Page 44 of Rough Fantasy
“And, what does this mean to me?” Rory asked, not able to keep the sneer out of his voice.
“This means that if you hurt her in any way, Dee will give me permission to beat the shit out of you.”
He glanced at the woman again. She was very petite and small boned. She had one of the sweetest faces. He turned back to face Ross.
“She’s too sweet.”
Micah snorted. “You got that off the what fifteen minutes total you’ve spent with her?” Rory opened his mouth but Micah stopped him. “Sweet Dee is the daughter of Tony Rizzoli. Yeah, that’s right. And, she hid for years, all the while learning how to defend herself. The only thing she got from that bastard of a father was that you mess with one of her family—either one of your choosing or blood—she will happily order me to hurt them. Ask Zeke here.”
He glanced at Zee and he nodded.
“Your problem is that you don’t see women as a threat,” Ross said. “You make too many misconceptions.”
“And you figured that out after fifteen minutes in my presence?”
Instead of getting mad, Ross smiled. “Hey, just trying to help out. And I’m good at reading people. Part of my former life as a bounty hunter. Just remember that women aren’t as helpless as you think.”
Rory was irritated but he did his best to hide it. “Yeah, and how did you come to that observation?”
“Who’s standing in line waiting to get yogurt and who’s sitting at a table talking?”
Rory laughed. “You have a point there.”
seventeen
Maura held her hand on Dee’s stomach and giggled when she felt another kick against her palm.
“Wow, you have a future soccer player in there, woman,” she said.
“You don’t have to tell me. All night long, every night. I’m blaming Micah because he’s so damned tall.”
She sat back and smiled at Dee. It was hard to remember her as the young woman her brother had hunted for years. When her father put a hit out on her, Dee didn’t just give up. She survived and now, she was getting rewarded. A woman who was married to Micah Ross and had the man knee deep in love with her was one lucky woman.
“You look so happy.”
Her smile widened. “I am happy. I never thought I would be, but I am. Before Hawaii, I’d move within a year.”
“Yeah, I know,” Maura said, wryly. “I am pretty familiar with your disappearing act.”
Dee threw back her head and laughed.
“Sure, you think it’s funny. I had to deal with Conner. You know how many times we almost got to you? There was a time in Chicago…I thought Conner was going to come unglued.”
“Well, I guess I can’t complain too much. I found my brother thanks to that little excursion. And I think because you came in here with big, bad Zeke, you got to hook up with him. So, I think you kind of owe me.”
Maura laughed. “You would say that.”
“Well, I have to say, you have more energy than I do,” Dee said as she glanced toward the men standing in line.
“What are you talking about?”
Dee looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “Oh, please, woman. They look like they were ready to eat you alive. Plus, that Rory, he wasn’t too happy with Micah manhandling you that way.”
Maura snorted trying to ignore the way her heart did flip-flop when she thought about it. Sure, they were playing, but there was nothing permanent. “That pregnancy of yours is starting to mess with your head.”
Dee leaned forward, her smile fading. “You better know what you’re doing, Maura.”
She opened her mouth to argue but Dee stopped her. “I do not judge you. Seriously, I wouldn’t mind living out a fantasy. But that’s how things started with Micah. I thought, I’d just have fun for a while. Then I fell in love.”