Page 41 of Married into the Mob

“Nothing like me,” he spat out.

“Oh really?”

“Ummm, well… no, he’s a bad dude.”

I held up five fingers. “He’s mafia and so are you.” I curled one finger.

“Don’t do this, please,” he begged.

“Oh, I’m doing it. He’s a shifter, and guess what? You are too.” Another finger down. “And he kidnapped me and so did someone in this room.” Down went a third. Hunter seemed toshrink as I listed each item. “He wanted to marry me and you did too.”

“But I followed through.” His indignant tone had me giving me a little clap. I wished I had a medal to pin on his chest.

“Aww, you did. Well done, you.” Where was I? “And you’re both hunters.” I tapped my lips. “You’re correct. You’re nothing alike.”

Hunter pushed out his bottom lip. “You’re not a nice person.”

“Do you need a hug?”

His head shot up. “Do you mean that?”

I’d been taunting him, and his parted lips and eager eyes suggested he expected me to follow through. “Ummm, okay.”

I held out my arms, and he shuffled his butt over the floor. Leaning forward, I embraced him. Inhaling his scent and with his bare chest pressed against me, I closed my eyes and thought of home.

But that was stress forcing ideas into my head. This wasn’t home and neither was Hunter. Home was my aunt and had been Uncle too.

I swallowed, wishing the rest of the world would continue making its way around the sun and I could hide away. But that was kinda what I was doing here, and I had someone looking out for me. Two… not people but beings, if I counted his wolf.

“Do you know Draven well?” I mumbled into his hair.

“Not exactly.” He launched into an explanation about Draven and the Silverback pack. “He was a carbon copy of his father, the late Silverback Alpha.”

“Oh, the head guy. Like Flint is your boss. And whatever this is between you and Draven.” I twirled my finger in a circle, though he couldn’t see it because we were cuddling. “Is it because you’re shifters?” Somehow Uncle and I had been caught up in a mafia whirlpool of hate and revenge.

“Well, yes, but?—”

I pulled away and held up a finger.

Hunter scrunched up his face. “Not more fingers.” He pulled it down. “We did five. That’s enough, please.”

“Fine.” But he wasn’t going to squirm out of this. “How did he know you would be at the courthouse?”

“I suspect it’s to do with Stefan.”

“The guy you invited into the panic room. Smart.” But I’d liked him, and like me, Draven had treated him badly at the courthouse.

“He wasn’t supposed to come.” He glanced away. “Looking back, it was a stupid move.”

But we couldn’t get bogged down in blame. No, I could, but I’d keep it to myself. Nope, I shouldn’t. We were in a mess of many people’s making.

“Okay.” Draven forced Stefan to get Hunter to come in person.

“But there’s another piece to the puzzle that you should know.” He bit down hard on his bottom lip, a look that was surprisingly hot, and my dick reacted. But it was covered in a quilt or two, so Hunter had no idea my wayward length was swelling.

“And I don’t have an answer to this.” He inspected his nails. “This is hard to say.”

“If it’s about my uncle, you couldn’t tell me anything worse than what I discovered last night.”