Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“He’s fine. That’s not why I’m here.” He paused, and I studied him. He had on a black leather jacket that matched his dark good looks. His jeans were black, too, as were his work boots. He didn’t look like a man who wore much color, but the black suited him. It somehow accentuated his handsome, Italian features. “I’m here about a phone call I got the other day.”
Ah. I shifted from one foot to another. “What about it?”
“I can’t figure out why you called.”
“That makes two of us.”
He stepped closer. “Maybe we can figure it out together.”
Now I really had to tilt my head up to look him in the eyes. “That’s not necessary.”
“I’d really like to know,” he said, his voice low. “And I think you’ll feel better if you do, too.”
“You can’t know that.” He didn’t know anything about me at all, really, except that I took good care of his friend. Oh, and he knew how I kissed. There weren’t a whole lot of men lately who could claim to know that.
I, on the other hand, still didn’t know anything about him. Maggie had texted some pictures of the baby yesterday. After cooing over her little girl, I’d casually mentioned Cesare’s name, asking if she knew anything about him. She hadn’t responded yet.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Cesare said, practically reading my mind. “And I think that bothers you.”
I tried to laugh, but it came out more like a weak cough. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He shrugged, not taking offense. “I know when a woman’s attracted to me. That’s not what’s happening here.” I kept my face frozen, not sure what to say to that. “Or at least that’s not the only thing happening here.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re questioning yourself, about why you kissed me. Right?”
“Right.” My voice was a little shaky, because that wasn’t the only thing I was questioning. The bigger question was why I’d responded to him the way I had.
“You had to, but I think you know that. So my guess is, you’re upset about something else.”
“I’m not upset.”
He cocked his head to the side as he looked down at me. “But it’s on your mind. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have called me.”
I exhaled sharply, looking at a spot on the ground. “I don’t usually do that—kiss men I don’t know. I just—I just can’t quite wrap my head around it.”
Cesare stepped even closer, and my gaze returned to his. “Maybe you’d feel better if you knew more about me.”
I bit my lip. “You said not to ask questions.”
“About some things that happened that night. But we can get to know each other better. In fact, I know of a way to do that.”
“How?”
“It’s an ancient tradition passed down through the generations.”
“I don’t know much about Italian culture,” I said.
“You might have heard of this practice. It’s called a date.” He grinned.
Surprise had me echoing his words. “A date?”
“Have dinner with me, Piper. Maybe if you get to know that I’m not such a bad guy, you’ll feel better about kissing a stranger.”
“Dinner?”
His low laugh made my thighs clench. “Or, you could just keep repeating everything I say. Is that some kind of technique you use with your patients?”
“Dinner when?”
His dark eyes gleamed. “Whenever you want. How about your next day off? Because I’d rather not eat dinner at four in the morning.”
“Okay.” My brain seemed stuck in neutral, but my mouth took over and I told him what day would work best. We agreed on a restaurant and a time, and that was that. Except, unlike Will, he stuck around until I was in my car. He even held the door until I’d climbed in and fastened my seatbelt.
With him standing over me, he looked even bigger than before. And with his arm resting on the edge of the car door, I wondered about what was under his jacket. Besides his impressive muscles, I meant. Was he armed tonight, too?
That, and many other questions, kept me awake well after the sun came up. But despite my misgivings, I couldn’t bring myself to regret agreeing to have dinner with him.
5
MATTEO
I winced as I opened my wallet and threw a twenty on the bar. There were only four more twenties in there. It was enough to last for a day or two, but it was pretty paltry when you considered that we were supposed to be rolling in millions by now.
Not that the heist had been about the money. Or not entirely about the money. It wasn’t, not for me and not for Cesare, at least. It was as he’d said—it was about power. If you had enough power, you were in control. That was what it boiled down to for me. I’d spent years in the army following orders. Eating what they told me to. Sleeping where they told me to. Killing who they told me to.