“I suppose not.”
“So, pending Asa’s acceptance of me as his partner, I will be giving you the illegal side of my business to run. You are in charge.”
“You plan to walk away from it? I didn’t think you’d ever do it, Ru.”
“I always knew I would if I found the right person.” I shrugged.
“And have you?”
“Well, Asa hasn’t run back to the cops, has he?”
“He still has time.” Ana rolled his eyes.
I laughed. “You have no faith.”
“And you have too much. He’s a model.”
“So was my mama.” I poked his chest.
“That’s different and you know it. When she married your father, he hadn’t started the business.” Ana shook his head.
“I know, but I’m willing to take a chance on him.”
Ana smiled. “I’m glad for you.”
I gripped his shoulder and brought him into a hug. At least I knew I would always have a good friend like him around, even if I couldn’t get him to admit he’d stolen my fire engine as a child.
I left Anatoly to consider my offer and found Asa in the main living room where I’d sent him. He sat cross-legged on the couch with a silver photo frame clutched in his hands. The picture inside was of my parents on their wedding day, their smiles wide and infectious. In all my years watching them, I’d never seen two people so in love. Tato liked to remind me it was love at first sight. I’d heard their story so many times that I craved to find what they had. In doing so, I’d made some mistakes, ones that I would have to answer for now.
“Are you angry at me?” I sat down beside him, but he didn’t tear his gaze from my parents. His supple lips curved slightly, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or not. These were the kinds of things I wanted to learn about him as we grew to know each other more.
“No.” He cocked his head toward me, eyes squinted. “I am concerned, though. Are you all right?”
My chest warmed. The fact that he asked me that question meant he cared, and my faith in him grew substantially. “Their names are Detectives Stewart and Ham. I’ve dealt with them on numerous occasions.”
“I can tell.” He raised his chin. “They were unprofessional and they were badgering you.” When I grinned, he chuckled. “I watch a lot of crime shows.”
“The thing about police is that theyknow. They know who the big shots are around these parts, but they can never prove it. So, Stewart likes heckling me, hoping that I will do something stupid so he can arrest me.” I rested my arm on the back of the couch behind his head, and Asa sighed, leaning into it. I shuffled closer, inhaling the beautiful hints of cinnamon that drifted from him. “He saw a weakness in me when you came in and he tried to use it.”
“Was he telling the truth?”
I hated the uncertainty making his voice waver. If I could present him the head of Stewart on a pike, I would. “Yes and no. I never paid anyone to be with me. I had other model lovers, but they weren’t like you.”
“Explain it to me?” He tilted his body toward me and the openness he presented to me was new. I’d never quite met a man like him, so willing totalkabout things. The other guys I’d dated would’ve been running out of the house if they’d known I’d dated models before. Or maybe not, but they would only be sticking around for my money if they did stay.
“You’ll think it’s silly.”
He grinned. “Have you seen me?” Pushing his glasses up his nose, he shrugged. “I’m the definition of silly.”
Considering he was still sticking around after finding out I was a mob boss, he was definitely different, but I was glad he was. I laughed and dropped my arm to his shoulders, dragging him against me. Pointing at the photo, I smiled. “Those are my parents. Tato, my dad, claimed it was love at first sight. Most people I meet think it doesn’t exist, but it did for them. I’d never seen two people so in love.”
He hummed, and I took it as encouragement to continue.
“Mama was a model, and Tato saw her for the first time in an advertisement. He turned to his best friend at the time and told him that he was going to marry that woman. His friend thought he was crazy. But he wasn’t. He met Mama a few weeks later at a party, and they started dating. They married three months after that and moved to America.” I traced Mama’s face with my finger and sighed. “This is where the silly part comes in. I’ve always wanted what they had. So, I dated models, hoping to find the one. But each man was as superficial as the next. Then I saw your face on a billboard and I.... Fuck, I’m not going to lie. I fell in love. It wasn’t like with the others. I felt something.”
He tilted his head up toward me, mouth parted.
I stared down at him, raising my hand to his chin. I rubbed my thumb over his jaw. “Are you going to run out the front door?”
