Chapter 13 #2
“There’s a patio out back,” Sage suggests and heads toward a set of glass doors, pushing them open.
Outside is a table and a number of chairs.
Sage takes a seat and pulls me down into his lap.
Mickey takes one across the table from us.
I reach into my pocket, pull out the bag of weed, and wave it in front of Sage’s face.
His eyes light up. “I love you,” he murmurs before lifting me and placing me on my own seat. He opens the bag and inhales deeply. “Oh, my love, I missed you.”
I frown playfully at him. “Oh. I see how it is. Profess your love to me, but in the same breath, romance an inanimate bag of leaves.”
“Don’t you listen to her, she’s just jealous,” he purrs to the bag.
Mickey chuckles as Sage proceeds to ignore us and pull his ever present packet of papers and lighter out of his pocket. He begins rolling himself a joint while I fill them in on everything that has happened since Sage’s funeral, minus the details about Dad and Carla.
“You married him?” Sage’s hand freezes as he brings the joint up to his mouth to light it, and I can’t quite place the note in his voice. “Why on earth did you do that? With Gio out of the way, they had nothing to hold over you anymore. Why didn’t you wipe the floor with them?”
Fuck, what do I tell them? I can’t tell them the truth, but I haven’t prepared a lie either. I must take too long to respond, because Mickey growls, “Tori, what aren’t you telling us?”
“I can’t believe you married him,” Sage mutters, and this time I hear the hurt. “After all the betrayal.” He shakes his head. “Why?”
I splutter, racking my brain for a reason. “Because they threatened to kill every staff member of the Russo properties. There wasn’t enough time, nor could we take the loss of revenue if everyone went into hiding.”
They are both quiet for a moment as they consider this before Mickey gestures for me to carry on. I reach out and give Sage’s hand a squeeze. “Don’t worry, annulment is an option. Once we get rid of Mario, I’ll have our lawyers get right on it.”
I finish the story, explaining who Addison is, and by the time I’m done, both Mickey and Sage feel a little more forgiving toward the four traitors.
“Can you take Addi back to the lake with you? I want her out of the way until everything is finished,” I ask my uncle, who quickly agrees.
“Do you have a plan?” Sage asks me, holding out the joint, but I shake my head. I don’t need to return home smelling like weed. Xavier is already going to be suspicious, and I don’t need him clueing into the fact that Sage isn’t actually dead.
“Yeah. If everything goes as planned, I’m hoping we can sweep the Maricuso family off the board this week.
Tristan is being forced to marry Stacey, and their wedding is on Wednesday.
Everyone will be in one place. I’m thinking a gas leak and explosion at the reception will be just the thing we need to see the end of that empire. ”
Sage frowns. “Why not at the actual ceremony?” he asks, and I wiggle my eyebrows like a cartoon villain.
“Well, if he’s married to her, then he’s entitled to all of the family assets as her widow.”
His eyes widen, and his mouth rounds in surprise.
Mickey laughs. “Fuck, you are devious. So we aren’t killing them as well?”
I grimace and shrug. “No?”
“Is that a question or an answer?” he asks, but Sage looks at me with serious eyes.
“You still like them, don’t you?” His tone is neutral, and I can’t tell how he feels about it.
“Ugh!” I groan. “Yes, you don’t know what it’s like still being around them all the time.
They are so freaking sexy, and all of them are trying so hard to make things up to me.
They are all in for helping us take out Mario.
Although, I don’t know how they are going to feel about this.
I’m not telling them you have Addi. I’m going to let them assume she was kidnapped by another team. ”
Sage gives me a small grin, and some of my nerves and anxiety settles. “It’s okay, babe. I would totally be the same. Tristan does this thing with his tongue that I swear—” He breaks off as Mickey loudly clears his throat.
“I don’t need to hear that shit,” he mutters. “If we cut the hands off all the guards and the nanny, then we can make it look like one of the cartels were here.”
“That works, because the FBI should be intercepting a shipment from the cartel to Mario tonight or tomorrow. I’m not sure when it’s going down, but it would look like retaliation for that.
I’m sure I will find out as soon as it happens.
Mario will suspect me, but everything will point at me still being home in bed, and Colton wiped the evidence off my phone for me. ”
“Aww, his big nerdy brain is so sexy, so is his big co—”
“How are Suzy and Ben?” I interrupt Sage, knowing Mickey is going to lose his shit if he keeps up the innuendos. Sage stamps out the end of his joint, pulls me back into his lap, and nuzzles my neck. The rest of the tension drains out of me as he whispers a promise.
“Whatever you decide, I’m still all in.”