Page 19 of Claiming the Mafia Queen

I sigh and take a sip of my drink. “Hey…” a voice mumbles.

My head shoots in the direction of the sound as he slides into the seat next to me. “Rough night?”

“You never stop working, huh?” I ask, amused.

He shakes his head. “Not when you’re the subject…”

Was he flirting?

“You’re going to want to be on your game for this one,” I grin. I feel a spark igniting in my eyes just thinking about it. I’m giddy. “I have Jamie looking for a vintage drink like no other…”

Jamie sits down an old vintage red and I look at it for a moment.

“You don’t seem like much of a wine girl…” he leans in and whispers.

“I’m not,” I snort. “Too girly.” I wave to Jamie and immediately she goes back to the cabinet to search for something else. “Whiskey, Jamie…” I groan.

“I can get behind whiskey,” he pipes, leaning forward. I watch as his neck cranes to see my secret collection.

“Whiskey guy!” I announce, happily. “There we go!” I grab the bottle Jamie hands me with delight before pouring it into one of the empty glasses.

I take a swig.

Oof!

It’s hot.

Explosively hot.

“Woah!” I ignite, my entire mouth on fire.

He breathes deeply. “That’s amazing…” he chuckles, looking at the glass.

My face scrunches. “Amazing?” I ask. I definitely wouldn’t call it amazing.

I stare up at the ceiling, replaying the night in my head..

“So, how was your date?” There it is. The dreaded question. And none other than the surprisingly sexy bodyguard to ask.

I shake my head and look down at the glass.

“C’mon….” He jeers. “How was your date?”

There’s a tone in his voice. It’s knowing. He already knows it was shit; he just wanted to rub my face in it. But, there’s a fun and playful aura to it that I don’t mind… that makes me not want to rip his head off…

Interesting…

The sound of breaking glass pulls me from my thoughts and I hop up from the bar in one practiced motion.

“Fight!” People scream through the crowd.

“That’s my cue…” he says, taking a final swig of his drink before pushing away from the bar. He isn’t even on duty and he’s protecting my club. He continued to impress me.

I watch him as he slips through the patrons, moving against the flow of drunkards shifting about. He jostles his way through, finally breaking through the crowd to try to find the fight.

I wave at him and he smiles.

It was like he was desperately searching for a calm resolution. Wasn’t sure he was going to get that here.

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