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I jolted in my seat. A tall man with broad shoulders was dusting snow off his shoulders. The flakes had already melted into his raven hair, dripping down the fine cheek bones and the clean-shaven jaw.

“I’ll, uh, give you two some, uh, privacy,” I mumbled, picking up my drink.

“Why?” Nonna protested, hand darting out to catch mine. “I want you to meet Lucian!”

I didn’t have it in me to be sociable right now. Reality was surreal. The twins were taking their first martial arts class, which had come as a gift card from the elves, just down the block. Around us was the holly jolly bubbly joy of Christmas. And in the next building over were the dead bodies of four men my grandmother had shot for accusing her bookie of cheating.

“Not today, Nonna.” I gently untangled myself and moved to a small table next to the café’s counter.

I kept my gaze focused on my beverage, not wanting to see the underworld meeting between the big boss and the petite mobster who clearly wasn’t retired from the life. Nonna promised me that she wasn’t in trouble. In fact, she’d been gleeful to play the part of superhero, swooping in to save the guys who ran the gambling hall from a couple of out-of-towners hellbent on disturbing the peace of this town.

“This is insanity,” I groaned, driving my hands through my hair.

I felt a pair of eyes on me but didn’t dare look up. I felt like I was going to lose my stomach, and hot cocoa coming back up was not a pleasant taste. Still, the prickle at the base of my neck wouldn’t go away, no matter how riotous my tummy was.

“Hey, everything okay?” a friendly, feminine voice asked.

I peered up at the barista, who was suddenly standing beside my table holding a plate of sugar cookies.

“Yeah, fine,” I gulped.

“I’m Sam.” She dropped the plate on the table between us. “And no, you’re not.”

Without prompting, she slid into the seat across from me. I eyed her suspiciously. She had very pretty brown hair that was slicked back into a ponytail and a mischievous smile curling up the corners of her mouth.

“Spill.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know you well enough to talk to you,” I said flatly.

She nodded. “Boy troubles?”

My thumb rubbed the bottom side of my ring finger. “No, not anymore.”

“Pity, I could help you with that,” she murmured, the glint in her eye flashing. “Maybe we need to find you a guy.”

“Look, I’m really not interested.” But as a spoke, a cretinous voice whispered through my mind. Liar.

There was someone who interested me. And after the day I was having, I was bound to let caution fly to the seven winds and practice a little well-earned stress relief.

“Come on, there are a lot of eligible guys in town,” Sam insisted.

From three tables down, speaking over the crowd of guests at the café, my grandmother chimed in. “She already has someone!”

Kill me now.

The floor didn’t open up and swallow me whole. No lightening zapped through the ceiling to strike me down. And I couldn’t even manage to have a freaking heart attack.

Too many sets of eyes were turned our direction, including the incredibly handsome man who sat across from my grandmother. His gaze seemed interested. It was pinned on me, and the moment mine connected, I felt a physical weight slam into my soul.

It’s just because he’s the don.

A king amongst mortals. He probably thought he was invincible. How dare a nobody like me interrupt his meeting?

Mercifully, Sam pulled me from my thoughts. “Oh, so you do have a guy?”

“Yeah, well, it’s complicated,” I responded quickly, waving my hand. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay, well let’s talk about something else.” She pushed the plate of cookies toward me. “Something to take your mind off whatever it is that’s rattling in that pretty head of yours.”