I hated that Ax had to take the blame for me. Milo was always fair with his men, but when it came to protecting me, all bets were off.
“Apparently, she doesn’t.” Milo nodded at me. “Get in.”
“Milo, I…it was my fault we’re standing out here.” I climbed into the car, shivering and wet. “Don’t blame Ax.”
“I can blame you both,” Milo said. “Doesn’t anyone have any sense tonight?”
It was probably best if I treated that as a rhetorical question.
Milo joined me in the backseat as Josh got in the driver’s side and Ax sat in the passenger seat. The other team of men followed behind us in another SUV. Even with all the precautions and plans in place, Diego still managed to walk right up to us. That had to agitate Milo.
“Where’s Diego?” I asked.
“Medina left,” he growled between gritted teeth. “He never should have gotten that close to us.”
“I’m sorry,” Josh said. “We patrolled the streets surrounding the restaurant all night and there was no sign of him.”
“I don’t want excuses.” Milo raised his voice. “Call ahead and make sure the penthouse is secure. I must have some competent people on my payroll somewhere, right?”
Obviously, Josh and Ax got the rhetorical memo too. No one dared to challenge Milo.
I inched closer to him and rested my hand on top of his, trying to offer him some comfort. Josh and Ax made phone calls to the security team at the penthouse as Milo seethed with fury. I swore I could feel the rage emitting from his pores.
Was he mad at Ax, Josh, or Diego? Maybe he was furious with himself for thinking he failed to keep me safe. There wasn’t anything he could have done.
“Milo.” I squeezed his hand. “We’re fine. Nothing happened.”
“Don’t.” He let go of my hand and held up his, but he didn’t look at me. “I can’t do this right now. The best thing you can do for me is to stay quiet.”
“Okay,” I whispered as I caught Ax giving me a look of pity in the rearview mirror.
Where was all of Milo’s anger directed? Squarely in my direction.
Thankfully,the quiet, tension-filled ride to the penthouse only lasted ten minutes. Despite the hazardous conditions, Josh understood the assignment and got us there without delay.
Milo stayed true to his words when he said he didn’t want to talk. He hadn’t uttered anything to me in the elevator, and now nothing since we were in the penthouse. This wasn’t how I had imagined our first Valentine’s Day going. I pictured more hearts and flowers and less gangsters and guns.Fall in love with a mob boss and find out.
When he headed upstairs, leaving me in the living room to remove my jacket and take off my heels, I pondered sleeping on the couch. He didn’t appear to be in a forgiving mood.
But why did he have to forgive me? I didn’t send Diego after him. It wasn’t my fault the water main broke. Okay, so maybe I did intervene during a pivotal moment. But still, I didn’t deserve all of his anger.
I’m not sleeping on the couch!
I hustled up the stairs and hurried to the master bedroom. My heart pounded hard, rattling my ribcage. I lost my breath somewhere at the end of the hallway, but I wasn’t backing down.
As I reached the bedroom, my confidence wavered. Did I have a defense? Did it matter? We should be able to discuss this like adults.
I shoved open the door and found Milo sitting by the window, drink in hand, and most of his clothes off. The only article of clothing left were his pants, and they were unbuttoned. He brought his glass to his mouth with the precision of a surgeon holding a scalpel, concentrating on the rim and nothing else.
Not even me.
I couldn’t determine if the tremble in my legs originated from my damp hair or if it was from the fear his mood drew from me. How could we have been so playful and focused on one another an hour ago?
During dinner, it was the two of us. In that private room, nothing else mattered. We had the whole night ahead of us. There were memories to be made. Once we stepped outside, there was another story to be told. All bets were off when we were greeted by guards who carried guns and waited for a bulletproof SUV to retrieve us and take us to a heavily-guarded penthouse. We made memories on our first February fourteenth together. Just not the ones I cared to think about in a few years.
The arrival of an enemy ripped down the facade of a well-planned evening full of love and lust, leaving us with the reality of who Milo was, and what our lives would always be like.
That truth should have been enough to make me put on my beat-up sneakers and worn hoodie and flee to parts unknown. But when he gazed up from the glass and stared so deep into my soul, the real honesty took over. I couldn’t exist without him. I had no desire to.
