Leon finally ended an incredible kiss that left me breathless and aching to drag him back inside and try out the bed instead of the couch.
“You keep kissing me like that and you’re going to tear open your stitches,” I chided halfheartedly.
“It would be worth it,” he replied and kissed me again to prove it. Finally, he drew back, his eyes searching mine. “Does that mean you’ll come with me?”
If I wanted, I could spend the next month torn over the choice, thinking out every repercussion, every risk and benefit. What I gained and what I lost. But my heart was talking louder than my mind. And my heart already knew the answer.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ll go with you.”
He picked me up and swung me around, grinning like a fool. I squeaked, clutching him tightly. Then he set me down and kissed me once again, long, deep, and slow.
After the kiss, he brushed back my hood, which had miraculously stayed up through all the kissing, and cupped my cheek.
“What about your family?” he asked softly.
What about my family…? I loved my parents, but there had always been tension between my mother and me. I’d gotten along better with my father, but the things that had happened these last few days had changed me. Soured me, maybe. I still loved him, but I couldn’t forget how he’d involved me in his scheme to get the crypto keys to the Cayman Islands…and how I’d nearly been murdered for it.
Yes. I was still a hypocrite. I could admit it. But my eyes had been opened, even though I’d lived my life with them willingly closed until Leon upended it all. No doubt, plenty of people would believe I should suffer more for all the things my father’s blood money had bought me throughout my life. Or how I was talking out of both sides of my mouth, escaping with all the stolen Bytecoin on the USB drive in my pocket, making me as criminal as any Mafioso.
And maybe they were right. But if I had a debt to karma or society, I was going to pay it off by helping people. Life wasn’t black and white. It was gray. I didn’t like that any more than anyone else, but I could no longer afford to be naïve. Part of mewasselfish. I wanted Leon in my life. I didn’t want him in jail. And I didn’t want him dead.
“I love my family,” I finally answered. “But I have my own life to live.”
His expression shadowed. “It’s not that simple. Once we get new identities and leave the country, we won’t be back, Sofia. Ever. We might as well be dead to them.”
When he put it that way, it was a starker, weightier choice. In a way, Leon would be getting his revenge on my father after all. He would be taking me away from the family for good. And for me, it would lose a mother, father, and sister, not to mention all my friends.
The choice was weighty, and I couldn’t lie and pretend it was nothing. But the reality was simple. There could be no going back for me. I’d accepted that my old life was over. Too much had happened. I’d been kidnapped, shot at, fallen in love, and given an opportunity to start over completely with Leon. The two of us would be together. I could earn my medical degree and practice medicine, the dream I’d chased since I was little. We would escape the crime syndicates of New York and start a new life doing some good in the world.
“I know. I’ve thought about it…and it’s the right choice after everything that’s happened. I want to start over with you.” I paused, pressing myself against him, feeling his warm breath against my face. “But what aboutyourfamily?”
He was so close to them. It was easy to see how much he loved them. Leaving my family was going to be difficult, but it was going to be exponentially worse for him.
“I’ll miss them like hell. It’s not going to be easy.” His handsome face was somber again, with pain in his eyes. “But this is better than putting them in danger, which is what tangling in a mafia war would do. And my mother won’t have to bury another son.” He brushed a stray strand of hair from my face and even smiled a little. “Besides, I have a plan.”
“You were certainly busy. What’s the plan?”
“I need Declan and Ryan’s help to pull everything off. But I want to set them up with some of the stolen crypto after we convert and move it. My brothers get the hell out of New York and get fat and be rich somewhere far away from the mob.”
“And your mom?”
“They’ll take care of her. That’s what we do. And this would be my way of protecting them all.” He shrugged. “And maybe making my mother proud.”
“Would they go for it?”
“I think so.” But his eyes were troubled.
“What’s wrong?”
“They might not stay out of the life for long. Ryan’s an adrenaline junkie, and Declan used to bare-knuckle street brawl, not just for money but for the thrill. They aren’t the kind of guys used to civilian life.”
“If you can do it, they can do it.”
“Yeah.” His face lit up, and it made me happy to reassure him when he needed it. “You’re right. If I can, they can.” He grinned wider. “Although I did have a beautiful and amazing woman to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
I rolled my eyes but had to laugh at his terrible joke. “So what now?” We’d made a choice, but I had no idea where to begin making this happen. It seemed so impossibly daunting. “We can’t hide at the cabin forever.”
My thoughts were scrambled for a second when he claimed my lips in another hot kiss. Oh yes, I could definitely get used to that.
