The bathroom door swung open.
“There you are,” a warm voice murmured. So different from the way he’d spoken to his goon outside. “I was worried you’d run off, which would mean I’d have to chase you just to say hi.”
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. This softer side of him was my kryptonite.
“Leave it to you to make someone cry over lunch,” he teased, pushing into the bathroom behind me.
“Do you mind?” I snapped. “This is the ladies’ room.”
Vincenzo flicked a glance at the empty stalls. “Want me to punish her for you?”
I swiped viciously at my shirt. “Who?”
“That mom.” Vincenzo’s voice dripped with danger. “No one upsets my wife and gets away with it.”
“No!” I seethed, flicking on the water. He wouldn’t really do that, would he? I cast a cautious glance at him and saw the monster was laughing softly. “I’m glad you think this is so funny. That woman was hysterical.”
I was hysterical.
“Don’t worry, fiore, I’m only teasing.” He leaned out of the bathroom door, flicked his fingers, and when the waitress who’d come out of the kitchen stepped close, he instructed her to comp the family’s meal and send over a double order of cannoli.
“There,” he breathed, turning his focus back to me. “Better?”
“Yes,” I grumped.
The stain was a grimy smear. The top was ruined. I slapped off the faucet, tossed the paper cloth in the garbage, and drew in a deep breath.
Focus.
But it was harder, much harder, than that. Seeing this man in such good spirits, relaxed against the doorframe, challenged my resolve.Garh!He was handsome. A dusting of scruff framed his jaw. Ink scrawled up his throat.
“Here.” I swiped the manila folder off the counter and shoved it at him. “Sign, date, and I’ll file. Or else—”
Vincenzo’s hand shot out and gripped the base of my skull. He brought our faces close together. “No.”
I closed my eyes against the intensity of his gaze. As if that would do any good.
“Vincenzo, please.” I sucked in a hard breath as his grip tightened. “This can’t happen. You and me, it’s just a dream.”
“I’m not giving up on it,” he insisted.
It was the raw cut of his voice that sliced through me. He was impossibly strong. Nothing could break him. No argument would sway him.
What if….
No.
No, I was not dumping the disaster of my life at his feet. I wasn’t risking his life in this mess. He’d only just been freed.
He deserves to live.
If I involved Vincenzo, he would be in harm’s way. I wasn’t risking him going back to prison. Or worse, winding up dead trying to play the part of a knight in shining armor. He could never know why I didn’t want him to be part of my life.
Because that was the main reason. If I wasn’t being threatened as a mail order bride, I would have to decide what to do with him. And it was easier not to think about that.
An impish, baby cackle broke the spell.
I jumped away, wiping my clammy hands on my pants.
