Page 17 of Attraction (Mobsters + Billionaires 3)
“Of course, and it’s a good question. I’m in…what is it that you eggheads call it? A liminal space? I’m asking questions that are more difficult than I’m used to.”
“What kinds of questions?” he asks, leaning forward.
I run a hand through my hair, a little nervous about sharing. The genuine curiosity in those jewel-tone eyes loosens my tongue. “Questions like, what should I do? What do I want to stand for? And, you know, I want people to stop feeling jumpy when I talk to them. I was raised to intimidate through force. I’m very, very good at that. But I started realizing I could intimidate without force. Then I learned I could gain peoples’ respect without intimidation. I was handed this legacy, and I want to change the narrative.”
I wipe off the butter knife with my napkin and roll it between my palms, wishing my chest didn’t feel so fucking tight.
“You look a little uncertain there, Mr. Mafia,” Ford says, plucking the knife from my hands. I grab his hand and kiss his knuckles before releasing it back to him. He flexes his fingers, then brings his knuckles to his lips.
I do love it when my little bird flirts with me.
He settles back against the booth, and I mirror his action, trying to calm myself and answer him.
“I am uncertain. And I hate it. It used to be sell the drugs and make the money. Sell the guns and make the money. Sell the bodies and make the money. Again, I’m very good at it. I do it classy, you feel? But I had the massive misfortune of growing up around one Anthony Edgerton.”
Ford shakes his head. “Bastard. A real asshole, that one.”
I bark out a laugh, surprised by the language.
“I was never meant to be anything other than a Mafia don. But then this jagoff comes along and has a real purpose. He wanted a better life for his mom, and something about that stuck with me, you know?”
“I’m surprised he agreed to be your counsel.”
I chuckle under my breath, remembering how mad it made him. “You may not know this, but a consigliere is a very specific title, and the person must be family. Must be a made man. Must be Italian. He’s none of those things. Well, he might be Italian, but we don’t know for sure.”
“Bet he thought he was safe.”
“That he did. But I knew then, and I know it even more now, that I needed that Jiminy Cricket man on my side. Like, I don’t think fracturing a law or two is all that wrong, but I don’t want to be like my father. I don’t want to be a bad guy.”
Ford narrows his eyes. “I think you like being alittlebit of the bad guy though.”
My cheeks heat, loving that he knows that about me.
“You’re not wrong. Like I said, I like skirting just behind the law. It’s fun for me and very easy to do.”
“For you.”
I shrug. “Everybody has their genius, and this is mine. But I don’t like hurting people.”
Ford nods. “Anybody who’s met you actually knows that. That’s why they are so jittery around you. Because you are a thing to be feared, yet, you’re so…”
He pauses, tapping his refined fingertips against his flushed lips.
“I’m so what?” I ask, tossing my napkin at him. He laughs.
“You really are the gentleman mobster. It almost has the effect of making you seem unreliable. A Mafia don, that’s a guy who’ll put a bullet in your head without hesitation. Meanwhile,youlook like you came out of an old black-and-white movie. You’ve got perfect hair and perfect manners. I swear, the first few times I met you, I thought you were putting on a persona.”
“And now?” I ask, leaning forward in interest.
“You’reyou. Smart, tough, deeply moral in and around all of the law-breaking.”
“You’re not wrong. Do I take my style cues from old Hollywood? Absolutely.” I look Ford in the eye, knowing I’m about to say something that I can’t take back and doesn’t have a statute of limitations. “But I will and have put a bullet in anyone who threatens me or any part of my organization.”
Ford inhales sharply, shivering. Color high on his cheekbones, his pretty eyes melted pools of emerald. His breathing goes heavy, and he pulls from my grasp, a coy smile as he looks away.
Huh. I assumed talking about my business would cause him to shut down, but that little shiver of his isn’t fear. It’s definitely not ano.
The way he looks away though…that’s still anot yet.
