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Itook my time sipping my water, reluctant to have the conversation I knew we needed to have. For all I knew, once he learned the full truth, I would not actually live to see Chicago.
But surely he would not have put so much effort into rescuing me if he only planned to kill me. Right?
It took nearly half the bottle for me to feel that my emotions were back under my control, at least enough for me to tell him what he deserved to know. Screwing the top back on the water bottle, I pulled in a deep, steadying breath.
And told him everything.
I explained how I had come to work for Interpol, after a particularly successful takedown of one of the largest crime families in France. Part of Le Milieu as the French referred to “the mob”, which translates more or less to The Underworld. How I’d been selected to go undercover into Giorgio’s organization as a maid, since they had never had any luck getting any of their men into his inner circle without being discovered.
That Pierce had been my handler, and I had trusted him more than I trusted any other human being on Earth. My heart still ached like a rotten tooth at the knowledge of how I’d been betrayed.
“And how do I fit into your plans?” he asked, his voice colder than I could ever remember hearing it. “Did you know who I was when I approached you in the bar?”
“No.” I swallowed hard, the truth bitter on my tongue. “But Pierce told me who you were and why you were in Paris within a day or two of our meeting.”
“I see. And you still let me fuck you, even knowing I was no better than Giorgio?”
“Non.” My brain struggled to translate all that I wanted to say as I pushed to my knees, bracing my hands on his chest when the room spun around me. “You are nothing like him. Giorgio Bianchi was a cold, cruel, vicious monster. You are none of those things.”
“I am. I have been.” Storms gathered in his eyes, and he wrapped his fingers around my wrists, whether to hold me in place or just for the feel of his skin on mine I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t care. “I’ve been a monster when I needed to be, and I will be one again when the situation calls for it. Can you live with that?”
The answer came easily, perhaps too easily. But there would be time enough later to examine the darkness in my own soul. “Yes. Because you are only those things when you need to be. I have seen the man you really are, Cole Porter, and you are not a monster.”
“You’ve spent your life in the pursuit of justice, Adele. Look me in the eye and tell me you can truly leave that all behind, knowing who I am. What I’ve done. What I will do again, whenever it is needed.”
My head was aching with the effort to keep my eyes open and continue talking, but my heart urged me on. “When I joined the police force, I believed the world was black and white. Right and wrong. Good and bad. But even before I joined Interpol, I had come to realize the world is made up of so many shades of gray. That very few people are truly all good or all bad. And knowing Pierce… knowing I was betrayed by the one person in this world I trusted, I’m not sure I could go back to Interpol even without you in the picture.”
“There’s a world of difference between leaving Interpol and marrying a criminal, sweetheart.”
“I know. And I cannot say I will not struggle with it at times. But I want to be with you, Cole. For however long you will have me.”
“Forever.” There was a fierceness in his tone that thrilled me, sending my heart racing. “You are mine, Adele, and you will be until death do we part.”
“You forgive me, then? For misleading you?”
His chuckle was full of dark, wicked promise. “Misleading is a rather tame term, don’t you think? Once you are healed, we will be having several long discussions about the importance of honesty.”
It should have filled me with dread, but there was no room for anything with the hope crowding around my heart. “I am sorry. I did not think I had a choice, at first. And by the time I realized I wanted to tell you everything, I was too scared of what you might think of me. Too scared of losing you.”
“You never have to fear that, sweetheart. All you ever have to worry about is getting that naughty bottom of yours turned nice and red. Which I have a feeling will be happening on a regular basis.”
“I think you are right,” I agreed with a sigh. But the sulking was all for show. I would take a spanking every day for the rest of my life, if it meant I could spend it with him.
“Mom’s gonna love you.” A wide grin split his face. “She’s been after me to settle down with a nice girl for years.”
“I am not so sure I will fit your mother’s definition of nice.”
Throwing his head back, he let loose a long, loud laugh. “Sweetheart, she married a mob boss. In comparison to the rest of the family, you’re Mother freaking Theresa.”
“But did she not divorce your father? I thought that was why you have her maiden name.” The research I’d been able to do on the DeCosta-Porter family had been limited to what was public knowledge, which had been woefully lacking in the details I really wanted to know.
“That’s a long story. Short version is, she divorced him mostly to distance us from the DeCosta side of the family and to give me a more ‘respectable’ cover. And, I think, because she was pissed at my dad for getting caught. But she’s just as involved in the family business as anyone.”
“Your mother sounds fascinating.” And like the type of woman who wouldn’t approve of anyone her son brought home. Perhaps Cole was able to forgive my deceptions, but what about his mother? Or the rest of his family for that matter? Would they welcome a former cop with open arms?
“She is.” Cole interrupted my panicking thoughts. “You’re going to love her. And she’s going to be thrilled to have a daughter to spoil rotten. But we can talk about all of that later. Right now, you need rest.”
As much as I wanted to continue our conversation and learn everything I could before we landed in America, my eyelids were already growing heavy again. “Yes, Daddy.”
“That’s my good girl.”
His praise pushed all the negative thoughts from my head as he tucked me back into bed. No matter what came next, there was one absolute truth I could cling to: I would never have to face any of it alone. He would stand by my side, against whatever obstacles life put in our way. My defender, my hero, my avenging angel.
My Daddy.
