Tonight, I could tell he barely tasted it as he swallowed. “The Boss fancies a bigger slice of the pie. He wants my help to make that happen.” We both caught sight of Teddy hanging nearby again, and Jack leaned in to give me an affectionate kiss on the cheek.
“Later,” he murmured into my ear.
CHAPTER55
MILLER
When we’d shoedaway the dregs of the party and shut up the house—I never let anyone crash these days, except Nate, who I roomed in a very separate wing of the house to mine—Jack and I went into my art room, where I was making him sit for a portrait. I’d promised to keep the hat low enough over his face so he wouldn’t be recognizable, but I couldn’t resist adding a gleam of pale blue in the darkest part of the shadow over his face, just to make sure the viewer knew he was watching them right back.
“Well?” I asked, as he sank into the armchair with a sigh. I’d brought a comfy armchair into my art room when I’d decided I wanted to paint him. Jack was able to stay slumped and still in that chair for a good hour. More than once he’d fallen asleep.
“That party the Boss held, the same night he sent the Three Stooges after you? It was a consolidation of his power. He wanted to see who was with him and who was against him. Well, since that night, he’s drawn up a list of people he considers his enemies. He wants me to remove a few thorns from his side.”
Jack’s time with the Castellanis had been uneventful so far, although I knew he was uncomfortable being forced to spend so much time with Sandro these days. Despite his father‘s wishes, Sandro was still icing Jack out as much as he could.
But Jack had a very specialized skill set. I knew it, even when I didn’t want to know the details. I trusted his judgment. I knew who he was at heart.
“And…what are your thoughts about that?” I said slowly, darkening a shadow under his jaw on my canvas.
“My thoughts?” He gave a small, twisted smile. “My thoughts are that I’ve had about enough. It’s time to act. You understand what I’m saying?”
I put down my paints and brush. “I do.”
Jack got up from the chair and came over to me, taking me in his arms. “Are you still with me, Trouble?”
“Always.”
Over the months, my relationship with Jack had only deepened and grown stronger. But there were still things we hadn’t said to each other yet, skirting around the topic, speaking with kisses and caresses instead of words.
He kissed me then. Afterward, I asked, “When?”
“Tomorrow.”
I sucked in a breath. It hit hard, even though I’d known it was coming. We’d discussed it at length, and he’d made sure I understood the repercussions. He’d put in place protections for the house staff here, and for Nate.
And I’d agreed with his plan.
Tomorrow, Jack would kill Don Ciro Castellani. And then we’d ghost, while things quietened down and we found protection elsewhere.
Knowing it was our last night in Los Angeles made me want to remember it, so I pushed him back into the chair. “Shame I never got to finish your portrait,” I said, as I unbuttoned his pants. He raised an eyebrow, but made no move to stop me.
“Shame,” he agreed. “But when we find a safe place, you can do a nude study instead.”
“I’d like that.” I pulled his shirt out and unbuttoned it, leaning in to run a tongue over his nipples.
“Mm. I likethat.”
I kissed down his belly, heading for the main event, when he put a soft hand on my throat and pulled me back up to his mouth. He kissed me and then he pulled me into his lap, swinging me around in the armchair so that my legs were hanging over the side.
“Listen,” he said seriously, “there’s something I need to say to you.”
My heart leaped into my throat. “JJ—what is it?”
He cupped my face, smoothing his thumb over my cheekbone, a familiar gesture that helped calm me. “It’s something that you need to know. Miller Beaumont, I’m in love with you.”
I gave a breathless chuckle of relief. “Yeah,” I said. “I mean, yeah. I know. I love you too, JJ.”
He still looked serious. “I need you to understand—you’reitfor me, sweetheart. I won’t ever leave you. I won’t ever let anyone hurt you. But it’s like my father once told me: us Jacopos, we love a little too hard and a little too deep. If that scares you…well, I’d understand.”
