Page 27 of Spring Break with a Mafia Prince
“Who let you in?” he said finally.
“A girl. I don’t know her name. Sparkly dress. Skimpy bikini. She had a bit of a temper tantrum when I called her out about being rude about the help.”
He smirked. “Olivia. She can be like that. And she won’t be here much longer.” He raised an eyebrow significantly.
My gaze trailed down to his chest and the mess there. “Oh.”
“Yeah.Oh. She pissed off my father. So did her boyfriend.”
“Does she know?”
This is a really weird conversation. We are talking about him killing someone. Someone I just met. I think we are. Wait. Why am I okay with this?
Falcon watched me. “She’s about to. Security should have stopped you before you got this far.” A scream erupted at the other end of the boat. He sighed. “If I ask you to stay here, and not leave the room, will you do that? Can I trust you to stay here?”
I swallowed hard. “What happens if I leave?”
“You see things I don’t want you to see.” His gaze met mine and held. Unforgiving. Unyielding. “I don’t want my father to ask questions I can't answer later. Not about you.” He dropped a hand toward my face then pulled back and sighed. “I’m filthy. Let me get this done and I’ll be back in a minute. Alright?” He watched me closely.
“Do I look like I’m about to run?”
“No.” He turned us around and planted me on his oversized bed. “That’s what worries me.”
“Sorry,” I whispered, but he was already out the door that—naturally—closed for him.
My heart ached at the absence of him, but maybe that was why I stayed. Because he’d been so sweet and I saw that side of him. Because I knew who he was and what he did from that first night, though seeing it was slightly different. I couldn’t kid myself any longer. But the way he treated me spoke more about who Falcon Gianio was inside than anything he did here. No, I didn't understand his world, but I could learn it.
What I did know was that this man took his time with me, the same man who never rushed me or made me feel small or lesser than him. Who ached inside like I did. Who I had fallen headover heels for when I had no right to the night he held me in his arms and promised he’d never leave me alone.
I perched on the edge of the bed, then when he didn’t come back after a while, I curled in the middle of the oversized mattress that smelled like him, and closed my eyes.
I had no idea how long I slept, only that I was exhausted beyond my limits and hadn’t stopped to think about that until I finally got the chance to just sleep.
On a mafia boat in Love Beach. Not the safest place, maybe, but Falcon promised I'd be alright, and that was enough for me.
Yes, ours was a strange relationship. But he seemed to understand things about me that I barely knew about myself.
The mattress sank under his weight as he slid in beside me, wrapping me up in his arms. “You didn’t leave.”
I yawned. “You told me not to.”
He frowned as he looked at me. “I don’t understand why you aren’t screaming or running.”
I smiled and touched his cheek. “You look better without all the blood.”
“You remember that, huh?”
“You were ages. I fell asleep.” I leaned my head on his shoulder. “I think there’s lots of things you need to tell me about if I stay with you, but I don’t know what to ask.”
He huffed his agreement. “That’s a rabbit hole no one wants to fall down.” He paused. “Your father came looking for you.”
“Dad?” I jerked upright. “Oh, my God. I left him alone. Again. I’m a terrible daughter. Was he okay?”
Falcon did laugh this time. “No. He’s far from okay, actually, but he and my father had a talk and I think we came upwith a few solutions to your…problems. One is that they both understand grief, even if they deal with it in different ways. My father, who isn’t a fan of telling anyone anything at all, suggested counseling.”
I stared. “We have tried all this.”
Falcon smirked. “It’s a bit different when the Don of the mafia tells you to do something. I believe we also acquired your family business.” He held up a hand when I opened my mouth with a plethora of objections at the ready. “In part. It’s been gifted to me, for now. The rest is yours.”
