Page 101 of Mafia and Gold Digger

My heart thumps wildly in my chest as she just stares. Greedily I take her in, the way her dress fits over her luscious curves. The way she looks at Jaspar and Giulietta with such a tender expression. “Joining us?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “I have to go back out and do a few more things. Just came to see what everyone was up to. You guys look…cozy.”

“We’re having tons of fun, right?” I look to Giulietta who nods enthusiastically.

“I’ll let you guys carry on, then. I already took a picture to commemorate it and share to the group chat.”

She’s goading me, and as bad as I want to take the bait, I don’t. I lift a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug before turning back to the table fully. “We’ll finish up and then order that pizza, huh?”

“Yes!” both Jaspar and Giulietta shout loudly with excitement.

And Emerald’s laugh fills the space before she leaves us to our little party once more.

* * *

When Emerald returns at the end of her shift, I carefully slide Giulietta from my leg where she’s made herself at home while we watch some cartoon movie on my laptop after eating pizza. “I should get going. I need to deal with some work stuff.”

Emerald looks at me and nods. “Sure.”

“Do you have to go?” Giulietta pouts. “We never finished the tea party…”

I smile down at Giulietta. “Yeah, I’ve got work to do. But if it’s okay with Emerald, maybe I can read your bedtime story tonight…?” My eyes lift to Emerald’s as I speak.

Something flashes across her face, and for a fraction of a second, I worry I’ve overstepped. Then Emerald nods, and the breath rushes from my lungs with relief.

My eyes flickering back to Giulietta’s, I see the little girl and her brother beam back at me, and their smiles remind me so much of the smiles their eldest sister gives me.

I stand, ruffling Jaspar’s hair as I pass him to grab my jacket from the back of the door. As I pass Emerald in the doorway, she leans against the frame. I arch a brow at her.

She steps into the corridor, closing the door to the office until just a crack remains open. “Thanks for today.”

I shake my head, dismissing it. “Don’t need to thank me.”

“Well, I am. I mean it, Saint. I…I appreciate the offer to watch them while I was working. And for playing with them and all that.”

The warmth in my chest thrums to life at the words. “No problem.”

“Not everyone would have suffered however long on that hard floor like you probably did.”

The smile on my face is involuntary and instinctual. I step closer to her, bracing my arm above her on the wall. “Delete the picture.”

“Not a chance.”

A low laugh rumbles through my chest. “I could just make you.”

“Oh, and how are you going to do that? How do you know I haven’t already sent it to the casino’s group chat?”

“I can figure something out,” I breathe, leaning closer into her. I watch as her breath hitches, and I can’t help feeling pleased at the effect I have on her. “And I know you haven’t—because you’re not that brave.”

“I’m not? Wanna try me? Look, win our next chess game, and I’ll think about deleting it. Lose, and the only place it’s going is the casino chat.”

My eyes zero in on her lips, raking over her face before I nod. “Deal. I like it when the stakes are high,” I growl in a low voice. The stakes are always high with this goddamn woman before me.

She smiles up at me, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of mischief and amusement.

My lips press to her mouth before I pull back. “See you later, Em. I’ll be back before the kids go to bed.”

My feet carry me down the corridor, and I will myself to keep moving despite the urge to turn back and claim her body like every fiber of me wants.

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