“What the hell, Amelia!” he shouts, grabbing his cheek.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry! Did I hurt you? You told me to strike and I did what you said and—”
My words are swallowed with his kiss as he lifts me off the floor and slams me onto the couch. His hands are on my torso, making me giggle and laugh and beg for mercy.
He relents, and I hit him in the arm. “You made me think I hurt you!”
With his hand on his face, he admits, “You did actually. Not bad for a rookie.”
I’m grinning as he lifts me off the couch and back to where we were demonstrating.
“Wait,” he says with a finger in the air and then jogs down the hall. When he comes back, he’s wearing a helmet, like one for a cage fighter.
“What is that for?”
“My face is a valuable asset. I can’t have you beating me up,” he jokes, and I stick my tongue out at him.
He shows me how to trap an attacker coming for my neck, using my biceps and pivoting my body away from the attacker while lowering my elbow, making their hands come with me.
If I’m attacked from behind, I can turn my hand into a hammer fist, twist, and strike.
We practice for an hour. Many of my attempts to fend him off end poorly, but he doesn’t give up on me.
We’re still starving, so to speed up the process of preparing dinner, Jesse joins me in the kitchen, and together, we bread the cutlets and make dinner.
“Where did you learn those moves?” I ask as we eat dinner on the floor with our plates on the coffee table.
“That is basic self-defense. I’m surprised you didn’t learn that in high school.”
I laugh. “I went to a private prep school, where the only form of self-defense we were taught was how to use pepper spray and a rape whistle.” I point at the magazine next to my plate, making him nod.
“I really like cage fighting. I take classes twice a week on the island. It’s a great way to stay in shape and learn some new moves.”
I pause mid-chew. “Do you think I’m going to need to know any of those for Saturday?”
“It can’t hurt. You’ll be wearing a wire, so I’ll know everything that’s going on.” His hand finds mine across the table and entwines our fingers. “I’ll be with you the entire time. You won’t see me, but I’ll be there.”
“I know. I’m going to be a ball of nerves until then.”
“Me too,” he admits, and for the first time, I see a glimpse of nervousness in his eyes.
We finish eating and clean up together. It’s a nice dance we settle into as he washes and I dry. I clean the counters, and he wipes the coffee table down.
When everything is put away, I’m restless from the nap I took.
He must be, too, because he sits down on the couch and turns on the TV. His arm is on the back of the couch as he looks over and beckons me with his finger.
I go in and curl into his side.
“Wait,” he says, popping off the cushions and walking down the hall. When he returns, it’s with a crocheted quilt in his hands and a smile on his face. “We’re missing something.”
He settles back into his spot and lays the blanket over us before putting his arm around me and pulling me into him.
I look at the blanket, which is baby blue and white and looks like something my great-grandmother would have made. “Did you get this at an estate sale too?”
“My grandmother made this when I was born. I took it from my parents’ house when I went back for the painting.”
He kisses the top of my head and turns on a comedy for us to watch. As I lie here, buried into his side, I finally admit to myself that I’m falling in love with Jesse Davenport.
Chapter Seventeen
As I drive up the highway toward I-84, I’m a little less nervous than I thought I’d be. I think it’s because after the most drama-filled days of my life, yesterday was so boring that it was delightful.
I woke up with Jesse, and we both dressed for the day. He drove me to work with a kiss on the cheek good-bye, and I did my job.
It was hard to look at DeLuca, knowing he, too, was part of this scheme. I can’t tell him what I know because that would implicate Jesse and endanger everyone around us. So, I stayed in my cubicle, typing away until five o’clock.
I usually stay at work later, but I didn’t think it was wise to stay too late and risk being there alone. Plus, it was Friday, and everyone starts pouring out around that time.
Jesse drove me straight to Villa Russo, where he was expected for his shift at the bar. I asked Sienna to meet me for a drink, as we always do, and she did. I laughed, and she eyed Jesse, desperately asking me for details but I told her the bar wasn’t a place to have such a conversation.
That didn’t stop her from making Jesse blush every chance she got.
My mother and Gia showed up for dinner, and we were joined by Sienna and Uncle Enzo. He didn’t say anything, but I had a feeling Dad had told him to keep an eye on me.
Regardless, I appreciated his silence, as he didn’t tell my mother a word about my safety. Especially since she kept rattling off about my father being let out of the hospital. A thought that makes us all wary.
After dinner, Sienna sat at the bar with me, knowing I needed a reason to stay while I waited for Jesse to finish his shift.
It was late when we finally made it back to Jesse’s house. We made love in the shower and then watched reruns of a late-night talk show until we both fell asleep on the couch.
After
