Page 73 of Mafia and Gold Digger

And the hint of a smirk curls on his lips.

Fear tightens its grip on me.

I know I can’t stop now.

I don’t care if I look suspicious bolting out of the store. I just need to get back to the car. I need Dario.

I pick up my pace.

My boots click faster against the floor.

The automatic doors come into view.

Almost there. Almost out.

If I can just make it…

The man’s footsteps quicken behind me. I don’t need to look to know he’s closing the distance

I burst through the doors.

Dario’s still there—thank God, they haven’t taken him out.

Relief washes over me. But it’s fleeting.

Because I still need to get to him. I break into a half-run. My breath’s coming in sharp gasps.

“Dario!” I yell out.

He looks up instantly. And his expression shifts from confusion to alarm. He flings open the SUV door and steps out just as I reach him. “What’s wrong?” His tone’s sharp, protective.

I glance over my shoulder, but the man’s stopped just outside the store. He lingers near the doors, his hands shoved in his pockets, watching me with that same unsettling smirk. He doesn’t come any closer. But his presence feels like a threat all the same.

“There was a guy,” I manage to get out. “He was following me inside. I don’t know what he wanted, but…”

Dario doesn’t need me to finish. He steps forward, positioning himself between me and the man, his broad frame shielding me.

“Stay here,” he orders.

“No, Dario! Let’s just go.” My voice is a plea now. I just want to get far away from here.

Dario hesitates but nods. He ushers me into the backseat, his eyes never leaving the man by the doors. Once I’m inside, he climbs into the driver’s seat and snaps the locks into place with a loud click.

As he hits the accelerator and the SUV screeches away, I can’t help but look back. The man is still there, standing under the harsh glow of the store’s lights. He doesn’t follow, doesn’t make any move to stop us. But his smirk remains, etched into my memory like a scar.

In the safety of the moving vehicle, my breathing starts to slow, though my hands remain shaky. The box in my pocket feels heavier than it should.

“You okay back there?” Dario asks, his voice softer now.

I nod, though I’m not sure if it’s true. “Yeah. Just…let’s go home.”

He doesn’t press me further, and for that, I’m grateful. I know he’ll have to report this to Saint, but I just let my head fall back against the seat and stare out at the city lights as they blur past the window. I made it out, and that’s all that matters.

* * *

“No, we don’t need to have an engagement party, Saint.” I’m sitting at the kitchen island. “I don’t want to have to put on show in front of the whole Imperiosi because I’ll fail miserably at it. You know I’mabsolutely terribleat lying.” Saint has upped my security detail since the drugstore incident, and the engagement party is the next step in his plan of convincing people that I mean everything to him.

“All Imperiosi men throw huge parties when they get engaged. It won’t be believable if we don’t do it.”

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