Exhaling: A Mafia Romance (The O'Keefe Family Collection Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

moved to the junk drawer, pulling out a pen and paper to write down the specifics. “What do you need, and how much of it?”
    Vince gave her the details of what he would require on a weekly basis, watching as her mouth fell open at how much he would be willing to pay. “Does that sound fair?”
    “You know you’re overpaying because it’s me.” She set her pen down with her eyebrows furrowed. “That’s not good business. Pretend I’m not your wife. What would you pay then?”
    Vince scribbled out a number higher than his first offer. “That better?”
    “Vince! I’m serious. You can’t overpay me like this.” She watched as he crossed out the first number and wrote up a higher one. “Vince, be serious.”
    “Fine. I’ll put my original offer back on the table. Honey, I plan on charging customers top dollar for your desserts, so I’m not going in the hole over this. Don’t you worry. I’m actually good at what I do.”
    Fallyn raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, yeah? Prove it.”
    Vince kissed her so hard and so passionately that she nearly forgot what she was doing. “I love you,” he promised her. Twenty minutes later, Vince left the home with a puppy dog expression that told her to beg him not to go.

7
    A Kept Woman
    W hen Fallyn drove to her shop, she half expected it to be chaos without her there to tend to it. As Vince predicted, Loretta was a fine shop manager, keeping everything in order and the case stocked with fresh deliciousness. Fallyn set to work balancing the books and started in on checking the inventory, a chore she knew Loretta hated to do. When she finished with that, she started in on the weekly deep clean, pulling out appliances to scrub beneath and behind them while Loretta took her break.
    “What do you think you’re doing?” came the voice she’d been missing.
    Fallyn was on her hands and knees, her head behind the stove as she scrubbed a particularly hard to reach spot. “I’m having an affair, clearly. Can you come back in half an hour? I’ll be all scrubbed up from my part-time lover by then.” She scooted out and grinned up at Vince, her hair disheveled and her gray capri pants spotted with flour and dust. “Hey, babe. How goes it?”
    Vince’s eyes were wide in horror as he reached down to pick her up. “No. Never again. No wife of mine’s going to scrub floors.”
    Jen came back to grab another tray of éclairs to bring out front. “Aw. You guys are cute.”
    Vince’s expression was stony. “Cute or not, Fallyn’s not scrubbing floors anymore.”
    Jen balanced the tray on her hip. “I meant it’s cute you think you can tell her to stop or slow down. Downright precious.”
    “I’m alright,” Fallyn insisted. “Honestly, Vince. I’m just cleaning my kitchen. You’ve never cleaned your own restaurant?”
    “It’s not the same thing. You’re pregnant! I’ve been reading all sorts of things online, and you shouldn’t be near cleaning chemicals. You definitely don’t need to be on all fours like a dog – baby or not.”
    Jen slammed her tray down on the counter and screeched, “You’re pregnant?!”
    Fallyn blinked up at Vince, shaking her head at him. “Are you happy now? I wasn’t going to tell anyone until we were further along.”
    Jen started jumping up and down, hands clasped under her chin in sheer glee. “You’re pregnant?! You’re having a baby? Oh, Fal! That’s the greatest news ever!” She hopped over to her friend, snatching Fallyn up in a hug as she jumped up and down. “Oh, I’m so happy! A baby! A baby! How far along?”
    “Um, I’m not totally sure yet. It’s pretty new. Happened on our honeymoon. I have to go to the doctor still to make everything official.”
    “You’re pregnant! Oh, I can’t wait to see your eyes and Vince’s scowl on a baby.”
    Fallyn grinned into her friend’s ecstatic embrace. “Thanks, Jen. I’m happy, too. Shocked still. We haven’t told our families yet, so don’t say anything.”
    Jen