Page 20 of Mafia Men Need Love Too
He trailed off as his gaze did a lazy sweep of her body, reminding her that she hadn’t bothered to look in the mirror or throw on a robe before she ran out of the bedroom. River took a second to think about what she’d worn to bed and drew a blank, so she looked down and…
Oh. Holy. Hell.
She’d never been one to sleep in pretty lingerie or even cute sleep sets. Nope. She prioritized comfort over aesthetics, which meant that she’d gone to bed wearing a holey, washed-thin white t-shirt that was so stretched out and oversized that it perpetually fell off her shoulder, and a tiny pair of white boy shorts.
Which meant she was now standing in front of Nico, wearing an outfit that left nothing to the imagination. Not even her dignity. Hell, paper gowns at the OBGYN’s office covered more than what she was wearing.
And her nipples were hard…and they were pointed right at him.
Right. At. Him.
Feather cackled, then squawked, “Dirty bird.”
Great. Now her bird was making fun of her. And it was her own fault, because when Feather needed a bath, River would take off whatever sweater she was wearing at the time and say it was because she was a dirty bird. So, to Feather, naked meant dirty.
Maybe she should’ve gotten a dog that day at the shelter after all. Dogs didn’t have the vocabulary to make fun of their embarrassed owners.
“Yeah, yeah,” River grumbled. “I’m a dirty bird.”
Should she cover her breasts, her upper thighs, or her fiery-hot face? She imagined she should politely excuse herself and go back upstairs to get dressed. But that meant she’d have to turn around, and she was pretty sure the view of her backside would be just as disturbing as the full-frontal view, so, she just awkwardly stood there while a silent debate about what she should do raged on in her head.
That’s when a cool breeze slapped her ass, letting her know that someone had just opened the kitchen door.
“Boss, I needed to….whoa.”
She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Enzo’s gaze shift from the back of her head to her ass for a split second before Nico shouted, “Shut your fucking eyes or I’ll carve them out of your fucking skull!”
The order was so stern River almost squeezed her eyes shut before she realized he was talking to Enzo.
“Yes, sir,” Enzo said, doing as he was told. “Sorry, sir. Sorry, River.”
“It’s OK,” she replied with a nervous hyena-like wheeze of laughter. “But I feel like it’s important to mention that I usually wear clothes to breakfast. This was just an unfortunate accident.”
“This is your home now,” Nico said, getting up to drape his suit jacket over her shoulders. “You can wear as much or as little as you’d like to breakfast and you don’t owe anyone any apologies.”
Images of having breakfast with Nico every morning—naked—flitted around her brain as she pulled the jacket closed around her. The images were not unpleasant.
Again…not thoughts she should be having about her mob boss fiancé this early in their acquaintance.
“What do you need, Enzo?” Nico asked.
“I just wanted to confirm how many men you’d like to put on River’s guard detail.”
River blinked. “My what?”
They both ignored her. “One with her at all times, and two watching from a safe distance until Ricky is found,” Nico said. “Assuming I’m not with her. If I’m with her, only the two from a distance.”
Enzo gave him a nod, eyes still squeezed shut. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”
And with that, he turned and fled out of the room like it was on fire.
“Do you really think I need guards?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation.
She didn’t really care for the direction this interaction was going. Sure, it was hot that Feather seemed to like him. And having him threaten to carve out someone’s eyes for looking at her when she was vulnerable was even hotter. (She wasn’t proud of that one. She blamed her love of dark romance for that.)
But high-handedly telling her she was going to have full-time guards without even seeing how she felt about such a thing? Not hot.
