Page 3 of Mafia Book Boyfriend
Adorra laughed. “It was fine. I enjoyed hearing them. Although, we’ll have to talk about the paint the dog thing. As an animal lover, what you all did, that was just… wrong.”
“Uh, well,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck, “I’ve grown up a bit since then. And if it makes you feel any better later that summer, he bit me.”
She laughed, and Yaya joined her as if they’d become old friends. I groaned again but couldn’t help the smile tugging at my lips. This woman was dangerous and not in the way I was used to.
“I’m glad you guys are enjoying yourselves,” I said, using my fingertips to guide Adorra towards the waiting car. “For now, let’s get you settled in.”
I managed the winding roads of Kouris despite stealing glances at Adorra. Yaya caught me and said, “If you weren’t going to keep your eyes on the road, you should have sent a driver.” Her reproach was stern, but I saw the laughter in her eyes. I narrowed my eyes at her in the rearview mirror. She only smiled at my warning. She often complained that we were the pranksters but she was the one we’d inherited it from.
“It’s beautiful here,” she murmured, her face pressed close to the window.
“It is,” I agreed, though I wasn’t looking at the landscape.
We pulled up to the villa, and Adorra’s eyes widened. “This is where we’re staying?”
I nodded, trying not to puff up my chest at her reaction. “Welcome to your home for the next two weeks.”
I helped her out of the car and saw two familiar figures on the terrace. Dammit.
“Xander,” Cora and Lyra called out, waving their hands like a checkered flag at the end of a race.
Adorra looked at me, eyebrow raised. “Friends of yours?”
I sighed. “Family. My cousins. The ones responsible for… well, this.”
Understanding dawned on her face, followed quickly by a grin. “Are they the ones who signed you up for Book Boyfriends? I wondered how you joined.”
“Yep, they thought it’d be hilarious.”
She frowned. An expression that should never mar her face. “You sound like… Do you regret it?”
I took her hand and squeezed it with mine. “Not. At. All.”
We stared at each other until Cora and Lyra descended upon us in a cloud of designer perfume and excitement.
“You must be Adorra,” Cora said, taking her shoulder and tugging her away. “I’m Cora, and this is Lyre.” She turned Adorra toward her sister. “We couldn’t wait to meet you. We know Xander will try to tie you to the villa, but we wanted to put it out there that we’d like to spend some time with you, too.”
“Absolutely,” Lyre added. “We want to know all about your experience with the Book Boyfriend Agency. Should we try it? What were the guys like? How many did you meet?”
Cora added, “Yes, how far down to the bottom of the barrel did you have to scrape before you met Xander?”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t you two have somewhere else to be?”
“But we just got here,” Lyra protested.
“And we brought groceries,” Cora added, gesturing to the bags at their feet.
“You two? Groceries? When was the last time either of you set foot in a supermarket.”
“We’re trying to be helpful,” Lyra said.
“Noted. Now, if you’ll excuse us, Adorra’s had a long flight and…” I waved to Cora’s car.
Fine, they grumbled before I finally managed to shoo them out away.
“Sorry about that,” I said, turning back to Adorra. “They can be a bit… much.”
But Adorra smiled, making my heart skip. “They seem lovely. It must be nice having such a close family.”