Page 92 of Waste of Worth

“No judging. I’ll bring it.”

He almost asked why her week had been crappy, but decided against it, if only because he was about to add to her stress when he was going to have to warn her about the agents, and the possibility that they may be around asking questions. It was a simple enough task as far as demanding his employees of all his businesses deflect any attention from officials, but Karen wasn’t just Dino’s employee.

Once the tea was steeped long enough, he grabbed his coffee and Karen’s mug and made his way back into the bedroom. Karen, resting against the headboard with a book in her hands, looked like she had spent the night rolling in the sheets with him.

She looked properly fucked with her lazy smile and messy hair, not to mention the sheets she had pulled up around her body to keep her modesty.

Not that it did anything to hide her body.

He knew all too well what she looked like under that sheet.

“Here,” he said, handing her tea over.

Karen took it with a happy sigh, sipping on the hot liquid. “It’s good.”

“Tea is new for you.”

She didn’t look at him when she replied, “Didn’t think you’d notice the change.”

Dino’s brow furrowed. “Why wouldn’t I notice something like that?”

“It’s not important. Come here.”

He did as she asked, leaning over the bed and letting her pull him close enough for a kiss. Her lips curved into a smile against his mouth as she stroked his cheek with her thumb.

“I do, you know,” she said softly, “love you.”

Dino wished it was as easy for him to say as it was for her. She could let the words fall from her mouth so easily, as if it was the same thing as breathing.

For him, a fear choked him silent when he wanted to reply in kind—reply honestly. She was entirely his, had never said a thing differently, but Dino knew the things that were his, things that he loved, could be taken away without reason or apology.

Still, he managed to say the words.

She deserved to hear them.

“Love you, sweetheart,” Dino murmured.

Karen’s smile bloomed into a full blown grin. “The tea is new.”

“Decaffeinated, too. What good does that do?”

“Suffices my need for a hot drink.”

“Why the change?” Dino asked.

Karen didn’t answer right away, instead dropping her gaze and her hand from his face. Dino leaned back, standing straight as he watched her curiously.

What was she hiding?

“What brought you over here this early?” Karen asked.

A deflection.

Dino was not a stupid man.

He saw that for exactly what it was.

“I’ll indulge you for a minute, but then you’re going to tell me what you’re hiding,” Dino said frankly.