Chapter 20
Ringo
Saturday morning my phone rang almost at the same hour as the sun rose. The first rays of light peeked through the curtains. Ellie, being a night owl, insisted they stay closed. I took the call in the formal living space so I could watch the sky shift and the lake glisten. “What’s up?”
“What Ellie says about her new friend is true. The woman was forcibly dismissed.” Mario’s voice was an unwelcome rumble before coffee. He had the advantage of being awake hours before me, and his unwavering logic ran circles around me on my best days.
“So, we don’t worry about her?”
“Did I say that?”
Fuck. I looked at the ceiling so I could stretch the tense muscles of my neck. “What happened to the days of clarity?”
“You stabbed me.”
“Nicked you. If I’d have stabbed you, you’d be dead.”
“Semantics.”
“Important ones,” I reminded him.
“Don Manca wants her handled internally.”
That would go over well with Ellie. Not. “Are you asking me, or telling me?”
“You’re smarter than this.”
“Thank you.”
Mario’s insult didn’t sound any better in Italian than it would in English. I ignored it. He needed to get it out of his system. Finally, he asked, “How is my wife’s sister?”
“Sleeping.” Finally. The nightmares were getting worse. It took forever to coax her into bed, and even longer to massage the knots out of her shoulders.
“When she isn’t sleeping, have her call my wife. Allie misses her.”
I’d bet. Ellie voiced the same opinion last night as she cried on my shoulder. “Did your wife once mention she was in therapy?”
Mario hesitated before replying, likely scanning his database brain for the answer. “She’s mentioned it. May I add, not fondly.”
Which would explain why Ellie was resisting getting help. “This new situation is a lot like when they were kids.”
“I’ll remind you that when they were children, they weren’t exposed to anything that could endanger them. But you insist on—”
“I’m not the only one putting their woman in danger. You are, parading your wife around to all the families.”
“If I recall, the only danger she’s been in was your fault.”
“She was perfectly fine on the boat.” Perfectly fine out of the boat, too.
Until Dianora’s cousin went looking for me.
Which, again, wasn’t exactly my fault. He wouldn’t have been looking at all except I had to rescue Mario from his stupidity.
That left his wife exposed. “No one put a gun to your head and said ‘go stick your ass in a noose.’”
“And I explicitly told you to watch my wife.”
“I don’t take orders well.”
“Obviously.”
It was funny that we ever became friends. “You’re going to be my best man, right?”
His soft expletive told me he was surprised I asked. “Do you have date set?”
No, that was Ellie’s job. Except she wasn’t doing it. “Maybe your wife can make a suggestion?”
“She’d plan the whole thing.”
That would be great, except… “I was kind of looking forward to wearing a costume. What do you think, would I be a vampire or a phantom like you were?”
He laughed once. “Allie liked the mask.”
“You kinky bastard.” I chuckled. Despite being so far apart, he was still my brother.
“Can you wait nine months?”
I froze. “No shit?”
“Perhaps. We are— hopeful.”
I let out a breath. A kid would change everything. My smile fell. “We need to get you out.”
Mario was silent.
“Brother?”
“If I leave, Don Manca will be short-handed. Where does that leave you and your plans?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to quip, “I’ll be better off without you.” But that wasn’t true at all. We were a great team. Take one of us out of the equation and the whole thing crumbled. “What does your grandfather say?”
“He doesn’t know yet.”
Well. There was that. “He’s not getting any younger.”
Mario snorted. “We have enough time with him yet.”
True. “Congrats.”
“Hold onto that for at least two months, yes?”
I could do that. “Has she talked to Ellie about it?”
“She knows.”
How? She lived right under my thumb for the last week plus.
Surely, I’d have suspected something. “Wait, twin talk.” They had a whole vocabulary of weird phrases and inside jokes to rely on.
One they’d built their entire lives. Kind of like the family language.
Except only those two understood it. Maybe Kat did, too, being one of the rare people in that circle.
“Sì.”
We were fools, outwitted by double trouble.
“Edward is coming to Chicago. Today. He wants to meet the staff at the office and interview your pick for his new operating officer.”
Although it was Saturday, CCI had a perfect view of the river. I’d planned on going there with Ellie to show the place off a little. The staff made an event out of St. Patrick’s Day weekend every year. “When? Traffic is going to be a nightmare. Does he know that?”
“I doubt he does.”
Fuck. It was likely too late to arrange a helicopter.
“It’s a holiday weekend here. They party harder than Budapest on a regular night.
Today, though? Ellie claims it will be epic, and a nightmare for driving.
The ride from any airport to downtown will take at least an hour at best. What are the logistics?
” Knowing Mario like I did, he had plans created already.
“Eight your time. The airport is Midway. We need to hire a car. He’s traveling with two bodyguards.”
I did some quick thinking. “If I can get Kat to pick him up, she can drive them in.” Being a native, she’d know which routes to avoid.
“The business manager? Good choice.”
“They dye the river at ten. It’s quite the spectacle from what I’m told.” I couldn’t fathom it. The photos I’d seen had to be doctored.
“Make it happen, confirm the car is suitable, and call me back.”
The call disconnected abruptly. Mario would hate retirement. I dialed Kat.
“Do you have any idea what hour it is?”
“Hey, Kat. Did you close the bar last night?”
She grunted. “Why are you calling me, Ringo?”
“You have an interview today. And the CEO is landing at Midway Airport in one and half hours. What kind of car do you drive and is it clean?”
“Mercedes, and what?”
“Clean, as in pristine. Edward is exacting.” A Mercedes was acceptable, unless, “it’s not a coupe is it?”
“Duh, do I look like a sedan driver?”
“That’s no good. I’ll rent a car for you. It will be waiting when you arrive at the private plane terminal.”
“Wait one second, dick. One hour?”
“One and a half. You can do this, right?”
Her swearing didn’t exactly inspire confidence. “I have to. I want this job. This Edward, is he a leg man or all business?”
“Legs.”
“Fine. That car service? Have them pick me up. I ain’t walking all over the place in high heels. And, where is this interview?”
I explained the event at CCI.
“You realize Ellie and I have a bar to run, right?”
“And you’ve both hired competent people to do that. Unless you don’t want the job?”
“You bastard.”
She hung up on me instead of answering. I took that as a yes and arranged for the car service to pick her up.
Ellie wandered into the room as I finalized the call.
As usual, she blinked at the sunrise streaming through the windows.
Her quiet perusal of the lake was different today. Less angry and more accepting.
“Good morning.”
She made a vocalized response, barely acknowledging me.
I handed her a coffee doctored to her preference for the current time of day.
Then I wrapped an arm around her and studied the view.
It was peaceful. Despite being in the middle of one of the largest cities in the country, we faced away from all of it.
Only the traffic below us betrayed the breadth of civilization at our backs.
“The sale is going through today.”
That got her attention. “Does that mean you’re leaving?”
I shook my head. “No. I might make this a permanent move.” That depended on her. “If that’s what you want?”
She studied me for a long time. “You need to think about what you want.”
“I want you.”
My quick reply made the corners of her mouth go up. “How often will we go to Sardinia?”
“As often as we can? Did your sister mention she’s pregnant?”
Ellie sucked in her breath. “It’s too early. A bunch of stuff could go wrong so don’t tell anyone.”
“Who would I tell?”
“Me.”
She was finally awake, and her sarcasm with it. “I know we talked about his in Venice—”
“No. No kids until I’m ready.”
She’d gotten an implant and testing done before her wedding. There was a supply of condoms in her suitcase, but that had ended up with Allie. Apparently, Mario ignored those. “What do you think they’ll have?”
“A boy.”
“You sound certain.”
Ellie shook her head. “Allie wants it, boy then girl. Big brother, little sister. And Allie is just perfect enough it’ll happen that way.”
Speaking of perfect, I pulled her closer. “I love you.” The words didn’t trip in my throat anymore.
She leaned against me. “I know.”
I kissed her cheek. “We have a lot to do today.”
Ellie groaned. “River, crowds, bar. I know.”
Her scent tempted me. “Shower first?”
“I think we’ll need to share.”
My fiancée was brilliant. I kissed her neck to show her how much I appreciated that.
“You’re going to make me spill my coffee.”
“You have twelve seconds to set the cup down. Go.”
I released her and stalked her to the island where she set the mug down. Then she dropped the robe, and I followed the sway of her naked ass.
She turned the water on while I stripped off the pajama bottoms I’d pulled on to take Mario’s call.
Ellie’s body was reflected in the large vanity mirror.
I watched it, rather than her. It gave me an opportunity to see us together without artifice.
In the frame, we were just a man and a woman.
Sure, I had scars that told the stories I couldn’t utter to anyone but other than that, I was normal.
It was a life that I didn’t know I wanted.
She fit against me and ran her hands down my chest.
My distraction didn’t go unnoticed. “Do we need to install a mirror above the bed?”
“Look.”
She studied the scene. “I don’t get it. What am I looking for?”
“It’s what you don’t see.”
Her head tilted. “We look normal.”
“Yeah. Like life isn’t as shitty as it was.” My brow wrinkled, and I had to look away. The lie faded in the light of truth. I was not that man, and Ellie’s nightmares were unknown to that reflected lie.
“Life and death.” Ellie looped her pinky around mine.
I mirrored her motion, capturing the other hand with mine. “Death is your gift, Life is the reward.” Sure, I said that in backward order. But the mantra made more sense that way. At least for me.
She squeezed my fingers with hers. A small gesture, but one of importance because we were finally on the same page. Life would be our reward. I’d gifted enough death.
I’d done enough, right?
She kissed me and pulled me up the single step that separated the giant shower stall from the rest of the room. I followed like a lamb.
Under the spray, I took my time kissing her, caressing her skin, and marveling how well our bodies aligned. The walls were cold, but the water was warm. Ellie didn’t complain as I lifted her in my arms to align my cock at her opening.
Her legs wrapped around me, slipping slightly, but that only made the first thrust slide in quicker.
I braced against the wall and rocked into her over and over.
This was mine. Ours. Us. I was hers. My life was upended, a truth that hadn’t quite stopped being a lie, and a life ahead full of unknowns.
Except for one thing, it wouldn’t be any kind of life without her in it.
I couldn’t tell her enough how much that meant to me.
I finally had something of my own. Someone.
And eventually, we’d be ready to follow Mario and Allie into parenthood.
I wanted a girl. A little spitfire like the beautiful woman I fucked hard.
My thoughts locked onto that wish as I poured into her.
Ellie’s gasps and the soft clench of her inner walls told me she was with me as we clung to each other.
My life wasn’t even close to normal, but I’d learn how for her. “I love you.” I whispered into her ear. I doubted she heard me over the water, but that didn’t matter. We had a lifetime to whisper those words to each other.
Or so I thought.