In the frantic call I made to my parents before I left Tahoe, I told them that an ex-boyfriend I dated for a while made threats that he’d go to their house and chop them up with a machete unless I got back together with him.
Dramatic, I know, but it was effective.
They love to watch true crime documentaries. My mother’s been expecting someone to break into their house and murder them for years.
So when I call them back and tell them that the alleged ex was arrested and is in jail, she almost sounds disappointed.
When she asks me how everything else is going, I say, “Great.”
Because no mother wants to hear that her daughter’s new boyfriend is the head of the Russian mafia who was originally supposed to kill her but fell in love with her instead and recently saved her from being shot in the face by another assassin whose brain matter is now decorating the ceiling of the house she grew up in.
That would be a tad much, even for her.
I hang up and call Sloane.
She picks up, shouting. “I’ve been worried sick! Are you okay?”
I slide to the floor and sit with my back against the wall and my knees drawn up, eyes closed. “I’m sorry. I know I left in a bit of a state.”
“A state? You left like you were being chased by a horde of soul-eating demons! And you wouldn’t tell me what the hell was going on! What happened?”
I think for a moment, take a sip of my wine, and decide just to go ahead and jump in.
“A mafia assassin named Viktor came to the house to kill me.”
Silence.
“Well, first he was supposed to get information from me about David—”
“David?”
“His name’s really Damon, by the way. He was in the mafia, too. Long story. I’ll circle back. So the assassin shows up and was just about to shoot me when Kage bursts in and shoots him instead. Finally, I have some good luck. Then my luck turns to shit again because I find out Kage was supposed to do Viktor’s job originally, but got distracted by my dazzling vagina.”
I pause to draw a breath. “You still there?”
“Just getting the popcorn. Keep talking.”
She never misses a beat, this girl. She should run for President. The country would be whipped into shape in no time.
“So Kage disobeyed a direct order from his boss, Max, who was David’s boss, too, before David embezzled one hundred million dollars from him and turned state’s evidence so the feds would give him a new identity so he could quit the mafia and move away.”
“That cheapskate had a hundred million bucks the whole time you were with him?”
She’s outraged about the money. I have to wonder at her priorities.
“Yes. He also has a new wife. Oh—I skipped ahead. David’s alive. I found him in Panama.”
Sloane starts to laugh. “Of course you did. Holy infant baby Jesus.”
“He had another wife, too, before this new one. He was married to some Sicilian mafia princess the whole time we were together. And he had two kids. Can you believe that? He’s a bigamist!”
Sloan laughs harder.
I say sourly, “Excuse me, this is my life we’re talking about here. It isn’t funny.”
“Babe, this is the funniest shit I’ve heard since we were twelve and you got that tampon wedged so far up your cooter your dad had to take you to the emergency room to get it out.”
“It was my first period! I didn’t know how to use them right! And why aren’t you worried about my mental state? I was almost killed! I’m having a breakdown over here!”
She sighs. I imagine her wiping tears of laughter from her eyes and getting her face all buttery from the popcorn.
“You’re not having a breakdown. But I don’t blame you for being upset. All that time and that tightwad David was actually loaded. What a massive butthole.”
I rub my temples, shaking my head in disbelief. “Aren’t you going to ask where I am now?”
“You’re with Kage, obviously.”
“Why obviously?”
“Because even though you were almost killed, and your dead fiancé isn’t actually dead, just a dickwad, and god knows whatever else you haven’t told me yet, you’re fine. And the only time you’ve been fine in the past five years is when you’re with him.”
My throat gets tight. So does my stomach. I say in a small voice, “He lied to me.”
She’s unimpressed. “Puh. He’s a man. Just withhold sex for a week or two and he’ll never lie again.”
“It’s inappropriate to punish someone by withholding sex.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s the most powerful tool in your arsenal.”
“What’s going to happen when you find someone you really care about, Sloane?”
“Dear god. You’re not still beating that dead horse, are you?”
“I am. I know you just haven’t met your match yet.”
“That’s because you were brain damaged from that time when you were six when you fell off your bike and hit your head on the curb.”
“I was wearing a helmet.”
“Whatever. You haven’t been the same since. I tried to convince your parents to pull the plug, but they’d gotten attached to you and refused. Idiots.”
I realize I’m smiling. “I never went into the hospital, but thanks for the love.”
“You’re welcome. And I know you’re smiling right now, so don’t even try to pretend you’re hurt that I find your ridiculous love life entertaining.”
“Speaking of love lives, how’s Brad Pitt, Jr.?”
She pauses. “Who?”
“The hot blond guy you met in the Uber rideshare.”
“Oh. Him. Rear view mirror, babe.”
The more things change, the more they stay the same. “I miss you.”
“Miss you, too. Come back soon. This dog of yours is the most boring animal on the planet. All he does is sleep.”
“Would you be surprised if I told you he attacked Viktor the assassin who was sent to kill me?”
“Yeah, right. Now you’re just making things up. By the way, I saw Chris at the store last night.”
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes. He said to tell you he apologizes for anything he ever did to offend you and hopes you’ll forgive him, then he ran away. Now what do you think made him do that?”
Remembering my last encounter with Chris, I make a face. “Kage had a little man-to-man chat with him after I told him Chris had been driving by my house at all hours of the day and night.”
“Exactly as I thought. I wish I had a man who’d protect me from all the assholes in the world.”
“You could, but you’d get bored of him.”
“You get my point. Kage is gaga over you, babe. Cut him a break. Now I have to go, because there’s a singles’ meeting at the library that I’m late for. I hear there will be Bingo.”
She hangs up on me, which is her way of telling me not to feel sorry for myself.
She’s the queen of tough love, but I suspect underneath that steel armor she wears beats the softest heart in the world.
Not that I’ll ever know for sure, because she’d throw herself off a cliff before she’d admit it.
I finish my glass of wine, then wander around the room, opening drawers and running my fingers over brushes and tubes of paint, my mind abuzz and my body so tired I can barely feel my feet.
Then I lie on my side on the floor and stare out at New York City until I fall asleep.
I wake up in Kage’s arms. He’s carrying me down a hallway.
Yawning, I mumble, “Where are you taking me?”
“To bed.”
I don’t bother fighting. I don’t have it in me right now.
He brings me into the master bedroom. It’s decorated in soothing shades of beige and brown with lots of wood accents. There’s another ridiculous view out the tall windows, but it disappears when he tells Alexa to close the drapes.
He sets me on the bed, removes my shoes, and pulls the covers over me.
Then he turns to leave.
“You’re going?”
He stops and looks back. A small smile plays around his full lips. I can tell my tone pleased him, but he’s trying not to be obnoxious about it.
“You don’t want me to?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” I sigh and burrow deeper under the covers. “Maybe?”
“Let me know when you’re sure. Until then, sleep well.”
He leaves, closing the door softly behind him.
Now I’m wide awake again.
I roll to my back, fling off the covers, and stare at the ceiling for a long time, going over everything in my head. Except my head is full of mashed potatoes. It’s like I’m trying to do algebra. I can’t come up with anything that makes sense.
The only thing I know for sure is that no matter what he did or how mad I am at him, I’d feel better if Kage’s arms were around me.
I throw my legs over the side of the bed, go to the door, and open it. Then I pull up short.
Kage is standing there, leaning against the wall next to the door with his massive arms folded over his chest and his head bowed.
He looks up at me. Our eyes meet. A jolt like a thunderbolt goes through me, hot and powerful, all the way to my toes.
We stand there staring at each other in crackling silence until I say softly, “Will you please come in and—”
He pushes off the wall and grabs me, crushing his mouth to mine.
The kiss is desperate. Devouring. When we come up for air, I say breathlessly, “Hold me?”
Walking me backward toward the bed, he growls, “Hold you? Sure. Right after I fuck you.”
“Kage—”
“Red or green, baby.” He pushes me onto the bed, kneels, plants his hands on either side of my head, and kisses me again, ravenously.
It’s like my hands have a mind of their own, because they instantly tangle themselves into his hair and start pulling.
He breaks away from my mouth, chuckling. “That’s what I thought.”
He rears up to his knees, pulls his shirt over his head, and tosses it away, grinning down at me.
He’s so beautiful I lose my breath.
His grin dies and he growls, “I fucking love it when you look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re mine.”
He tugs off my shirt. He tears off my bra. My jeans and panties he dispenses with in a few quick moves, then I’m naked underneath him, trembling.
He takes a moment to run his hands slowly down my body, from my chest to my thighs, staring at me with the eyes of a hungry wolf. Then he rips open the fly of his jeans.
“Say it.”
My voice comes out in a whisper. “I’m yours.”
He closes his eyes for a moment, exhaling. When he opens his eyes, he reaches into his pants and fists his erection, pulling it out and stroking it from base to tip.
“Say it again, baby.”
I take a breath and blow it out. Every cell in my body is singing. “I’m yours, Kage. Even when I hate you, I love you. Whatever happens, we’ll work it out.”
With a groan, he falls on top of me. Then he’s kissing me again, pushing up to an elbow and spreading my thighs open with his hips. I run my hands down his muscular back to his ass, sliding my hands under his jeans and sinking my fingernails into his skin.
Then I softly laugh.
He couldn’t wait to take off his pants or boots again.
“Laughing while I fuck you will earn you a spanking,” he says hotly.
“Then I guess I better keep laughing.”
Gazing down at me with adoring eyes, he whispers, “Ya tebya lyublyu. I love you. Ty nuzhnah mne. I need you. Ty moya. You’re mine.”
Then he slides inside me and proves it all.
