My hands move into his thick, sun-kissed brown hair. I pull his face to mine and lose myself in the feel of his lips pressed against mine, his hands roaming my back, and his dick growing hard underneath me. I pour all my love for this man into our kiss. I try to take his pain from what his bitch of an ex, bastard of a brother, and, yes, even what I did to him. I never allowed myself to think about what mydeathdid to Reed or Gabe. I couldn’t because I was unsure of where I stood with both of them, but now I know—at least with Gabe.
My center is wet and aching, making me want to ignore the sound of my phone beeping behind us. God, do I want to stay right here and let this man own my body, but I want to end my year-long hunt. I pull back and wait for Gabe to open his eyes. Our chests are rising rapidly, and I’m sure his heart is pounding like a tribal drum in his chest, just like mine. Once Gabe is looking at me, I offer him my real smile.
“There has never been a moment over the past year that my heart hasn’t ached for you. That you haven’t still had complete ownership of my body, heart, and soul. I love you, Gabriel Matthew Mariano, with everything I have inside me.” The words are spoken slowly but with so much conviction that I hope they shatter all the worry he holds inside him. I don’t want him walking around thinking that I will ever find someone else because truth be told, I haven’t noticed another man since my heart chose him.
“And you will let?—”
“Yes, Marito. I will let you help me.” My phone beeps again, and I lean back to grab it without taking my eyes off him or moving from his lap. I want to see if he catches onto the fact that I just called him my husband.
“What does that mean? Marito?” Gabe asks, but his eyes are on the strip of skin on my hips. The t-shirt I’m wearing risesup my stomach as I stretch backward. My hands finally find my phone, and I lean back up.
I smirk at him. “I’ll let you figure that out.” I look down at my phone and see three unread messages from Lilly.
Lilly
Who is this?
Whatever game you are playing, it isn’t funny.
I’m going to report you to the police.
My fingers fly over the screen.
Me
This isn’t a game. These are the consequences of your actions, and now it’s time to face them. I know what you did, or better yet, what you didn’t do. You know it as well, and now it’s time for you to tell me why.
“You contacted Lilly?” Gabe asks.
I don’t pull my eyes off the screen as three little dots pop up. “Sure did. Something or someone forced her to lie about that night. Before that night, we were sort of friends, and she would never lie like that. If I can find out why, I can figure out who to look for next. Ned is hiding…” I hold up my finger for him to wait while I read her message.
Lilly
What do you want from me?
Me
Tell me the truth about why you betrayed someone who thought of you as a friend. If you do that, you will never hear from me again.
Her reply comes back instantly.
Lilly
Okay. Not over the phone.
Me
I’ll send you a location. Be there in one hour. Not one minute later.
I send her the address of an old warehouse that I know is secluded enough that no one will see us. “I’ve set up a meeting with Lilly. We need to go now so we are there in time,” I say. I’m in the middle of getting off Gabe’s lap when a loud explosion sounds throughout the room, and the whole house shakes. I stumble, and Gabe catches me before I fall to the floor.
“Figlia,” Elio’s panicked voice comes from below.
Gabe and I look at each other for a quick second before rushing out of my room and down the stairs. Elio is running toward the front door with his treasured AK47. I grab Gabe’s hand and pull him toward the hall closet, which is still standing open. I lay my finger against the scanner on the gun safe. It reads my fingerprint and opens up. I grab the first gun I see, a double-barrel shotgun, and Gabe grabs the other AK47. We rush out behind Elio.
I run into him on the front porch and take in the scene in front of me. “Fuck, get the water hose,” I yell, and Gabe takes off. Ava is right behind him, shouting where it is.
Elio’s phone is to his ear, and he is shouting in Italian so fast that I don’t try to keep up. All I can do is stand here, my handsclutching the gun that is going to do me no good, watching Ava’s car, Gabe’s truck, Elio’s Mustang, and my truck be consumed in flames. Gabe rushes back and starts dousing the flames with water.
