From the way his frown deepens, he’s not sure if I’m being bratty as part of a game or if something else is at play here. Am I testing him? Maybe a little.
I probably should feel bad about it, but I just don’t.
Without warning, Angelo nods and stands up as if he’s calling my bluff. “If that’s what you want to do today, then that is what we shall do,” he offers like some magnanimous ruler, and it makes me want to roll my eyes at him. “Since we’ll be out, there are a few errands I need to run.”
Suspicion has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. He’s up to something. But I’m willing to let it play out.
“Deal,” I agree with a nod.
It doesn’t take us long to leave the house and start our day. When I direct him to a big bargain store that will have all sorts of goodies on clearance, he glances between me and the store a few times before his shoulders drop while he lets out a sigh.
He’s dutiful as fuck as he follows me around while pushing a shopping cart. And I was right—there are a lot of decorations still in stock and everything is on sale.
When I pick up a decidedly creepy elf, I turn it toward Angelo with a big smile on my face.
My voice is bright, “What do you think?” My big mob boss man eyes it but doesn’t say anything at first. “I think it would be perfect on the mantle. We could do a whole collection of elves there. Like a family of them on vacation from the workshop in the North Pole,” I offer.
Angelo studies my face to figure out whether I’m joking or not. I am, but he doesn’t need to know it.
“I’m not going to lie to you,la mia pace,” he starts with a slight grimace on his face, “that thing is creepy as fuck.”
I gasp and cover one of the elf’s ears while whisper-shouting, “Why would you say something so cruel? He can hear you.”
Angelo barks out a laugh, and I can’t help but smile. When he takes it out of my hands, I’m fully expecting him to put it back on the shelf. He surprises the hell out of me by putting it in the cart along with every other elf in the aisle.
“That is a lot of elves,” I mumble.
He just winks at me before strutting out of the aisle while pushing the cart which is now almost overflowing with decorations. The only thing I can do is follow behind him.
When we’re checking out, the poor cashier doesn’t know where to look. It doesn’t help how Angelo’s face is completely blank. My man has really perfected his resting menace face. If he hadn’t just been pawing through clearance Christmas decorations with me, I might be intimidated as well.
But I know he’s really a softie at the center of it all.
Well, at least he’s that way with me. That’s all I really care about.
Salvatore appears out of nowhere when Angelo wheels the cart out of the store. He eyes everything stuffed into the bags which are spilling out over the edges of the cart and making me wonder if we might have gone a little overboard. Not that I would change a damn thing.
“You’ve got a lot of decorations here,” Salvatore comments. He teases, “Did you leave any decorations for other people to buy?”
I can’t help but chuckle while Angelo glares at him. Salvatore isn’t at all bothered by the warning look he’s getting.
While he doesn’t stick around long whenever I see him, I have met the man who Angelo considers his second in command. He was polite when we met and ensures there is distance between us whenever he’s come by. I have no doubt it’s because of rules Angelo has expressed.
My man’s possessiveness is sexy as fuck.
I was a little surprised to find out Romeo doesn’t hold the second position, but it makes perfect sense. Romeo isn’t the kind of man who can be trusted. Apparently that fact hasn’t even escaped his family.
I’d almost feel bad for him if he weren’t such a horrible person.
The cart disappears but I’m sure everything will find its way back to the penthouse. The men who work closest with Angelo seem to be more than willing to bend over backwards for him. I have a feeling he hasn’t earned that loyalty through fear, even if he will kill a man without an ounce of guilt.
From the limited interactions I’ve seen, Angelo respects those who work for him as long as they earn it. And everyone he has close to him has earned it.
I slide into the car after Angelo holds the door open for me, and I can’t help but smile. I’m not entirely sure what I thought was going to happen, but Angelo didn’t balk. He just spent time in a big box value store without blinking an eye while sticking out like a sore thumb.
I have to give him his due.
After getting in behind the wheel, Angelo glances at me with the promise of retribution in his eyes. “Now it’s my turn,la mia pace.”
