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But now I have Renee. A threat to me is a threat to her.
And I will not let the vermin win.
So when the call comes in on my phone, making if vibrate noisily on my nightstand, I take it. Renee stirs next to me, but I kiss her cheek and tell her to go back to sleep. She turns over with a mumble and, difficult as it is to leave her, I rise from the bed and creep out of the room.
Once I’m to the kitchen, I answer. “Report.”
“We have a location on the rat,” Marco says. “We have the location surrounded and we know he’s still in there.”
“Move in and get him secured,” I say as I glance at the time glowing on the stove. “Drop me the location and I’ll start heading there. Who’s he with?”
For a moment, Marco is silent—his hesitation tells me I’ve been on the right track. And when he gives me the name of one of my uncles, Lorenzo, I know that my suspicions were correct all along.
I won’t let the fact that Lorenzo and I share blood cloud my decision. This ends now. I will not be bringing Renee into my life only for her to spend it with me fearing that my command over my organization is in question. This isn’t just for my men, or for my business. It’s for her. She takes priority over everything now.
But I’m not yet ready to reveal my hand to anyone, so I tell Marco to make his move. As soon as we end our call, he texts me an address, and I go back to the bedroom to start getting dressed.
When I get there, Renee is sitting up in bed, the sheets pulled up to cover her naked body and her hair rumpled with sleep. She squints at me after I turn on a lamp, looking adorable and sleepy and breathtaking.
I could get used to seeing her like this.
And if tonight goes well—which it will—I look forward to doing it every day from here on out.
“Everything okay?” she asks softly, her voice scratchy from sleep.
“Everything’s fine,” I tell her. “Just have to go in and do something for work.”
She tilts her head at me, confused. “Isn’t it late?”
“It is. Sometimes my job needs me out at weird hours.”
She bites her lip as she gets lost in thought at that. Something uncertain twists in my chest. “You must be really important, then,” she finally says.
“I am. I wouldn’t be leaving if it weren’t important,” I explain.
She shakes her head before smiling at me. “I know.”
My heart warms. And to think I was worried that she wouldn’t get it.
God, she’s fucking perfect. It makes me want to crawl back in between her thighs and give her something to remember me by for the next few hours. The rat can wait. It’s my operation he was fucking with, so he can wait a bit longer for me to dole out my punishment.
“When will you tell me what you do?” Renee suddenly asks.
I pause in the middle of buttoning my shirt. I hadn’t expected that question.
“Y-you don’t have to tell me,” she quickly adds. “I’m just curious. You have this amazing apartment and an expensive car …”
Her hands twist in her lap, the blanket falling to reveal more of her creamy, pale skin.
“It’s stupid,” she sighs. “I’m sorry. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“Don’t say that,” I growl at her, approaching the bed and sitting on the edge. “It’s not stupid. I don’t want you to ever say that about something you’re thinking or feeling again.”
She looks up at me with wide eyes, and I’m reminded of the first time I ever saw her. She’s haunting like this, her big blue eyes rooting me to the spot. Her stillness reminds me yet again of a prey animal waiting to see if the noise they heard is dangerous or not.
Under normal circumstances, I’d take her like a beast, but right now, I just want to put her at ease.
I lean forward and take her hand in mine. “What I do is hard to talk about. It’s complicated and sensitive. I want you to know that I plan on sharing everything with you soon, but not when I’m needed somewhere and definitely not when I know you need more rest.”
