Page 99 of Tommy
But he doesn’t let me continue, holding up his hand to stop me. “It’s done. Danny already has it worked out. We’ll be doing the same with everyone, so don’t go feeling special.We’ll also be doing a full background check on all employees. It’s going to suck, but I want everyone revetted. Dante was someone we never saw coming. We won’t make that mistake again. No one in-house will fuck with this family. We have enough enemies as it is without adding our own.”
I look at my brothers and see no one is too happy about the extra details and paperwork that’s about to come our way.
Vinny takes a deep breath, as if he’s about to release the biggest news. “Mama knows.”
“Fuck,” all three of us say at once. It’s not that we don’t want her to worry. We don’t. But she’s also a pain in the ass when one of us gets hurt. The constant looking out for us is fine. But the rest of it, where she makes us feel about as big as a peanut for puttingherthrough the pain of hearing about it is the issue. Mamas have a right to worry. But ours takes it to the extreme. Granted, her husband was killed, she lives in a Mafia family, and she lost her daughter for years. I get it. We all get it. We just don’t have to like it.
“She on her way?” I ask.
Vinny nods.
I throw the covers off the bed and swivel till I get my feet on the floor.
“Where the fuck you going?” Bobby asks with an eyebrow raise, but I don’t stop this time.
“Can’t outrun Mama,” Danny says with a look of a memory in his eyes. He’s been in the hospital more than most of us, earning the title of family protector from the blood he’s spilled by stepping in when no one else would or could. He doesn’t like to get hurt, but for him, he’d rather feel the painthan anyone else in the family. And because of that, Mama has always found him. No matter how far he’s tried to run and hide from her.
“I’m not. But if I don’t get to Payton before she arrives, Mama will either not let me out of this bed and she’ll be gone, or worse—she’ll tell Payton that being with me isn’t a good idea ’cause I’m the idiot who keeps getting hurt. Neither is going to happen if I can help it.” I grunt as I push myself off the bed.
Things hurt, but I’ll live, and that’s what has me moving one foot in front of the other.
I’m only in pajama pants. My feet are bare and cold against the tile ground, and the breeze from the air-conditioning isn’t welcome on my chest at the moment, but I don’t care.
I make it to the door before turning to my eldest brother for directions.
“Two floors below us at the end of the hall,” Vinny says.
I give him a chin lift and start out the door, only to turn back. “Why isn’t anyone stopping me?”
Danny looks at Bobby, who looks at Vinny, who turns his head to Danny, who shrugs before answering.
“She killed Dante. In her mind, at least, she did. She chose you over her fear of guns.”
I’m blown back by his words. That’s high praise coming from him.
“It’ll take time to figure out what her family really did or didn’t do. We’re looking into it, but it’ll take time,” Bobby huffs. “Her family might have stolen from us, but from whatDanny heard from Dante on the tapes, it might not have been entirely known to them. Even though she had no idea, Payton was willing to make the payments. She didn’t run. She just knew to pay. Sure, she went to a loan shark for help, but she tried to make things better for herself rather than run away like so many do when hit with a mountain of debt. She did what she could.”
“Thefamigliaowes her,” Vinny says with finality. “Dante went off the books and killed her family. The debt is clear, no matter how you feel about her. As is the debt she stocked up from the funerals and other stuff that got her into financial trouble.”
I nod in appreciation. Each of my brothers is seeing her as more than just a threat, like we all did a few hours ago. Funny how things can change so quickly in this world.
“But really”—Vinny pulls my eye with his words—“she saved you. And she loves you. She’sfamiglia,no matter how you feel about it. But if you want more, which I think you do, make her a Leone and make us all happy by not having to deal with Mama for a bit. Yeah?”
The others laugh, and I feel my eyes get a faraway look. He put an idea in my head that wasn’t there before. But now that it’s there, it’s taken root and is spreading like wildfire. Binding her to me permanently feels like the only way to make this better. For herandme. To make my happiness last forever and keep her safe. Making her a Leone makes it legal to the world. No one would dare touch her then.
“Oh shit, he’s got that funny look in his eye again.” Bobby chuckles.
“Haven’t seen that one since he volunteered to go to Russia,” Danny adds.
“Looks good on him,” Vinny says as I turn and head to the elevator. I don’t feel pain anymore. Nothing can touch me right now.
I’m in a fog as I take the elevator down. I see nothing, even though I’m sure I pass dozens of people. This building is always busy, but I don’t give a fuck about any of them. I have one thought, one person, on my mind. No one else matters.
And the second I see her at the end of the hall coming out of a room, I double-time my steps to get to her as quick as I can, even if it pulls at my broken ribs.
Her eyes go wide when she sees me hunting her down, but like the good little prey she is, she doesn’t move. Her mouth parts as if she gasps, taking all of me in. She might fear me. I was mean, almost cruel to her the last time we spoke. She saw me fight and get hit. She saved me, and that might bring up issues for her long-term. But I’m willing to help her through it. Every minute of every day, for as long as she lets me.
The second I’m close enough, I grab the back of her neck and pull her lips to mine, feasting on them as the world moves around us. She stills for a second before her arms wrap around my neck and pull me in tight to her. We wrap around each other and share our breaths. We stay lip-locked for what feels like hours but still isn’t long enough.
