“Think it could share space in my home gym? I’m sure I could move some stuff around and make a spot for it there.”
She stuttered. “You really need to give me a proper tour.”
His grin returned with a low laugh. “Fair.”
He had a home gym. That was interesting to know. She could see herself exploring that. Reiko nodded. “A gym sounds like a good fit.”
He swooped in for a hard, brief kiss before straightening. “There you go. Problem solved. Should we head out before Marco and the rest can get too snoopy?”
Reiko almost agreed before she finally remembered the thing she had told herself to ask when he came home that day. He’d thrown her significantly off by showing up so early, and with a guest. “Wait!”
He arched a brow.
She swiftly extracted her new phone from the pocket of her skirt—the maid had bought her a skirt with pockets, so the maid was her current favorite member of the staff—and raised it up. “Can I get a picture of you for my contacts?”
Santino broke into a wide smile. “Should I make it all slutty, too?” He moved to lift his shirt up, partially revealing his abs.
The response triggered a burst of laughter from her and Reiko fought to roll her eyes. The man was ridiculous. She didn’t knowhow he could be flirty and terrifying and indisputably in control at nearly every moment all at once. “No, you fiend.”
He matched her laughter, plucked her phone from her grip, and held it over her shoulder while simultaneously spinning her into him. “Luca, take a picture. Do a good job and I’ll let Guiseppi share whatever he makes for dessert with you.”
“Yes, sir,” Luca replied with a startling amount of enthusiasm.
Reiko couldn’t think about that, because Santino was moving her again, plastering her back to his front and folding his arms over her chest. With their height difference, he was able to rest his chin on the crown of her head.
Santino adjusted his grip so his lower arm curved beneath her breasts, his hand angling toward her hip, and he quipped, “Say cheese, beautiful.”
Her smile came with a laugh, though she knew she was also blushing, as she settled her hands in a lazy hook over his upper forearm. “Cheese,” she replied.
They held the pose for a moment and she thought she heard a faint shutter sound.
“Okay, got it. Here you go.” Luca held the phone back to them.
Santino accepted it and pulled up her gallery. She only had three photos—two she’d taken of herself, and the newest one—so it was easy to find. And when he enlarged it, her heart did something strange.
They lookedgood. She was small against him. Dark haired to his light. Her smile equally small but visible in her eyes, compared to his wide and toothy one—also, of course, reflected in his eyes. His hold was possessive, but she didn’t show as bothered in any way. Which was accurate. If anything, they just looked like a normal, happy couple.
“What do you think, beautiful?”
Reiko smiled, took back her phone, and set the photo as her wallpaper. “I think I still need one of you. So I can look at thisone all the time.” She tipped her head back. “And Luca earned dessert.”
Santino barked out a laugh and eased his hold. “All right, all right. Whatever you say. Luca gets dessert and I’ll pose alone.But, text me that pic.”
She responded by raising her camera and capturing the teasing glint in his eyes.
A few minutes later they had their shoes on and were walking hand-in-hand down the front steps to the waiting Rolls-Royce when Armando—standing beside the idling vehicle—pivoted to the side and the took the mood with him. “Stop!”
Santino abruptly pulled Reiko so close she was half-behind him, keeping their hands clasped at his back. His easygoing air had vanished, replaced with a tension so solid it could shatter granite. “Wasn’t expecting to see you, Joey,” he called, his voice like cold fire.
Reiko angled her head just enough to see past Santino’s arm and easily spotted an unfamiliar man frozen in place several paces away. He looked to be in his mid- to late-twenties, had short, dark brown hair with a thin line of a mustache to match, and held both his arms up, palms open. He also bore a medical walking boot on his left leg.
The man she presumed to be Joey kept his head bent slightly forward as he spoke. “Sorry to drop in, Boss. I let the guards up front frisk me and everything, I swear I’m not packin’. I just really gotta talk to you.”
The incident from the zoo flashed through Reiko’s mind—when someone supposed to have been one of his own had approached him unexpectedly and pulled a gun.Does that happen more often than he let on?She knew they’d talked about it, after, but her memory of that conversation was pretty emotionally clouded.
Santino gave her hand a squeeze. “I am glad to see you up and about, Joey. But I’m sure you heard about what happened with Nico. Unexpected visits are making me a little twitchy right now.”
Joey’s head bobbed. “Nico’s why I gotta talk to you, Boss. I’m no traitor. Hell, after what I saw in Chicago, a man would have to be dumber than shit to pull that.” He flicked a rushed glance up. “’scuse me.”
