Page 49 of Fallen Hearts

Smiling, I had to admit that was not such a bad plan. “Maybe I’d be more tactful than that,” I admitted. “But instead of apologizing, you could say, ‘I would like to fix this error.’”

“But isn’t that apologizing?”

“No, it’s you taking ownership without any remorse.”

“Hmmm. Semantics, I think.”

“To you, maybe.”

“You’re a hard man, Mason. Has anyone ever told you that?”

“Many people.”

“I’ll learn your weakness yet.” With that, Pia stalked off to the bathroom, muttering something about kittens.

You are my weakness.

A scary fucking thought indeed.

17

PIA

“Ooh, this place is so nice,” Sophia said, echoing my sentiments as we walked into the restaurant. The interior was cozy and inviting, perfectly capturing the essence of Italy. With the warm glow of pendant lights and smell of wood-fired pizza and freshly baked bread, Bella Luna was already a winner. As long as the food was good.

“Very clean, too.” Mom led Sophia and me to the hostess stand.

“Of course you’d notice that.” Sophia rolled her eyes at me.

“Reservation for five under Russo,” I said. “We have two more joining us.”

“Sure thing, right this way,” she said, grabbing five menus and leading us to a booth not far from the pizza oven. I hadn’t planned on getting pizza, but that smell might have sealed the deal.

“Your waitress will be right with you.”

“Excellent customer engagement and”—Mom opened her menu as we sat—“menu presentation.”

“You can take a woman out of her restaurant, but you can’t take the restaurant out of the woman,” my sister said as five waters were poured for us.

“That makes no sense,” I said, trying not to look at the door. We’d left mid-afternoon to walk around town and shop, so the guys were meeting us here.

“Yes it does.”

“No,” I said, distracted, “it doesn’t.”

“You know what else makes no sense? You staring at the door but pretending not to have a crush on your boss.”

“Sophia,” my mother chastised. “Enough teasing your sister.”

“I’m not teasing her. Just telling the truth. It’s so obvious.”

Last night I refused to talk about Mason, but Sophia had been relentless about him all day. If it were that obvious to her after just one weekend, there was zero chance Parker and Beck hadn’t noticed as well.

And then there was Mason. After the bedroom incident, I was certain he knew as well. And maybe even returned my interest.

There’s a lot of ways I could respond to that, but being respectful of our positions here, I’ll keep it clean. You have nothing to be sorry for.

I’d said the words so many times in my head, I knew them word for word. Maybe I was projecting my own feelings. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. Or maybe not, and Mason’s words meant exactly what I thought they did.

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