Of Snakes and Men Read Online Jessica Gadziala

Categories Genre: Contemporary, Crime, Mafia Tags Authors: Jessica Gadziala Advertisement1

Advertisement2

“Okay,” I agreed, finding it oddly hard to speak past the lump lodged in my throat at the idea of him leaving.

“Hey, mama,” he said, squatting down in front of me, putting his hands on my thighs. “I got every plan of making it home tonight. Don’t go borrowing worry. Shit will shake out.”

“I’m going to be worrying.”

“Not gonna lie. I like that. Gives me something to rush home to, yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

He moved up, planting a hand on the cushion behind me, leaning over me, then sealing his lips to mine.

It was a different sort of kiss.

Slow.

Deep.

Intense, but not in a sexual way.

In a, I don’t know, emotional way.

“Set the alarm when you see me pull out downstairs,” he said, going to the computer, and pointing to the button.

Then he was gone.

“Okay, my guys,” I said after watching A pull away and engaging the system, then turning to look at all the dogs. “I need to go wash the hospital off of me. Then I am going to see if I can find you any yummy treats. And we are going to put on the TV and try to pretend like we aren’t worrying ourselves sick about your daddy.”

The bathroom was much like the rest of the space. Understated, clearly meant for short-term functionality, not long-term comfort. Nothing had all those special touches that A’s house did. But there was soap and towels, and, God, it felt good to get clean.

Val had his body wedged in the doorway the entire time, refusing to be out of eyesight.

I couldn’t believe how much I’d missed his face. Clearly, the feeling had been mutual. I decided right then and there that if things didn’t work out with A, I was kidnapping Val.

“Let’s see what he has for me to steal,” I told Val as I walked over to the dresser at the foot of the bed.

Only to find myself shocked to find a ton of women’s clothes there.

There was one second of jealousy, thinking he’d put it all there for some other woman. Until I saw that everything had tags, was in my size, and matched my general taste for neutrals.

He’d bought it all for me.

Sometime between saving his dogs and kidnapping and torturing his enemies, he’d stopped to buy me clothes.

If I’d been tiptoeing into love before, I was pretty sure I fell face-first right then as I pulled out and put on the fresh clothes, then got the dogs each a treat, and curled up on the couch with Val who seemed more interested in giving me loving eyes than eating his chew.

Then I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It was midnight when the mindless TV shows and the headache pounding behind my eyes finally had me passing out, despite the worry clawing in my stomach.

I woke up panicked a while later, acutely aware that I wasn’t alone in the safe house anymore.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Hope

I reached for the gun before I was even fully awake, knowing I heard something, but not sure exactly what it was.

All around the floor, though, the dogs were passed out, unconcerned by the noise.

Surely, if it was a stranger, they would have alerted, right?

Except, of course, Luis wasn’t a stranger to them. And there was no way to inform them that a former friend was now a foe.

I slowly slid out from under Val who stretched and eyed me curiously, wanting to know what I was up to as I crept around the wall where the bed was situated.

I was a foot into the bedroom when I finally recognized the sound.

Water hitting the shower floor.

A.

I kept the gun in my hand, but moved quickly across the house, pushing open the cracked-open bathroom door.

And there he was, about to step into the stall.

Drenched in blood.

I couldn’t explain to you where the urge came from.

I put the gun down, and stripped out of my clothes, rushing in behind him.

“Mama, no,” he said, voice small, tired, as he stepped under the hot spray, the bright red sliding down his skin to swirl around the drain.

But I was already stepping in front of him, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling his body flush with mine, then sealing my lips to his.

There was only a second of hesitation before his hands were raising, grabbing the sides of my face as he deepened the kiss.

I didn’t care about the blood getting on me, about who it belonged to, about what had been done to them.

All I cared was that he was there.

That he came back to me.

Relatively unharmed.

“Fucking missed you, mama,” he murmured as his lips left mine to tease down my jaw, my neck.

“I was worried about you,” I said, hearing the hint of indignation in my voice at that admission.

He heard it too, judging by the smirk that toyed with his lips as his head lifted to look at me.


Advertisement3

Advertisement4