Page 183 of Fallen Rook
“Do you think my cum stain will come off the headboard? It’s suede.”
He reached for my pants on the floor, grabbed my soft pack, and withdrew one cigarette, lighting it for me. He took the first hit, passing it to me and blowing smoke sideways. “Dunno. Hope not.”
I rolled on my stomach and grinned up at his face. There was no denying I had the energy of a golden retriever and he was a black cat. His eyes were soft, but his mouth was hard.
“What?” he asked.
“My brothers told me you got fired.”
His eyebrows lowered, and he retreated back to the icy monster I’d once worked to thaw, one icicle at a time. “I did not—”
“Look, baby, don’t worry about it. I make enough for both of us.” I kissed his sweat-dampened jawline, then took another drag of my cigarette. “You can sit home and be pretty while you figure out what you wanna do next. As long as you make us dinner.”
“Enzo, I—”
“And if it’s really bad, I can always find you a job. You have so many skills. You are so talented.” I peppered more kisses down his throat, contemplating if it was too soon for a blowie. “Like that thing you do with your tongue on my balls—”
“Enzo.” Tom gave me a gentle but firm push, locking our glares together.
“Hmm?” I smiled.
“I haven’t been fired.”
“What?” My face fell. That meant we still needed to be in the closet. Not ideal, but I was going to make it work.
“Yes, there was an investigation into the operation, but it was determined there was no foul play. The Ferrante case is now truly and indefinitely dead. We passed Slava’s homicide case to Vegas. The Bratva’s in deep shit.” He snatched the cigarette from me and took a pissed-off hit before sticking it back in my mouth. “I am being transferred to counterterrorism, which was the department I’ve been vying for. And it will not be a conflict of interest for us to be together.” He paused, narrowing his eyes at me. “But thank you, for offering to make me your little Mary Sue. And just for the record, I don’t need your money. I inherited eight million worth of assets and liquidated funds from my late aunt a few years back.”
“You’re welcome.” I grinned so big, I couldn’t contain my glee. This was fantastic news. Better than the time we’d found out Luca actually possessed a heart. “So does that mean that you’re still FBI?”
“Yup.” Tom brushed his thumb over the curl I was never, ever going to trim just so he could keep doing that.
“Oh, thank God.” I put a hand to my chest.
“Baby, were you really so worried—”
“So you can still pretend to arrest me and handcuff me to the bed and have your wicked way with me,” I said excitedly.
He stared at me for a moment, then started laughing, hooking his arm around my neck and taking me down with him with a kiss. “Fuck, Butterfly, I missed you so much.”
“Well, I’m back now. Forever, this time.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Tom
“Well, this is not awkward at all,” Tierney said cheerfully from her seat next to her husband.
My first dinner at the Ferrante mansion in Long Island was in full swing. I knew every nook and cranny in this house by heart, but this was the first time I’d been technically invited here.
Enzo sat by my side, the color high on his tan cheeks. He looked a little embarrassed and out of his element, like he’d brought a sack of wild badgers home for dinner instead of a boyfriend, but I cut him some slack. It was his first relationship with a man. And, in many ways, mine as well.
We were out in the open. Having dinners in restaurants, catching movies together, holding hands when we got our coffee downstairs every morning. We hit the gym together, flirted next to the Smith machine, and squabbled over the micronutrients of prepackaged meals at Whole Foods.
I dragged him to the theater and made him read the New Yorker and signed us up for interesting lectures.
He made me watch reality TV, booked us fun vacations, and made me less conscious about driving in his eye-watering luxury cars.
He’d moved into my apartment about fifteen hours after our reunion, and only that late because we had a month’s worth of fucking to cram into our schedule.
