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“I feel like I’ve heard this script before and I didn’t much like the original, so let’s skip the sequel, Dani, and roll right into the credits. You don’t have to tell me what happened if you’d rather keep those cards close to your chest. But you can tell me something. Whatever it is you’re thinking, whatever bullshit is coming our way, so we can prepare for it together.”
There was a long pause, to the point I didn’t think a response was coming until she finally opened her mouth. Her words soft, dry, robotic. “War… war is coming our way, Connor. And not the shit you see in the movies. Not the shit you hear about on the streets. This is a full-blown, old-schoolmafiawar. The kinda thing the city hasn’t seen in years. And you’ve chosen the losing side. Because they have the resources, the contacts. AndI have me… My entire fucking family is dead. No one’s loyal to the name anymore. Not unless I’m looking to marry ona their limp-dicked sons. So that’s what’s comingourway, what I’m preparing for,” she said in one, long, exasperated sigh as my knuckles tightened around the steering wheel.
“Yeah, not gonna happen while I’m still breathing.”
“Hang around and you won’t be. Just ask Leo…”
I would… if I knew who the fuck that was and what had her sounding so despondent at the thought of him. But my gut told me I was better off holding my tongue and figuring out the rest later.
49
It wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the entire truth. I had contacts too. Men worse than the fuckers I was up against. A lot of 'em. But they all came with a price, a deal, a little tit for tat. And the thought of being on a short leash with a bunch of two-faced gangsters all out for themselves was not my idea of a good time. It was exactly the sort of life I was running from. The life I left behind to set out on my own. And I couldn’t go back there. I refused to go back there.
But it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice to stay here either.
Way to go, Dani. You’ve done it again.
Part of me wanted to curl up on myself, mourn the girl I was before that bullet shattered more than my skull. And part of me wanted to mourn Leo too. But that wasn’t me, not back then and not now. I needed to screw my head on straight, get over this weight bearing down on my chest, and act.
I had my fun, six years of it. Six years of doing things on my terms. And a few weeks of doing Connor. It would be selfish to want more of either. It was time to grow the fuck up and embrace the Rossi blood running through my veins.
Pretty boy was tapping his hands on the steering wheel, and the sound had my eyes focusing out the windshield. Once again, I didn’t know where the fuck we were headed. The post-orgasm bliss both cleared and fogged my brain in thebestworst way.
“Ya know…” he hummed. “You could be knocked up with my kid already.”
I choked on air, my neck snapping in his direction so fast I was at risk of whiplash. “That’s not how biology works, Connor,” I ground my teeth with the words.
“Still, think we should get hitched. Just in case.”
“Are you fuckin’ insane? All that blood that rushed to your cock not quite return to your head yet?” Delusional wasn’t a strong enough word for this man right now. Nope, the fucker was certifiable. And that was coming from the same person who just gutted a mafia heir and left the body to rot inside his home office like a neon sign asking his associates to come find her.
“I’m just sayin’… I adore you. You tolerate me. I’ve seen plenty of marriages start out a lot worse. And then, you won’t have to worry about all them limp-dicked sons you don’t seem too keen on. Nothin’ limp going on here, baby girl. Or do ya need another reminder?”
My lips curled into a smirk before I could stop them. “Is that what this is about? You seeing green, MacCullagh.”
“I’m Irish, Rossi. I’m always seeing green.” He shrugged. “But if you’re askin’ if I have a jealous streak, you bet your pretty little ass I do. You know that. Else you wouldn’t have pulled that stunt at Freddy’s Funhouse.”
“Freddy’s Funhouse?” I quirked a questioning brow.
“Yeah, ya know, 'cause those fuckers think Halloween is an all-year event.”
I smiled wider, and Connor knew it too. If nothing else, the guy had a talent for loosening me up. In more ways than one.And I hated to admit that it was refreshing to not feel so tightly wound all the time. Wasn’t about to tell him that, though.
Leo would have hated him. My parents? They would be rolling over in their graves, if they weren’t turned ass-up already. And I think that’s what I liked about the guy.
Yeah, I know. Issues with authority.There was no surprise there.
It had always been a thing with me, since my pops tried enrolling me in that fancy private school. Only for me to get expelled six months later. But there was more to it than that too. I hated expectations. It was one of the greatest weapons I had in my arsenal. Someone thinking you were gonna zig, allowing you to throw 'em off with a zag. And vice versa.
“So, speaking of…?” I could see the wheels turning in Connor’s head. And, not for the first time, I didn’t know where this conversation was going. The man spewed nonsense like he worked for the Sunday rag. “This Leo guy, who is he?”
Right, he was still stuck on that whole jealousy thing.He might have just been harder to shake than I thought. Which was an oddly comforting feeling.
Don’t get soft on me now, Rossi.
“Was. Whowashe,” I was quick to correct. “And he was Junior’s older brother. Also my ex.”
50
