Page 178 of Fallen Rook

I was heaving with lovesickness and angst. He’d done so much for me…had given up on so much…and all this time he’d needed me but didn’t want to ask so I could focus on myself…

“Achilles,” I strangled out.

“Forget it.” My brother was waving at me, but staring at his phone. “We’re not giving him a job unless he takes a blood oath. I don’t care how good he sucks dick.”

I flung my phone at him. It hit his head. Good.

“Ow. Motherfucker!”

“As I was about to ask—take my phone and don’t hand it to me until we land.”

“Why the fuck?” He rubbed his temple but pocketed it nonetheless.

“I don’t want to text him about it, and I have no self-control.”

I needed a grand gesture. Something beautiful and big to really bring the point home.

It was time for Tom to be courted.

To be celebrated.

To be loved.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Tom

I watched as the Ferrante plane touched the tarmac while I sat on the roof of a hangar inside the private airport. I still used my FBI badge and windbreaker to stalk Enzo whenever I deemed it necessary.

As it turns out, it was always necessary.

My phone pinged with a message, and when I opened it, hoping to find Enzo’s name, Zeke’s name flashed instead.

Zeke: My office. ASAP. Bring lawyer.

The pain pulsating in my chest finally managed to wrap its claws against my heart and squeeze.

A decade of spotless performance, down the drain.

It appeared to be the last time I was going to be able to use my badge and windbreaker. If I was lucky, I wouldn’t be arrested on top of fired. Not that it mattered. Nothing currently fucking mattered other than the pressing issue of making sure Enzo came back to me, safe and sound.

My destiny could wait. Enzo couldn’t.

Tucking my phone inside my pocket, I readjusted my binoculars and watched as the door opened and the airstairs lowered to the tarmac.

Achilles was the first to appear, ducking his head to accommodate his mammoth size as he took the stairs two at a time. Tierney waited for him in a vintage convertible a breath away from the plane, her Jackie O shades and babushka-tied Chanel headscarf intact.

Tiernan Callaghan exited next. His pregnant wife had not arrived to greet him, but his twin sister rubbed his back soothingly, and he had Lila on FaceTime as he slid into Tierney and Achilles’s car.

Luca never got out of the plane. He was probably fueling up and heading to his next destination in search of his wife.

But Enzo did.

Enzo got out.

Beautiful, whole, and very much alive.

All the air left my lungs as I exhaled the anxiety and worry lodged inside.