“You didn’t cut off Tex’s hand.” Sergio pointed out, a smug grin plastered across his shit-eating face.
“No.” I rolled my eyes. “He just shot me at point blank range. But hey, maybe you’ll get lucky and get to choose when the time comes!”
Sergio threw his head back and laughed.
I pulled up the sleeve of my shirt showing him my wound.
He stopped laughing.
Nixon crossed his arms. “We understand each other?”
Sergio whistled. “Damn Nixon, you’re a scary son of a bitch, you know that?”
“First compliment of the day.” Nixon shrugged and gave me a pointed look. “Tex, we need to talk.”
“
Dun, dun, dun
.” Chase sang.
I smacked him on the back of the head and followed Nixon into his office, wishing like hell I knew what had crawled up his ass and taken root. The man never spoke to a member of the Elect away from the other members. Meaning, I was in deep shit. Fantastic.
I pasted a grin on my face and took a seat on one of the leather chairs, propping my hands behind my head, trying to look relaxed when really, I was bit worried he was going to shoot me again.
“The marriage—” Nixon licked his lips and pulled out a few sheets of paper. “—wasn’t made legal.” He handed the forged documents over to me. “On top of that it was never filed. Sergio’s already forged new documents that have been filed with the state.” His eyes flickered down to the floor. “Now that I’ve thought about things… I don’t know if it’s in Mo’s best interest to marry you regardless of what you did to her.”
The room started going black. I tried to remain calm. What exactly was he saying?
“But—” Nixon paced in front of me, his fingers tapping against his thighs as he walked back and forth across the dark wood floor. “—it’s probably in your best interest to be tied to us. Ten million,” he said with a smirk. “Tell me you didn’t laugh when you heard it.”
“My ass off.” I gave him the answer he wanted, when really I’d been more hurt than anything. “Not that it matters, they won’t get me. Nobody can touch me.”
“Just because you’re a Campisi doesn’t mean nobody can touch you. Which is why I want you guys to pretend to be married… as far as everyone knows, it’s real. The documents will be filed, protecting both of you, but in the end, it gives Mo an out once all this dies down.”
“An out?” I repeated.
Nixon pinched the bridge of his nose and licked his lips staring at the door. “Love. At least give her a chance to find someone to love… someone who won’t rip her heart out, stomp on it, then try to put it back together again. She deserves that.”
“And I can’t give her that?”
Nixon studied me. “I don’t know, can you?”
Nightmares flooded my vision… blood, death, death, and more death. And then there was Mo, the only perfect thing in my life. The only constant.
I studied Nixon right back.
He was nervous.
Upset.
Fidgety.
He never fidgeted.
And he always made eye contact, but he kept blinking and looking at the floor, then back at the door, then back at the floor. Finally, he leaned back and touched his face again.
He was freaking crumbling right in front of me.
“You’re stuck,” I said softly. “Protect me or protect Mo.”
“Right.” Nixon shuddered. “Unite you guys and…”
“You can say it.” My heart dropped to my stomach. “It’s not like I don’t know what you’re thinking right now.”
“And what’s that?” Nixon’s jaw cracked.
“You can’t trust me,” I whispered. “Not anymore that is. Regardless of Mo being pregnant… you can’t trust me because I’m a Campisi, and eventually it will be time to take my place… in Hell.” My hands started to shake. “And damn if you don’t want me to take Mo along for the ride. Hell, I don’t want to take her along for the ride, but I would, because I’m a selfish bastard.”
“She’s innocent.” Nixon shook his head. “Can you honestly say that you can love her? Protect her from that existence? From that bloodline? In the end, would you choose The Family over her?”
We both knew the answer.
Because as much as we loved our women.
We always chose what was best for the family. It’s what a boss did.
It’s what the
Cappo
did.
If it was my men stuck in a warehouse full of enemies or Mo at home with a gun to her head.
I’d sacrifice her to save them.
Because a family is only as strong as the boss—and if the boss is weak, the family crumbles.
“I see,” I finally managed to say. My voice was low, hoarse from the emotion I was trying to hold inside, or maybe it was just the anger coursing through my body making me want to punch something—that something being Nixon. “Anything else,
boss
?”
“Stay alive.” Nixon’s eyebrows shot up as he gave me a stiff nod “And maybe… things will turn out, you never know.”
“Right.” I ground my teeth together. “And maybe one day butterflies will take over the world and replace guns.”
As I tried to walk by Nixon, he gripped my arm and said in a low voice, “Never lose hope that things will one day be different.”
I snorted and jerked my arm out of his grip. “The difference between me and you… I lost hope the day I was born. I don’t believe in hope. Life and death.”
“And love?” Nixon angled his head, his eyes digging as if trying to look into my soul.
“It’s a once in a life time thing. You get one chance, and if you screw it up, rarely does the boat come back around again.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Nobody ever said protecting others at your own expense was easy.
Mo
“
W
ELL, THAT WAS FUN.”
Chase elbowed me and offered a sympathetic smile. If the guy was trying to keep me from sobbing in my bowl of Cheerios, he was doing a really crappy job. “Smile, Mo.”
I offered a creepy tooth-filled smile.
Chase winced. “Maybe next time, huh sexy?”
I rolled my eyes and placed my elbows on the table. Chase was either the worst brother in the world or the best. Ever since we’d found out how messed up our blood lines really were, meaning our family tree freaking pretzled together, I’d thought of him as more of a brother than a cousin.
“Things will get better.” He sighed, patting my head.
“Just…” I waved him off. “No more talking.”
“Talking helps… it’s like free therapy.” He stole a bite of my Cheerios. I stared him down.
He took another bite.
“Chase!” I snapped irritated. “Get your own damn Cheerios!”
He took another huge bite; milk ran down his chin. “See, made you react. You can thank me later.”
“For putting me in a pissy mood?” I argued.
Chase got up and gave my shoulders a quick squeeze. “Why don’t you go do something normal today, Mo? Take the girls, go shopping or something. After all, you’re a married woman now. Hell, go spend some of Tex’s millions, he’s good for it. In fact, the more I think about it the happier I get. Go to Victoria’s Secret, prance around in front of him then, say something like ‘no touching.’ Man, the guy would shit himself.”
“Wow,” Tex grumbled walking into the room. “Teaching my wife ways to torture me. Thanks Chase, but she does that by just breathing the same air and refusing to make eye contact with me.”
“Whoa.” Chase held up his hands. “Shit just got tense. I’m out, but remember what I said, Mo.” He winked and punched Tex in the shoulder before walking out of the room.
Tex stared at me, his deep blue eyes swirling with anger. I took a tentative step back, trying to protect myself.
“Do you really think I would hurt you?” he asked in a low voice.
I shrugged. “You’ve been slamming a lot of doors.”
A smile appeared then disappeared. “Yeah well the doors deserve it.”
“Because?”
“Easy.” He took a step towards me. “They block my view of you, and my number one obsession is your safety.”
Air whooshed out of my lungs. “R-right.”
“Go shopping.”
“What?” My head jerked to attention. “Are you serious?”
“I never joke about clothes.” Tex smirked, humor returning to his eyes. “Or wine. You know this about me, Mo.”
I smiled back at him, feeling a bit lighter in the chest.
He took another step; we were close enough to touch.
Exhaling, he reached out and tilted my chin towards him. His touch burned me, creating a need so possessive that my entire body started to shake.
“Shop, relax, take the girls,” he whispered. “Enjoy yourself and know that I’ll be here when you get back.”
“But—”
“Mo.” Tex’s grip tightened on my chin. “I’ll send some men with you. You’ll be fine. Safe. And I’ll be here taking care of business.”
His eyes flickered to my lips. Before I could stop myself, I kissed him. Our mouths collided. Tex lifted me into the air, growling as his hands slid into my hair giving it a little tug so that he could kiss down my neck. When his mouth found mine again, he broke off the kiss with a curse, taking a step away, his chest heaving.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, mouth swollen and eyes filling with tears. “I know you hate me.”
Tex’s eyes hardened as he placed his hands on his hips and looked away. “I could never hate you as much as I love you. That type of hate? That depth of hate? Doesn’t exist, baby, believe me, I search for it every night that you lay next to me and I refuse to touch you. I crave it every minute of every day when I see your beautiful face.” He swallowed. “Go get the girls, you’re wasting daylight. I don’t want you out after dark.” With that, he stomped off.
And I fought the urge to run after him.
To tell him I loved him too.
To explain everything to him.
But telling him the truth would solidify his death. So I kept my mouth shut and sent a text.
Me: Talked with Nixon this morning. Marriage is a go. Looks real. Forged. We good?
G: Good work, Mo. I knew I could count on you… don’t make me regret doing this your way. He has the protection of the Abandonato family, it’s a start.
Me: That’s good, right?
G: If it was bad, you’d know it by the bullet sized hole in your husband’s forehead. I’ll text you when I need you.
****
Shopping proved to be more fun than I imagined. First off, apparently Mil hadn’t had any alone time since being married. Not that Chase minded, or Mil for that matter, but she was excited to have some freedom.
It wasn’t lost on me that we were walking around the downtown area of Chicago with a newly minted Mafia boss on one side and the wife of one of the most powerful Mafia families ever… on the other.
Which left me.
Fake wife to the would-be
Cappo
. Awesome. If anyone was going to get shot, pretty sure it would be me first, them second. Then again, we took Vinnie and Lou with us.
Apparently they’d gotten drunk on the job a few weeks back so this was their way of repaying Nixon for not keeping a sharp eye.
Vinnie was our cousin and had a tendency to screw up, but he was a kick-ass shot and found great joy in all types of violence, so shopping? You might as well tell him you were replacing his penis with a flower.
And Lou, well he was one of my favorite associates. He always dressed nice, smelled nice, but he had a real serious problem with playing nice. Let’s just say it wasn’t in his nature to be patient. He shot first, asked questions later—if he remembered to ask questions at all. So he was like a mini-me version of Tex.
“This is nice.” Trace took a sip of coffee and threw on her sunglasses. “I haven’t gone shopping since Nixon bought me that Prada backpack.”
“Ah…” I nodded. “The day of reckoning also known as the day the college kids tried to rough up my brother’s love interest.”
“You make us sound like a movie.” Trace rolled her eyes. “Star-crossed lovers or something like that.”
“Admit it,” Mil piped up. “After everything that’s gone down in the last year—we’d be like prime time.”
“Like Scandal.” I nodded. “Only better.”
“Bite your tongue!” Trace scolded and then laughed. She had a serious addiction to nighttime television.
“So, you guys wanna stop anywhere else?” I asked while we walked by Victoria’s Secret. The guys were a few feet behind us.
Trace looked up at the sign above the door. “Let’s go in here. You did just get married.”
“By force.” I held up my hand. “So it’s not like Tex is going to be touching me or anything.” I said the last part in a grumbling tone because honestly, I would do anything, short of ending up in prison, for the guy to kiss me again. To kiss me like he wanted me.
Mil and Trace shared a look before Mil pushed me towards the door. “He’s still a guy, Mo, believe me–” She tilted her head. “—all you need are a few… temptations. Besides, what could it hurt?”
“Oh I don’t know.” I sang as they dragged me in. “My pride, my heart, my unborn child, my—”
Mil held up her hand and rolled her eyes. “I get it. Now stop being a baby and let us whore you up.”
“Oh goody.” I clapped my hands together in fake excitement. “That’s just what I need to do, look like one of Tex’s whores.”
Trace pinched me in the arm.
“Ouch!” I rubbed the spot. “What was that for?”
Trace glared.
Mil answered for her. “Your head’s in your ass, but that’s okay. If there’s anything I’m good at, it’s pulling heads out of asses and setting things to right again. Take Chase for example…”
“Chase?” I repeated, as we walked further into the store, past the PINK section and into the lacy section that I had no business being in. “And just how did you help him?”
“Easy.” Mil shrugged and gave us a sly smile. “I offered my temple of a body, and now he’s too exhausted to be a jackass. Problem solved.” She laughed and then shrugged as if to say what else can ya do?
Trace threw her head back and laughed, giving Mil a high five.
I fought a smile and turned away from them.
Vinnie and Lou made their way into the store. Vinnie shook his head in disgust while Lou thumbed a nightgown with strings. It was meant to be sexy. He looked horrified; clearly complicated clothing messed with his head.