Page 79 of Mafia Billionaire's Surprise Baby
When the barrel of the gun is pressed against my chest, I give him a little smirk. “I would have called you back if I knew you were going to whip out your toys.”
I can practically feel Sal radiate aggression. Please, not now, I plead in my mind.
He has to play along. Our lives depend on it.
More than that, this is what I was afraid of.
Sal is a good guy. Great, even.
The thing that’s happening between us is something that I’m more than willing to explore.
But I have to be able to operate as myself in order to survive in this world.
And he has to accept that.
Mercifully, Sal doesn’t say anything. I put out a hand and trail it over Gabriel’s jaw.
“You’re welcome to shoot, Gabriel. But if you’re going to do it, you’re going to look me in the eye when you do.”
He stares at me for a minute longer, his enticing dark eyes glittering with mischief. Finally, the gun disappears, and he shifts as he tucks it back into his pants.
I want to collapse with relief, but I stay standing, smirking at him.
“Ah well. Some people were not meant to call.”
“That’s me, for sure. Here today, gone tomorrow. Never meant to stay.”
Gabriel sighs. “Gia. At least let me show you around. Come have a drink. On me. As old friends,” he says with that same half-crazy smile.
Yeah. I’m definitely not going to deny him that. “Lead the way, Durand.”
“You and your…” he trails off, looking at Sal.
“Bodyguard,” I supply helpfully.
“You and your bodyguard, you have somewhere else to be?”
Yes. About two thousand miles away. “No, we were just headed to the harbor to get on my yacht.”
“Oh, a yacht? The Rossi, you are doing well, no?”
Gabriel turns, and I follow him, hoping Sal will continue to play along. “Well, it’s not exactly Elio’s yacht.”
“And what in the world is Elio’s sister into that she has a yacht, and he does not?”
It’s not mine at all. “It was a gift.”
“Gia. Surely you know better than to accept boats as gifts. They come with many strings, you know. Men who give boats are not willing to release them so easily, given the fact that both the sea and the woman have an equal stake on their hearts.”
“So, who did you buy the boat for?”
Gabriel laughs. “Ah, Gia. I have never bought a boat for a woman. But I have had one take off with my heart all the same.”
“Poor you.”
He doesn’t respond to that.
We follow Gabriel through the streets of Marseille, walking for so long that I’m certain we’re going in the opposite direction from the docks when he stops.