Model for the Mob (Steamy Standalone Instalove Romance)

Aldo holds his hands up. “I know he could. I feel sorry for whatever bastard stands opposite him on the debate stand.”

Lucy smiles at me radiantly, as though all the sunlight is contained within her lovable face.

Everything about her is lovable, right down to the way she brushes her dress down. Every gesture, every tiny moment with her stamps the word love on my soul.

There are two things I never thought would concern me.

Love and souls.

Now I believe in both and I can’t live without either.

I glance at my watch.

One hour until the helicopter lands.

I’ve faced down armies and moguls and gun barrels, but I’ve never felt nerves swirl in my stomach like this before.

“I can’t believe you did this.” Lucy’s excitement is evident in her voice, loud in the headset.

I sit opposite her in the back of the helicopter, the perfect spot to take in her delighted expression.

“Where are we going?”

I grin across at her, feeling like I can truly smile for the first time in my life. I’ve never felt like this before, with so much contentment emanating from me. Like I can simply be in every moment instead of constantly looking for the next thing.

I’ll still conquer this city.

But I’ll always make sure to value these in-between moments when it’s just me and my woman and the whole world seems a million miles away.

“That’d ruin the surprise,” I tell her. “Are you ready?”

She bites her lip, glancing at the lawn to the edge of the helicopter. She erupted into joyful giggles when it landed on the lawn. I told them to land out here instead of on the helipad to make more of a dramatic effect.

I want today to be as memorable for my woman as possible.

“I think so,” she says. “I’ve never even been in a plane before, let alone a helicopter.”

“You better get used to being in the sky,” I say.

“Why?”

“For your work. You’ll be traveling all over the place when you’re the world’s most successful plus-size fashion designer.”

Her cheeks glow, the flush spreading down her neck and disappearing into her summer dress. She asked me if she should change when I told her we were going up in the chopper, and I told her no damn way. She looks perfect in the summer dress, every part of her passion-red, her body on display for me.

And for me alone.

I watched the pilots attentively as we got strapped into our seats, waiting for any sign they were taking too much interest in getting her into her seat. I wonder if the protective jealous predator in me will ever calm down, but I know it won’t.

I don’t think Lucy would have it any other way either.

“Come on. Don’t say crazy stuff.”

“It’s not crazy,” I growl. “It’s a fact. Come on. Show me your brave face. It’s time to fly.”

“My brave face?” She scrunches her features up, grinning at me. “Something like this?”

I chuckle at how adorable she looks, playful and carefree, something I never could’ve imagined when she was forced to walk down that runway.

“If that’s the face you make when you’re feeling brave, go for it.”

I flip the switch on my headset, turning to the pilot’s channel. “We’re ready. Take us up, gentleman.”

I switch back to our private channel and smile across at my woman as she grips onto her harness with tight fists, staring across at me and letting out a surprised yelp when the chopper’s blades start thundering.

They were coasting before, but now they ramp up to full power, the noise making it difficult to hear Lucy even in the headset.

“Whoah,” she cries when the helicopter lifts off, my stomach dropping slightly even after having been in helicopters dozens of times for work.

“I’m scared to look,” she says as we soar higher and higher.

“Look at me then,” I say, letting my eyes move over her tempting body and then out the doorway, at the estate and the countryside growing smaller beneath us.

We head toward the city, surging through the air, the helicopter rumbling powerfully beneath us. The reverberations make Lucy shake in her seat. I have to grit my teeth together to stop from tearing off my harness and leaping across at her.

Her breasts bounce alluringly, tempting me with each shift in the helicopter’s trajectory.

The city twinkles brightly as we approach, the skyscrapers glinting with what seems like a million shining lights. I know it’s the sunlight bouncing off the glass, but it looks brighter, more meaningful… like our future calling to us, getting brighter the closer we get.

“What are you thinking about?” she asks, her voice calmer now, her fists not so tight on the harness.

“You’d laugh if I told you.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Okay.” I shrug. “I was thinking the city is glittering like our future. Like it’s calling to us.”

She smiles widely, tears glistening in her eyes. “That’s so romantic.”