet, keeping my hands off this sexy, curvy woman is an even harder task.

She nudges my elbow again, too close. “You’re right. I’d like to judge for myself. I mean, aren’t you a little attracted to me?”

I clear my throat. Should I tell her I’m having a planet-size hard on every morning, and I don’t even have the privacy to take care of it? Should I tell her that inhaling her feminine scent is grounds for an entire short-circuit in my body? “Attraction isn’t the problem.”

She claps her hands together, not buying it. “Maybe you’re just being nice. I get it. I’m inexperienced, clingy, and desperate.”

Sweat slicks my forehead. I motion to shuffle, then stand, but she rests her hand on my knee, and that simple touch sets my core on fire. Moving and thinking are impossible. “C’mon. You can do better than that.”

“I don’t know how. I’ve only kissed a couple of guys before on secret dates. I have no game,” she says.

Is it me, or did she erase the space between us? She was near me before, but now she’s dangerously close, her limbs brushing mine.

“Girls who look like you don’t need much game,” I say.

“How’s that working for you?”

“Do you realize what’s at stake for me if I sleep with you?”

“Fine. I just wanted to alleviate some of this… tension. I’ll figure it out.”

“Come here.” I impulsively pull her into a hug.

She melts into my arms, resting her head on my shoulder. I soak in this tremendous sensation, the warmth, the internal roar of my soul. I can’t fuck her, and I can’t date her. But this—this moment I enjoy. We’re drawn to each other, and whether or not she has a hidden agenda doesn’t matter right now.

Nothing else matters.

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