Page 39 of The Mobster’s Nurse

“We’ll be waiting, motherfucker,” I grunt, then hang up the phone.

12

ELLIE

Iwake with sunlight on my face. It took me hours to fall asleep last night. Around midnight, one of Luca’s men knocked on the door and told me that he was safe. But he couldn’t come home yet. Home, the man called it. And it made me panic.

Are we building a home already?

Maybe that’s why I’m thinking about it. Leaving the ranch, leaving the city.

I take a quick shower and change into fresh clothes, then go to the apartment door. A hard-faced mafioso is waiting for me.

“Ma’am?” he says.

“Am I prisoner here?” I snap.

He averts his eyes, as though he’s afraid of looking at his boss’s woman. “Absolutely not.”

“Then take me to the ranch.”

Another nod, as if I’m a boss just because I’ve slept with one.

At the ranch, I lean against the enclosure fence, watching as Stacy, one of the stable hands, dances around with Lucky Charm.

She’s got jet-black hair, and she’s around my age. But she clearly knows what she’s doing. As I watch Lucky leap and dance, healthy now, full of life, I wonder if I can leave this place.

If I should leave this place.

But do I want to?

“What are you thinking?”

I turn in shock at his husky voice. Luca’s eyes are softer than usual. Even his huge, muscular body seems more homely somehow. There’s that word again …

“Leaving,” I tell him honestly.

He rushes toward me. Holds me flush against him. “The ranch? Or me?”

“Both,” I whisper, knowing he deserves the truth. “It’s like I’m trying to convince myself to do it. Because I know it’s what any reasonable woman would do.”

“And?” he demands, his voice catching. “Are you going to be reasonable?”

“I don’t know,” I say, tears now moistening my eyes.

“You don’t want to,” he murmurs, leaning down so we’re eye to eye, our noses touching. “Maybe you know you should. You’re an angel, and I’m, well … me.”

A devil? Is that what he was going to say?

“But if we end this now, we'll spend the rest of our lives wondering. And I've got enough things to regret. I don't want you to be one of them."

He slides his hand down my body—stops just above my ass.

"It's not just our bodies, Ellie. It's our hearts. Our souls. I didn't even know I had either until you came into my life. Now I can't shut them up."

Truth always, and my protection, and my loyalty. I promise you. Whatever happens. And when the time comes⁠—"

He presses his lips against mine. Doesn’t force. But he doesn’t back off either. I part my lips and invite him inside. A crashing crush of lust …and affection … and love.