Page 28 of Mob Princess

He nodded. “Of course, sir.”

I walked up to Bonnie, meeting her by the carts. When she reached for a cart, I placed my hand onto it.

“You know, for a woman who wants me to trust her, you really know how to shatter it against the floor.”

She smiled up at me as though nothing was wrong. “Hello, Israel.”

“Take that idiotic thing off your head and look at me.”

She removed the scarf and her sunglasses. “Before you lay into me in public, though, you should know that you now have three more storefronts in uptown that have become happy clients of yours.”

What was she talking about? “Have they now?”

She nodded smugly. “Yes, they have. I convinced them, with a bit of time, to rely on us for—”

“You mean, ‘me.’”

She rubbed the back of her neck, her smile getting stronger. “We’re in this together, aren’t we?”

“Did you think that when you left the penthouse, you’d be building my trust?” That didn’t even make sense. “I thought a Moretti never went back on their word.”

Her face reddened with anger. “Don’t you dare put this on me. This was the plan all along. Had you come with me, they would’ve—”

“Had you told me what you were up to, I would’ve sent one of the guards with you.” A man stopped at the end of one of the aisles and stared intently at a box of cereal. Maybe a little too intently. “Because I know damn good and well, they wouldn’t have struck a deal with me. Only you. Because they trust you, not me. Except, now I don’t trust you. Because for some reason, you think I can’t separate business from pleasure when, really, it’s you who doesn’t have that ability.”

She frowned up at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Without those businesses, my uncle’s empire will start to crumble. Those were the businesses that brought him the most money. That fill and line his pockets. Money he uses to pay his personal security team. I suggest you get those businesses set up with different men by the end of the day. I promised them serious protection in exchange for their loyalty to us.”

I pushed the cart back. “To me.”

She closed her eyes for a moment and then smiled at someone behind me, waiting as another customer pushed a cart around us. “Whatever.”

I gripped Bonnie’s arm. “We need to go. Now.”

She wrenched away from me. “Not like that, we won’t.”

“Look around you and tell me otherwise.”

When she looked around us, she saw the men were staring at us. Both talking into their sleeves with their eyes diverting quickly away.

“Shit,” she hissed.

“Car. Now.” We were in trouble. “We’ll talk when we get home.”

I led her back to the town car, and we slipped inside. I turned around, eyeing each and every one of the men to let them know they’d been made. They were pathetic and sloppy, and Pava needed to know that. Then, I dipped into the car and looked over at Bonnie.

“Before you continue to curse me—”

“Drive,” I told the driver, then lowered my voice. “I never expected you to be that clever, you know.”

She looked over at me confused and pleased. “You didn’t?”

I shook my head. “I have to admit, this is a new side of you. Part of me wishes I could’ve been present to hear what you had to say.”

She smiled. “See? I’m not completely useless.”

“Who said you were?”

“Where to, sir?” the driver asked.

I felt Bonnie staring up at me as I drew in a deep breath.

“Home. Thank you.”

As I sat there, trying to swallow down my anger, I felt torn between being impressed and being on guard. Because while her plan was successful, it was still sneaky. Knowing she could get out from underneath me so easily forced my guard to come up. It forced me to rethink some things. Then again, she was an impressive woman. Independent. Head-strong, with a thirst for life and an eye for good business tactics.

And it was something I found myself loving about her.

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