Page 497 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

I stifle a yawn. Coffee. Thank God for coffee.

I flip open my laptop and start typing out the details of the call I received about Vito and my visit to the Excelsior…and my mind lands on Zeno.

Again.

“Argh,” I mutter, taking a sip of my coffee. I shove his handsome face into the deep recesses of my mind, flexing my fingers before I continue typing.

My laptop bleeps with an incoming video call, and I stab the accept button when I see my brother’s handsome face appear on the screen. “Nico!”

“The one and only,” he says with a smirk.

I giggle. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping? It’s so early!”

“It’s not as early for me as it is for you. Besides, you know I’m not one for sleep.”

“It might help you relax.”

“Nothing can do that.”

“Not even Shaye?” I giggle.

“Not even her.” He sighs, reclining in his office chair. “Hey, nice t-shirt, by the way.”

“Thanks. So, what’s up? You still haven’t given me the details about your flight or this mysterious meeting.”

“Yeah, well, let’s keep mystery alive, yeah? It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Is it something that’s going to bring you out here more often?” I ask with a quirked eyebrow.

“Why? You afraid I’m gonna cramp your style of something?”

“I don’t want you to get involved with something just to have a bigger presence out here. I mean, believe me, the Severinovs have a big enough net,” I say with a snort. “And when Kat’s out here for a visit, well, you know how that goes.”

He chuckles. “Yeah. Maybe she and Rocco should relocate out there. If anyone can keep you safe, she can.”

“Nico,” I say. “You have to stop this. Seriously. I am fine! And I’m not totally helpless, either.” I flash a wicked smile. “I have pepper spray.”

“Oh, thank fuck for that!” he exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. “I don’t know why I was so worried!”

“Stop being so sarcastic,” I say, shaking my head and sipping my coffee.

“How many times do I need to tell you that it’s my job to keep you safe?”

“And how many times to I need to remind you that I’m good?”

“Look, the bad guys never rest, so I can’t either,” he says with a smirk.

“You mean, the worse guys, right?” I quip. “Since you’re already one of the bad guys?”

“Smart ass.”

I shrug. “I’m not wrong, though.”

Nico’s expression darkens out of nowhere, like a startling realization just washed over him. “No, you’re not,” he says, his voice tight.

I lean my head on my hands and adjust the iPad screen. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

He sweeps a hand through his thick, dark hair. I know he carries a lot on his shoulders and bottles up the stress that bleeds into his daily life. And there’s a lot of it. Well, at least, I think there is. He never gets into specifics with me, but when you grow up in this life, you see things. Dark and dangerous things, things he wants to keep me far away from.

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