12. Mae

12

MAE

I told Rocco to stay away from me, and to my surprise, he honored it. I hadn't seen him since he left my house last week, nor had I heard from him in any capacity. What stuck out to me, though, was how quickly the shooting at the graveyard was quickly brushed under the rug as some kind of accident.

Those who had been injured were shipped off to incredible private hospitals and given the absolute best in care, and within a day or two, the topic changed. No one cared about the shooting. All people cared about was how the Adami family was still taking care of the town despite Aldo's passing.

Was this an example of Rocco's power? Of the power he held over this town, be it good or bad? Had it always been here, and I just never noticed before?

The important thing I chose to focus on was that no one died, and my mother's impending birthday party was becoming a date in everyone's calendar to celebrate just that. The community center was booked, the cake was ordered, and by the time I finished my third trek around the town, Zack's dinosaur costume was secured. All I needed was a dress, but my best friend Denise was helping with that.

With Dozer by my side, I strolled slowly toward the house, swinging my shopping bag back and forth. Since arriving, Mom had grown so attached to Zack, and I was more than happy to let them spend time together. However, Zack's absence painfully highlighted how empty my life was outside of work and being a mother. I had one friend who was back in the city preparing to get married, and the closest relationship I had was with my vibrator.

It was difficult to pinpoint exactly how my life had become so empty, but now I was here, and the loneliness was creating a heavy ache in my chest.

Dozer whined softly, then yawned with an adorable squeak that brought a smile to my face. As I hunched down to pet him, something glinted across the street and caught my attention.

Well, technically, I wasn't alone.

While Rocco had done as I asked and stayed away from me, his presence wasn't more than a few feet away. With Dozer by my side, I crossed over the road and stopped at the bottom of the hill next to the blue car that had been following me around all day. All week, in fact.

Knocking sharply on the window, I glared straight into a pair of sunglasses as the window slid down.

"Mae!" Dino smiled widely at me from his seat. "What a surprise!"

"Cut the bullshit," I snapped. "You've been following me around for days, and at first I was okay with it, but now it's really starting to piss me off."

"Really?" Dino lifted one brow. "I thought I was being inconspicuous."

"We're in a town where everyone walks," I snapped. "Driving around after me is fucking obvious. "

"Geez." Dino raised both hands off the steering wheel. "It's not what you think."

"Oh, really?" I stepped back from the car as Dino opened the door and slid out. "You're not here keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't go to the police?" Surging forward, I prodded him hard in the middle of his chest. Just a single touch and rock-hard muscle met me. The T-shirt he was wearing was so thin it barely counted as clothing. "You making sure I don't spill any secrets to the wrong people, huh?"

Deep down, I wasn't angry. As stubborn as I was on the surface, part of me enjoyed that Dino was following me around and Rocco wasn't far from my thoughts. Hell, I'd even been on the lookout for the hot guy from the store. I was attention-starved. I wanted someone to notice me, to take pity on me and push through the bullshit.

I wanted to be wanted .

"It's not like that." Dino's sunglasses slid down his nose a fraction, letting me stare into his brilliant blue eyes. "Rocco cares about you, okay? And he wants to make sure you're safe, especially after what happened at the cemetery."

"Don't you think having his lap dog follow me around just draws more attention to me? I'd be safer if he just left me alone!"

"Hey!" Dino grabbed my arm, pulling me firmly against his chest. "I ain't a lap dog."

"What would you prefer?" I snapped up at him, my heart racing. "You follow him around. You bark and heel when he commands, right? Even Dozer does that, and he's just an old mutt."

"You don't know shit," Dino snapped, and fire lit up in the dark depths of his eyes. "Your concept of loyalty is fucking screwed."

"What would you call it, then?" I demanded. "Assistant? Hell, I hope you get paid more than I do. "

"Why are you being such an ass?" Dino's grip tightened on my arm. "He's trying to keep you alive ."

"Why?" I glared at him. "I'm nothing to him."

"You think people didn't see what he did?" Dino snapped back. He leaned close, and a hint of peppermint tickled my nose amid the lavender scent sweeping off him. "Everyone saw him dive for you over his own mother. You might hate him, you might think you're nothing, but everyone saw. Everyone . So now, he has a responsibility, just like he has a responsibility for everyone else in this fucking town. They'll pat his back and accept his security, and no one cares that it cost him his father."

Dino's words quickly dampened my anger toward Rocco because I hadn't even considered that anyone had noticed anything during that carnage. I swallowed hard, and my attention drifted down to his lips and then back up.

"So, why you?" I asked. "Why not some nameless goon?"

An easy smile slipped onto Dino's lips and he slowly removed his sunglasses. They slid into his pocket and he slowly licked his lower lip.

"Because Rocco wants only the best watching you," he replied. "And there's no one better than me. Well, maybe one, but he's not important."

"So, you're the best and he's got you camping outside my house like some lovelorn teen."

"What makes you think I'm lovelorn?" Dino snorted, squinting at me.

I leaned forward and lifted my leg, pressing my thigh against a very tell-tale hardness that had grown against my hip over the past thirty seconds. Dino gasped softly, and his gaze flicked down. His hand tightened further on my arm, and a wave of heat cascaded through my body, settling into my core .

"I'm a guy," Dino remarked huskily. "We get reactions."

"To being yelled at?" I raised one brow, and Dino rolled his eyes.

"What can I say? I get excited knowing I do a good job."

"You're doing a shite job," I said, leaning backward. "I spotted you, which means other people will spot you."

"I'm not hiding," Dino said, his eyes darting all over my face. "I'm watching. And protecting."

"Whatever. If you think?—"

Dino's plush, soft lips suddenly landed on top of mine. His other hand slid through my hair and cradled the back of my head, while his hand on my arm slid around my torso and dropped to rest against my lower back. He crushed me against him, cradling me close and firm. The confinement against his body sent a rush of exciting tingles all over my body, and Dozer's lead slipped from my hand. Along with all three of my shopping bags.

Luckily, he was too old and tired to move anywhere.

"What are you—" I tried to ask as our kiss parted briefly so Dino could switch angles.

"Stop fucking talking," he growled, and he kissed me again hard enough that stars burst behind my eyes when I closed them, and my lips throbbed. His tongue swept across the seam of my lips, teasing and begging for entry. Part of me wanted to resist, but that urge was pure stubbornness against giving in.

I relaxed against Dino, slid both my hands over his broad, muscular chest, and allowed his tongue to slide deep into my mouth. I was giddy from excitement, unsure where to touch or how eagerly I should lean into the affection. It was too much and not enough all at the same time. One thing I did know was that I didn't want it to stop .

Dino suddenly whipped me around, switching our positions. He pressed me up against the sun-warmed car, and a low grumble rumbled through his chest. His tongue licked all the way around my mouth, then massaged against my own. Each time the kiss broke to allow me a gasp of air, he switched his positions, and I was constantly in awe of how he dwarfed me.

His thick muscles, his height causing him to drape down over me, and the fact that his large hand seemed able to cup the entire back of my head. Dino was built like a truck, and I was so ready to be crushed. I could only begin to imagine what the thickness against my abdomen could do to me if I got those clothes off.

My mind was quiet, my body sang, and I forgot all the reasons I was mad at him in the first place.

I got what I wanted.

Until vibrations swept through my hip, followed by the untimely chime of my ringtone. Both of us froze, mid-kiss, and then Dino slowly pulled back.

I remained frozen for a moment, lips pursed and eyes still closed until Dino cleared his throat and the interrupting chime of my phone grew louder and louder.

"Fuck," I grumbled, stepping back. My entire body was on fire, and all my clothes clung a little too close for comfort. I wanted to be naked in Dino's arms, and I wanted?—

"So." Dino smirked, slowly licking his lower lip as if savoring the taste of me. "You were saying we were to stay away from you?"

Fishing out my phone, I glanced at the screen to see Mom flash up on the screen, and slowly, reality trickled back. Whatever power Dino had to keep everything at bay only worked when I was touching him, apparently .

"Yeah," I replied shakily, ducking and picking up Dozer's lead and my shopping bags. "You need to stay away from me. Both of you."

"Are you sure?" He draped one arm back against the car, an easy smirk on his face.

"Was it a bad kiss?" Dino winked at me, and my core throbbed.

"No, it was—that's not the point. Just leave me alone, and tell Rocco to leave me alone, and–and, yeah!"

"What if I can't do that?"

"I'm sure you'll find the strength."

"What if I don't want to?"

It was taking all my strength not to throw my phone aside and leap back into those bulky arms. I wanted to know what that monster in his pants felt like, but I couldn't.

I couldn't give in.

"Tough. Because–Because I say so." My mind was running slow, and with Dozer by my feet and my mom calling despite my having hung up three times, I was flustered. "Because Rocco will be pissed that you even kissed me because I'm pretty sure that isn't in any job description. Really, I'm doing you a favor."

I turned and started to hurry away up the street, followed by Dino's laughter. "So you do care about me!"

"Fuck off, Dino!"

That was a moment of weakness I was not going to repeat.