Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
I brush the hair from her face and she blinks rapidly, looking at my fingers.
“You’re wearing it,” she says with surprise. She sits back and grabs my left hand, holding it up in front of her face.
I force myself not to smile. “Wearing what?” I ask.
“Don’t be a jerk. You’re wearing it.” She leans forward, eyes inches away from the wedding ring I put on the moment my cousin and her mother were shoved into the back of a van and taken away. “Why now?”
I slip my hand from her grasp and touch her face. “Because when I was in that bed wondering if you’d wake up or not, I realized I’ve been fucking stupid.”
She blinks rapidly. “Evander. You don’t have to. It’s not like—it’s not like—”
She wants to say this isn’t real. I can feel it in her throat. But we both know the truth.
“I hurt your feelings when I refused to put it on,” I say softly, shaking my head. “I wanted to be like my father, but I realized my father was making a mistake. He couldn’t show weakness, but I won’t be like that. Sometimes, strength is about more than hiding your failings. It’s about accepting them and growing. It’s about becoming better for the people I care about.”
She bites her lip, staring into my eyes. “And you care about… me?”
“Yes, asteraki mu. I care about you a lot.”
“Enough to wear the ring.”
“More than enough.” I lean forward and kiss her softly. “Stay with me for a while.” And I’m not sure if I mean stay here in the steam room with me, or if I mean don’t leave when this is all over.
She curls up against my chest. Her pussy is wet and slick against my half-hard cock. The mist hisses again. “I think I like it here,” she says and looks up at me. “I have a feeling I’ll like it even more very soon.”
I grin at her, lean forward, and kiss her slowly as my hand slips down around her hips.
Chapter 57
Camille
It feels strange being back at the diner. Even weirder since I’m not in uniform.
“Please, can I get you anything else, Mrs. Kazan?” Demetrios asks me, wringing his hands together.
“You have to stop calling me that,” I say with a big smile. “I’m still just Camille.”
“Yes, of course, Mrs. Kazan—I mean, Camille.” He returns my warm smile. “It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you too.”
He pats my hand and walks off to help his wife in the back.
I drink coffee alone at the counter. Greek soldiers come and go, the place packed with them. Alonzo lurks nearby, laughing with some of the boys. He gets along with everyone so well—it surprises me that he got twisted up into the crew that tried to betray Evander. But so far, Alonzo has done nothing but show loyalty and respect. It helps that I like him.
“You look different.” Phel leans against the counter in front of me. “Something about you changed.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say innocently.
“Hm. You’re wearing the wedding ring. That’s nice. But that’s not it.”
I tilt my head from side to side. “Maybe it’s the fact that I’m not in the uniform.”
“No, I think it’s more like, you look like a rich lady.”
I gasp, mock-offended. “How dare you.”
“Hon, you’re in a silk blouse and jeans that probably cost more than my dad’s mortgage. You have serious rich lady vibes right now.”
I grin at her and stretch out my legs to show off my sneakers. “Still me though.”
“You’ve got that going for you at least.”
“Hey, I’m trying to embrace my new life, you know? Enjoying the fruits of nearly getting murdered. Several times.”
“Fair enough,” she says, eyeing my black eye with a frown. “Is there a story behind that shiner?”
“There is, but don’t worry, Evander was the solution, not the problem.”
She nods once. “Good to hear.”
“As it turns out, he’s wearing his wedding ring now too.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Is that so? What’d you do? Gave him some sex he couldn’t forget?”
“Oh, god,” I say, laughing. “I mean, yes, but that’s not what made him put it on. I think we’re just… I don’t know. Can I say we’re growing without sounding dumb?”
“You absolutely can,” she says. “It must help with what happened and all. One less thing to stress about.”
“Totally,” I say absently then frown at her. “Wait, after what happened?”
“All the guys are talking about it,” she says, eyebrows knitting together. “You know, the whole Don Pavone thing? The boys can’t shut up about your husband.”
“Sorry, what now? What did Evander do?”
“You don’t know.” She leans closer. “Apparently, your big, bad husband killed the Don of the Pavone Famiglia at some secret meeting.” She slashes a hand across her throat. “Did it with a knife. Really gory and awful stuff.”