“A chance I had to take. Make no mistake, Jimmy. The Luchesis would not have let us leave there alive. The only reason I agreed to be led down into that basement is because I trust Tamerlane’s skill. He told me he could make the shot, I believed him.”
“Guess we don’t have to worry about them showing up to the wedding now,” Jimmy grumbled, making a mental note to never piss off Mickey Tamerlane.
“On the contrary,” Cold chuckled darkly, “Luigi Luchesi is still alive. He managed to escape.”
“Shit! And you really think he’s still gonna come to our wedding?”
“I’m counting on it.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Jimmy sat up, glaring down at Cold. “Did you invite the Luchesi family to kill them all at our wedding? What kind ofGame of Thronesshit were you freakin’ thinking?”
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to,” Cold warned.
Crossing his arms firmly, Jimmy argued, “I think I have a right to know if you are planning to use our wedding, the wedding you made me plan, to murder people.”
“I am not planning to kill anyone,” Cold said carefully.
“That’s a bullshit answer!” Jimmy growled. “If not you, then what about Tamerlane? Or Jules? Your finger may not be pulling the trigger, but you’re still killing these people!”
“And?” Cold asked, his voice eerily flat. “We’ve been over this before. There are aspects of my business that you will find offensive and questionable—”
“At our wedding!” Jimmy cut in angrily. “Our fucking wedding, Rod!”
“Do you trust me?”
“I love you,” Jimmy said quietly, some of the prior heat lost as his lower lip began to tremble. “Rod, I love you so much, but...”
“Do you trust me, Jimmy?” Cold repeated, reaching for Jimmy’s hand and squeezing it.
Jimmy stared into Cold’s icy eyes and felt his heart skip a few beats. There was no doubt in his mind that Cold would do anything for him. He loved him, without question, and the lengths Cold would go to for him were without end.
Even while he was trapped in that basement, he knew that as long as Cold had blood running in his veins that he would come for him.
Always.
“Yes,” Jimmy whispered. “I trust you.” He saw a flash of blood. “But sometimes, Rod, I’m scared.”
“Of me?” Cold tried to hide it, but he was hurt by the unspoken implication.
“For you,” Jimmy said firmly, leaning in to kiss Cold’s lips to reassure him. “You’re dangerous, I know that. But the world is dangerous, too. Even with all your perfect planning, we both could have died because of a bunch of freakin’ onions.”
“Onions,” Cold scoffed and laughed disgustedly at himself.
Jimmy grinned at the sheer ridiculousness of it all and before he knew it, he was laughing, too. He laughed until his ribs were aching and he collapsed in Cold’s strong arms. “Ugh! I will never be able to eat onions ever again.”
“I’m having Jerry ban them from the house,” Cold snorted.
“How did you find out about the onion thing? Charlie?”
“Yes, he told me afterward. He has a contact within the U.S. marshals who was very happy to assist us.” Cold rubbed Jimmy’s shoulders with a smirk. “His contact is also the one who bravely killed the Luchesi men who assassinated Mr. Potolsky.”
“But the Luchesis didn’t... ooohhh!” Jimmy turned his head to look up at Cold. “You really do think of everything, don’t you? I mean, other than onions.”
Cold rolled his eyes. “I certainly try to.”
“So, the Luchesi family is taking all the heat for the fire and Mr. Potolsky?”
“Yes, and the bodies that will ultimately be discovered in that basement. That noose will rest on Luigi’s neck, an inner conflict of the family is how we’ll spin it.”
