Page 7 of Obsessed by My Ex's Mafia Uncle

“Oh.” My disappointment doesn’t even try to hide.

“But we don’t have to.”

It takes a second.

Then another.

My mind catches up slowly, like it doesn’t quite trust what it just heard, turning the words over, checking for a version that makes more sense.

There isn’t one.

My breath catches, just a little.

It would be easy. Too easy.

I glance past him, across the casino floor, until I find Daniel again. Still at the table. Still exactly where I left him. Untouched by time, by me, by anything that doesn’t involve the next hand.

“I… Uhm…” I nod subtly in Daniel’s direction. “I’m here with someone.”

The man beside me follows my gaze. He takes his time.

Really looks.

And then slowly, he turns back to me.

There’s something in his expression now that wasn’t there before.

“Are you?” He asks quietly, his question grating under my skin.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out because I don’t know how to answer that without lying.

“I don’t even know your name.” I divert.

“It’s Robert.” His gaze lingers on me for a second longer, like he’s waiting to see if I’ll figure it out.

Then he stands.

“Enjoy your drink, Christine.”

The way he says my name, like he’s been saying it for years, as if it fits somewhere it shouldn’t, sends something strange through me.

He doesn’t wait for a response.

He just walks away.

And I’m left there, the glass still in my hand, the noise of the casino rushing back in around me, louder than before.

I feel it then.

Something in me stumbles first, thoughts scattering like they’ve been knocked out of place, like I’ve been pulled out of my own rhythm without warning.

Then my heart feels aware of itself, like it doesn’t know whether to stop beating or spiral.

And my body… stiffens, a pause, like it’s bracing for something. Then heat follows, creeping in, softening everything it just locked up.

The moment he disappears through the back door, the word no claws up my throat, like it might actually stop him if I let it out.

I don’t.