“How am I going to leave you here?” he rasps, his free hand holding my throat. “You drive me fucking crazy the way I can’t*thrust*get*thrust*enough*thrust*of you. You won’t forget you’re mine while we’re apart, will you?”
I quickly shake my head. How the hell could I?
Pleased, he dives forward, sucking at my pulsepoint, marking me as his for all to see.
Sliding my hands under his coat, I return the favor. I can’t get enough of him either, and he won’t forget he’s mine. I rake my fingernails down his back. Even with a shirt between, his bites back a hiss and his eyes darken to charcoal. “Fuck, yes. Give me something to remind me this was real tomorrow.”
The dizzying lust carries us both to bliss soon enough, and I’m quickly reminded of the cold temperature as gravity pulls his hot cum back out of me. “You made a mess of me for certain,” I snicker once I’ve tugged my panties out of my mouth. “Are you going to clean me up?”
With a dark smile, he pockets my panties and swipes up his cum with three fingers. “I’ll be eating alone tonight, wife. Share this meal with me.”
Oh Dio, this man.Opening my mouth again, I let him feed me, and then he kneels to finish the job.
He’s so very good at it that he’s soon comparing me to the cascades again. With my head thrown back in ecstasy, I gaze at the snowy forest canopy above, pretending for this hot, sweet moment that nothing else exists in these woods but us.
***
A half hour later, I continue waving at the sky even as the whirl of the helicopter rotors fades. It carries my husband back to Chicago and back to a war he didn’t want.
I hug Lucia tightly, kissing the top of her head while Maddalena has carried Amadeo over to see the sheep a little closer. Ugo stands beside me, armed and silent, while Primo follows my sister and son. "I'm sorry about Enio," I whisper.
He nods, and I assume he'll be quiet like usual. "Protecting women and children, it's the one thing we do that I feel is an honorable way to die. Enio felt that way, too." My chin trembles, and he shakes his head. "Don't cry. Nico would kill me for it."
Rolling my eyes, I rest my hand on his shoulder. "He better not. We need you."
Ugo smiles, the first time I've seen him truly smile. "Nico needs you, too. You're the best thing that's ever happened to him."
Embarrassed, I glance away, still trying to drown out that feeling of not being enough, but a fresh sense of belonging fills me, too. It's not just Nico, the children and Maddalena that make up my little family now. "If Nico needs me, why does he send us away?"
"Because he needs you safe even more."
In the distance, I see Leone giving orders for the watchtower. It feels surreal, the farm, a peaceful piece of land in a quiet wood, being transformed into a defensive compound.
Despite Ugo's kindness, Nico’s parting words to the guards left me melancholy.“Whether it’s six days or six months, my family stays here until it's safe for them to return.”
Six days or six months and safe to return. When exactly will that be?
45
Nico
Two months later
“I’m telling you Alessio didn’t do it, Nico. Francesca has spoken repeatedly to your sister and her cousins. Caterina would never forgive him if-”
“Would you mind lending me your magic crystal ball, Don Vicini? My sister loves that animal, but do you really believe a man we labeled Reaper is above such actions?”
Carlo falls silent over the phone, both of us understanding the kind of men we are and the kind of men we work with. “Someone else was behind it,” he offers at last.
He has zero proof, but I'm beginning to suspect he's right.
All the Barzetti conspirators have been captured and killed except one – Cosima.
What had my father said to me?“You and your soft spot for women. Be careful or it will make you a weaker Capo.”After Alessio’s threat, I didn’t fully consider Cosima could do that, so maybe he had a point. Torturing women will never be my way.Listeningto them, however, is definitely a good idea.
Between Matilde mentioning Cosima's father's trusted men and what a sobbing Vera was able to share with enough coaxing and infinite patience, I've made an interesting discovery. Cosima's special bodyguards were bikers from a small chapter of an insignificant motorcycle club. Bikers can't be trusted, so I can't imagine why her father chose a handful of them to work with his crew in Cincinnati andact as guards for his daughter. It's not our way. Perhaps they had some leverage on him and, later on, Antonio.
Returning my attention to the unhappy Don on the phone, I mutter, “I think you’d try to convince me of Alessio’s innocence simply because you want peace.”
