Page 33 of Claimed By the Possessive Mafia Prince
She sighs. “I just want to do a good job and earn some cash, and make a name for myself, then help my mom. That’s it. That’s the complete story. The start, the middle, the end.”
“She’s lucky to have you. But if you expect me to stop being attracted to you, Siena, you’re just plain wrong.”
“That doesn’t mean we have to do anything about it.”
I approach her, take her hands, and pull her to her feet. “The way you moan when our bodies touch tells a different story…”
She wraps her arms around me. Kisses me. It’s like she can’t help herself. I know the feeling.
After a moment of perfect heat, she creates some distance again.
“I don’t want to make the same mistake.”
“What mistake? What are we talking about here?”
“Maybe if I explain, you’ll let me go?”
“You’re not a prisoner here, Siena.”
“You’ll stop pursuing me?”
“I can’t promise that.”
She huffs. “It was prom. I wasn’t even that interested in going, but my best friend insisted. She didn’t want to go alone. It was a double date. I wasn’t excited, so I would’ve skipped it. But I went.”
“What’s so wrong with that?”
She stares with tears in her eyes. “I was supposed to be helping my mom that night. The business was taking off. It was her biggest client yet. Old Money, like you and your family.”
I swallow, guilt stabbing me. So early in the relationship–or whatever this is–and it’s already built on lies.
“I figured Mom would be okay, since she had two staff members by then. But one of them got sick, and the other was off his game all night. I left Mom to deal with a nightmare on her own. It went bad, and the client didn’t just withhold payment–they spread word around the city. They slandered her. They ruined her reputation, and that I turn ruined her business. All because I wanted to go to prom. All because I put myself first.”
“You can’t beat yourself up, Siena.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I can. And I do. And that’s why I’m going to do everything in my power to do the best job possible here, so I can make it right. That means we have to stop.”
“I think you can dateanddo a good job.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree, won’t we?”
She makes for the door. I take her hand, turn her. Uncertainty flickers in her beautiful, honeyed eyes. When I pull her against me, I think she’s going to sink into the kiss for a moment, but she takes a firm step back.
“Find someone else for your island fling, Dario.”
“There is no one else.”
She rolls her eyes. “Are you serious? I’m sure you can find someone.”
“Is that really what you want–to see me with someone else?”
“It’s not like we’re a couple.”
“That’s not what I asked you, Siena.”
She clenches her hands into fists. There’s something cute about it, but I know better than to say it with so much tension in the air.
“I can’t think about what I want or don’t want,” she says with a hard sigh. “Maybe you think I’m being over the top or melodramatic.”
