Page 435 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“He seems good to me.” Understatement of the century if I ever heard one.

She shakes her head. “He isn’t happy out here. He wants to get back to his real job, but Matteo wants him to stick around. You know, to help out at the hotel and our nightclubs and things like that…” she trails off evasively.

“He doesn’t want to stay?” I squeak out as an icy feeling clenches my heart.

“No. I wish he would, though. Maybe he just needs a good enough reason to stay,” she says, giving me a pointed look. “I bet you could convince him.”

I swallow hard. Holy crap, are my thoughts that transparent?

“Well, if he doesn’t want to stay, I don’t think a virtual stranger can’t convince him.” I force a smile. “He knows what’s best for himself, I’m sure.”

“I don’t think so,” Heaven says. “He needs to settle down and have a real life with roots. He can’t be gallivanting all around the world the way he does. He needs stability.”

“My, my, how your tune has changed in the past year,” Aunt Maura quips from the kitchen. “Couldn’t hold you down with a roll of duct tape, rope, and chains before Matteo walked into Molly’s Pub that first night.”

Heaven shrugs. “It only took a forced marriage for me to see the writing on the wall.” With a snicker, she nudges me. “Everyone needs their own type of jolt. I hope Dante gets his, sooner than later. And you might be just the one to deliver it.”

Ha!

Little does she know, that’s the plan.

CHAPTER19

ANYA

The whoosh of arid air hits me like someone took a massive hair dryer, pointed it directly at my face, and flipped the switch.

It’s fucking brutal.

But I need to clear my very cluttered head because I just heard a bunch of things that have my gut knotted like a pretzel.

I stretch out my quads, Heaven’s words clanging between my ears like clashing cymbals.

“…hasn’t been himself lately…he isn’t happy…wants to get back to his real job…”

I grit my teeth and do a couple of side stretches before windmilling my arms.

So everything between us…it’s all been bullshit?

A huff escapes my lips as I start jogging lightly down the driveway and onto the Strip. Sweat pebbles over my skin almost instantly, and tiny drizzles of perspiration slip down my spine. Moisture wicking clothing, my ass.

It’s not wicking anything!

I’m slowly melting down — my body, my mind, my heart.

And it is goddamn agonizing.

For the first time in forever, I let my guard down for a guy, a guy I’ve developed feelings for, despite all of my efforts to self-protect.

I guess that’s irony for you.

Dante is just like me. He’s doing what I’ve always done because it’s the only way to keep focus.

You don’t allow yourself to feel because it’s dangerous.

You don’t let emotions grab you by the throat because they make you do stupid shit.

And you don’t let anyone get in the way of your work.

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