Page 91 of Claimed At First Sight

I’ve never tried dodging my security before. Sure, I snuck out of the house plenty of times growing up, but that’s different. Those escapes involved planning, studying guard rotations and camera angles. This is reckless in comparison. Improvised.

“What about them?” I ask, nodding toward the guards.

Rory follows it.

“They’ll wait outside the bathroom.”

I giggle. “And then?”

Her grin turns mischievous. “Then we disappear.”

Five minutes later, I’m standing in a tiny café bathroom staring at an equally tiny window.

“Oh, this is how people die in horror movies,” I mutter under my breath.

A knock sounds on the door.

“Are you okay in there, Miss Accardi?” one of the guards asks.

Wonderful.

“I’m fine,” I call back, already climbing onto the sink.

The window screeches as I force it open. Freezing air slams into my face.

Muttering several Sicilian curses under my breath, I awkwardly squeeze through the opening before dropping into the snowy alley behind the café.

As promised, Rory is waiting for me… beside a black motorcycle.

A helmet dangles from one hand while a thick leather jacket hangs from the other.

I stare at her.

She stares back, raising one eyebrow.

“You didn’t think we were escaping on foot, did you?”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Maximo

“How are things going with Caterina?” I ask Aldo once he closes the folder between us.

We’ve spent the last hour reviewing freight operations, expansion opportunities, and several investment structures tied to one of our newer ventures, but the faint smile lingering around his mouth has been distracting me the entire meeting.

“Better than I could have hoped,” he answers, and there’s that smile again. Softer than I’ve ever seen on him.

A serious relationship between Aldo and Caterina changes things. Not that I require Caterina’s presence to secure Mia. But keeping her family close would make the transition smoother, and I prefer removing obstacles before they become inconveniences.

“Why don’t you take her up to the Marco cabin in Telluride for a few days?” I suggest, leaning back in my chair.

Cabin is a modest term for the estate perched high in the Rocky Mountains. Floor-to-ceiling glass overlooks snow-covered peaks and endless pine forests, the property isolated enough that the rest of the world simply disappears.

An ideal place to take a woman if you want some privacy.

My mind supplies the image of Mia there, curled beside the enormous stone fireplace, wrapped in one of my shirts. Snow falling beyond the windows while I spend several uninterrupted days thoroughly working on the next generation of the Marco bloodline.

The thought makes my cock stir approvingly.