Page 17 of The One Night Match (Mafia Matchmaker #1)

SEVENTEEN

RILEY

N othing about the last forty-eight hours has gone as planned.

A night out as one last act of defiance against the situation I was forced into turned into a one-night stand, which turned into the sinful stranger becoming my Mafia boss husband, and not just in name.

No, it seems Cruz wants to make this marriage work, which is the last thing I want.

I drop my head into my hands and groan.

Goddamn it.

I really thought anyone I married would at least be open to the idea of ending our marriage at the end of the three months.

Who wants to be married to a perfect stranger?

We all signed up for the service for different reasons, but I’d hazard a guess that at least 80 percent do so because of pressure within their families.

My plan was to wait out the ninety days, get our families off our backs, and then go our separate ways.

But it seems like my husband actually wants to be married to me, a situation I hadn’t planned for.

Honestly, it never even occurred to me that whomever I married would like me. I know that sounds sad as hell, and it probably is, but I’ve never been anyone’s first choice. So what would have made me think this is how things would play out?

My phone buzzes on the bedside table, and I frown at it like it personally offended me.

There’s no one I can think of that I want to hear from right now, especially not my family, but if I ignore them, they’re going to keep calling, and then I’ll have to listen to my mother give me a lecture about what’s the point in having a phone if you’re not going to answer it.

I reach for it and frown when I see Lexi’s name flashing on the screen. Briefly, I wonder how her name and number got in my phone, but then I remember my husband snuck into my bed in the middle of the night.

“Hey,” I say into the phone.

“Girl! I was getting worried that my brother was still doing unspeakable things to you even after all these hours.”

I snort out a laugh and cover my face, immediately horrified that my new friend heard me make such a sound…again, but it only seems to make her laugh. “Not unless you count him making me breakfast and explaining that he actually wants to be married to me.”

“Really?” The doubt in her voice makes my stomach churn uncomfortably.

“Yeah. It’s weird, because I kinda thought he’d be on the same page as me, that this thing is a sham and more for appearances than anything else.”

She’s quiet for a handful of seconds, and I pull my phone away from my ear to make sure she hasn’t hung up on me. “He must like you for real.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I spoke to Cruz last week, and he told me that he regretted signing up for the matchmaking service. He said he didn’t think he was going to be comfortable with a stranger in his house and that he didn’t think it was going to be worth the hassle.

He even said he had every intention of invoking the ninety-day clause when the time came. ”

I open my mouth to reply, but snap it shut when nothing comes out.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Yes…no. I’m not really sure,” I reply.

She half laughs. “Look, I don’t want to tell you what to do or how to feel or anything like that, but what I will tell you is that last night, he couldn’t take his eyes off you. He wasn’t giving any kind of indication that he was planning on ending things ever, let alone in three months.”

“He snuck into my bed last night,” I whisper. “Just to sleep,” I rush to confirm. “But when I woke up with him and Mr. Whiskers, he acted like it was the most normal thing in the world.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“He installed locks on his bedroom door so his new wife wouldn’t get the idea to do the same thing.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

A laugh falls from my lips. God, this is such a fucked-up situation. “He said he has no intention of ending our marriage at the end of the three months.”

She scoffs. “Oh, how the tables turn.”

“Yeah,” I murmur. As funny as the situation feels right now, it’s also a big problem for me. I don’t want any part in the Mafia anymore. Everything I’ve done since I left home has been to avoid exactly this, and I had everything riding on the fact that whoever I married would want the out as well.

“As his sister, I probably shouldn’t say this, but you could always make him not want to keep you around.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you ever see that movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days ?”

“Obviously. It’s a classic.”

“Well, it may not have worked for Andy, but it could totally work for you.”

I nibble at my bottom lip, my mind wandering to all the ways I could make Cruz sign on the dotted line at the end of the ninety days.

“I have an idea.”

A soft knock at the door startles me from my research, and I barely get the lid of my laptop closed before Cruz appears in the doorway with a sandwich in one hand and a soda in the other.

“I thought you might be hungry. You didn’t finish your breakfast.” His sweatpants ride low on his hips, and the black shirt he’s wearing hugs every one of his muscles. God, why did my husband have to be so attractive?

“Thanks.” I smile.

He nods, placing them down on my bedside table. “Did you maybe want to go through the files together?” The uncertainty in his voice makes my chest ache, which is really freaking annoying when I’m actively trying to push the man away.

I glance over at his file sitting at the end of the bed before nodding slowly. “Sure. I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?” He crosses the room and drops onto the mattress beside me.

“Yeah, I wanted to know if it would be okay if I did some redecorating? I don’t want to ruin the vibe or anything. I just wanted to add some color…if that’s okay?”

His shoulders drop with relief, as if he were expecting me to drop a much bigger bomb on him. If only he knew. “Of course! I want this to feel like your home! I’ve got your credit cards in my desk drawer. Remind me to grab them for you later.”

“My credit cards?” Okay, he surprised me with that one.

“Yeah. I added you to all my accounts this morning and had the bank drop off your cards.”

“You can do that?”

He chuckles. “You can when you have enough shares in the bank.”

“You have shares in a bank?” I must sound like an idiot, because even to myself it seems like I don’t have two brain cells to rub together, but the more this man speaks, the more confused I get.

Because Cruz De Luca is nothing like I thought he would be.

He’s not the standard asshole Mafia boss I’ve encountered time and time again. As far as I can tell, his reputation is reserved for those outside his immediate circle, and somehow, I’ve ended up smack bang in the middle of it.

Lexi’s words have played on repeat in the back of my mind since I hung up with her. Every word she said is like surround sound, because I can’t reconcile how Cruz could go from being adamant about his arranged marriage not working out, to being a doting husband to me without even flinching.

“Don’t seem so surprised. I have a varied portfolio, just in case this whole Mafia boss thing doesn’t work out.”

My brows rise so far up I think they’re about to disappear into my hairline. “Is that an option in your family?”

Cruz sighs and leans back against the headboard.

“Not really. But I have exit plans in place if the worst were to happen. A few of the men who were loyal to my father have been actively trying to overthrow my leadership since I took over years ago, and although I believe I’ll be able to turn things around, I won’t put all my eggs in that basket.

I won’t put your life, or Mom and Lexi’s, in jeopardy like that.

So I have plans in place to make sure I’m prepared for every eventuality. ”

Just when I think Cruz De Luca can’t surprise me anymore, here he goes again.

If I don’t find a way to get him on board with ending our marriage soon, I’m at risk of falling victim to this sweet side of him, and that’s something I can’t allow to happen.