The laugh bubbled up and out as I pushed back to look down at him.

“You know me too well,” I said, smiling.

He slapped my ass. Then I climbed off of him and rushed into the bathroom while he got himself together.

When I made it downstairs, Soren already had the cartons spread out across the coffee table and one of our shows playing on the TV.

“I figure we eat most of this, watch two shows, then spend the rest of night in bed reading that zombie romcom.”

God, if I hadn’t already been in love with the man, I’d have fallen right that moment.

Soren - 6 months

It was the club’s soft opening.

Thanks almost entirely to Saff’s project management skills.

She’d taken to the role with an impressive amount of gusto and skill.

Apparently, working as a mafia capo for years gave her an incredible ability to motivate large groups of men And her hardass, take-no-shit demeanor meant they didn’t give her the runaround.

In such a short time, she’d gone from pretending to be a businesswoman in awful clothes to an actual one in jeans and t-shirts.

Amato Holdings went from a hideous, impersonal office in a shitty building, to a whole floor in my building, with her touches in every inch of the place.

I’d been the one to suggest she legitimately start her own business. I thought she needed that to really feel like she was legit. And to not feel like I had a say in what she was doing. Sure, we were working on Alibi together, but this would allow her to pursue other ventures on her own. Or to continue to work with me. Whatever she wanted to do.

She and Teresa were getting along well. They even teamed up against me on occasion. And T was the one to set up Saff with her own insanely capable receptionist that would help her grow her business.

I leaned over the VIP section railing, watching the bodies moving together on the dance floor.

Even with such a crush of people and the dark lighting, I could make out Saff as she walked through the crowd, her arms up wide with a glass in each.

She was in the same dress she’d been in when we’d done club research months ago. But she had her hair twisted up in a claw clip so it wasn’t bothering her while she was working.

When the strobe lights washed over her, the glittery lotion she’d swiped on her chest and shoulders flashed vibrantly.

I still couldn’t get over how gorgeous she was.

And that I got to have her.

A man moved in toward her but all it took was an icy look from Saff to make him hold up his hands and fall back into the crowd.