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"Ssshh." Alejandro pressed a finger to my lips. "Secret."
Holy crap! I was going to die.
"We'll discuss it when we get home." Alejandro patted my butt again. "We'll have more privacy there."
I wasn't sure that was a good thing.
I also wasn't sure that I wanted to be alone with Alejandro. Not because he might be a mobster, but because the guy unsettled me in ways I had never experienced before.
I felt as if I was running hot and cold at the very same time. The chill running down my spine and standing the hairs at the nape of my neck on end were definitely cold. The arousal running through a very different part of my body was definitely hot. Smoking even.
If Alejandro didn't kill me, this would.
When we pulled up in front of a faded red brick building, my jaw dropped. I wasn't sure what I expected when Alejandro said he had bought a hundred and sixty-year-old mobster's mansion, but this wasn't it.
The place was huge. I could only see the front of the five-story brick building, but it looked as if it needed a whole lot more than a little retrofitting. It needed a complete overhaul.
"You want us to live here?" Pure doubt laced my voice.
Alejandro's chuckle was deep and dark. "It’s home now."
Yeah, I didn't think so.
"We could stay in my condo."
"Not big enough and definitely not safe enough. You live on the twelfth floor of a twenty-floor apartment building. It's a security nightmare."
My heart sank as I glanced toward the mansion again. This was a security nightmare. The weeds were so tall, they covered the first-floor windows. The faded brick on the sides of the building looked as if it was ready to collapse at any second.
I shuddered to think what the inside would look like.
"The inside looks better than the outside," Alejandro assured me.
It would have to.
"I had my people work on that first," he continued. "The electrical and plumbing have all been replaced and now they are getting started on the basic repairs. It'll be a bit uncomfortable for a little while, but once they finish this place will be a masterpiece."
I glanced toward the building again and tried to see it through Alejandro's eyes, but I just couldn't. The place was an absolute wreck. I was surprised it was still standing.
I would reserve judgment until I saw the inside of the place.
When the backdoor opened, Alejandro set me on the seat and then slid out before holding his hand out to me. "Come on."
I didn't really have any other choice at this point. I took the hand Alejandro held out to me and climbed out of the back of the limousine. Alejandro tucked my arm through his and then led me toward the mansion.
Hugo hurried ahead of us, opening the double front doors.
I started to hold my breath as we walked inside until I saw the interior of the entryway, and then my eyes widened in shock. While the style of the place definitely had a place in the last century, someone had taken very good care of the place.
The crown molding that edged every section of the ceiling looked as if it was made of dark oak or maybe mahogany. I wasn't too up on the different kinds of wood out there, but I had to admit it looked rather nice.
I was more impressed with the tiled floor in the entryway. If I wasn't mistaken, I was pretty sure it was made of black and white marble tile. There was even a diamond shaped border all along the wall.
There was a set of double doors to one side of the entry, a single door to the other, and a grand archway directly in front of me. When I stepped past the archway, I realized I was still in a section of the entryway, but this space was grandeur.
Same crown molding, same black and white marble tile, but it also had a wooden staircase leading to the floors above and a massive chandelier hanging directly center of it all.
If the grand entry was anything to go by, this place might actually be worth living in. All of it seemed to be in good repair from what I could see, which was odd for a house this old.
