Julia crosses her arms, cheeks turning bright red. “I should go check on Roman,” she says, kissing me quickly on the cheek.
I grab her arm before she leaves and whisper in her ear. “Babe, your shirt is on inside out.”
Julia looks down, blushes even harder, and rushes off, probably to find a bathroom.
I’m left standing on the back porch with Vince, staring out at the light snowfall coating everything in sight.
“So are you in the clear?” asks Vince. The tone of his voice tells me he’s not talking about with Julia. He wants to know if I’m still going to be targeted by the Bianchis and Morettis.
“Mostly,” I say. “I was able to get in contact with the Capobiancos yesterday. Both the Morettis and Bianchis are completely crippled, and the Capobiancos have already started absorbing most of the lower level guys and a few key capos. I’ll probably never be a hundred percent sure, but yeah. I think it’s all over.”
He nods. “What are you going to do now?”
I smile to myself, realizing I’m about to admit something I haven’t admitted to anyone before. “I’ve always wanted to fly. Not like superhero shit,” I say quickly, suddenly feeling silly. “Airplanes. I used to fly these little remote controlled models when I was a kid, and I always imagined what it would be like to be the one in the cockpit calling the shots. So I’m going to find a way to fly. Maybe I’ll use some of the money I have put away to start a private charter business.”
I’m relieved when Vince doesn’t laugh. He just looks thoughtful, nodding. “Yeah, I can see you doing that. Guys like us need to find something with a little adrenaline. It’ll be good for you.”
“It’s wild,” I say. “You wouldn’t think we would end up living a life like this. It seems too good for us, you know?”
Vince nods. “You’ll get used to it.” He taps the axe he’s still holding on the ground, looking distractedly at the way the blade catches the fading sunlight. “Mostly, at least. I’ve done what I can to turn the family around, to make an organization that’s legitimate and honest. I did it for Ethan, so he wouldn’t have to grow up without a father. Maybe you’ll find something similar. The truth is, the darkness never goes away completely. There are times I feel like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, like I don’t belong.” He laughs, shaking his head, as if making fun of himself.
I can’t help wondering if I’ll be him in a few years. Rather than scaring me, the thought is encouraging. If Vince was perfectly happy in his new life I would worry, because I don’t know that I’ll ever be perfectly happy. I’ll probably never get over the urge to hurt or even kill people who threaten what I care about. The darkness that waits just beneath the surface of my personality isn’t going away. But if Vince can make it work, I can too.
“You love her?” he asks suddenly.
The question surprises me, but I answer without hesitation. “Yes.” I stop, thinking about it for a little while, maybe for the first time, now that everything has calmed down. “Yeah, I really do. She’s all I think about. Drives me crazy, but in a good way, you know?”
Vince smirks. “Yeah. I know. She’ll get you through it, man. Every time it feels like the old life is trying to bring you back in, just remember her, remember that kid of yours. If you think they’re worth it, that’ll be all you need.”
“They’re worth it.”
Epilogue
Julia
“Twins?” asks Leo. “As in more than one baby?”
Dr. Wilks laughs. “Yes. You and your wife are going to have two babies.”
I smile a little to myself, still not over how much I love hearing people say I’m his wife. I look down at the ring on my finger, watching how the diamonds catch every bit of light and reflects it back out in a thousand different colors. It has only been four months since everything happened, and only three months since he proposed, but it feels like a lifetime ago.
Dr. Wilks gives me a warm wipe to clean off the lubricant she used. She talks more, explaining some of the possible complications in giving birth to twins and other things to look out for, but it all fades to background noise.
Twins.
Roman is going to be thrilled. He hasn’t stopped talking about all the things he wants to do with his new baby, and I can only imagine how excited he’ll be to learn there will be two babies. I sneak a glance at Leo, a little worried that he might be upset, but there’s an almost comical smile on his face. I cover my mouth, laughing at seeing him so happy.
He catches me noticing and smiles a little wider, reaching to hug me tight and kiss the top of my head. “If we don’t want to end up on a reality TV show, we had better look into some powerful contraceptives after this,” he says.
Roman and I spend the evening watching Leo get everything set up at his new office. I love watching Leo here. When I first heard that he wanted to fly, I wasn’t sure if he was kidding, but after seeing how much it energizes and excites him to talk about the business and get things set up the way he wants, I know he’s serious, and I love how happy it makes him.
Roman can’t wait until the Cessna Leo ordered comes in. I was a little surprised that Leo had enough cash on hand to just order a plane, but he cryptically mentioned that he has a comfortable amount of money put away from his previous life. We’ve moved into a modest ranch-style house about fifteen minutes from my practice and twenty minutes from where Leo’s new business is being built. My practice. I still can’t believe Ted handed it over to me. He said he had so many debts that he couldn’t afford to keep it anymore, but I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t try to sell it, and most of all, why he would give it to me.
I don’t know how, but I’m sure Leo had something to do with it. He won’t give me a straight answer when I ask though, just like both he and my mom won’t explain how her medical bills suddenly disappeared. I’m not so blind that I can’t see Leo is helping me behind the scenes, but for the first time in my life, I don’t mind being helped, not if it’s by him. He doesn’t help me because he thinks I can’t do it without his help, he just helps because he loves me, and he wants to make me happy. Whether I realized it or not, I think that was the distinction that mattered.
I finally hired the secretary our practice desperately needed and made sure we no longer see parolees. I finally love going to work again because I’m helping people who want to be helped. I’ve also been surprised by how much I enjoy running the business side of things, and it turns out I’m pretty good at it, too. I offered Lauren a job back at the practice whenever she’s ready to work again, but she seems content to keep watching Amelia and Roman. I wonder how she would feel about watching the twins too. The thought makes me smirk.
Mom’s last checkup was the most encouraging yet. The cancer may not be completely gone from her system yet, but the tumor is responding really well to treatment, and the doctors have finally started giving us encouraging predictions. The best part is seeing how much her strength is coming back. She’s more like her old self every day since she has been able to transition off the chemo to some less aggressive medicine.
Leo picks up Roman, letting him ride on his shoulders as he moves around the construction site, checking build quality and joking with the workers. I watch my two men, proud in the fading sunlight. I rub my stomach and wonder how these two new little babies are going to fit into all of this, and how they are going to make us even happier. It’s a little scary, thinking about having two babies, but I know I have Leo here to help now. I know he’s always going to be here. A feeling of love blossoms so strongly in my chest that I can barely contain it. I love him. I love him so damn much, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.
60
Bonus Book: Country Fever
The last bonus book I wanted to include is Country Fever (previously titled Miss Matchmaker). This book was very special to me, and I hope it will be to you too.
A small town is the last place I ever thought I’d find myself, but I’m desperate to save my faili
ng business, and a mysterious client makes an offer I can’t turn down.
She wants me to match her with the man of her dreams, and if I pull it off, she’ll pay me more than I can imagine.
But when a cowboy everybody calls “Country” welcomes me to town with a “get lost” and a side of drop-dead gorgeous, well, things get a little more complicated.
I mean, what kind of woman wouldn’t go following a guy like that back to his ranch? And what kind of woman wouldn’t go marching up to tell him off, even if he was shirtless?
Between my insane client and my inability to stay away from the cocky cowboy, I have my hands full.
And Lucas Tate, the man my client wants? It turns out he's also my cowboy.
Prologue
His fingers are rough against the tender skin of my neck--calloused from a life of hard work. The faint lines at the corners of his deep blue eyes speak of countless days squinting into the sun, of laughter, and of experience. Lucas Tate. The absolute last man on Earth I should be touching or even thinking about romantically.
“I can’t do this with you,” I say, trying to pull back, but there’s something magnetic drawing me to him, despite the alarm bells going off in my mind. Do not get involved. Do not get involved, Mila. No matter what you do…
“You don’t have to do a thing, darlin’,” Lucas says with an irresistible smile. “Just put those pretty lil’ hands over your head and let me take care of the rest.”
Air rushes from between my parted lips, as if pulled out by the sheer magnetism of him, as if my body is trying to give itself over to him no matter what my brain is telling me. Just tell him the truth. Tell him why you can’t. “I can’t…” I whisper, but the rest won’t come out. The truth stays lodged in my throat, as thick and heavy as molasses.
He’s not shaken by my refusal. He only brushes my chin with his thumb, tilting me up to look into those eyes that are so blue they send a chill down my back despite the heat. “Tell you what,” he says, voice so low and smooth it rumbles through my chest. “Give me one good reason why you can’t, and I’ll walk away. One reason. That’s all, darlin’.”
I meet his gaze, trying to summon up any of the thousand reasons this is a terrible idea, but every last one of them refuses to come up, leaving me speechless and helpless, knowing with a sinking inevitability that I’m about to make the biggest mistake of my life.
61
Mila
A Few Days Earlier
I take one last look out at the view from my office window. I have a perfectly depressing view of the mold-crusted apartment complex next door. It’s not all bad though. If I squish my cheek against the glass I can almost see a sliver of blue sky. Almost. It’s more like a reflection off a window, but hey, if you can’t find positivity, make your own. At least that’s what mom always said.
“Are you ready for this?” Amy, my business partner, asks. She’s sitting across from my desk on a cardboard box that was supposed to serve as a temporary chair. Through some combination of being broke and laziness, it ended up becoming the permanent second chair in the cramped space I call a workplace. Amy’s just a few years older than me, maybe just barely in her thirties, but she has the somewhat irritating habit of getting prettier every year.
“Ready? No,” I say with a little laugh. “What if she takes one look at me and changes her mind?”
Amy hops off her box and moves to where I’m standing by the window. She gently puts her hand on my shoulder and leans in until I’m forced to look at her.
“Mila, listen to me. You’re going to be fine. Fan-fucking-tastic. Okay? I’ve never found a woman you couldn’t match with the man of her dreams. Never once. This isn’t going to be any different.”
“Except this time the client is paying us a small fortune,” I say. “And I’ve never let a client pick the guy I’m supposed to match them with. I’m really starting to wonder how I let you talk me into this.”
“You’re the one always telling clients the nerves they feel are in their head. Right?”
“You’re right,” I say, taking a deep breath. I can do this. It’s just like any other client. Except this time, the client is offering us enough money to change our lives overnight.
“I’m usually right,” Amy states matter-of-factly. “You should probably just get used to it.”
It’s only then I notice the small suitcase sitting beside the box Amy was using as a chair. “What’s that?” I ask.
“You didn’t think I’d let you go out there by yourself, did you? C’mon. You need me! Besides, I can do my job from this,” she says, holding her phone up and winking at me. “I won’t miss a beat. Promise.”
I narrow my eyes. “Since when do you volunteer for extra work?”
Amy makes a show of being offended. “I’m your best employee. You take that back.”
“You’re my only employee.”
She shrugs. “Still.”
“Don’t you think two strangers showing up out of the blue might draw some attention?”
“No,” she says, “because I already cooked up a cover story for us. We’re reporters!”
I wait for the punchline, but it doesn’t come. “A cover story? Since when have we used cover stories?”
“Since when have we gone on the road for a match? Hm? Exactly. See? This is just a perfect example of why you need to have me come along.”
I sigh. “It might actually be useful if people thought we were reporters. It would explain a lot of behavior that’d normally seem weird.”
Amy waits for my final judgment with raised eyebrows and a hopeful grin.
“Fine. You can come.”
“Yesss!” she shrieks, throwing her arms around me and squeezing like she’s trying to pop me.”
Wade’s Creek is more different from my world of steel and concrete than I ever could’ve imagined. A cheery little blue sign on my way into town said: “Population 497, plus you! Welcome to Wade’s Creek!”
I drive over a small, rickety wooden bridge that spans a peaceful stream about ten feet below. After climbing a relatively steep hill, I’m given a full view of the town, which is nestled on either side of the quaint little creek that winds its way down through a valley and cuts the town in two.
The main boulevard of town is like a picture out of a postcard, except it’d be a picture from a sixty or seventy-year-old postcard, because everything from the whitewashed fences, the well-dressed men and women, and the rustic but clean feel of the town screams of a time long gone.
Shops with hand-painted signs are lined up, each looking so pristine I wonder if they re-paint the entire town every year. People stroll the street without the normal rush I see from New Yorkers trying to catch the next train or hurrying to grab a taxi. Every person I pass stares after my car for so long I begin to wonder if something is wrong, but then it occurs to me that there are so few people living here, they probably recognize me as an outsider just from my car.
I pull up beside K.C.’s General Store and step out, flashing an awkward smile to an elderly couple that waves to me as they pass by. I’ve got a room booked at a bed and breakfast nearby, but my rumbling stomach and a hefty dose of curiosity prompt me to check out the store.
I breathe in deeply and close my eyes, letting it all sink in. My big chance. If I land this match for my client, she’s going to pay us enough money to set us up for years. I could expand the business with new employees, a real office, new technology, maybe even a second chair for my office that isn’t made out of cardboard.
I open my eyes because my little mental pep talk only succeeded in making me feel nauseous.
Thankfully the scenery here is beautiful enough to take my mind off everything. The mountains are so far in the distance they’re as blue as waves. The air has a crisp, cleanness that makes me want to suck in as much as I can hold and never let it go. It even sounds peaceful here, like a blanket of quiet hangs over everything, muting even the occasional car engine to little more than a soft hum.
It takes me a second to realize a shadow has fallen over me. I turn and nearly fall back when I see the mountain of a man standing in front of me. Broad shoulders, lean legs, and a plaid button-down shirt with sleeves rolled up to reveal the most to-die-for forearms I’ve ever seen. My eyes climb and climb for what seems like ages before I find the stranger’s face--which somehow puts the rest of his body to shame, if that’s even possible. He has a jawline that makes me want to swoon, thick dark hair, and blue eyes with just a hint of laughter in them.
The man pulls off his cowboy hat and dips his head to me just a fraction, still showing me that cocky half-smile. “Did I startle you, darlin’?” he asks.
Darlin’? I have half a mind to tell him off for assuming he can just walk up and start calling me pet names, but the butterflies and chills that run through me quickly drown out my protests. You’re a matchmaker for God’s sake, Mila. Don’t act so starstruck. Do what you’d tell your clients to do.
“No,” I say, searching for a way to avoid looking like a lovestruck puppy. “But you are in my way, if you don’t mind,” I say, moving past him and toward the entrance of the general store.
My heart is pounding so hard in my chest I’m afraid he’ll hear it. Once I’m inside, I have to remind myself to breathe before I pass out. My God. When things went south with my last ex, I swore I was done with men. And one look at this small-town cowboy already has my years of bitterness flying out the window?
Savage: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance Page 33
