Page 69 of Mafia and Gold Digger

Slowly.

Never taking my eyes off any of them.

“You never mentioned any of this.”

Serial edges toward me. “Didn’t I?” he drawls.

Killer eyes me up like a freaking piece of meat.

“You know you didn’t…”

He shrugs. “What can I say?”

“I have three words for you, Valentino. Lying. By. Omission.”

“I got the feeling that you wouldn’t have come here if you’d known about them.”

“You think?” I usually love animals, and I adored the dogs at Winifred's shop, but these dogs are something else altogether. Serial’s tongue is hanging out as he sizes me up and wonders if I’ll fit on his dinner plate. Killer looks like he’s ready to pounce in a spilt second if I make a wrong move. “You never said anything about having dogs. And especially nothing about having dogs called Serial and Killer who look like they want todevour me whole. And why on earth are you living with a couple ofmurderers?”

“Don’t you think you’re being a little bitdramatic, Emerald? It’s just their names. They won’t harm you...unless…”

“Unless, what?”

“Unless you try something stupid.”

“Stupid?”

“Like running off again.” He crosses his arms and smirks at me. “They’re my guard dogs, and they’re going to keep an eye on you while you’re here.”

I’ve never considered myself a violent person, but there’s something about Saint Veneti that has me seeing red. Because as if his crazy fake fiancée plan isn’t bad enough, now he’s also going to put his dogs on me to make sure I don’t get up to anything I shouldn’t. I mean, he’s totally a control freak, and I wonder what the heck I’ve let myself in for with this man. Okay, maybe Iambeing a little dramatic over the dogs, but the way they keep looking at me and especially those names are making me slightly freak out. “Why couldn’t you have given them normal names?”

“Those were their names when I adopted them from the shelter, and I never got around to renaming them.”

He ushers them out of the bedroom. And as soon as the door is closed on them, I flop back onto the bed and heave a sigh of relief. I wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink if they stayed in the room.

He sits on the edge of the bed looking at me. The hot path of his eyes raking over my body makes me shiver. “Care for a game of chess?”

“You want to playnow?” I say.

“Yeah, I do. I think we’ll be playing every night from now on.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” I prop myself up on my forearms. “And why’s that?”

“If I remember correctly, playing chess gets you all hot and bothered.”

I shake my head. “No, it’s winning that does that.”

“Pretty sure the same goes for me...”

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

EMERALD

The next morning, my legs stretch out behind me as I lay across the rug in Saint’s spacious lounge. The board game sits between me and the kids. Jaspar’s eyeing the board like he’s planning a hostile takeover while Giulietta’s organizing her cards in that particular way she does. Milena is draped over the couch on her phone like the typical teenager she is.

My heart clenches at seeing them all. So free. So relaxed.Thank God that they don’t realize the full extent of the danger that’s lurking.

It’s just great to be spending time with them, and given it’s the weekend, I’ve got two whole days to catch up with them all.

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