Page 10 of The One Night Match (Mafia Matchmaker #1)

TEN

CRUZ

W hat the fuck is she talking about?

She’s talking like it’s a foregone conclusion that I’m going to leave at the end of the trial period.

Trial period.

Can you believe they call it that? You’d think, considering how seriously the Mafia takes the sanctity of marriage when it comes to divorce, that they’d have something to say about that terminology.

But nope.

Regardless, I already know I’m not walking away at the end of the ninety days. Why the hell would I?

Riley is beautiful.

She’s funny.

From what I can tell, she’s smart as hell.

And more than any of that, she has her own mind.

You don’t know how wildly boring Mafia women normally are. They’re all cut from the same cloth, with the same values, the same training, and the same boring personalities.

But not Riley.

I just have to make her see that this could work. That we could have something real.

I reach over and take her hand, squeezing it in my much larger one until she’s forced to meet my eye. “I’m not going to be the one who walks away.”

“But we have to mutually agree,” she argues.

I raise a brow. “So you’re the one who’s going to try to leave at the end of the trial?”

She opens her mouth to argue, but she snaps it shut again.

So that’s it.

She thought she was going to be able to use the system to her advantage.

Smart cookie.

“I’m not getting a divorce,” I tell her.

“But that’s part of the contract we signed!” she argues.

“I don’t care.” I smirk as we come to a stop outside the reception venue. “Now, little wife, let’s go show off how happy we are with our match.”

I don’t give her a chance to argue, quickly climbing from the limo and taking her hand to help her out of the car.

“Do you have to stay in this tulle monstrosity all night?” I ask, my brows furrowed. “I can’t get anywhere near you.”

“Maybe I should keep it on in that case,” she mutters to herself. “But no, I have a reception dress to change into before they introduce us.”

I shake my head and lead her into the venue, navigating the back halls until I find the one Mom made me memorize the location of.

She wanted to make sure I knew where I was going because “it’s not fair to expect my new wife to remember everything on such an emotionally charged day.

” She was right, of course, and I’ll have to tell her as much when we see her in a little while.

I have a feeling she’s going to love Riley. Maybe not so much if she finds out she’s going to try to use the loophole in our marriage documents to get out of being married to me, but we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.

We slip inside, and I close the door behind us once I’m sure none of her dress will get caught. She looks beautiful in it, but it needs to go.

It’s getting in the way of touching her, and I can’t have that.

Riley crosses to the dress bag hanging on the other side of the room and tugs the zipper down, looking over her shoulder expectantly. “Aren’t you going to wait outside?”

“No.”

“Cruz.” She sighs.

“You’re my wife now, Kitten,” I point out. “And I’ve seen all the important parts already anyway.”

She huffs out a sigh. “You’re a big fan of that word, huh?”

“Kitten?”

“No, the other one.”

“Wife?”

She nods.

I chuckle, leaning my back against the door as I look my fill of her. “Fuck yeah, I am. Might even be my new favorite word in the English language.”

She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the tiny smile tugging at her lips.

Something tells me no one has ever chosen Riley. No one has ever put her first, made her feel like she deserves everything good in the world. But that changes today.

I don’t give a fuck if this marriage was only meant to strengthen my position as head of the family.

Everything changed when that veil lifted, and my kitten was beneath the layers of tulle.

I push off the door and stalk toward her. “Need a hand getting out of your marshmallow?”

She scoffs. “I happen to like this dress.”

“As do I, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t look like it belongs in a hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day.”

Riley flicks an amused roll of the eyes over her shoulder, and I shove down the groan that tries to escape. This woman.

I thought the allure was just because of the dark club, the alcohol, and my need to have one last night where my decisions were still my own.

But it turns out it’s just her. And the craziest part is, I don’t even really know her.

I don’t know her favorite color or the snack she reaches for after a long day. I don’t know what she majored in in college, or whether she’ll hog the blankets at night.

What I do know is that despite all of that, I’m desperate to uncover every hidden nuance. I’m excited to insert myself into every single facet of her life until she needs me for everything.

“Can you just loosen the corset?” she finally asks.

“You got it, Kitten.” I brush my fingers down her bare back, a part of me settling at finally having my hands on her.

“We need to talk about that nickname,” Riley grumbles, lifting her hair off her back to give me the access I need.

“I think it suits you.”

“Because I’m small and weak?” she asks, her voice pitching ever so slightly. Most people probably wouldn’t notice, but most people haven’t just found their new obsession.

“No.” I shake my head as I carefully pull the satin strands of fabric until the dress begins to loosen.

“Kittens are underestimated. They look sweet and innocent, like they could never hurt a fly. But their claws are always the sharpest. It’s a mistake to rule them out based on their appearance and stature alone. ”

She doesn’t speak for long seconds, and I find myself desperate to know what she’s thinking. Why hasn’t someone figured out a way to read minds yet? That would be so handy right now.

“The nickname can stay, I suppose.” Riley’s irritated huff only drags my lips further up my cheeks.

This whole marriage thing is going to be a whole lot more fun than I thought.

Once the dress gives enough that it starts to slip down, Riley wraps her arms around her chest and looks over her shoulder. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” I smirk and drop onto the velvet couch a few feet from where her reception dress hangs. I cross my ankle over my knee and stretch my arms across the back, making myself comfortable.

“You’re insufferable.”

I chuckle, telling her once and for all I’m not going anywhere.

Riley mutters something under her breath as she allows the dress to pool around her ankles.

Well, knees actually, because there’s so much of it, but I’m too distracted by the way the white lingerie clings to her body, the delicate lace wrapped so perfectly around her curves that I just about swallow my tongue.

I thought she was fucking beautiful in the dark club, but nothing could prepare me for seeing her in the light of day.

She pays me no mind as she carefully climbs out of the marshmallow dress and reaches for the thin straps of the one hanging in front of her.

With practiced ease, she steps into the satin number before flicking a look over her shoulder at me. “Seeing as you insisted on staying, can you zip me?”

“Do I have to?” I ask, my voice betraying how fucking turned on I am just from watching her change.

Her eyes flick down to the obvious bulge in my pants, and she smirks.

I shove myself to my feet, give my cock a quick squeeze to settle him the fuck down, and then cross the distance between us.

My huge, tattooed fingers struggle to get a hold of the delicate zipper, but Riley doesn’t rush me as she pretends my proximity doesn’t affect her the same way hers does me.

That’s okay. I don’t need her to admit it just yet. Making her fall for me is going to be way more fun anyway.