Page 47 of The Forever One
“That can be arranged. But no deal until I have Ugo.”
Both brothers nod but I don’t fucking trust that snake to not come around and bite me.
“Deal.” They both stand, but only Yiannis shakes my hand in good faith.
I don’t like it.
Staring right at Aleko, I point my finger and make sure he understands my words clearly.
“You fuck with me or my wife and I don’t give a fuck what deal we have on the table, I will carve your heart out and feed it to you.” And because he’s a fucking psycho, Aleko licks his lips and makes a slurping sound in guise of an answer.
“You have my word, Marco.”
I turn to Yiannis and nod at his words.
“Fucking better.”
* * *
“No, River, you cannot name your gun.”
We’re at the shooting range in Midtown so River can feel safer handling a gun. She’s still having nightmares about the shit that went down in Naples and, of course, the fact that she accidentally shot one of our own. Despite having apologized to him and offering him the moon and half the stars, she still has guilt sitting at the pit of her stomach. I figured if she knew how to handle a gun properly, she could at least be reassured if she ever found herself in the same situation.
God fucking forbid.
“Well, that’s just stupid. It’s an intimate toy, or whatever, we should name them.” The gun I bought her is still in the box, she hasn’t picked it up yet, but she loves the fact that it’s a smaller gun she could easily conceal in her purse. Also, I had it custom made, which means my wife has a black and pink Ruger LC9 that she will learn to use here, at the range, until I feel she’s ready to have it with her at all times.
“Tesoro, it’s not a toy. Jesus Christ, woman, proper vocabulary saves lives.” I pinch her chin between my thumb and index finger until her pretty green eyes are focused on me, only. “This is not a toy and you will be responsible with it at all fucking times. Am I clear?” She licks her lips and gives me a smile that instantly makes my dick rock hard.
“This whole teaching moment you’ve got going is turning me on. We should role play.” I kiss her, hard, bruising our lips and sucking on her tongue.
“Behave.” I release her and when she sticks her lip out to pout, I swear to fuck my dick swells even more. “I will spank that ass as soon as we get home.”
“Promise?” Fuck, her grin is my entire life.
“Prometto, Tesoro. Now, let’s get to work.”
We go through the rules and etiquette at the firing range. The proper ways of holding a gun and placing it on any given surface. Once, she turned to face me with the gun pointed straight at my chest and I saw my entire life flash before my eyes.
It took her only thirty minutes to hit the target, another twenty to hit the center… once.
Progress.
When she started getting tired of the noise and the kickback, we cleaned our guns and secured them in the safe before going for coffee.
“You never told me how the meeting went with the cockadoodles.”
I almost choke on my coffee, not just because the temperature should be illegal on the whole of the planet, but because my wife is a gem.
“The Kastellanos?” Wiping the drops of coffee off my chin, I can’t help but chuckle.
“Whatever. Those motherfuckers do not deserve that I call them anything.” She swipes three packets of sugar and spills them into her cup. I frown.
“First of all, that’s a ridiculous amount of sugar to put in coffee, even if it’s as disgusting as this one.” She shrugs, not at all caring that I’m chastising her like a wayward child.
My phone vibrates in my jeans so I take it out and see Enzo has the address for Elizabeth. Good, now we’re getting somewhere. When I look back up at my wife, she’s frowning at me.
“What’s wrong?” I’m on instant alert when she’s not smiling.