Page 8 of Don’t Say Mafia

“Exactly,” she said. “That was step one.”

I sighed, already exhausted as I glanced toward the velvet rope that marked the high roller room. Curiosity tugged at me for half a second before the old, heavy weight of responsibility settled right back in my chest like it had never left.

I hadn’t eaten. I’d barely slept. I was running on caffeine and obligation and the quiet determination not to let today break me. “I’m just serving drinks,” I said. “It’s not going to be nearly as exciting as you think.”

Leigh groaned as if she hadn’t heard me. “If he proposes, I will never forgive you.”

On that note, it was time to get back to work. “Good thing I’m already married and can save all the proposals for you,” I told her over my shoulder as I headed toward the back of the casino, already slipping into the version of myself that smiled just enough and gave nothing away.

Whoever this man was, he was just another customer.

And I was very, very tired.

CHAPTER 2

JAGGER

“Are you fucking serious?”

The pissed-off words hit me like a slap of cold air, yanking me out of the black hole I’d apparently fallen into. My eyes snapped open. The ceiling of the penthouse suite spun for a second before it steadied, and there she was, scrambling backward as she shoved at my chest like she wanted to launch herself into the next room. Her red hair was wild around her face, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were blazing with pure murder.

My dick was still half hard and heavy against my thigh, and my briefs were shoved down just enough to have let the monster out. I hadn’t even lasted long enough to finish before I’d passed out. She must have been really bad in bed. Usually I at least finished.

I yawned as I slipped off the unused condom. The yawn was loud, enough to crack my jaw and make my eyes water, and I stretched my arms over my head, my glorious silk sheets sliding down my hips while she stared at me as though I’d just kicked her puppy and laughed about it.

“You fell asleep,” she hissed in a rather lethal voice. “Mid-fuck. You actually fucking fell asleep.”

I blinked up at her, trying to give her an innocent-looking grin. “In my defense, it was a late night. Sometimes these things can’t be helped. I may look like a god, but I am in fact, merely a mortal.”

Her mouth dropped open, snapped shut, and then opened again like a fish that had been dragged up too fast. “You’re unbelievable!”

“You know, you’re actually not the first one to tell me that,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “You should think of it as a compliment, though. You had me so relaxed I passed out . . . baby.”

She made an incredulous scoff-laugh sound as she leapt off the bed and began hunting for her clothes. “‘Baby’? You don’t even know my fucking name, do you?”

Bending to grab one heel, she tipped forward, ass in the air, and yeah—my cock twitched because I wasn’t dead. But I reminded the big guy that she must have had the bedroom skills of someone who was dead if I fell asleep mid-fuck, so it didn’t need to pay attention.

“Of course I know your name . . . Lacy.” Or Susy. Was her name Susy? I knew it ended with a y.

Or at least I thought I knew.

“‘Lacy’?” she growled as her face turned a really unattractive purple color. “My name is Cleyo. Pronounced like yoyo.”

All right, so not a y, then. But also . . . who spelled their name Cleyo? Was she from Utah? Parents tended to give weird names there.

“Danny will call a car for you, Chloe,” I said, assuming I’d misheard her as I nodded toward the elevator.

She froze, straightened, and turned slowly, her eyes narrowed to slits. “I literally just told you my name.”

Okay, so I hadn’t misheard her. This was getting more awkward by the second.

“As I was saying, Danny downstairs will take care of you. Tell him you’re hungry, and he’ll make sure your driver stops by a Starbucks or something. I assume you like Starbucks?”

I wasn’t sure if girls named Cleyo liked Starbucks, but I didn’t want my driver to have to entertain this girl for hours, so it would have to do.

“You’re not even going to beg me to stay?” she asked, suddenly looking like she was going to cry.

Fucking hell.