Underboss (With Me in Seattle Mafia 1)

“I should stay here for a couple of days to make sure Annika’s okay.”

“Of course.” I kiss her once more. “We’ll stay here for as long as you need.”

“Carmine.”

“Hmm?” I kiss down her neck, unable to resist her.

“I’m not going to fall in love with you.”

I can’t help but smile against her skin. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted. She’s my match in every way. And my opposite.

“No, there will be none of that.”

But there already is. And we both know it. We’re just too fucking stubborn to admit it.

Chapter 12

~Nadia~

“He’s in the ground, and it’s time to move on.”

Annika rakes her hand through her long, blond hair and blows out a shaky breath. She’s sitting on the couch, her feet tucked under her, still in her black mourning dress.

Ivie sits next to me. Now that the guests have gone and it’s just the three of us, we’ve kicked off our shoes.

“I didn’t think his mom would ever leave,” I say, staring down into my wine. “She just kept going room to room, loading up everything she could into her arms like she was on a game show or something.”

“I don’t even care.” Annika turns tired eyes to me. “She can have it all.”

“And she’ll take it.” Ivie’s voice is heavy with bitterness. And I can’t blame her. “She has no right to any of it. You’re his wife.”

“Do you think I want it?” Annika demands. “I couldn’t care less about the clock he bought in Germany or any of the other fancy knickknacks he had lying around. I’d just sell or donate it all anyway. There are some papers that I need to go through myself, and I have my things, of course, but I can’t get out of here soon enough.”

“Did you say that the realtor is coming tomorrow?”

Annika nods. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to put the house on the market, but as soon as the lawyer gives me the go-ahead, I’ll list it and find something else.”

“You should buy one of those fun little condos downtown,” Ivie suggests. “Right in the heart of the hustle and bustle. You can shop, eat, go to shows or games.”

“I don’t even know if I want to stay in Denver,” she admits softly.

“What about Seattle?” Annika’s mouth firms at my suggestion. “It’s a great city, and I’m sure the Martinellis would give you the green light to live there.”

“No.”

I sigh and tip back my head. I’m done beating around the bush on this one.

“What in the hell is up with you and Rafe?”

Annika blinks rapidly, and Ivie scowls, first at me and then at our friend.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, yeah, you do. I overheard you two in the kitchen when we were all here for dinner.”

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop, you know.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not sorry.”

“Wait.” Ivie shakes her head and sits forward. “I’m missing something. Annika had something going with Rafe?”

“It was years ago,” Annika says with a sigh. “We were kids. We’d see each other at things like weddings and such, and we both went to college at Duke.”

“Rafe went to college at Duke?” Ivie asks, clearly impressed. “Wow.”

“There’s chemistry there,” Annika whispers. “And, yeah, we saw each other for a while. But you guys, we’re in mob families. Opposing ones. My parents would have thrown a fit.”

I frown, thinking it over. “We aren’t exactly at war with the Martinellis.”

“But we’re not on the best of terms, either. The betrothal between Alex and Elena fell through, and then they assumed our family had killed theirs for years. All of that happened at the same time. So you can’t tell me that they would have welcomed my affair with Rafe with open arms.”

I nod and shrug a shoulder. “Okay, so the timing was bad. But we’re on better terms now. And if Rafe’s who you want, I think you could make that happen.”

“I don’t want Rafe or anyone else involved in the organization.” Annika’s voice is clipped. “I never have. I thought I’d found a nice, settled, professional, and we’d live a boring, happy life in the suburbs. Look where that got me.”

“It makes sense that you’re not exactly ready to get back on the horse, so to speak, right away,” Ivie says. “There’s no rush.”

“I don’t know how I can ever trust anyone again,” Annika says. “And while I do trust Rafe, I know that he’s not the one for me. Not for the long haul.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you had a thing going with him?” I ask her.

“Honestly, it was kind of fun to have a secret fling with someone I shouldn’t. It felt taboo and reckless. But then I fell in love with him.” She whispers the last three words, and I can’t help but cross to her and hold her hand.