Page 75 of Vows of a Mobster

“No.”

“Oh, well. It is over now,” I told him, smiling. “Anyhow, nice to see you again Antonio.”

“And you too,” he acknowledged. “Mateo will be taking you out for dinner. He asks you to be ready at six.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to go out for dinner.”

He chuckled. “Don’t ladies like to get all fancy and go out?”

I scoffed at him. “I think I told you yesterday, I’m not a lady. And I’d rather stay in, have pizza, and read.” He raised an eyebrow and I wondered which part he found odd. “Do I have any say in it?”

He opened his mouth, but I stopped him. “Actually, never mind. I forgot I have his phone number. I’ll call him.”

“Very well. Talk to you later.” He turned around and left down the hallway.

I shut the door and locked it again, then dialed Mateo.

“Hello,” darn his voice did things to me. Oh so good, but totally bad.

“Antonio came by,” I told him. “I don’t want to go out to dinner.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m tired and don’t feel like dressing up,” I told him. It was true, although there was also the issue of not having anything to wear to go out to dinner.

“I gave my cook this week off,” he added with a sigh. “I couldn’t get her to cancel her vacation.”

I chuckled at the notion. A head mobster asking his cook to cancel vacation plans and being told no. I kind of liked it.

“Smart cook not to bend to your will,” I told him. “I can cook. As long as there are ingredients in the fridge.”

“Why don’t you come downstairs and we’ll check it out.”

“Oh, I thought you went back to work.” I was pretty sure that was what he told me.

“I have an office at home too,” he explained.

That made sense. “Well, then this phone call is silly. Isn’t it?”

“Just come downstairs, Brianna.” The way he said my name sounded warm and soft. I liked it. It will be important not to forget he wasn’t a friend. Was he an enemy? He made me feel more since I met him than I felt my entire life.

“Okay, see you in a minute.”

I turned off the phone, then quickly changed into a pair of my yoga pants and a comfortable white crew neck shirt. Brushing out my hair, I pulled it into a high ponytail. A quick check in the mirror showed I looked comfortable. Good, I wasn’t going for sexy. Just comfortable.

Exiting the bedroom, I strolled down the wide hallway. I had never seen such a bright, open hallway. Even when I lived with my mom and stepdad, I hadn’t seen such luxury. Glancing around, I finally found myself descending the stairs and observed Mateo and Antonio speaking in the large foyer. Mateo must have had a shower too, because his dark hair with silver grey strands was damp. Gosh, he made my heart race.

The moment they heard me, all conversation stopped.

“Hey you two,” I greeted them. “You know, when you stop a conversation as someone enters the room, it means you were just talking about them.”

“Does it?” An amused smile played on Mateo’s face.

“Yep,” I told him, glancing up at the glass ceiling. This place was ridiculously fancy. “This place must be freezing in the winter.”

Antonio chuckled. “It’s not the tropics.”

“Yeah, no shit.”