Page 17 of The Don
He laughs and pats my knee again. “My apologies for doubting you.”
“Will we be safe here?”
He sighs, and then I feel his mouth on my forehead. He kisses along my hairline gently.
“Say it.”
His breath is warm and gentle on my skin. “I don’t want to lie to you. It would be wrong to promise you something I might be unable to deliver.”
I enjoy his touch, if not his words. When I open my eyes, I tilt my head back to look at him. “Then just tell me the truth. Please.”
He leans forward and kisses me. While his tongue caresses mine, I can practically hear his brain whirring as he tries to figure out how to tell me whatever he needs to say without scaring me or pushing me away. He’ll just have to find out on his own that I’m not going anywhere, but I brace myself for whatever’s coming nonetheless. I tighten my grip on his arm and scoot closer, tilting my head so he can stroke his tongue deeper into my mouth. I don’t want any room between us, and I want him to know that.
He pulls away far too soon for my liking, but I take heart in the fact that I can feel how much he doesn’t want to stop kissing me. He rests his shoulder against mine and looks me deep in the eye.
“It is very likely that we will be inmoredanger here,” he says. “I wish there was another way to do this, but I have always found that confronting the threat is better than waiting for it to find me.”
I nod, even though the most threatening part of my life until now has been making my half of the rent each month.
Salvatore’s free hand moves under my chin and tips my head back. His thumb strokes my jaw carefully. “What I can promise you is that no matter what’s coming, you and our child will be safe.”
I want to ask him so many questions, but I realize it’s not fair. I don’t know what’s coming and, to be honest, I’m not sure yet that I want to know. So, I nod at him and smile, even though it feels hollow. “Okay,” I whisper. “Kiss me again.”
His smile feels perfectly warm against my own.
9SALVATORE
It’s wellpast midnight when Lorenzo pulls into the garage beneath the luxury condominium building I’ve owned for at least a decade, maybe more. I’m not even sure. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been here with fingers to spare. When I bought this building, I had such grand plans for myself and my life. Sicily was supposed to be my paradise, the place where I could escape the life I was building in Naples. I used to imagine myself on the pristine beaches, dipping into the crystal blue water; a world where I didn’t need a pistol perpetually strapped to my side.
I never got that life. I never gave myself the time to even sketch my dream on paper. And now, I can’t fathom the ignorance of my youthful fantasy. If I try, I’m sure I can recall the events that stripped me of that naïveté. But as Lorenzo and Federico lead our Sicilian team in sweeping the building and my apartment again, Shae snores softy in my lap, and I manage to thank my younger self. It took longer than I expected, but maybe this is the life I was preparing for; a place to bring Shae and our child.
Ourchild.
I move my hand under her shirt to caress her soft stomach.
No, this could not have been the life I was preparing for; my imagination was never so powerful.
Federico knocks twice on the window and pulls the door open. “All clear,” he says and then sees Shae, still asleep. “I’ll get the bags.”
I push her hair away from her face. I hate to wake her, so I don’t. I use my thumb to trace the edge of her ear down to her jaw. She has the slightest indentation in her chin, and I touch it even more lightly than the rest of her.
She doesn’t open her eyes, but I feel her stomach jump in a gasp, and I smile. “We have arrived,” I tell her.
“Shh,” she says, and I trace the bottom curve of her smile. The trunk slams, and she opens her eyes with a frown, turning to look up at me.
“Come, bella. It’s late.”
“I’m not tired,” she says quickly before yawning.
I find myself smiling at Shae, Federico and Lorenzo, even the ground as we climb from the car and make our way to my penthouse apartment.
Shae holds my hand tight in both of hers. She smiles at the men Federico has placed between my car and the front door. If they make her nervous, she hides it well.
Lorenzo meets us at the door. “Clear,” he says with a serious face, letting me know with a single word that he takes full responsibility for our safety. I appreciate a man who doesn’t shirk responsibility, and it’s always nice to know who to kill if I have to.
I squeeze Shae’s hand and send her inside first.
Federico places our bags just inside the door. “Do you need anything else?” he asks.