Page 45 of The Mafia’s Girlfriend

“An errand?”

He rolled his eyes at me. “At midnight?”

I shrugged. “Then what is it?” If he announced that he had a date...

“Another job.”

Huh. I wasn’t expecting that. He was always here, working long hours. I hadn’t considered that he’d moonlight as something else, too. With how tired he looked, I bet he’d pulled a double shift doing security here, being here morning, afternoon, evening, and finally getting off after the night shift.

“It won’t take long,” he added. “It’s just an, uh, assignment to handle.”

“Okay. Well, if it’s easier, I can ride along with you until you’re done with it. Then we can go get Krista right after.” If he said it wouldn’t take long, then fine. It was urgent to get Krista away from the Marchese men, but I didn’t want to piss Luke off any further by insisting he stop and drop all his plans to accommodate what I needed. I felt weird asking him for anything to begin with.

He huffed a little incredulous laugh. “You sure?”

I nodded, but that felt like a lie. With Luke, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

But I was glad I could count on him to agree with this.

Just like I kind pf predicted he would. Having a man care about me was a fluke, an experiment that would fizzle out. He was so annoyed with me half the time, and I bet he’d tire of me completely sooner than later.

While it lasted, though, I’d bask in the warm glow of thinking I mattered to him. Even a little, teeny bit.

Chapter 17

Luke

I didn’t want to know. Too many things didn’t add up about Emma. Too many things triggered me not to trust her. She was too damn evasive last night about that man seeking her out. She seemed prone to bad situations in the clubs.

When I did know was that she was scared. I saw it in her eyes and I hated that this bold, otherwise unintimidated woman could be frightened of another man.

Plus, I was confident that if I didn’t take her with her to get her friend, she’d go on her own. And I despised her being in a bad position because I didn’t want to make time for her.

The truth was that I already had. Reluctantly, at first, but I had. She stole my time by staying in my thoughts. She captured my downtime when I fantasized about what an actual commitment with her could be like.

I was already in too damn deep. I tried and failed to resist her for a month, and it was a futile effort. It seemed that I was fated to be with her.

“You want to drive?” she asked as we approached her car.

I raised my brows, volleying my gaze between her and the luxury SUV I’d never be able to afford in my lifetime.

She shrugged. “Since you know where to go...”

Unbelievable. It didn’t even faze her that I would dirty up her expensive wheels. She just kept on surprising me, not acting like the hard-to-please rich snob she first seemed to be.

“All right.” I got in and drove her to the apartment building where I lived with my mom. I expected her to sniff and hold her nose in the air, too superior to be caught in this rundown area of the city. But she didn’t. She smiled at the crocheted door hanger and small pot of flowers with a, you guessed it, crocheted wrap around the ceramic.

“Is it supposed to be a plant koozie?” she asked playfully.

“Fuck if I know.” I let her in, calling out for my mom. “Hey, Mom?”

“Hi, honey—Oh.” She smiled wider at Emma behind me. “Well, hello. If I’d known you’d be bringing company over, I would’ve gotten out of these old things.” She waved at her pajamas.

“Nonsense.” Emma stepped further into the room. “Is that season four?” She asked of the TV screen showing a hospital drama.

“Five.” Mom beamed at her.

I groaned. “Sheesh. You two will get along just fine.”