Page 106 of Claimed At First Sight

“You dismissed trained security personnel,” he says sternly.

“Temporarily.”

“That doesn’t improve the situation.” Maximo speaks this time.

I turn to him. He pins me with his stare.

“It improves the word choice,” I fire back.

I look back at Aldo. “Besides, nobody told me I would be having guards with me, or I would have explained that I didn’t need them. I went for coffee with a friend, not into a war zone.”

“That’s not the point,” Mamma says.

“What’s the point then? Huh? That I had some fun like a normal nineteen-year-old?”

“You’re not a normal nineteen-year-old.” Maximo’s voice slices through the room.

It’s low and carries an edge I’ve not heard from him before. The warning in it is unmistakable.

Surrender now, or you won’t like what happens.

Really, I don’t care.

I won’t be shoved back into a box that’s labeled ‘perfect obedient little mafia bride’.

I meet his stare without flinching. It’s stupid, I know that. Going head-to-head with a don can only end badly.

Unfortunately, the part of me that spent the day ditching security and posing for semi-nude photographs seems to be in charge.

“I was wondering how long it would take before someone reminded me what behavior is and isn’t acceptable.”

“You put yourself in danger,” he says, deadly calm, even though his eyes tell me just how furious he is with me.

“You climbed out of a window—”

“It was on the ground floor,” I cut him off. “It wasn’t like I could fall far.”

A muscle ticks in Maximo’s jaw. It’s a tiny tell. Barely noticeable, but every instinct I possess tells me I should back down.

“Do not interrupt me when I’m speaking, Mialina.” His voice is quiet and ice-cold.

I narrow my eyes at him, my temper overriding common sense.

“Or what, Maximo?” I challenge. “You are not my Don.”

Silence stretches between us. Neither of us looks away.

He takes a step closer, and I resist the urge to take one back.

“While you are in my city, I am.”

My pulse stutters.

I open my mouth to tell him where he can shove that statement, but Mamma intervenes before I get the chance.

“You are treating this too lightly, Mia.”

“Because everybody else treats it too heavily.”