Page 311 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“Anything,” I reply.

“We can’t keep Bella,” she whispers, nuzzling the puppy’s neck.

“What are you talking about?” I ask, sitting up. “Why not? I mean, she’s already christened the place. I’ll get you whatever you need?—”

She shakes her head. “It’s not that. Remember what I told you about Princess last night? She ran away and we never found her because she wasn’t chipped. That was on us. But if Bella has some kind of identification, it’s not right to keep her. Her owners must be worried sick about her. We should do the right thing.”

Her voice quivers and even I feel a lump form in the back of my throat.

Some badass enforcer I am.

Guess I’m softer than I thought.

For fuck’s sake!

But as much as I want to keep Bella and Chella…cute…I didn’t catch that until just now…I know she’s right.

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

She shakes her head. “It’s not at all what I want to do. But it’s the right thing to do. I’d be beside myself if I lost this beautiful little girl,” she whispers against Bella’s ear. A second later, she raises her distressed gaze up to me. “I don’t want anyone to be missing her any longer than they already have been.”

I watch her cuddle with Bella, sliding behind her once again, her shoulders quietly quaking.

After all this girl has been through, she’s still worried about everyone else, even people she doesn’t know.

What the hell am I doing to her?

What am I doing to myself?

A loud knock at the door alerts me that Dante is awake and probably pissed off that he won’t be having any eggs for breakfast. I drop a kiss onto Chella’s head and roll out of the bed. I grab my boxer briefs and pull them on before walking out into the hallway.

Dante is waiting for me, lounging against the wall with a smug smile on his face. “So. That’s where you were shacked up last night, yeah?” He chuckles. “Rekindling old flames, yeah?”

I grab him by the wrist and pull him into my bedroom. “Shut the hell up,” I grunt.

“Ooh, so sensitive.” He nudges my shoulder. “Listen, Matteo is looking for you. He said he’s been calling you for hours.”

“My phone is charging,” I say, nodding at my nightstand. “I wasn’t really worried about whose calls I’d miss last night when I left it.”

“Yep, I’m sure you had plenty of other things on your mind. And on your cock,” he says.

I grab a pair of basketball shorts and tug them on. “When did he call?” I ask, ignoring his other comments. “And keep your damn voice down, will ya?”

“He just called now. Said he’s been trying to get you for a while.”

“Shit,” I grumble. “I need to get back to him. Can you order some food for Marchella so I can take care of whatever he needs? We, ah, kind of made a little bit of a mess?—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know all about it,” Dante says with a wicked smile on his face. “There was a fucking egg puddle all over the floor and of course, I cleaned it up because you were too busy screwing your girl. Which, by the way, I had to listen to for hours, you sonofabitch. The screams and groans kept me up for fucking ever. How the hell did the dog sleep through all of that anyway?”

I snicker, running a hand through my hair. “I have no idea. Oh, and speaking of the dog, do me a favor and make sure she doesn’t pee all over my sneakers again.”

“I’ll consider it,” he says, strutting out the door and pulling it closed behind him.

I collapse onto my bed, pressing my fingertips to my temples. How much longer can I keep this whole thing going, this alternate reality I’ve created? The one where I keep ignoring the threats and the danger and play house with the girl I kidnapped?

She saw right through me like I was a pane of freshly washed glass.

She felt the inner turmoil.

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