Page 25 of The Mobster’s Nurse

“Take a look outside,” I tell him. “Check if there’s any backup. Our target was squeaking.”

“Sure thing.”

There’s a minute-long pause, during which Ellie leaves the room, and Daryl wakes up. Vito shoves him onto the bed and aims his pistol at his head. Daryl’s shoulders slump, touching his bloody nose.

“Yeah,” Georgio says. “There’s a car. But they’re ducking now they’ve seen us. They look Irish to me.”

“Yeah, no shit,” I mutter.

“I’ve got the plates,” he says.

“Good.”

I hang up and put my phone in my pocket. Vito picks up the photo of Ellie and the puppies from the floor and sets it carefully back on the wall.

“You know why I had to hurt you,” I snarl.

“Because of … what I did? To the—” He swallows with a big gulp. “— horses?”

“No,” I say. “I hit you because you called Ellie a bitch. Nobody insults her, Daryl. She’s made a deal to save your life. You should treat her with some goddamn respect. And …” I kneel so we’re eye to eye. “If you insult her again, the deal is void. Your new home will be the inside of a coffin. At the end, you’ll beg for a cage. Understand?”

“Yes,” he whimpers.

“Good,” I growl. “Now, tell me. Everything. I don’t want to have to spill blood in my lady’s apartment.”

Thankfully, Daryl knows the score. He knows he’s screwed and there’s nowhere else to go.

He gives it all up. The location of the Irish stronghold in the city. Cormac Lynch. Of course it is. He’s a fierce, dangerous operator. An ambitious West Coast-based, ex-Marine with strong Irish connections. He’s been making noise for two years — poaching territory, bribing officials, building alliances with anyone who wants a piece of the Moretti operation. I'd heard his name three times in the last year. Each time, I'd dismissed it. Obviously, that was my mistake. And now I must fix that mistake.

Ellie appears at the door, that same anxious energy gripping her.

I pull her gently into my arms and kiss the top of her head.

“You did good, Ellie,” I tell her.

“Thank you,” she replies, clinging to me fiercely.

I kiss her on the cheek. “I’m taking you out on a date, beautiful. Someplace we can forget about all this for a while. I know, in my heart, my soul, my bones, that I need you. But maybe we could try and be normal for a while.”

She laughs softly, turning her head so that her lips are pressed against mine. But her eyes are wide in disbelief. “We’re never going to be normal, Luca.”

8

ELLIE

Istand in front of the mirror in the black glittery dress. I bought it two years ago and never wore it. It was one of those what-if purchases. As in … what if I’m confident enough to wear it one day?

It’s been hours since the craziness with Daryl. I’m relieved Daryl coughed up the information. Otherwise, Luca would have … But I don’t want to think about it.

In the stable, when Luca said I’d know he was mine when I tasted him, I thought he was losing his mind. But then I felt him flowing into my body. Salty and hot and mine. And I knew. There’s something going on here, something animal. As though we don’t need words and history. As if our scents and our instincts are enough.

I turn, looking over my shoulder at my figure in the tight-fitting fabric. I’ve never been ashamed of my body, but never confident either. It’s been more like a vehicle. But with Luca’s attention, I feel womanly. Sexy. Wanted. Needed.

Turning back, I lean close to the mirror. “You’re losing your mind, girl.”

And the crazy part?

I don’t want it back.