Chapter 13
Lola
I’m going to fucking kill Gino.
The second the door shut behind Gino, she spun on Enzo like a storm on legs.
“You said we could keep this quiet.”
Enzo didn’t flinch. “We could have. If Gino didn’t exist.”
He’s definitely going to die. I swear to the old gods and the new I’m taking his pinky toes at the VERY minimum and am going to wear them on my car keys as a good luck charm. Maybe I’ll put one on Enzo’s keys but honestly, he probably doesn’t drive himself so that would be weird.
“I thought this was gonna be a cool–down. A lie for like… I don’t know… a day? Two? I was supposed to untie you, apologize for the accidental hostage situation, and maybe offer you waffles. Not get promoted to your future bride by the Italian Gossip Network.”
They should probably just shoot me now.
Enzo opened his mouth.
She kept going. “I am so not built for this. Do you know what I have tomorrow? A full day of clients. One of them’s a girl who asked for a kitten on a motorcycle flipping off her ex. I don’t even have time to shower, let alone fake a mafia engagement!”
“You showered yesterday,” he said mildly.
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t.”
“I’m just saying-”
“I wear platform boots,” she snapped. “I have a hoodie with salsa stains. I dyed my hair in my kitchen sink and there is a literal light–up plastic ring on my finger right now. I am not exactly mafia wife material.”
He tilted his head. “You’re not exactly not.”
If he keeps joking about this I’m going to lose my shit.
“Oh my god, are you enjoying this?”
“A little.”
Lola ran both hands down her face and groaned. “This is my nightmare. I didn’t even get a heads up! We didn’t even plan a story. Like how we met, who made the first move, how long we’ve been fake engaged-”
“Fake engaged sounds like a dating app for pathological liars.”
“Enzo,” she growled.
He walked toward her, hands sliding into his pockets, that unfairly calm expression still in place.
“Look,” he said. “We keep it low. Play it cool. If we can stop the news from reaching anyone else, we’ll spin it, ease out of it, and walk away clean.”
“And if it spreads?”
“Then you’ll be my very real, very dramatic fiancée for a while longer. We may or may not have to get married.”
1/3
Chapter 13
Her hands flailed. “Married?! Are you JOKING?! I don’t even have a story for how I said yes!”
He stepped closer. “Yes, I was joking and obviously you were enchanted.”
She groaned again, dragging her hands through her hair. “I need coffee. Or bail money. Or a shovel to dig my own grave.”
Enzo stopped right in front of her; eyes locked on hers.
“You’re panicking.”
“Gee, you think?”
He leaned in. Voice low. Steady.
“We’ve got this. Just breathe.”
She didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Then he brushed a knuckle under her chin, smirking.
“And just for the record, I’m clean.”
Her mouth dropped open. Enzo grinned.
“Y’know… for when we get to the sex part of this fake engagement.”
“Arguably the best,” he said, already reaching for her bag. “Now go pack. We’ve got a family to disappoint.”
Pack for what? What am I packing for?
“Pack?!” she echoed, voice pitching upward like a siren. “What the hell am I supposed to pack and where the hell are you taking me?”
She took a step back, eyes narrowing. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it? Let me tie you up, play the helpless victim, and then–bam–you flip the whole damn thing and I’m the one getting abducted?!”
“Maybe it’s your kink. Let the girl think she’s in control, then flip the script. Real ‘congratulations, you played yourself‘ energy.”
“I assure you, dolcezza (sweetness), if I’d planned this, I wouldn’t have ended up wearing pants two sizes too small and explaining fake engagements to my
armed crew.”
I suppose that’s a fair point.
She narrowed her eyes, clearly not done. “So what, now I just grab a bag and trust that the man I accidentally kidnapped is gonna safely escort me back to his mafia palace for a totally normal, not–suspicious sleepover?”
“Yes.”
“Not even breakfast first?”
“I’ve got muffins,” he said while holding up the bag like Lola did just see him take them from Gino.
“You threatened Gino into leaving those muffins.”
Chapter 13
*Details.”
She threw her hands up. “This is so backwards! I was supposed to be the trainwreck here!”
Enzo crossed the space between them in three slow, deliberate steps and stopped just shy of touching her.
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