Page 28 of Claimed By the Possessive Mafia Prince
“You’re lucky I don’t have my gun on me, slinging words like that.”
We both laugh.
“Seriously, my oh-so sensitive godson, are you okay?”
I shrug. “Yeah, good.”
“But?”
I look out at the water, the shimmering diamonds of sunlight bouncing like skipped stones across the azure.
“It’s this girl. Siena.”
“Yeah?”
“We kissed.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“This morning, I saw her talking with another man, and it pissed me off. Much more than it should have. We hardly know each other, but when I saw her laughing with him, I got angry, Rocco, really goddamn angry.”
“What’d you want with this girl? Some island fun? Something more?”
“She doesn’t even know we’re in the mob,” I sigh. “I shouldn’t even let myself think about something more. What am I supposed to say—Hey, Siena, want to go on a date when we get back to the States? Just ignore the men in suits following me around with guns under their jackets…”
“You could tell her you’re a politician.”
“I don’t want to lie to her,” I say. “If anything happens, I want it to be real.”
“I’ve never known you to talk like this about a woman.”
I shrug, stare out at the water some more. It’s not like he’s wrong.
“Could it be that part of you likes her not knowing who you are?” Rocco suggests.
I say nothing.
“Maybe it’s nice not to see fear in her eyes. Or awe. Or something in between.”
“You’re right. On this island with her, I almost feel like a normal man. But I’m not, and I never will be, and she can’t know that. So I need to accept that if anything happens, it’s the here and the now, that’s it.”
“But you want more than that.”
“Calm down, Rocco. I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“I barely know her.”
“But you want to get to know her.”
“You’re changing the subject,” I say, clapping him on the arm. “We’re supposed to be talking about the fact that you’re determined to be a miserable bastard even though we’re in paradise. Let’s go get some breakfast.”
He smiles tightly. “You’re right. I could use a distraction. But you know I’m here to talk if you need.”
“I always know that. And remember, just because Father’s distracted right now, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t respect you. You’ve served him, and the Family, well, old man.”
He chuckles. “Old man? We’re almost the same age.”
