Page 25 of Stroke of Luck

“Who? Your mother?”

“No, my friend I live with. She’s always telling me shit like that. Did you know she sneaks in veggies anywhere she can because I hate eating them?” I smile at the warm feeling that the memory brings up.

The limo falls silent.

“What?” I ask, looking at all of them.

“Firefly, do you remember everything?” Paolo asks.

“No… why?”

“You just told us that you live with this friend. You didn’t remember that before,” Paolo points out.

Holy shit, he’s right!

“I still can’t remember her name or who she is, but it’s like I keep having memory echos. I get parts of things more on the emotional side, but I do feel like I’m getting close to remembering,” I explain.

Enzo reaches over and gives my hand a squeeze. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you find them again.”

Not wanting to cry while I have my face all done up, I decide to change the subject. “So what is this shindig we’re going to? I mean, I know it’s about the governor and all, but why is it such a big deal that all of you go?”

I turn to Othello, waiting for him to answer my seemingly simple question.

“As I’m sure you’ve guessed, our work doesn’t always fall into the legal side of things. Yes, we have the police paid off and someone to give us a heads up if the FBI should come sniffing around, but another way we protect our turf is to make sure that no one else is welcome here in Chicago besides the Irish. The Russians have been trying to cause trouble lately, and I need to make sure they haven’t turned one of my people. Governor Talbot is a long time friend to the family, even gets to enjoy our clubs and product for free with the help he gives us. If his loyalties have changed, then we need to know that, and it’s much harder for a man to lie to my face than over the phone,” Othello explains.

“I know this is a stupid question, but what happens if you find out he’s turned on you? You can’t just take out a governor with the snap of your fingers. People would notice.”

“Coniglietto, these are things you don’t worry about,” Remo states, giving me a look that tells me to leave it alone.

“Right,” I say, pointing finger guns at him, getting me an amused response. “Good lookin’ out. If I ever get brought in for questioning or kidnapped or something, I’ll need plausible deniability. I’ve watched plenty of True Crime. Besides, once I’m married they can’t make me turn on him, right?”

All the guys groan like I’ve said the dumbest thing in the world.

Othello reaches over, gripping my chin and turning me to look up at him. “Mia regina, the only way they would ever be able to touch you is if we were all dead. You are now one of the most protected women in the world. No one touches what is mine.”

“Why don’t you ever say nice things like that to me, babe?” Paolo interjects, distracting from the fact that I'm turned on as fuck right now.

“The last time I tried to step in when you had a problem with someone, you told me you’d snap my dick off for interfering, no matter how much you loved it…”

I can’t hold it back any longer, I fall against Othello and burst out laughing, imagining the whole exchange.

“I can’t believe you’re bringing that up again! Seriously, it was back when we first got together and I didn’t love you yet. How could I let a man step in and deal with my problems if I didn’t know if he was going to stick around? You realize you made a housewife out of a hoe, right?” Paolo explains, crossing his arms and frowning at Enzo. “Now that you have me, I never see you do cute stuff like that.”

“That’s because now if they mess with you, he doesn’t ask if he can step in,” Remo answers with a smirk. “Ever notice you don’t see them again if Enzo’s been around to see it or even if someone else tells him?”

Paolo’s jaw drops as he looks between the two men. “Stop! That is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard!”

Paolo leaps up from his seat to grab Enzo’s face and plant one large, sloppy kiss on his lips. The mood in the limo lifts as we all laugh, and even Othello smiles at the scene. Curling up against Othello, I watch the others talking and laughing as they pick on Giorgi about an old stalker girlfriend he had.

Then it hits me.

This could be my life, full of simple moments like this with these men. But my heart tells me I'm missing something… no, someone… more than one person, to make this absolutely perfect.

All too soon, we pull up to the hotel where the event’s being held, and the guys all put on their game faces, hiding away any vulnerabilities.

Outside the limo is a group of reporters, all of them yelling and calling out questions at us while the flash of cameras go off.

“Mr. Lastra, do you have anything to say about the recent uptick in drug related deaths in the area?”