IWAS STILL drying my hair when Papa knocked on my bedroom door to let me know I had a guest. Butterflies danced in my stomach as I finished getting ready, stuffing my hot pink bikini in a bag. It was the most revealing piece of clothing I owned, and the idea of wearing it in front of Dominico did crazy things to my stupid stomach. Since I had no clue where we were going or what we were doing, I added a change of clothes and a brush to the bag.
Wearing a suit (as always), Dominico was seated on the sofa talking to Papa when I emerged from my room. He stood and looked me over, his eyes widening at the summer dress I wore.
“Is this okay?” I asked. I’d selected the dress because it made me feel sexy and I wanted to remind him I was still the girl he’d made out with in the escape room, but I felt suddenly self-conscious. What if he was taking me somewhere nice? “You didn’t say where we were going.”
“Perfect.” He smiled. “You look great.”
My cheeks heated as I thanked him.
He held up a bouquet of orange Gerber daisies. “I got these for you.”
Unprepared for him to be sweet, my mind struggled to reconcile the jerk who hadn’t called me for three weeks with the Dominico before me, the kind man I knew him to be. “Thanks, they’re beautiful.” I took the flowers into the kitchen to find a vase. Once they were arranged and set on the table, I followed him out the door.
“Have a good time,” Papa called out from his chair.
“Your father is nice,” Dominico said. “I think he likes me.”
Since I didn’t feel like letting him know that Papa only cared that he’d be able to support me, I nodded. “Yeah, he’s great.”
“You look incredible.” Dominico watched me out of the corner of his eye as he revved the Porsche to life. “I mean it.”
“Thank you.” I’d never been good at taking compliments, so I hurried to change the subject. “Where are we going?”
“Another surprise.” He stopped at the end of the block and turned to look at me. “Thanks again for coming with me. I know I don’t deserve it, but I can’t tell you how much it means.”
He sounded vulnerable again. Something big must have happened in the three weeks we’d been apart for him to be so real with me. Making a mental note to pump him for information later, I nodded and answered truthfully. “I missed you too.”
He shifted back into gear and took my hand, lifting it to kiss my knuckles. We drove for a while in comfortable silence before he parked in the driveway of a nice two-story house in Henderson. After opening my door, he popped the trunk and grabbed a duffle bag.
“You live here?” I asked, excited to finally be getting some information on him.
“No. Mario’s family does. I’m keeping an eye on it for them while they’re out of town.” He unlocked the front door and let us in. The place was gorgeous. Marble entryway, high ceilings, hardwood floors. I followed Dominico into a living room that was about the size of my entire house. Stylish leather furniture was arranged around a beautiful contemporary rug, all angled toward a gorgeous stone fireplace.
“Nice pad,” I said, spinning around to take it all in.
He nodded and carried the bags past the living room into the kitchen. “What do you like on your pizza? There’s a great pizzeria not far from here. Thought I’d call us in an order.”
I shrugged, buzzing with entirely too much energy to be hungry. “I like pretty much everything. Surprise me?”
“You got it,” he said with a smile. “Can I get you a beer or a glass of wine?” He peeked into the refrigerator. “They have a decent Riesling. It’s kinda like those fru-fru drinks you always get.”
I giggled. “Fru-fru drinks, huh?”
He already had the corkscrew working. He splashed some into a glass and offered it to me. “Try it.”
Fruity wine sounded fabulous. Especially since the way Dominico was looking at me had my stomach twisted in knots. I needed to relax. “Mario’s family isn’t gonna be upset about us drinking up their wine?” I asked, accepting the glass.
The look he gave me made me feel ridiculous for even asking such a thing. “No. They won’t care what I touch. And when the maid comes in, she’ll restock it.”
“Well then.” Feeling completely out of my element, I held the glass up in a mock toast, “Bottoms up.”
I couldn’t believe I’d said something so stupid. Why did my nerves always turn me into a dork? Desperate to settle myself down, I drained the glass and nodded for him to pour me more. He filled my glass and grabbed a beer for himself before leading me out to the patio, where he stripped off his jacket and tie, draping both over a chair. With his jacket off, my gaze was drawn to the gun holstered around his waist. Watching me, he removed it and set it on the table.
“I know you have questions,” he said, sitting on the wicker couch and tugging me down beside him. “And I appreciate that you’re not freaking out on me. I… there’s a lot of shit I can’t tell you. My job’s pretty top secret and demanding, and sometimes I have to disappear for a while.”
The mob. He worked for the mafia, and I suspected he was high up in his family. He didn’t have to tell me, because I already knew. I did, however, need him to be honest with me.
“I know what you do, Dom,” I said, still eyeing the weapon. “I’m not stupid.”
