Page 46 of The Boss

“Well, Mark is different with me at home than he is out in public, right? That’s notthatweird.”

“Mark goes from giant asshole to medium asshole when you’re around. This feels different than that. I mean, can you imagine your uncle or my dad joking around with their young soldiers, Papa doesn’t even let initiates around him for the first three to five years.”

“Hmm.”

“Yeah, El,hmm.”

“So, if annoying him is out, what’s your new plan?”

“Seduction. I tried sweet and cute and that didn’t work, now I’m just being my sneaky self while wearing as little as possible. He has to cave eventually. Then I’ll get close to him, dig, find his weaknesses, and leverage the hell out of them.” I snort. “Basically exactly what he said he’d kill me for.”

“Luna!”

“It’s a risk I have to take! What else am I going to do, roll over and play mob wife? Make babies and fucking bake stuff?” She makes a noise and I realize I’ve just described her ideal life as the corrupt senator’s wife. “Sorry, El, you know I love it for you, it’s just not me.”

“I know, but at least he didn’t force you to have sex with him, right? Maybe it won’t be so bad, being married to him?”

“I’m not staying married, we’re not giving up! I can’t stay here. It’s like I’ve time traveled. I spent these last few days trying to find something, anything of interest. It really is like going back to the eighties. Stranger fucking things, Ellie. No internet, no cameras, he doesn’t have an office here that he uses, so no spying on product deliveries or updating my spreadsheets.Sheila,his little maid, said I could take up decorating or gardening. Gardening, Eleanna! I mean, please, kill me now! No. I’m getting out.” I nod to myself. “Somehow. I’ve scoped the whole property, aside from the creepy woods, and didn’t find so much as a loose screw.”

“Creepy woods?”

“His property is like half the state of Massachusetts. I walked most of three of the four perimeters, which took me all damn day, but the one corner goes way off into thick trees for forever.” I can hear her grimacing on the other end of the phone. “Yup. Exactly where a creepy mobster is probably keeping all his creepy secret mobster things. Today I ventured in there just a little bit and I found them sparring in a clearing. Which is really odd because they have a state-of-the-art gym. What is this,fight club? Tomorrow, I’m going deeper. Seems like anything of interest is hidden out there.”

“Take your phone with you!”

“I will, a whole lot of good it’ll do me, but I’ll have it just in case.”

She sighs, “You’ll find a way, Lu. If anyone can go toe-to-toe with Skulls, it’s you.”

I thank her, feeling better.

Inspired by the unreal display I just witnessed, I start a workout. I could go to the gym but I don’t want to see anyone. I just want to think and sweat. Pushups, crunches, lunges, squats. Rep after rep after rep.

Clarity doesn’t really come to me.

But I can smell dinner cooking now, and my limbs are trembling. I hop in the shower and stand under the glorious spray of five shower heads. Quinn knows how to have a bathroom remodeled, I’ll give him that. This thing is like a human carwash.

I sigh, hating that I love this shower. That I love something of Quinn’s.

Today wasn’t a total loss. There’s shit going down in the woods. And Quinn does look at my body even though he ignored me for two days. He didn’t want his fighters checking out my nipples through my top.

I get out of the shower and put on more of the same: anything tight, thin, white or light pink. I pull my hair back into a low knot, put on a few coats of mascara, lip stain and a little blush. I hear the men entering the house for dinner like a rhino stampede. And my mouth is watering at the aroma, so I head down.

Quinn’s already there, sitting at the table but not eating yet. He’s not going to ignore me tonight. I walk right up to him and sit in his lap. He’s talking to a guy next to him and doesn’t pauseat all for me. If it weren’t for a quick squeeze of my hip, it’s like I didn’t sit here at all.

Mac and Collin come to the table and join in, all of them discussing some soccer team, for shit’s sake, and Quinn picks me up wordlessly and deposits me in the seat next to him.

No scolding.

No playing a part.

Just…nothing.

Like I don’t exist.

Hell, no.

“Um, baby,” I start, making my voice breathy.