Page 7 of Saved By the Mafia Loverboy

KITTY

It had been a few weeks since Cam’s last appearance at the station. I felt foolish for letting him get in my head. He’d been texting me daily, and more than half the time I had been responding. Bad boys didn’t play by the rules, and I was stupid to think he was going to woo me, court me, wife me, and set up a family. Even if he did, my children would be heirs to a throne of deceit and murder.

That was something I couldn’t live with.

Still, he was charming and funny. We’d talked about our hobbies and interests. When I mentioned that I was a runner and given how cold it got in New Jersey during the winter, I never stayed in good shape, Cam had sent me a treadmill. A fucking treadmill. The guys delivered it and set it up, and I had been in utter shock. When he texted me about an hour later and asked if I liked his gift, I had been overjoyed.

Now I walked into the precinct, ready to receive my marching orders for this week, and Oliphant was hovering over my desk. He stood scowling at the large bouquet of flowers with pink ribbon tied around a large blue vase. When I strolled up, knowing who the flowers were from, he turned his scowl on me. His nostrils flared like the grand canyon and I looked away, hoping he didn’t make a scene.

Instead of chewing me out right there, he plucked the card out of the arrangement, grabbed my elbow and pulled me into his office. It was a tiny space, no larger than my bedroom, and reeked of cigarette smoke and body odor. Oliphant was a rotund man, balding, and short. He reminded me of that too-short comedian everyone loved to pick on. DeVito? I forgot his name.

I stood chewing the inside of my lip watching him slam the door and plop down in his chair. He tore open the tiny envelope and pulled the card out. I thought his eyes would bug out as he read it. His face was already as red as my lipstick.

“M, let’s catch up. C.” His eyes bored through my skin. I could feel the intense heat of his stare burning my skin. He had no right going through. My personal effects. He wasn’t my commanding officer, or even my boss in anyway. Chief Pritchard was the only one who could tell me what to do right now.

But I was scared of him nonetheless. If he had the power to get Cam out of whatever trouble he was in just by a simple phone call with his father, what would he do to me?

“C…? Cameron Riccio?” He tossed the card onto the table and glared at me. “Do you have any idea what sort of trouble you’ll be in if the chief sees this nonsense? Or Riccio Senior?”

“I…” I had no way to argue that point. He was right. I was in deep and I knew it. The problem was, I was developing feelings for him and I couldn’t stop that.

“Murphy, you’re smarter than this. Fuck’s sake. You probably figured it out by now that they got shit on me, but really? You want to sell your fucking soul to the devil? Or is it your pussy? He got you really good and now you’re his whore? Is that it?”

“Fuck you.” I snatched the card off the desk and crossed my arms over my chest. “You got no right.”

“I got no right? The fuck you think you’re doing?” He sat up straight in his chair and leaned forward, shaking his head. “These aren’t the type of people you fuck around with, woman. You cross them and you end up in the river. You got that? They don’t play around.”

I shook. I knew that. I was terrified of that, but the inexplicable attraction I felt for Cameron was undeniable. I couldn’t stop myself. He was the crack and I was the addict.

“Mind your own business,” I told him, turning and taking the doorknob in hand.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You get into bed with the devil and it changes you. You’re a good cop, Murphy. You don’t need to fuck your entire career by sleeping with the bad boys.”

I marched out of his office, slamming the door behind me. The windows in the place rattled and it drew a few stares, which I returned with a glare of my own. I wanted to keep the flowers and enjoy them, set them on my table at home, but I couldn’t draw any more attention. I picked up the vase as soon as I got to my desk and dropped it in the bin. The card, however, I shoved in my pocket.

I sank into my chair, hardly able to concentrate on anything. The day was young, but I didn’t have release to go out on the beat until my reports were finished. So I sat there staring at my computer screen typing away. Every now and then my phone would vibrate and I would wonder if it was Cam.

When I checked and saw the messages from him, I smiled to myself, careful not to let Oliphant see.

Cam 9:17 AM: Hey sexy… dtf?

Kitty 9:18 AM: Sorry on the clock

Cam 9:19 AM: In your cruiser then? I’m horny

He sent a smattering of emojis that mostly consisted of eggplants and what I could only assume was his interpretation of a vagina. It made me grin again. I would have loved nothing more than an amazing fuck, but I was on duty.

Kitty 9:20 AM: I’m off tomorrow?

Cam 9:20 AM: deal…

I put my phone back in my pocket and kept the smiles to myself. The conversation with Oliphant rang in my mind. I looked over my shoulder at his red face through the windows of his office. He screamed into the phone receiver and I heard the muffled sound. He was too high strung for my taste, but maybe he was right.

I started to feel second thoughts about texting Cam that. My heart was in a constant flux. Did I like him or not? Would I fuck him again or not? I had to get out of this place, so I focused on my reports. Once they were finished, I’d be free as a bird and I could get my hours done and be home.

8

CAM