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“Exactly!” Luca’s voice could be heard loud and clear through the wood.
Angela’s eyes widened. She walked over and opened the door. “It really is Luca. And Sal. What are you guys doing?”
“I have no idea,” Sal answered. He glared at Roman. “It’s really fucking dark in here.”
“I’m not even going to ask,” Angela said. He saw her shoulders relax and her back lose its rigidity. “I better go. I’ve been here longer than I planned, thanks to Morrigan’s version of Mortal Kombat. I’m going to need to soak in the tub. My muscles are already screaming.”
“We saw you with her—just a little. I didn’t know you could fight like that. You’re awesome,” Luca enthused with a clap.
Angela smiled at him. “Thanks. But I don’t think I’ll be doing it again anytime soon. She’s brutal.” She said goodbye one last time and walked out.
Roman hurried after her, pausing just outside the doorframe. “Angel,” he called. “You don’t like the thought of me with other women.” It was a statement.
She halted her retreat, remaining silent for a moment before she turned and gave a single nod. “That’s an accurate assessment.”
“Good.” Satisfaction ran through him. “But, baby, you don’t need to worry. This”—he palmed his crotch—“is all for you. Whenever you’re ready, just give me the word.”
Her eyes locked onto the location of his hand, and while she didn’t say yes, she also didn’t say no. It was a definite step in the right direction. “Thank you for the kitten. And the drug lord. And anything else you’ve been doing.”
She ran back to him, blushing prettily as she kissed him on the cheek. And before he could even react, she was gone.
He walked back into his office in a daze, cupping his face where it still tingled from her lips.
“Wow, bro. That was really frickin’ romantic.”
Roman didn’t even look, just shoved Luca with his hand on the way past. He heard the collective oomph as his brother and Sal landed back in the closet, and he grinned. His ice Angel was thawing. He just knew it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Isn’t he adorable?” Angela asked Finn, showing him a picture of Smithy.
“He’s so cute!” Finn enthused. “And a gift from a friend, you said?”
“A rescue,” she confirmed, nodding her head. “This is his brother, Wes. They still see each other every day.”
“That’s so great. There are so many animals in need,” Finn said, thumbing through the dozens of photos on her phone.
“I agree.” She didn’t know why she hadn’t considered adopting animals before. Why had it taken a crime boss to show her the way? It was ridiculously ironic.
He was making it hard for her to stay distant. With every new thing she learned about him, the more she fell. Not in love, she told herself, but fell from her initial thinking. She knew he wasn’t a mindless criminal or thug. He wasn’t a monster—not to her anyway. And she was strangely okay with that.
He was a good man. And, she was beginning to think, perhaps the best man.
His words to her from a week ago, when he had confessed to naming the kittens Smith and Wesson, had echoed in her skull ever since. He wanted to make memories with her. Making memories had never been high on her priority list. Mainly because they were a form of torture more than anything else. But the way Roman said it had her thinking it could be nice, and that was just crazy, wasn’t it? No matter how sweet, funny, kind, or sexy he was, he was still Vincenzo Romano, heir to two crime families with an extremely dangerous past. A past she knew practically nothing about.
Wow, way to be a hypocrite, her inner self piped up. She promptly told herself to shut up. She knew her secrets could very well outweigh every one of Roman’s. And that was another reason why she was holding back from him. He wanted her to accept him for who and what he was. But would he be able to return the favor when he finally learned about her past?
Finn handed her cell back, and she bid him goodnight. It was only early evening, but it was the first day of her weekly rotation, so she had three more days to go. She wanted to get home to her kitten, her bed, and her dreams. Which were filled with Roman.
“Angela, hi,” Brian greeted her, stepping out from the male change room.
She paused. “Hi.” She’d had very few words with him over the last few months. Nothing that wasn’t professional, anyway. She was relieved when he hadn’t brought up Sal or Roman again.
“I was wondering if you’d like to go for a drink?” he asked her, falling into step beside her.
She did her best to smile as she turned him down. “Thanks, but I’m exhausted. I think I’ll just crash.”
Brian’s smile dimmed a little. “There are a bunch of us going to celebrate Paulie retiring.”
