Page 74 of Made in Love and Blood

“Like what?”

“Standard shit, mostly, considering my life up until that point. PTSD. Depression, some anxiety. Separation issues. They tracked my ADHD almost the second I walked through the door. Apparently borderline traits. I never agreed with that one. Just because I give it my all when someone deserves it, and I don’t react well when they prove me wrong or leave, doesn’t give me BPD. My stint there did get my juvenile record scrubbed and it allowed me back into the school system so I could get a diploma.”

There, he’d laid some of it out. Let her make of it what she wanted. Nico hated the way his stomach twisted at the thought she might pull away now.

She didn’t.

Her hand found his on the shifting gear, and she cupped his hand in hers. A soft press of her lips found the skin between his thumb and pointer finger.

“I’m not gonna do that, just so you know.”

Nico cleared his throat. “Do what?”

“Prove you wrong. Or leave. I won’t do those things.”

He wanted to believe her.

Life just didn’t work that way for Nico.

“So, did you ever go to your own prom?”

“Nope.”

“Did you walk in graduation?” she asked.

He shook his head at that one.

Nico squeezed her hand when she frowned at his answers. “Hey, none of that. I didn’t give a shit back then, even if I was allowed.”

“But you cared to go to mine?”

“I cared to go with you.”

That earned him another one of her brilliant smiles. And a kiss. A kiss that almost had them swerving on the road. He didn’t know entirely why, but as she sat back down into the passenger seat, and he eyed her from the driver’s side, Nico knew...

He’d go damn hard for this girl.

Straight to hell, if he needed to.

10. — everyone pays...

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Staten Island, New York

Salvatore, Russo Estate

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Salvatore’s phone dinged as he crossed the cobblestone driveway of the Russo family home. He couldn’t give Larkin’s reply to his earlier question more than a cursory glance as a black-haired, green-eyed girl tossed aside her tablet the second she laid eyes on him.

“Mister Gallo! Mister Gallo!”

The pride and joy of the Russo family skipped from the bottom step of the front door to meet Salvatore on his way to the house. She beamed a perfect smile up at him, practically blinding him with her happiness. She looked so much like Nico the two could be twins, if not for the obvious age difference. Even their dimples matched. An inherited trait. Just not from their father.

She never changed, that one. Happy from the day she came into the world. Loved by everyone who had the fortune of knowing her. Carmen Russo wanted for nothing.

“I haven’t seen you in...forever!” she proclaimed.