Chapter 5 - A New Beginning**
Sunlight sliced brightly through the gap in Nina’s cheap window blinds, painting golden streaks across the hardwood floor.
Nina stirred, blinking against the morning light, and realized two things simultaneously: her head was resting comfortably against a solid, warm chest, and the heavy arm wrapped securely around her waist belonged to the most dangerous bachelor in Boston.
She turned her head slightly, looking up. Alex was already awake, lying on his back with his eyes open, staring up at the popcorn ceiling with a look of serene contentment that completely defied his terrifying public reputation. His dark hair was charmingly rumpled, and the crisp shirt he had worn the night before was long since discarded on the floor.
"Good morning," he murmured, his voice thick with sleep as his fingers traced a lazy pattern along her bare shoulder.
"Good morning," Nina whispered back, a slow smile spreading across her face despite the sudden wave of panic reminding her that Monday morning was coming very, very fast. "Are you planning on sneaking out the window, or should I prepare the neighbors for the sight of a mafia boss walking out of a Dorchester walk-up in his shirtsleeves on a Saturday morning?"
Alex chuckled, pulling her closer against him. "Let them look. I’ve spent my entire life hiding behind security details and bulletproof glass. Walking out of your front door in broad daylight sounds refreshing."
"You realize what this means, right?" Nina propped herself up on one elbow, looking down at him. "The office gossip mill is going to implode. Sariah is going to demand a play-by-play that will take three bottles of wine to unpack. And my spreadsheets are going to be a complete disaster next week because I won't be able to look at you without remembering... well, everything."
Alex reached up, gently cupping her cheek with his hand, his thumb brushing her lip. The playful light in his eyes gave way to something deep, steady, and unyielding.
"Let the office talk," Alex said softly. "As for your spreadsheets, you’re getting a promotion on Monday. Senior Financial Director. Which means a salary that actually covers your rent, and an office large enough that we won't have to rely on texting errors to get my attention."
Nina’s eyes widened. "You're promoting me because I accidentally texted you?"
"I'm promoting you because you're the sharpest mind in the building," Alex corrected, a crooked smile touching his lips. "The text message just accelerated my timeline by a few months. I was already trying to figure out how to take you out to dinner without looking like a predatory boss."
"Well," Nina said, leaning down to press a soft, lingering kiss to his lips, "your execution was unorthodox, but I suppose the results speak for themselves."
"Accidents," Alex whispered against her mouth, pulling her down for another slow, thorough kiss, "are the best things that ever happen to us."
Later that morning, when Alex finally stepped out of her apartment building into the Dorchester sunshine, he didn't sneak away. He walked down the steps with his shoulders back and a relaxed, easy stride, nodding at the elderly neighbor watering her plants on the second-floor balcony. Upstairs, Nina stood by her window with a cup of real, freshly brewed espresso in her hand, watching him get into his car. Her phone buzzed on the counter. It was a text from Sariah: ARE YOU ALIVE OR DID THE MAFIA MAKE YOU SLEEP WITH THE FISHES ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW.
May you like
Nina laughed out loud, typing back a single, perfect response: Worse. He's making me a corporate director.
And for the first time in years, as she looked out at the bustling Boston street below, Nina knew her life would never be boring again.
