CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Achilles
No part of me wanted to leave Tierney and go to Naples to deal with Coppola.
No part and especially not my cock. It’d been almost a week since she’d moved in, and true to her word, she slept in the spare room.
At least she was seeing Dr. Andrews. And I was seeing Dr. Clark. With a little luck (and a lot of fucking therapy), we’d be having a healthy relationship in no time.
“You’ll take care of yourself, right?” Tierney tapped the wheel of my car, munching on her bottom lip.
No one, including God himself, was allowed to drive my custom Porsche 550 Spyder.
Which put Tierney above God tier. This woman was in the habit of making me break every word and promise I’d ever made to myself.
“Always do.” I reached for my backpack, going over my stash of weapons and magazines.
For the first time since I was eighteen, I was reluctant to insert myself into a bloodbath. What if I didn’t make it back to New York? The thought of being so close to having Tierney just to die a senseless death made my skin crawl. “Why? You worried about me?”
“Of course I’m worried. You’re my nephew’s favorite uncle,” she snarled.
“If Tom Rothwell pays you another visit—”
“I’ll exercise my Second Amendment rights. He won’t break into our place again.”
Our. She said our. My chest tightened.
A heart attack? Maybe. Still worth it.
“That’s my girl. And you’re sure I can’t persuade you to have security, just until I get back from Italy?”
“Positive,” she ground out. “You’re not keeping me in chains anymore, Achilles.”
I had no one but myself to blame for the fact Tierney didn’t have security up the wazoo while I was in Italy, finishing a bloody war.
I did this to myself, by pushing her for years and surveilling her every move.
Now I had to remind myself she was a big girl, not an innocent, helpless damsel like Lila or Sofia.
She could take down grown men without smearing her lipstick.
I was counting on it.
Tierney slid onto the tarmac of the private airport and turned off the ignition. She shifted in her seat to face me. The jet was already running, with Enzo and Luca waiting inside.
“Promise me you’re coming back in one piece.” She fixed her gaze on me.
Unfortunately for her, now I was feeling a little sulky. “What do I get out of it?”
“Not dying.” She scowled. “Isn’t that enough incentive?”
I shrugged noncommittally.
“You’re ridiculous!” She pushed at my chest. “Promise me you won’t die.”
“You’re making me promise you that I’m immortal and I’m the ridiculous one?” I cocked an eyebrow.
“What do you think you’re doing, Achilles?”
“Negotiating.”
“What are you negotiating exactly?”
“Affection.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Okay. I’m listening.”
“A kiss now as a deposit. If I come back in one piece…you let me fuck you.”
Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline.
“And if I come back missing a few pieces, I can settle for oral.”
She swatted my chest, laughing. I grinned, pleased I’d broken the tension. “What happens if you die?”
“You get everything in my possession.”
“Your family will execute the will dutifully.” She rolled her eyes.
“You are the will,” I countered. “Everything goes to you.”
“You changed your will before coming here?” She paled.
“No. You’ve been the sole heir to all of my possessions for a while now.”
“How long is awhile?” The expression on her face teetered between puzzled and elated.
I had no choice but to answer. We’d promised each other to always tell the truth. “Ten years.”
She did the math in her head, realized I’d chosen to leave her everything I’d ever owned even when we were bitter enemies, and cupped her mouth. “Achilles…”
“Deal or no deal?” I asked, businesslike.
“Deal.”
We met halfway above the central console, and I dipped my head, capturing her lips in mine.
She opened up for me, darting her tongue and touching the tip to mine.
My throat produced a low groan. She tasted sweet.
Toffee and cinnamon. And mine. She tasted like she was completely and wholly mine.
Tierney threaded her fingers in my hair and deepened the kiss.
“Yo!” Enzo hollered from the plane’s open door. “We all have a piece of ass waiting at home. Wrap it up, Romeo.”
“Duty calls,” I murmured into Tierney’s mouth, stroking her face. “Wait for me?”
“Been waiting for eleven years. One more weekend won’t kill me, I suppose.” She pulled away, her brows furrowing when she remembered something. “Hey, who’s feeding my dad while you’re gone?”
“Jeremie’s on pet-sitting duty. Why, are you worried?”
“Yes. Worried he’ll die accidentally before I have time to give him a piece of my mind.”
I smirked, stealing one last kiss. “I love you, Little Flame.”
She didn’t say it back, but she kissed me back with everything she had in her.
And it was more truthful than any words we’d ever spoken…and said one word.
Mine.