Elect

“Let me heal you.” I kissed her head.

“I feel sad.”

“Let me be your happiness.”

She turned in my arms. “And if you truly die? You go

“No.” I tilted her chin up. “I expect you to live a damn good life. I expect you to listen to me when I tell you there has never been anyone but you. No one. Only you, always you, forever you. And I’m sorry, but I won’t take back what I did.”

Her eyes widened as she tried to jerk free from me.

“Listen,” I commanded, tightening my grip around her body. “I wouldn’t take away one moment with you. I wouldn’t take away my decision to leave you, because in the end, it was the right thing to do. I will always save you. You need to know that… I will always choose you over me. Even if that means walking away, even if that means letting you and Chase be together. Trace, if it means that for the rest of my life all I have to live off of are the memories of your kiss? I would do it. Because it’s never been about me, but you and what I can do for you.”

She exhaled.

“When I wake up in the morning… I don’t think, wow, how can I make her love me more? How can I have my way with her? I, I, I? Not in my vocabulary. In fact, I’m a big fan of the letter u. I eat, I think of you. I drink, I drink to you. I cry, so you don’t have to. I’d die, for you to live. And I’d survive with a broken heart only if it meant mending yours.”

Her lower lip trembled as her eyes got glassy. “When did you get so romantic?”

“Been reading lots of Romeo and Juliet.” I winked. “Besides, romance isn’t something you work at—not when you find the right girl. When you fall in love, when you take that leap, it’s as natural as breathing; it’s as simple as that. I’m romantic because my heart demands I be nothing less than one hundred percent, for you, day and night.”

Trace sighed. “I don’t know what to do with that. When you’re an ass at least I can threaten bodily harm, but now…”

“Now?” I placed a feather-light kiss across her lips. “What do you want to do now?”

“I think…” She pressed her hands against my chest. “I think I want to start over.”

“I like fresh starts.” I gri

She blushed. “Yeah about that… I was kinda caught up in the moment, and you looked so sad and—”

“Are you apologizing for sleeping with me?” I chuckled.

“Yeah. I think so.” Trace’s face took on a light pink as she covered her face with her hands. “Holy crap, I’m so lame.”

I kissed her nose. “You’re forgiven.”

“For?” She didn’t remove her hands.

“Taking advantage of me.”

She pulled her hands away from her face and opened her mouth, most likely to yell, but then my mouth was pressed against hers, muffling the words between our lips. In a frenzied kiss, I picked her up off her feet and slammed her onto the bed.

Her tongue tasted like home. I groaned in frustration as she grabbed a few tufts of my hair and tugged. Hell, I needed to calm the crap down before I lost complete control.

A knock sounded on the door.

I got up but Trace pulled me back down on top of her. “Ignore it.” Her teeth nipped my lip ring.

“Damn, that felt good.”

Gri

The knocks kept coming.

“Shit, don’t…” I got up from the bed. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“What am I go

“Right.” I opened the door a crack and barked, “What?”

“It’s Luca. Arrangements have been made and he needs to speak to you.” Tex peeked around my body and gave me a thumbs-up. Would it be totally inappropriate to strangle him?

“Go,” I heard Trace yell from behind me. “I need to get ready for bed anyway.”

I groaned.

“You’ll be fine.” She patted my ass and stepped around me. “See ya, Tex.”

“Boots.” He gri

“Stop staring at her ass.” I pushed past Tex and managed not to punch him even when he didn’t deny that was exactly what he had been doing.

Luca was sitting at the di

I pulled out a chair and sat. “Make it fast.”

“You need a drink.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“I said”—Luca nodded to Tex—“you need a drink. Believe me, you’ll want one.”

“Aw shit.” I took a glass from Tex and licked my lips. “Bad news?”

“Do I ever bring good news?”

Valid point.

Luca took a long sip of wine. “It has been decided that Emiliana will step into the position of boss for the De Lange family. The families are asking that peace be reestablished between the five families here in Chicago.”

“So?” I shrugged. “We knew that would happen.”

“However…” His eyes darted between Tex and myself. “Not everyone is convinced she will do an adequate job. Therefore they have appointed your family as a type of…”—he lifted his hand into the air—“babysitter, if you will.”

“Babysitter?” Tex repeated. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You will teach her your ways,” Luca stated blandly.

“It’s not freaking Star Wars,” I spat. “I’m not Obi-Wan Kenobi and she sure as hell isn’t Luke Skywalker.”

“My thoughts exactly. You have too much on your plate as it is, Nixon. I would not ask this of you if it was not of the utmost importance.”

“Can’t Frank do it?” No way did I want to help Mil learn the ropes. She either knew how things worked or she didn’t. You can’t just learn how to be a boss.

“The rest of the families, Frank Alfero included, believe you’re the best for the job. All of you are young; you are the new generation.”

“Thanks, I think.” He was right, I did need a drink. I took a long sip of wine and stared at the wall. “That isn’t all, is it?”

“I’ve always liked you.”

I chuckled. “You go

“Nah.” Luca poured himself another glass of wine. “The De Langes were involved in a few inappropriate business dealings.”

“Shit.” I exhaled. “You mean for me to help clean up the mess.”

“I mean for you to make it go the hell away,” Luca stated. “The girl… She may not have the stomach for what needs to be done.”

“Do I have a choice?” I asked after a few moments of silence.

“There is always a choice.” Luca rose and slapped my shoulder. “But remember, there are always consequences.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I finished my wine and stood. “Does Mil know yet?”

“Yes.” Luca buttoned his coat and straightened his black tie. “She is not happy.”

“When has she ever been happy?” Tex mumbled behind me.

“I trust I will hear of your glowing progress over the next few months?”

I shook Luca’s outstretched hand and kissed him on the right then left cheeks. “You can count on it.”

“I hear Lake Michigan is lovely in the spring,” he joked as he made his way toward the door. “I shall see you at the funeral tomorrow evening.”

“Yup.”

After he left, Tex and I sat in silence at the table.

“He’s an ass,” a female voice said from the kitchen.

“Ah, Mil.” I grabbed a spare wineglass. “Happy you could join us. And Luca isn’t an ass, he’s just… a man with a lot of power.”

“Oh, I know.” She took the glass. “I wasn’t talking about him. I was talking about Chase.”

I raised my glass. “Then we are in agreement. Cheers.”

She closed her eyes and drank a deep sip from the merlot. “I need you guys, now, more than ever.”

“Wow, that was the nicest thing she’s ever said to us, Nixon.” Tex winked at her, and she scowled and took a seat.

“We’ll help as much as we can.” I stared out the dark window and concentrated on the day in the future when we wouldn’t have impending death hanging over our heads.

Chapter Fifty-five Chase

It was official.