Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Is there anything innocent when teenage boys are involved? I’ve been one of them.”
“Relax. Charlotte and I had a very thorough sex talk after her birthday. She started taking her martial arts classes last month. She’s armed with knowledge and the ability to defend herself if she needs it. But trust me, they’re just kids doing a book report. And Liam is over there being a guard dog.”
“Oh, you could have led with that,” he said, tugging at his tie.
“What happened with your day?”
“Never knew how hard it would be to find halfway decent associates,” he admitted. “Getting Made was always the goal, since I was a little kid. Now that I have it, it’s one giant headache.”
“For now,” I clarified. “The whole point of building a really solid foundation of soldiers and associates is so they make your life easier in the long run. It’s a temporary headache.”
“I know you’re right.”
“But it’s still a sucky day,” I finished for him.
“Something like that.”
“Look,” I said, glancing around the shop to make sure no one was still lingering. “This place is dead. How about we take a walk?”
“A walk?” he asked, brows lowering. “You… want to willingly exercise? Are you okay?”
A little laugh escaped me as I stepped forward, pressing a hand to the center of his chest, sliding up his tie, then giving it a little tug.
“Just a short walk. Around the block. Down a narrow alley. Then up a very steep set of stairs…”
“Oh,” he said, realization dawning. “Yeah, we probably should take a walk. For our health.”
“It’s very important,” I agreed, sliding my hand over his shoulder, down his arm, and slipping my hand in his.
We’d been so busy trying to start a life, find a new apartment, then move in and make it our own that we simply hadn’t gotten around to renting out the apartment over the pawnshop.
I didn’t know if he did so around his uncle, but Liam had dropped a handful of hints about being interested in renting it out himself eventually.
As much as it broke my heart that he was thinking about moving out in the near future, the other part of me understood the urge to strike out on your own. Lord knew I’d been in a rush to do the same once the Costas rescued my mom and me from the guys who’d kept us under their thumbs for years.
And while Liam hadn’t been under anyone’s thumb—if anything, he had more freedom than most kids would have been afforded—it was clear he was on a path toward becoming part of the Family business. It was why he hustled so hard at his job. Why he was constantly peppering me for insights into their world, to tell him the history and lore. It made him grow up a little faster. It wasn’t a surprise his next step to proving that he was an adult would be to move out on his own.
I knew Christopher would have mixed feelings about it, since he’d been raising Liam a lot longer than I had. But I was sure he could see the logic of stashing him somewhere that we could still keep an eye on him.
Until then, though, I was happy to have a little love nest to slip away to.
I pulled Christopher’s tie over my shoulder and started up the familiar steps.
His hands and lips were on me as soon as we were in the door, clothes peeling off as we moved blindly through the apartment to tumble onto the bed, bodies crashing, cresting, everything frantic, desperate, and, yes, loud after months of having to either be quiet or find pockets of time to have unrestrained, noisy sex when the kids weren’t home.
“I say this with love—if that’s how you blow off steam, I’m okay with you having more frustrating work days,” I told him as we stared up at the ceiling after.
“Having this to look forward to would make it a lot more tolerable.”
“So, if the kids are occupied,” I said, rolling up onto his chest so I could look down at him, “what do you say we take a long, romantic walk through the home improvement store after getting some slices?”
“Only if you make me a promise not to mess with the wiring when I’m not home again.”
“It was a very small fire. But fine.”
“Then it’s a date.”
Alara - 1.5 years
“Just remember, I have a meat hook with your name on it. No expiration date,” Brio said after handing me off to Christopher at the altar.
I’d wanted a small courthouse wedding.
Charlotte would not hear of it.
So the Costa women had worked tirelessly on bringing this thing together.
“Come on, you know you want to celebrate getting your dream,” Ezzy told me when I’d complained about the pomp of it all.
She’d meant becoming a Costa.