She was not meant for this.
For fuck’s sake, she was a former beauty queen and model. A present singer. She didn’t do shady and illegal shit. Her mind and system weren’t built for this.
“My heart got a workout for sure,” she said, trying to play it off. “I did manage to get some pictures,” she added. “I don’t know if they are anything worthwhile, but I got some receipts, mail, and a couple pages of files.”
“Anything is appreciated.”
“Are you sure I don’t have to worry about the flashlight?”
“Positive.”
“Even though my prints are on it.”
To that, a little chuckle escaped me. “Trust me, baby, Frank doesn’t have some super-secret fingerprinting database to compare it to.”
The tension melted a bit at that, but it was a long time before she spoke again.
“I looked you up, you know.”
My stomach clenched.
“I figured you would.” I forced my fingers to keep drifting casually through her hair and up and down her back. I didn’t want her to know just how tense that comment made me.
I’d been nauseated since I’d given that name to her, knowing she would find out who I was, what I did, then maybe change her mind about me.
That said, it felt wrong to keep my name from her once I put my hands on her. Especially when she asked for it.
There’d even been a moment when I’d wondered if she’d used the heat between us to manipulate me, that she might be some kind of fucking double agent.
But I knew it was much more likely that she simply didn’t like the idea of coming for a guy whose name she didn’t even know.
Shit.
That was not the right thought to allow to cross my mind right then. Not with her on my lap, all soft and sweet. Andtraumatized, for fuck’s sake.
“Your family is in the mob.”
It wasn’t a direct question, but I could hear one hanging in the air between the words.
“I am too,” I confirmed.
Granted, those weren’t words we were supposed to say. But it wasn’t like I was fessing up to actual crimes. Just to my own identity. To someone who was risking her life for me, for us.
“I thought so.” She paused, making it impossible for me to figure out what she thought about that. “It looks nice.”
“What looks nice?”
“Your family’s restaurant. Famiglia. It came up when I was looking into you. So I checked out pictures. It looks nice. The deck is amazing.”
“It is. No better place to eat in town. Hopefully, you can see it after all this shit is done.”
“That would be nice.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What’s going on in your head about it?”
