บททั้งหมดของ Her Mafia Bodyguard: บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

“Yes,” I admit, struggling to suppress the need to knock him on his smug ass. “But that’s not all. It’s living with her. I had to learn how her mind works so I could anticipate her reactions.”He’s quiet for a moment, pouring himself a drink, not looking at me. And at that moment, I think, is this it? Is this where he finally realizes the mistake he made sending me to Blackthorn Elite with his only daughter?“Since you know her so much better than I do,” he murmurs before replacing the bottle of bourbon, “what happens next? I can’t have her blurting out shit like that tonight at dinner, that’s for sure. We have a few hours to get her to come around and agree to behave herself.”Right, because no matter what, nothing will stop his arrangements. He used the word contract, and that’s not a word that gets thrown around carelessly in our world. Agreements have been made. Expectations have been set. I highly doubt the Rinaldis would be understanding if they found out the bride-to-be got col

Why does something seem strange about that, too? Like something invisible is tapping me on the shoulder, wanting me to pay attention. But what is it? I can’t even think.My name. Casteel.My father’s name. Morelli.How did Dean know?My eyes open slowly. I never told him my father had a different last name from mine. I never told anybody. Nobody was supposed to know—it was so obvious why, and I always suspected, didn’t I?But of all the rules I tried to break, that wasn’t one of them. And I know for sure Zeke would never breathe the name around anybody. Not that he ever had the chance, either. He understood Dad’s need for secrecy even better than I did.So how did Dean know I’m a member of the Morelli family?“Can I have my phone back?” My voice is shaky, but for a different reason this time. “I want to check in with Blair. I want to see if I can meet up with her someplace.”“You know you’re only going to end up talking to him, right?”“But I need to call her. I have to know what’s go

“You’re a fucking genius.” I look over his shoulder without bothering to ask if he minds. This isn’t the time for formalities. “Where did you pick them up?”“About a mile down the road, at the intersection.” There they are, going through roughly an hour ago as night was beginning to fall. I can’t believe I let that much time pass without knowing she was gone. Too busy placating her father. “Then I have them a few minutes later at the next light.” He switches to a still from that feed.Meanwhile, I try to call Mia again. Her phone is still off. Which one of them turned it off, though? I wouldn’t be surprised if she did to make sure she couldn’t be tracked, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he had something to do with it. He wouldn’t want her to be able to reach out for help, right?Does she know yet? If he has even a scrap of decency left, he won’t make this too hard for her.But I’ll never forget that look in his eyes. Outside the restaurant. The cold, seething hatred. The look of s

“And then she wanted me to call this stranger Daddy. Can you imagine that? I already have a father. I don’t need another one.” No, but you’ll take his money, right? I’m not suicidal—I wouldn’t dream of saying that out loud. But it’s the truth.“Zeke robbed me of years of my life that I will never get back. I had to spend years in therapy after what I went through. And what happened to him? Did he pay for it at all?”“I don’t know.”“You know damn well he didn’t,” he growls. “He’s still living his life. In this palace—and when he wasn’t here, he was at your compound.” The way he makes it sound, he might as well be talking about someplace awful. Evil. For all I know, maybe it is. Someday, I’m going to have to make sense of all this in my head.He pushes away from the couch, and I can breathe without having to smell him or look into his eyes. “You have no idea. What it felt like when I first saw him. Like a ghost from my past walking into my life.”“I’m sure it was awful.”“Don’t patroni

“We’ll double-check, but my contacts in the department tell me it’s an open-and-shut case.” Bruno sits on the edge of his desk, with Mia in the chair beside mine. She’s freshly showered and changed now that we’re back at the compound. Her skin is pink from all the scrubbing.I wanted more than anything to be there with her, to hold her and wash her and tell her it’ll be okay.He continues. “The story is, it’s a crush gone wrong. He became obsessed when Mia rejected him—and he planned to blackmail her into dating him by using her Morelli ties against her, hence sending her all that shit earlier.”His gaze lands on me. In all these years, he’s never looked at me the way he looks at men he considers his equal. Not until tonight. “That little spat the two of you got into outside that restaurant works in our favor. There are plenty of witnesses who can confirm he was out of control that day and looking to throw fists over Mia.”“Anything I can do to help.” I didn’t know it at the time that