His Mafia Queen

Sweet as Sugar

Sweet as Sugar

GABRIEL

I'm humming a popular song in the kitchen as I prepare a charcuterie board. Something about watermelon sugar, a tune I heard in a club a while back, not the sort of thing I usually like.

Humming.

Me.

That's how fucking incredible I feel after my night with Riley. Every muscle in my body feels relaxed and loose, as if I've been worked over by my masseuse. The orgasm I had with her was out-of-this-world, absolutely mind-blowingly intense.

I'm eager to get back upstairs for round two but I'm also starving, and I'm sure she is, too. Neither of us ate a bite at that party.

I hear footsteps. Thank Christ I'm wearing boxer shorts. I look up just as I'm arranging two small wedges of brie on the fancy wooden board between a row of fig-and-rosemary crackers and tufts of prosciutto sliced paper-thin. This spread would easily be more than a hundred dollars in a restaurant, but since I like to snack, I always keep the ingredients on hand.

Normally I eat alone, never at night, always while reading. Tonight's different, though.

"Oh, sir, I didn't know you were here. I saw the kitchen light from my place and came to investigate." It's Cassie, in striped blue pajamas. She, along with Andre, have apartments here on my property. She stifles a yawn. "Do you need help?"

Her gaze falls to the food I'm arranging. There are already six kinds of cheese, crackers, mounds of cold cuts, and grapes. Cassie looks a little shocked, probably because she never sees me in the kitchen, and certainly hasn't witnessed me arranging a platter like this, at this hour. A freshly opened bottle of wine and two glasses await nearby on a tray.

"I think I've got all I need. But thanks." I shoot her a sheepish grin.

"That's a lot of food for just you." Cassie goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of sparkling water. "And usually, you fast at night."

Like Andre, she's worked for me for years, and knows me too well. Other than my family, they're the only two people I truly trust.

"It's not just for me. Riley's upstairs."

"I see." The corners of her eyes crinkle into a smile. "I like her, Gabriel."

I wipe my hands on a towel and carefully set the charcuterie board on the tray. "I do, too."

More than I probably should.

"Wait. You're missing a key ingredient. Here." She opens a drawer and takes out a stack of cocktail napkins, then sets them on the tray."

"Thanks. Appreciate it." I grab the tray and am about to head upstairs.

"Sir?" Cassie shoves her glasses up her nose.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, please. I can tell you're acting differently with this woman. How well do you know her?"

I let out a chuckle. "Don't you worry, Cass. Everything's under control."

On my way upstairs, I wonder if it is, though. Cassie's about ten years older than me, and was initially employed as a secretary by my grandfather. She knows my past, my history. She knows that when I was younger, I'd fall hard and fast for girls. I was a typical guy.

Then I wised up, and haven't been truly enamored with anyone in more than a decade.

But Riley's different, I think. The fact that Cassie can spot this should be alarming to me. Should be a red flag. Should be the detail that makes me pump the brakes, maybe even send her home.