"You like it, don't you?"
"What?" I managed to breathe.
"The fear, Miss Night," he mused, "you crave it."
_______________________________________
Sabina Night owes Antonio Marafi her life.
But when he asks her to spy on the Russo crime family, Sabin...
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I kept my tone light, bringing my wine glass to my lips.
"And how do you plan on doing that?"
Gio's answering smile was enough to tell me that I wouldn't get any straight answers out of him. At least I now had the warning that he was suspicious. Whatever contact I had with Marafi needed to be extra discreet.
"How is work? Is the club doing well?" he asked instead of answering.
I tilted my head, eyeing him up for a long moment. A smile merely played on his lips, effectively ending that part of the conversation. Weighing the benefits of pressing the matter, I opted for not.
"When's your birthday?"
If he wanted to keep answering my questions with questions then I could do the same thing. My question seemed to have surprised him.
"What?"
I rolled my eyes. "A few weeks ago you told me your birthday was in a few weeks. Well, when is it exactly?"
"Monday," he finally said. Shit. Monday? That was in a few days. He chuckled a little. "Why the concerned look?"
"I didn't know it was so soon." I frowned. "I don't have a present for you. Do you have something special planned?"
The words were all out of my mouth before I could think twice about them. What was I supposed to get for a man I had a fake relationship but a physical agreement? Not to mention a man who could afford anything he wanted?
"Work mostly." He shrugged and my frown deepened.
"Spoken like someone who is turning 87 not 30," I teased, then added, "Would you like to do something with me?"
Gio sighed. "I appreciate the offer, Miss Night, but it's not safe at the moment for us to do so."
"We don't have to go anywhere away from the hotel. I'll come by your place, or you can come to mine and we can... shit I'm sorry that's probably stupid. You probably have something else planned and I—"
My face flushed, first at my words, and then deeper when he put his hand over mine to interrupt my word vomit.
"I think that sounds perfect."
Something about the look in his eyes quieted the awkwardness in my mind. I sat back into my chair, the two of us appraising one another.
"Alright, now that that's settled," I breathed, "why don't you tell me what work you're doing with Fiorda?"
The Fortune 50 company had come up multiple times now with members of the Russo family. Every time someone said the name, the subject was changed rapidly or the room hushed. They all wore the same look that Gio now did at my mention.
Fiorda had its hand in just about every industry I could make off the top of my head. If Russo Corp. was doing a deal with Fiorda then that was certainly news Marafi would find interesting. With Fiorda's backing, Russo Corp. would be nearly untouchable financially.
