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"Yeah…that’s right Yes, I’el Nice towho she was "Are you one of his cousins?"

Ah "No, I’h school Have you two been dating long?"

"Not really," I replied "Only a couple of weeks"

"Well that explains e haven’t heard h he does tend to stay pretty private" Her lips twitched "It says quite a bit that he brought you around to h in response "Well, we’ve actually kinda known each other for a while Iis all" Crap, what had he told the we’d known each other?

Sofia tilted her head slightly "Ah That el Where did you go to school?"

It took everything I had to not pretend I heard Marcus calling for ht to keep the smile on my face, but I was pretty dah school"

Sofia waited a beat as if expecting me to say more, then seemed to realize that I was finished "Of course Any plans for college?"

A sick tightness began to fore "U I wanted to tell her was that I hadn’t even graduated high school But hey, I was studying forfor it Any day now

She took a sip of her drink "Of course There are soreat online courses that are pretty affordable and don’t eat up tootoward his one to college" Here I was thinking he was just a cop He had a degree? Why hadn’t he ever told ain?

What the hell did he see in ures that with afederal"

"Federal?" I asked weakly

She sent FBI or DEA That sort of thing"

"Oh," I ed "He…never told me that"

Marcus came back then, and I nearly seized him in relief "I see you’veher a kiss on the cheek "You’re looking as sharp as ever," he told her

"And you as well I was just getting to know your new girlfriend"

"Well, I hate to interrupt, but I need to steal Angel away from you to introduce her to Uncle Pietro"

Sofia’s eyes crinkled in what looked like aave ed lanced over at ht?"

I plastered on a s" I wasn’t about to tell hi from a crisis of inferiority because I was an uneducated doof, and that I was feeling more and more like I didn’t deserve to be with hiood measure

He didn’t look convinced, but luckily for me there wasn’t time for him to pry more details out of me At the top of the stairs we proceeded to the room at the end of the hallway I wasn’t sure what I was expecting A sitting roo that looked a bit like the roo of The Godfather It was my dad’s favorite movie I knew that room