Chapter 35—Tommy #2
I give him a chin lift and start out the door, only to turn back. “Why isn’t anyone stopping me?”
Danny looks at Bobby, who looks at Vinny, who turns his head to Danny, who shrugs before answering.
“She killed Dante. In her mind, at least, she did. She chose you over her fear of guns.”
I’m blown back by his words. That’s high praise coming from him.
“It’ll take time to figure out what her family really did or didn’t do.
We’re looking into it, but it’ll take time,” Bobby huffs.
“Her family might have stolen from us, but from what Danny heard from Dante on the tapes, it might not have been entirely known to them. Even though she had no idea, Payton was willing to make the payments. She didn’t run.
She just knew to pay. Sure, she went to a loan shark for help, but she tried to make things better for herself rather than run away like so many do when hit with a mountain of debt. She did what she could.”
“The famiglia owes her,” Vinny says with finality. “Dante went off the books and killed her family. The debt is clear, no matter how you feel about her. As is the debt she stocked up from the funerals and other stuff that got her into financial trouble.”
I nod in appreciation. Each of my brothers is seeing her as more than just a threat, like we all did a few hours ago. Funny how things can change so quickly in this world.
“But really”—Vinny pulls my eye with his words—“she saved you. And she loves you. She’s famiglia, no matter how you feel about it. But if you want more, which I think you do, make her a Leone and make us all happy by not having to deal with Mama for a bit. Yeah?”
The others laugh, and I feel my eyes get a faraway look.
He put an idea in my head that wasn’t there before.
But now that it’s there, it’s taken root and is spreading like wildfire.
Binding her to me permanently feels like the only way to make this better.
For her and me. To make my happiness last forever and keep her safe.
Making her a Leone makes it legal to the world. No one would dare touch her then.
“Oh shit, he’s got that funny look in his eye again.” Bobby chuckles.
“Haven’t seen that one since he volunteered to go to Russia,” Danny adds.
“Looks good on him,” Vinny says as I turn and head to the elevator. I don’t feel pain anymore. Nothing can touch me right now.
I’m in a fog as I take the elevator down. I see nothing, even though I’m sure I pass dozens of people. This building is always busy, but I don’t give a fuck about any of them. I have one thought, one person, on my mind. No one else matters.
And the second I see her at the end of the hall coming out of a room, I double-time my steps to get to her as quick as I can, even if it pulls at my broken ribs.
Her eyes go wide when she sees me hunting her down, but like the good little prey she is, she doesn’t move.
Her mouth parts as if she gasps, taking all of me in.
She might fear me. I was mean, almost cruel to her the last time we spoke.
She saw me fight and get hit. She saved me, and that might bring up issues for her long-term.
But I’m willing to help her through it. Every minute of every day, for as long as she lets me.
The second I’m close enough, I grab the back of her neck and pull her lips to mine, feasting on them as the world moves around us.
She stills for a second before her arms wrap around my neck and pull me in tight to her.
We wrap around each other and share our breaths.
We stay lip-locked for what feels like hours but still isn’t long enough.
“I thought you were dead. I thought I shot you. I thought he killed you,” she rambles, and I love it. I love that she’s voicing her fear and not bottling it up inside. That she’s even talking to me after everything.
“I’m sorry. So sorry for what he did. For what we did.” I kiss along her cheeks and jawline. I can’t stop touching her. I have her in my arms, and I’m not going to let her out of them anytime soon.
I finally stop and rest my forehead to hers. Closing my eyes, I breathe her scent in and let myself finally relax. Enjoy the moment and just breathe in the new life she’s given me. For so long, I was just living, not enjoying. Now I can have both, and with her by my side.
Opening my eyes, I look at her but don’t move my head away from her.
“I love you.”
Her breath hitches, and a tear rolls down her cheek. She swallows, and her smile is wobbly as she looks back at me.
“I love you too.”
“Tommaso Dante Leone!” Mama’s voice ricochets around the hall, and I know she’s coming toward us.
“Dante?” Payton questions.
“After Dante Alighieri. He survived exile, wrote about love saving him. It’s kind of funny.”
“How is that funny?”
“Because while I might not have been exiled from the famiglia, I felt outside of it for so long. Till you, Payton. You made me accept my past, and now I feel whole again.”
“Of course you’re whole, you stupid boy,” Mama cuts in. “But you pull this stunt again, and I’ll be the one to make that untrue. Now move so I can look over my new daughter.”
“Mama, Payton isn’t—”
“Hush. You want to marry her, don’t you?”
I lock eyes with Payton and smirk as I nod once.
“Then she’s family. I’ll deal with you and your brothers next, but now I must care for her.”
“I’ve already been seen by the doctor,” my girl whispers. She’s in shock, either from my declaration of wanting to be with her long-term or because she’s just not sure how to deal with Mama like this. Probably both.
I shake my head. “You better get used to it. She only gets worse if you don’t let her pretend she’s in charge.”
Mama throws a hand out and hits me right on one of my broken ribs based off the pain. I wince, but she doesn’t apologize, just smirks as if she knew what she was doing.
But then she ignores me and focuses on my girl.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.