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He hugs me against him. It feels good, his big arms, his warm chest. “This is corruption. This is how it happens. And you know what? If it saves an innocent life then fuck it.” He kisses my cheek. “I’m proud of you.”
“I’m proud of myself.” I grin at him and stand on my toes to kiss his lips. “What are the chances this is really all over?”
“I think Corvine is smart enough to cut his losses and move on, but I’ll make sure Carmine keeps an eye out for the wily old bastard.”
“Think I can count this as a win? Even though nobody’s going to know that I solved the case?”
“I think you deserve as much credit as you can take.”
“Sounds good to me.”
He wraps an arm across my shoulder and hugs me tighter. I lean into him, breathing his smell, smiling. None of this was perfect. The bad guys aren’t going to get punished. There aren’t any good guys, either. It’s just a bunch of people making dumb decisions and groping their way blindly forward, struggling in the dark, doing what they think is right.
I’m done with right. Now I just want what feels good.
And that’s Angelo.
Chapter 31
Sara
I stretch back against the arm of the couch and put my feet in Angelo’s lap. I sigh and close my eyes and hug myself tightly as he slowly kneads my heel. I’m wearing only an old white t-shirt and a pair of his running shorts, and I feel like I spent the last week sitting in a hot tub and getting deep-tissue massages.
Instead, I’ve been doing nothing but moving from the bedroom, to the bathroom, to the sitting area in this hotel room and letting Angelo explore every inch of my body.
“I’ve been thinking a lot lately,” Angelo says quietly, still looking at my foot as he rubs it.
“Think all you want so long as you keep doing that,” I say.
He laughs and glances at me. “I’ve been thinking about what happens once this is all over.”
“Have you? I was thinking I’d order room service and take a hot bath.”
“I’m serious.” He squeezes my toes and I wriggle away from him, sitting up. “What are your plans?”
“Do I need plans? I’ve had plans my whole life and right now I’m pretty happy without them.”
He shrugs and looks at my stomach and back to my eyes. “The baby?”
“Right. The baby.” I sigh and lean my head against the couch. “The baby will come. That’ll be that.”
“I’ll help. I want to be here.”
“Isn’t your whole life in Philadelphia?”
He shakes his head slowly. “My family’s there. My grandmother’s still alive and walking around South Philly like she owns it. My crew’s waiting for me to get back. My turf’s still mine to do with as I please. Yeah, everything’s waiting for me back there.”
“You’re going home.” A pit opens in my chest. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this already, but of course he’s going home. Angelo was only ever in Texas until Nicolas got released, and now that Nicolas is getting out—
Angelo’s going home.
He’s got a life there. He’s got the Famiglia, and friends, and everything like that.
What’s there for him in Texas, except for me? And the baby?
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He leans closer. “Could you come with me? Back to Philly?”
I blink and chew my lip. Could I do that? I try to picture myself living there but it’s hard—I’ve only ever known Dallas and Blackwoods College, and that’s it. My entire life has happened in this tiny, insular little world, and he’s talking about yanking me away from it.
Robyn’s here. My family’s here, even if I’m not talking to them right now. Dallas is my home. “I don’t know,” I say quietly.
“I’m not going to ask you to give up everything and come with me. That wouldn’t be right and it wouldn’t be fair. But, Sara, I want to be in this baby’s life… I want to be in your life. That’s going to be hard from halfway across the country.”
“Flights aren’t that expensive.”
“Sara. I don’t want to miss my baby growing up.”
“I don’t want you to either.” I stare down at my hands. We should’ve figured this out before letting things go this far, but now it’s too late. I’m attached—I’m wound up—I feel like I’m hanging on by a string. And it’s all because of him.
He moves closer and reaches out. I nuzzle against his hand, hating myself for being so vulnerable and stupid, but we’ve come so far. I’ve done so much. I stood up to Corvine, my father, my mother. I ran away and chose Angelo over all of them, and now reality’s shoving its stupid face into our perfect little storybook ending, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.
