Page 159 of The Crowned Garza
“She likes you, too.” He squeezes me against him, as if trying to get me impossibly closer. “She’s naturally austere, unapproachable, and unemotional, but when she talked about meeting you, she was all smiles.”
“Really?”
“Mhm,” he hums. “But once it got around to me, I got called every word you can think of that means ‘stupid,’ for giving Iseppa a chance. At one point, she threw a block of cheese at my head, then pulled her gun and threatened to shoot me because ‘no one this idiotic should be allowed to live.’”
“Ohmy gah-ah-ahd,” I laugh out, jerking back to look at him with wide eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
“Yeah, don’t let her prim and proper appearance fool you. She’s savage.” He’s smiling but serious. “The Rossettis may present like posh royalty, but underneath it all, they’re thugs.”
“Sounds dope!” I grin giddily. “I wanna join.”
He shakes his head at me. “Of course you do.”
“Can we stay in bed all day?”
He strokes my back. “No eating or drinking or...?”
“No, let’s starve together.”
“Oh, you want to Romeo and Juliet this shit, huh?”
I giggle. “Uh-huh.”
He pretends to think about it, his mouth dipping at the corners. “Sounds dope. Yeah, I’m game. Thug life, love life. We fuck right, we don’t fight. We ride like it’s midnight. Hold me till sunlight.”
Another heap of giggles spills out of me. What? Whoisthis man right now? Is this what he’s like when he’s happy? Just when I think I couldn’t fall any deeper.
Right then, the chime echoes throughout the house. I pause for a beat, thinking, then curse. “Crapshit. I forgot Paloma and Sophia were coming in today.”
At that, Saint gets out of bed, his warmth leaving with him, and strides across the room butt naked.
I push up on my elbows. “Where are you—”
He shuts the bedroom door and turns the lock. Then he comes back to bed and drags the duvet up over our heads. “This is our Invisibility Cloak. As long as we stay under it and stayreallyquiet, they won’t know we’re here.”
Once again, I’m spilling giggles all over him. “How did I not know you’re such a dork?”
“I’ve been suppressing most of who I really am for a long time.” He nips at my bottom lip. “But there’s so much of me just waiting for you to uncover it,piccola regina.”
Blindingly happy, I grin. “Can’t wait.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“I hate all of this.”
Santo
CONFIDENCE IS A CLOSEfriend.
I trust in myself, my knowledge, my capabilities. I know who I am, what I offer. I’m a chameleon. In any situation, at the drop of a hat, I’ll transform into whoever I need to be to achieve desired results.
Nervousness and intimidation are old adversaries I defeated eons ago.
But one of those old rivals is back today. With a vengeance.
Nervousness. The spiteful son of a bitch has taken up residence in my chest and isn’t letting up.
I don’t even know what crack he slipped through because as far as I’m concerned, I’m resolute on the decision I’ve made.
