Page 14 of Mafia and Gold Digger

“I’m fine,” I say curtly.

But without another word, he grasps my arm tightly and pulls me to his car, pushing me into the front passenger seat this time. He gets into the driver’s seat and takes me to the casino without another word.

Arriving at our destination and pulling into the casino parking lot, he leans over my body, crowding my space with his smoky cologne as he pushes the door open.

“A gentleman would come around and open my door for me,” I point out.

“Yeah, well, I’m not a gentleman.And don’t ever forget that.” This man is utterly confusing. I open my mouth to say something, but he carries on speaking before I can get anything out. “Get out, princess.”

“What?”

“Get out.”

“Aren’t you supposed to have manners or something?”

“Get out before I shove you out. Better?”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.”

My eyes narrow, and I unbuckle my belt. And stepping out of his car, I stride away as fast as I can, without a single backward glance.

* * *

As soon as I rush through the staff entrance, I run straight into Ronnie. “Oh God, I got stopped by a cop. But I didn’t tell him anything, I swear?—”

“Hey, calm down, Em.” Ronnie pulls me into his arms, kissing me long and hard on the lips, and he doesn’t look the slightest bit ruffled by what I’ve just said. Pulling back after a few seconds, he smiles at me. “We already know what happened.”

My brows puckers into a deep frown. “You do?”

“Yeah. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Um, well, I’m not sure if I was arrested or not, but he didn’t charge me with anything, and I didn’t tell him anything about?—”

“It’s okay, Em,” Ronnie soothes. “Relax. It’s all been handled.”

I stare at him. “It has?” I was convinced that I’d be in trouble for just getting stopped and that I’d have to plead with Ronnie and the Imperiosi to believe me when I said that I’d kept my mouth shut. “But who told you?”

“Our guy.”

For a moment, I’m utterly confused. “Do you mean…the cop is your guy?”

“A fucking cop got to you?” Christian Veneti walks up behind me. He’s the Capo of the Imperiosi since taking over the position from his father. Christian’s eyes narrow as they laser into me.

Even though I’ve always got on well with him, I’m still terrified that he might think that I revealed sensitive information. Although I might seem outwardly confident, the real me is a deep well of self-doubt and anxiety. “I didn’t tell him anything. It was just a cop that I ran into?—”

“It was just Saint. He got to her first,” Ronnie says casually.

“Saint?” I interrupt. “You’re on first name terms with the cop?”

“Ah, I see.” Christian relaxes a fraction. “No, he’s not a cop. He’s one of our cousins. Third or fourth cousin, or something like that.” He waves his hand in a vague manner. “I’ve lost count. We asked him to pick you up to keep you away from any Feds. We thought the Feds might get a warrant and be about to raid the casino. But our contact messaged half an hour ago to say the judge refused to issue the warrant due to insufficient evidence, so I texted Saint to tell him it was okay for him to drop you off here.”

Wait, what?Saint is their freaking cousin?

“But he didn’t tell me that he was one of you. I thought that he was a cop. I thought he was going to arrest me. He was interrogating me, asking me all sorts of questions…”

“Yeah, that sounds like Saint.” Christian chuckles. “Evil motherfucker. He was just playing with you. He’s our hitman. He usually works out of Philadelphia, although he’s been working for us in Italy lately.”

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