His Mafia Queen

Power Play

RILEY

I tip my head back and laugh as Gabriel rains kisses across my neck. We fall onto the fainting sofa, with me straddling him.

"Oh, come on. You're not planning to..." my voice fades when his hand slides under my dress, squeezing the tops of my thighs. "Are we going to fuck right here? Gabriel! You're shameless."

He chuckles. It's a deliciously evil sound. "I wish, because just seeing you in this little dress is making me hard."

He withdraws his hands from my thighs and cups my face gently. "If I didn't need to get back to my meeting, I would. But I did want to say hi and kiss you."

"Hi," I whisper.

He presses his mouth to mine and we kiss for a solid thirty seconds until he breaks away and puts his forehead to mine. "Hi."

I slide my arms around him and we hug. His body feels so solid, so protective. It's one of the things I enjoy most about him, physically.

"I also wanted to find out what you're doing here. Looks like a business meeting."

We stop embracing and look into each other's eyes. "Yeah, it's a bunch of editors from New York, they own the newspaper chain."

I roll my eyes.

"What's wrong? That's great. Who else from your paper is here?" He tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"No one. Well, not yet. My editor's supposed to be here soon." I glance nervously at the door. I've already been here for a while. Maybe I'll tell the table that I got an important call from a source. "They wanted to take out a few star reporters."

"That's my girl." He kisses the tip of my nose. "But watch out for that guy sitting next to you. He's a douche."

My eyes widen. Kyle? "The one in the blue sweater?"

Gabriel nods. "When I walked past your table he was staring at you like he wanted to eat you with a spoon. I almost stopped so I could break his fingers, but I figured you wouldn't appreciate that."

My mouth opens in a half smile. "I'm not sure whether you're serious or not."

Gabriel's grin doesn't reach his eyes. "Serious as a heart attack."

A jolt of something goes through me. Maybe it's fear? I'm not certain. "Weren't you the one who said I was jealous the other day because I was asking an innocent question?"

He nods. "It's not that I'm jealous. I don't think there's any competition with Sweater Boy. I think you'd choose him over me any day."

"That's a hard yes."

"I worry about him saying or doing something inappropriate that will hurt you or your career."

An image of Kyle winking and smirking comes to mind. "Why do you think he might act that way?"

Gabriel shakes his head. "The way he was looking at you. Men can tell."

"I'll be careful." I'm not so sure about Gabriel's possessiveness, however. I can't tell if it turns me on or repels me. It's a side of him I haven't seen.

I bite my bottom lip as I watch Gabriel's eyes soften and shine.

There's an insistent knock on the door. "I've been waiting five minutes," a woman calls out plaintively.

"Use the men's room," Gabriel shouts back, and I collapse onto his chest, trying to hold in my giggles.

"You smell incredible." His hands work into my hair, which by now is a mess.