Page 50 of That Mafioso Magic
“Falling?” Adrian prodded.
I licked my lips and looked away, trying to gather the right words. I looked back at him. “I don’t open myself up to many people, Adrian. My pride has been my family for as long as I can remember. And even with them, only Shi and Nadia know me as well as I know myself. But with you… I don’t know… it’s a different kind of trust. More intimate. I’m not willing to turn my back on that just because we don’t run in the same circles.”
“You’ve killed people. Hell, I watched you kill a guy tonight and you didn’t even bat an eye,” he pointed out.
“I was honest about that. I have killed people who’ve crossed me. Who’ve threatened me. And I will do it again. It’s my nature. Being a mafia boss just makes it easier as it does go with the territory. Like I told you, that guy I killed tonight, sure, I was starving with this new kind of hunger. But I looked into his soul. The world is better off without him.”
“Do you feel anything when you kill people?” he asked me, then he bit that sexy bottom lip of his. I fought the urge to kiss him because the conversation we were having was important and my desire to claim his mouth and his body needed to wait.
I studied him for a few seconds, then pulled my arms off the rim and settled my hands in my lap. “You want to know if it makes you a bad person to have the feelings you’re having for me, don’t you?”
“I… I don’t know.” He looked away then, as if a part of him was ashamed to admit he had those feelings. He was a good man, an honest man, and I could only imagine how conflicted he was feeling at that moment.
“It doesn’t. Besides, I’ve never killed someone whose heart was good. Who’s never tried to screw me over. Who wouldn’t put a bullet in my head if it so suited them. I’m not ruthless… well…” I chuckled, “I can be. But only when the situation calls for it. Adrian, I will not lie to you. I’m as open to you as that book we share. And I’ve been alive long enough to know when something is meant to be. I’ve been through enough shit to know that when the universe gives you a gift, you don’t toss it back.”
“I’m a gift?” he asked me. His cheeks blushed with the question, even though I could tell he was trying to hide the fact that he was flattered.
I reached over, caressing his cheek with my wet hand. “Yes. Just as much as I am to you. There’s a reason why we feel the way we do with each other. We can let our guards down. Don’t you see that?”
He nodded. “That does explain a lot. I mean, some things are just magic.”
This time, I did allow myself to give into my desires. I leaned forward, kissing him again, and he let me. He even leaned into our kiss. “Yes, they are,” I said once I broke it.
He threw his head back. “I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this.” He looked back at me, then settled against my chest again.
“Be my lover?” I asked, looking for clarification.
He nodded. “A gangster’s lover. Do I get a bodyguard?”
I laughed under my breath. “Do you want one?”
He shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. Might be nice. I mean, it’s not like I don’t find myself in some pretty hairy situations sometimes with the cases I take. The last case, that asshole… he could have killed Xavier and me. Had I not known your basic level of magic, he might have.”
I arched an eyebrow, because I didn’t like hearing that I’d almost lost Adrian even before I got a chance to meet him. And the fact that some motherfucker attacked what belonged to me… was precious to me… I had to suppress the growl that wanted to rumble through my chest. I felt very possessive of Adrian and hell, even by extension, Xavier as well.
“Well, if you’re serious about having a bodyguard, I can certainly arrange that. Someone from my pride.”
He looked up at me and I couldn’t help myself, I had to kiss those lips again. God, I wondered what they would feel like on my cock. To feel his wet tongue stroking my flesh as I lay helpless beneath him. Or hey, I could be standing. Didn’t matter to me. I really needed to feel his mouth on me soon. Both times we had had sex, we had foregone foreplay. I would have to rectify that.
“I’m sure Xavier would love to have a woman as my bodyguard. He has a thing for strong women,” Adrian said.
I snorted. “Yeah, I’ve sensed as much. Saw him checking out Shi and Nadia’s fleshy parts.”
Adrian laughed. “I’m sure he thought he was being inconspicuous.”
“A snowball has a better chance in hell than he has with Shi. Nadia is all she has eyes for and vice versa.”
“I suspected as much. Well, Shi kind of gave it away.”
“They keep it professional at all times. Until I’m settled for the day. Like, right now, they are still on duty, but it’s more lax. And once we go to bed, they do whatever they want. Also, they have off days where they are free to live their lives,” I said.
“Well, if you do send us one, can she be straight or at least bi?” Adrian asked.
“Are you looking to hook Xavier up?” I asked, a smile playing on my lips.
He laughed. “I just want the opportunity to be there for him since we’re going to be around each other a lot. I mean, if that’s okay with you?”
“Ahh, I see. Sure. Xavier is handsome, and I don’t control who my females fuck or start a relationship with. As long as they aren’t an enemy of mine, of course.”
