"Tell me."
Could I really? Could I tell him what was bothering me?
"I'm scared," I blurted out and immediately regretted it when I saw the look on his face. "No, no, no," I stood up and walked toward him. "I'm not scared of you."
He pushed away from the table, still sitting on his chair and before he could even think of gettingup, I sat down on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Stop, seriously. I am not scared of you. I am scared of these crazy feelings inside me, and I'm afraid I'm imagining things or that I'm maybe projecting or just rushing into things and?—"
His lips slammed onto mine, shutting me up immediately, and I'd be lying if I said I hated his methods. All those crazy thoughts, the overthinking, the fear—everything disappeared the moment he kissed me. The moment he dragged his fingers through my hair and held me close.
I was the first one to pull back, dizzy, with my heart hammering in my chest, when he pressed his forehead to mine.
"Is this real?" I whispered, terrified of the answer. Perhaps it was stupid, completely irrational, but I needed to hear it.
A second passed, then two, then maybe even an eternity before he smiled, pressing another chaste kiss to my lips. "It's real, darling. It is so real that I have been going through different conversations and scenarios about how I’d ask you to stay. How I’d ask you to be mine. But I wasn't sure you felt it too."
He pulled back slightly, still keeping me in his lap. "The moment I saw you, I wantedto break Johnny's legs—and not because I knew he was stealing from me, but because he was the one sitting there with you and not me."
I would blame all the dark romance books for my heart fluttering at those words. Violence shouldn't excite me, yet here I was, sitting in the lap of a Capo, my pussy gushing as he voiced how he wanted to hurt another man.
Therapy—I definitely needed therapy.
"And I hated the fact that I couldn't meet you somewhere else, somewhere quiet where I would get you to fall for me before I would even tell you what I did for a living."
"Hmm, I don't know," I giggled. Fucking giggled. "I kinda like knowing things sooner rather than later."
"I can see that." He repositioned me on his lap, pulling me up higher so that his arms could circle around my waist. "But no, you're definitely not imagining things, and I'm hoping you would give me a chance?—"
His phone started blasting somewhere behind me, interrupting him mid-sentence. "Cazzo! Just ignore it."
But there was no ignoring it. As soon as the phone stopped ringing, it started again, and I knew there was no way we'd be able to talk thingsthrough until he dealt with whatever needed his attention.
"Hey," I said, placing my hand on his chest and slowly slid off his lap. "Just take it. I'm not going anywhere."
He grumbled, but he finally released me, still holding my hand as I sat down in my chair. "This better be important," he practically growled as he answered the phone, his eyes borderline murderous as he focused on whatever the person on the other line was saying.
Whatever it was made him look at me, apology written all over his face.
Yeah, we definitely weren't finishing this conversation now.
"Keep him there," Nicolas said, looking at me with regret etched into every line of his expression. "I'll be there soon."
He ended the call and turned his full attention toward me. "I am so sorry,Bella, but I need to go."
"I know," I smiled, and instead of feeling disappointed, I felt steady after what he initially said. "I don't want to know, yet, but go and take care of things, and we will talk later."
"Will you wait for me here?" There was hope in his voice and it wrapped around the wounded parts of me simply because he wanted mehere. "I know my life is complicated and you probably have better options out there—" The tick in his jaw appeared, and something akin to giddiness spread through my body at the mere thought of him being jealous. "But?—"
"I'll be here." I stood up again and closed the distance between us, placing my hands on the sides of his neck. "I'm not going anywhere."
And this time I truly meant it.
13
NICOLAS
Beingat this warehouse was the last thing I wanted to do, but when Aria, the eldest of my sisters, called and said they caught one of the Mancini soldiers trying to break into one of the warehouses where most of our supplies were stored, I couldn't let her handle it on her own. Not that she wasn't capable, but I tried shielding her as much as possible, even if she wanted to kill me just for thinking that.