Page 43 of The Prices We Pay
“I won’t tell anyone, I swear,” I answer quickly.
Seb smiles. “I know you won’t, Love.”
“What about Harper and her husbands?” I stumble a little bit at the use of the term husbands, but none of them correct me, so I must be right.
Enzo huffs out a laugh and says, “Bella ran into a little bit of trouble last year. They know Pascal from Kings, so he brought us in to help them.” He shoves another pile of noodles into his mouth and points his chopsticks at me, speaking through the mouthful of food. “Which we did seamlessly, by the way.”
“But we never told them exactly how we know how to do what we do, and they had the good sense not to ask.”
“Why would they not ask?”
“Ronan, Mac, and Finn are the heads of the Irish Mafia,” Dante answers. “They know when and when not to ask questions.”
“I—they—what?”
“Pretty cool, right?” Enzo asks.
“So, Irish mafia good, Russian mafia bad?” I ask, not even believing I’m having this conversation.
Luca smiles as he says, “Basically, yes.”
“That makes this all so much less confusing,” I answer sarcastically.
“I know, Love. This is a lot of information to be thrown at once. But the most important thing to know is that we trust you, and we want you to trust us.” Sebastian eyes me sympathetically. “We’re not going to lie to you. You’re a smart woman.”
“Obviously,” I add with a wink, which he reciprocates, and I practically feel it sent straight to my pussy.
“If the Bratva is involved, there’s going to be some dangerous stuff that’s going to happen. But nothing is going to happen to you. We will be here every step of the way. Okay?”
I’m entirely aware that, regardless of how much they want to, they can’t control everything. Nor can they guarantee with absolute certainty that nothing is going to happen to me. But I also know that they are going to do everything in their power to keep me safe from harm. “Okay. I just have one more question… for now.”
“Ask us anything, Sweetheart.”
“Why is the Bratva stealing from you? I mean, out of all people, why you guys?”
“Honestly…” Luca says, “They have moles all over the city. We presented them with an easy target, and they found our weak spot. I should have been changing the delivery schedules to and from the port more frequently, but I got lazy. They got a payday from my negligence, and now they don’t want to lose it. Little do they know who exactly they’re fucking with.”
A smug smile forms on my face at Luca’s vengeful tone.
“Thank you for trusting me with this—for being upfront with me.” It’s not lost on me how big of a deal this is. They didn’t have to tell me anything. They could have kept me completely in the dark. They’re giving me the opportunity to remain as in control of my life as possible. And as someone who grew up in a world that she had absolutely no control over and fought tooth and nail to get it all back, they’ll never know how much that means to me.
20
Josephine
I’ve been tossing and turning for the past thirty minutes, and I literally cannot handle another minute of it. Looking at my phone, I realize I must have fallen asleep for a little while because it’s now almost two-thirty in the morning. All four of the guys hung out in my apartment for the rest of the day. We relaxed, watched movies, and—much to Enzo’s enjoyment—played several rounds of charades, which, as a shocker to literally no one, Dante and Luca absolutely sucked ass at. That is, when they actually tried. Even Stevie Wonder could have seen that they would have rather been doing literally anythingelse.
Regardless of what happened that morning, the rest of the day was honestly perfect. I loved seeing a different side of them in such a relaxed environment, especially in the comfort of my own home. It felt like they belonged there.
We didn’t discuss anything overly heavy the rest of the day, each of us having a mutual understanding that we all had enough seriousness for at least twenty-four hours. The only thing we all decided on was that, until the situation was handled, I wouldn’t be staying in my apartment alone. The four of them seemed to understand how important it was for me to stay here, and they didn’t push me when I stood my ground on the subject.
So, until further notice, I have the pleasure of hosting at least one of them a night, and Enzo so graciously volunteered to take the first shift.
Oh darn. How will I possibly handle having hot men in my apartment every single night?
However, that might be why I’m not sleeping well. I couldn’t tell you the last time someone stayed in my apartment. Sometimes, I even wonder why I have a guest room in the first place.
My lack of sleep could also be related to the fact that I have unknowingly attracted the attention of the Bratva.
