Page 16 of The Don
“Si. I need you to stop by Giuseppe’s and tell him I need a special order.”
“Do you want me to bring it to the airport?”
“No, this isn’t for me. I need him to make a delivery.” Francesco nods. “Tell him to send a basket to Puglia.”
Francesco frowns. “What…do you want in it? And…where in Puglia?”
“Giuseppe will know.”
Francesco’s face creases once again in confusion, but soon enough, he will learn that answers come only with power. And I think he’s partway to that lesson because he forces his face into a look of solemn resignation and then nods once, steely determination settling his features. “Si, padrino. Is there anything else you need?”
I smile, relieved to be letting other people hold some of my burdens, at least for the moment. “Nothing.” I have Shae. What more could I possibly need?
Francesco nods again and leaves. I watch him walk down the hallway and disappear into the stairwell before I step back into the apartment and lock the door.
Shae is standing in the middle of the room. She has a towel wrapped tight around her body, but she’s shivering. Once again, I wish for more time, even as I know that a day, a week, a lifetime might never be enough.
She lifts her chin in that challenge again. “Who was that?”
“One of my men. We have half an hour.”
She nods, pursing her soft lips. I can see the question — probably more than one — forming in her brain. There will be time for that, but not now. Not here.
I move to her, shaking my head slowly as I wrap her in my arms. When she relaxes in my hold as if she was always meant to be there, I feel a lightness because I know she has; I have known since the moment I first held her.
I kiss her forehead and closed eyelids. “I’ll tell you where we’re going when it’s safe,” I whisper.
She nods against my chest. “As long as we’ll be together.”
I kiss the bridge of her nose. “I’ll kill anyone who tries to come between us.”
She stiffens against me at those words, but only for a moment. If I weren’t so focused on her body, I might have missed it. But then she relaxes against me again and wraps her arms around my back. “Half an hour’s a long time,” she teases, her fingers dancing along my spine.
I laugh against her tongue.
* * *
Shae
A smooth dozen orgasms in less than two hours, jet lag, emotions running high, and pregnancy?
Yeah, so I pass out as soon as I climb into the back of Salvatore’s car.
I understand that there is danger around us, but to be honest, it all feels nebulous, especially compared to the reality of my sore pussy, thighs, hell, even my biceps. All of my muscles are screaming with the reminder that Salvatore might have a head full of gray hair, but his stamina is top-notch. I’m going to stop comparing him to Steve because it’s like apples and diamonds, but whew, shit, I feel good for the first time in a long ass while.
So good, I barely wake up to walk onto Salvatore’s private plane. I fall right back to sleep. I stir when he clicks my seatbelt into place, I think, only to lean into his side and pass out again.
When I wake up, we’re descending. The soothing dip of the plane and Salvatore’s heavy hand on my knee remind me that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. I watch the midnight blue sky through the window and feel at peace. It’s such a simple, quiet moment that it’s so easy to forget that this is not the trip I’d planned. I don’t know what the aunties will think about this random ass turn of events, but it isn’t time to confront that yet, so I snuggle further into his side.
“Buonasera,” Salvatore says, squeezing my knee. “Perfect timing.”
I hum and rub my cheek against his shoulder. I’m in no rush to be fully awake.
“Where are we?”
“Palermo. Sicily.”
“I know where Palermo is,” I say, the roll of my eyes implied by my tone because I’m too tired to move even my eyeballs.