Page 195 of A Dangerous Kind of Love

“But it’s not only that. It’s also a front.”

I watch as the pieces start to move.

“We move things that don’t get logged,” I continue. “Stolen goods. Art. Anything worth enough that people are willing to kill for it.”

Her breathing turns uneven. She shakes her head as if she can stop it from being real. She can’t.

“The things you’ve seen?” I go on. “That’s the clean side. The part that keeps everything looking legitimate.”

I take another step, slower this time.

“The rest of it.” My jaw tightens. “That’s what actually built this.”

She stares at me, her lips parting, her eyes searching my face like she’s trying to find a crack in it. Something that says I’m exaggerating. Something that says I’m lying.

“You think I’d be able to do any of that without protection?” I ask, my voice low. “Police. Judges. People in government. I don’t operate around them.”

She stares at me.

“They answer to me.”

That’s the one that breaks something. Her hand comes up to her mouth, her back pressing harder into the wall. Her eyes don’t leave mine when she says it.

“Mafia.” It’s barely above a whisper.

“Yes.”

Her breath catches. I take one more step, stopping short of her again. I’m close enough that I can see every tear as they fall.

“I’m in charge.”

She shakes her head.

“No,” she breathes. “No, you’re not—“

“I am.”

She flinches, and I swallow. A nerve ticks in my cheek before I force the rest out.

“But don’t stand there and tell me I’m not your Michael either,” I say. “Because I am.”

Her eyes snap back to mine.

“I’m the one who sits there and listens to you talk about your day like it’s the most important thing in the world. I’m the one who fixes your car, who makes sure you get home safe, who holds you when you wake up in the middle of the night. Who kisses you senseless. Who carries you up the steps, just so you don’t have to walk.”

My voice tightens.

“I’m the one who fell for you.”

Her face crumples as the tears spill faster now.

“And I’m also the man you saw in this room,” I finish. “There isn’t a version of me where one of those things doesn’t exist.”

I take another step.

“You don’t get one without the other, Katie.”

Chapter 72