Meeting his eyes, I nodded once. “I choose to believe you.”
He echoed my nod. “Sos,” he said. “Truce.”
The word sounded like “sauce,” but he’d said it in that way people do when they’re pronouncing a foreign word.
“Sos,” I repeated, squeezing his hand.
We released the chain from between us, and he stood from his stool, holding out his hand for me. I took it, and he led me to the middle of the restaurant, stopping to pull me close and move me to a slow song that the band in the corner was playing.
“I never got to dance with my bride,” he said.
I laughed in his ear as we moved. “That’s what happens when yousteala bride.”
“You get a heart,” he said. “So fucking grand.”
I laughed even louder as he dipped me.
After our dance, we ate at the bar, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much. Kelly had jokes for days, ones I knew Mari would appreciate, and every time he’d smile at me, I found that he no longer had to steal my time and attention. Without ploys and games and barriers—I was giving it.
* * *
We spent somuch time at Sullivan’s that, by the time we left, it was already dark out and too late to attend the event. Kelly didn’t seem to care, and neither did I.
It was a beautiful night to be out, no place to be, and as we walked down the street holding hands, I thought about how nice it was going to be to spend some time with Kelly outside of New York.
He was always preoccupied with his “work.” He even worked on Sundays. My schedule was rigorous, and with Maureen and the kids, it seemed like my days were always filled up.
I wasn’t sure what it would be like to have more than a couple of hours to spend with each other. It wasn’t an extended trip—I had obligations with work. A couple of days, though, with no work distractions, were going to be a change of pace.
I imagined Kelly on a beach in Sicily somewhere, no shirt, and a shot of desire coursed through my veins.
He whistled as he walked, and I smiled to myself, liking the sound of it.
“Can you sing?” I looked at him.
“A little,” he said.
“I call bullshit.” Then I sucked in a breath and clutched the heart pendant when three men seemed to materialize out of the darkness, no warning.
One stepped directly in front of Kelly, and the other two stood on each side of him. Three guns were pointed at us.
Kelly nodded his head real subtle, behind him, and I caught it. I moved, standing against his back. “Move along, fellas,” he said. “Not here. Not now.”
“Maraigh might have given passes if the mark was out with family, but you know how we run things, Kelly. And it ain’t like your old man. That’s why he’s dead and you’re about to be.”
“We’ll make this simple, Kelly,” another one said. “The drugs. You tell us where they are. We’ll let the wife walk.”
I looked between Kelly and the three men. This was the first time I’d heard anything about drugs. I knew Kelly was a thief, one of the best, but drugs? Was that what he was stealing and then selling? Maybe the bullshit warrant wasn’t bullshit at all.
“Seems Kelly keeps secrets from the missus,” Guy Two spoke up, staring at my face, laughing a little. “You didn’t know, Red? Your husband steals drugs that don’t belong to him and then sells them in the streets for more than we do. He’s high class, the marauding tiger.” Guy Two hit Center Guy on the shoulder. “Then he lets the children of those parents he sold drugs to live at his place. How’s that for repaying a debt? At least his old man was honest about it.”
My thoughts went to Ryan, how small he was, how he could potentially be facing life-long consequences for his mother’s addiction, and my blood ran cold. I would’ve taken a step back from Kelly, but the seriousness of the situation kept me in place. These guys were not fucking around.
In my peripheral, I saw someone moving behind the three men. Someone they hadn’t noticed. Maureen. She had a bag of trash in one hand and a cigarette in another. She must’ve stepped out to sneak a smoke under the guise of taking the trash out. Her eyes connected with mine before she tilted her head a bit, maybe realizing what the fuck was going on.
Without trying to be too obvious, I turned my eyes back to the situation, but Guy Two had noticed. His head whipped around but Maureen had already gone.
Maybe she was going to get Raff.
