Suddenly, she no longer sat in the passenger seat but on my lap. Right in front of me, her expression furious, she grabbed my ears and waggled my head. “I don’t believe that. You’re too smart?—”
“That’s no excuse.” I gave in and let my forehead rest against hers. It was becoming one of my favorite places to rest.Shewas becoming that for me—a safe haven. My piece of heaven I didn’t deserve.
“What made you get high the first time?”
My lips twisted as I thought back to that night. “Accursio, my best friend my whole life, he said we were dumb for trying but wewanted to fit in at a party. There were a bunch of girls we wanted to impress.”
“I’d have thought your face did that.”
I kissed her. “Compliments get you everywhere.”
“Good to know,” she jeered.
“Problem with my face is that my brain comes behind it. I was… awkward growing up. Thought I knew best. Couldn’t rein in my thoughts. I wasn’t popular. I bombed out of classes for a good couple years. Boredom. I couldn’t focus on such trivial BS. So I got a reputation for being dumb as well as a truant.
“The whole rebel shit got me more action so it worked. Accursio literally said to me one time, ‘How much pussy do you need?’”
“I think I’d have liked him.”
“He’d have liked your sass. You’d have driven him crazy.”
“Good!”
“I guess the drugs weren’t about fitting in or peer pressure but escaping too.” I gusted out my cheeks. “Whatever, I got tangled up in it and it led to you sitting on my lap. I don’t deserve you,duci,but I can’t let you go. Anything you want or need, tell me, and I’ll make it happen. Hell, I’ll even put you on myStiddaif?—”
“This isn’t a transaction, Stan. I’m sitting on your lap for you. Because we have thisbeautiful link that keeps pulling me toward you. Even when I’m scared of your life, your world, I know this is the safest place for me.” She wiggled on my knee. “What happened at Sofia’s was a revelation. I’ve only ever seen the destructive side of the mob because my family wasn’t high-ranking enough to be anything other than armed muscle. I-I guess it enthralled me. The moving and the shaking.”
“Did you want to go into politics before everything happened with Neev?” When her eyes dropped to her knees, I tutted. “Hey, now. None of that.”
“It’s dumb.”
“How is it? We’re allowed dreams.”
“My da was in the Irish Mob. Like I said, dumb.”
“And so’s Seamus O’Donnelly’s and his family are working to get him into the White House.”
She wet her lips. “I still can’t wrap my head around that.”
“I’d start because the Five Points is worth hundreds of billions of dollars and they’re not afraid to use it to get what they want.”
“I’m not sure I like that.” She tsked. “America’s voting system should be a democratic process!”
I snorted. “It’s sweet that you think Devere got in via a free and fair election.”
Her shoulders drooped. “True. Was that…”
“Dirty money’s what’ll get him reelected. That has nothing to do with the mafia and everything to do with Citizen United. This whole mess stemmed from corporations being ‘people too.’
“If it’s any consolation, Jen says Seamus is a sweet kid with big dreams for the country.”
“No, that’s not reassuring. I was a sweet kid at one point and look where that got me.” She compounded that with another wiggle.
Chuckling, I ran my thumb over her jawline. “I have a confession to make.”
In for a penny…
“Anotherconfession?” She took in my expression, paused. Groaned. “What have you done now?”
