Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Nothing,” I said. Then, realizing that wasn’t going to be convincing, I added, “I’m just worried about what is going to happen if Dennis doesn’t show up, I guess.”
“Nothing will happen,” Cesare assured me.
“How do you know that?”
“Because the business will fall fully to me if, God forbid, something happened to Dennis. You don’t have to worry about your job, Mere. You’re safe there.”
Except I wasn’t.
I just couldn’t tell him that.
Maybe I would, if somehow we figured out that Dennis was gone for good, that Cesare was the one in charge of things.
He would want to know, surely, that illegal things were happening at his business. But until I was sure there was no way not to involve him, I didn’t want to take that risk.
I wondered if I could somehow track down Dennis. Or get in contact with Rayna. Who, it seemed, knew about the men in the back room as well.
“Mere,” Cesare called, voice soft, making that damn shiver sensation move through me.
“Yeah?”
“You want me to leave?” he asked, head ducked to the side a bit.
Need?
Yes.
I absolutely needed him to leave.
Want, though, that was a far trickier one to answer.
“If it helps to make up your mind,” Cesare said, taking another step closer, right into my personal space, making me have to tilt my head up to keep eye contact. “I didn’t leave this morning because I wanted to, but because I knew Vega would be able to read what was going on. And, I might not know your cousin as well as you do, but I had a feeling she would say something, then you’d be embarrassed, and it would turn into a whole thing.”
“She did,” I said, shrugging. “Say something,” I clarified. “Vega has never been one to let things pass her by without comment. And I would have been humiliated if she did it in front of you.”
“I figured I’d get you alone again to talk about shit. If I didn’t think you understood that, I would have taken the time to say something.”
He was being so… communicative and mature and everything guys I’d known in the past had never been.
It made it even harder to bolster up my resolve to put and keep him at a distance.
“It’s fine,” I said, shrugging.
“Clearly, it’s not,” he countered.
“Can we just let it go?” I asked, tone a bit desperate. Partly from the fear of what might happen to myself, Vega, and him if he didn’t stay away. But also, and perhaps almost as much, because him being so close was making it hard to think straight, to be logical. My mind and body were at war with each other, and I honestly didn’t know who would win unless he took a steps back.
“Hear me out for a minute, sweetheart, and if you want me gone after that, I’ll be gone. And I won’t bug you again.”
I wanted to tell him that he wasn’t bugging me. That the only thing bugging me right that moment was the unyielding pressure on my lower stomach, the aching need to be as close to him as possible.
I couldn’t do that, though.
But I could let him have his say.
I gestured over toward the couch, hoping that a little space between us would clear my head.
Cesare moved in that direction, unbuttoning his suit jacket, then dropping down.
I moved to the far side of the sofa, sitting as well, not realizing my robe had slipped open to reveal not only most of my leg, but a fair chunk of my breasts too until I saw his hungry gaze move over the exposed skin.
I grabbed at the sides of my robe, holding them together as I shifted my leg, trying to cover it mostly up.
Why hadn’t I asked for him to give me a moment to change?
No.
Better not to think too much on that question. Because I was pretty sure my conclusion would be that I didn’t want to be fully clothed around him.
“I’m about to say some shit about me that you’re probably not gonna like,” Cesare started, giving me a boyish smirk.
“Okay.”
“I’ve made no effort to hide the fact that I’ve been a shameless whore most of my adult life,” he told me, making my brows shoot up.
I mean, it wasn’t like anyone expected a man as good-looking and charming as he was to be a virgin. But it was interesting to hear him admit to sleeping around with a bit of a sheepish look, like he knew it wasn’t something most people would think he should be proud of.
“In fact, the first time I moved up here to Maine, I did it to get out of a nasty little mess I’d created by sleeping with another man’s wife.”
“A friend?” I asked, stomach tensing, not wanting to think he was capable of that kind of betrayal.