I head for the back door, and I glance over my shoulder once. She's sitting on the tailgate, legs swinging, head tipped back, looking up at the stars in my shirt.
And I think. That's it. That's the whole damn picture.
Everything I've ever wanted is sitting on the back of my truck in the middle of the desert, wearing my clothes and covered in my marks and looking at the sky like she's thanking it for something.
Like I'm the thing she's thanking it for.
And she's the thing I'll thank it for every single night until they put me in the ground.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Harper
We're lying in the bed of his truck, a wool blanket pulled from behind the back seat. My head is on his chest. His arm is around me. The stars are doing that thing they only do in the middle of nowhere, where there's no light pollution, and no city glow, and the sky just opens up like someone tore a hole in the dark and poured diamonds through it.
I could stay here forever. I think I might. No. I will. I’m going to make sure of it.
"So tell me what you wanted to tell me last night," Ace says, his voice a low rumble under my ear. "Something important?"
I trace a pattern on his bare chest with my fingertip. He's still shirtless. I'm in his shirt. The math works out.
"I sent Gianna the sales documents. Exactly how Hunter wanted them."
"Mm-hmm. Good girl."
"Well, she then asked me to get a meeting with Hunter. And a full report on the Sterlings. She wants to know everything about you. And she told me to pass along that she's your enemy's enemy."
He chuckles. The sound vibrates through his ribs and into my cheekbone.
"Yeah. We've heard that line a few times before. Hunter won't bite. We've got orders not to get tangled up with LA. And we’ve got Graves now, we’re in a good position."
I push myself up on my elbow to look at him. He's completely relaxed. Head resting on his hand, which makes his bicep look absurd. Moonlight on the bruise along his jaw. Scratch marks disappear below his collarbone. He looks like a man who just rode a bull and fucked his woman in a creek bed and has zero regrets about either.
"What do I tell her?" I ask. "Because I'm stuck in the middle here, Ace. I have to keep her happy to a point."
He runs his tongue along his teeth. I can see the wheels turning behind those lazy eyes. People underestimate how smart this man is. They see the hat, the drawl, the boots. They don't see the mind underneath.
"I'll write you a report. An autobiography of sorts." He grins. "Ace Sterling. Professional bull rider. Part-time Harper worshipper."
My cheeks catch fire. I slap his chest. He catches my hand and holds it flat over his heart.
"Ace, I'm being serious."
"So am I." He squeezes my fingers. "Let's go home and write something together. Something that gives her enough without giving her too much. I'll run it all past Hunter tomorrow." He lifts my hand and presses his lips to my knuckles. "Alright? I got you, baby."
I smile as he pulls me back down to his chest.
"You want to stay up and write a report on your own family with me?" I whisper.
"I'll do anything if it means you're safe in this, Harper. I don't trust the Italians. I sure as hell don't trust the Greeks. We'replaying a waiting game, and I am not having you caught in the crossfire."
I swallow. Sometimes, it doesn't feel real. But it never changes how I feel about Ace. If anything, it made me more protective of him. More aware of what he carries. More certain that the man underneath all of it is good in a way the world doesn't deserve.
"Maybe Hunter should hear her out. I think she's kind of cool." I pause. "But I don't really get your world."
His hand runs along my arm. Slow. Up and down. The kind of absent, tender touch that tells me he's thinking carefully about what comes next.
"Never trust anyone involved in the mafia, Goldie. Promise me." His voice has dropped. Not angry. Serious. The version of Ace that most people never hear. "They're only ever out to protect themselves and their blood. Gianna might just be playing the part to make you trust her so she can get the intel she needs to come tearing into New Falls and try to kill my entire family. You understand that, right?"
