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sorry, Cole. I didn’t know.”
    Closing the paper and folding it as Jasper arrived and sat a plate in front of him, Cole shrugged. “It’s okay. He passed away a few years ago. Went to sleep one night and never woke up. It was peaceful.”
    I nodded at Jasper and smiled as he sat my plate down, staring at a landscape of eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, and pancakes. “This is enough for breakfast and lunch.”
    Cole nodded. “Greta doesn’t know how to do light, but you probably want to make sure to save some room for later because Abriana will probably take you to lunch during your shopping trip.”
    I froze, a forkful of egg halfway to my mouth. “What shopping trip?”
    The look on Cole’s face was carefully neutral. “The shopping trip she called and invited you to this morning.”
    I sat the fork down. “Cole –”
    He held up his hand. “Dani, I know last night was a shock. I get that… and I’m sorry, but how exactly does someone start that conversation?”
    “By not needing to have it in the first place,” I said, harshly. “How on Earth did you get involved with the freakin’ mob? If your dad were alive today –”
    “He’d say welcome to the family business, son.”
    “What?”
    Cole nodded. “You didn’t really know the man you thought you knew.” He shrugged. “I didn’t either. Not back then. That’s why we suddenly moved to Florida. It was business.”
    “He was with the mob back then? When he was married to Mom?” I couldn’t believe it.
    “He was, and he wasn’t asked to relocate. He was told.” Cole clinched his jaw. “He wasn’t happy about it but you didn’t tell those people no. He did the best he could with a shitty situation.”
    A sudden memory of Mom getting a package in the mail – the first of many – flashed through my mind. Mom had opened the package, a look of shock on her face. She read the letter that was included and cried. She never mentioned what had been in that package, or any of the others, but I distinctly remembered there were no more money problems, and Mom always had money to buy something new after receiving these packages, whether it was a new car for her or new clothes or a computer for me.
    “So you thought it would be cool to be a mobster, too,” I said.
    Cole shook his head. “I didn’t want any part of it. I joined the military to get as far away from that life as I could.” He looked at me, his green eyes intent. “The army taught me how to kill. I was very good at it.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t translate well to a real-world job, though. Dad’s… former employer offered me a job. It was just supposed to be temporary, but one thing led to another and I suddenly found myself moving up in the ranks.” He glanced at his watch and stood up. “I need to go. Important meeting in an hour.” He came around to my side of the table and looked down at me. “We have other things to discuss, too.”
    “Like wh—” He leaned down and pressed his mouth to mine, his tongue brushing insistently against my lips. Caught off-guard, I moaned, letting his tongue slide into my mouth. I squeezed my thighs together, a sudden burst of heat between my legs taking my breath away. I reached for him but he ended the kiss and stepped back, his eyes dark with lust. He stared at me for a moment longer, and then quickly turned and walked away. I turned in my chair and watched him go, trying to catch my breath.
    Wasn’t I supposed to tell him I was leaving? It seemed like the thing to do earlier. Now? Now, I was just confused.
    I heard the door slam and then the click-clacking of heels on the polished stone floor. Abri rounded the corner. “Good morning, sunshine.” She stopped and looked at me, a grin spreading slowly across her face. “Well, it looks like someone had a little dessert with breakfast.”
    My cheeks grew warm. “It wasn’t like that.”
    “No?” Abri shook her head. “That’s too bad. I had hoped our talk last night might have given