The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2) (56 page)

She laughed and asked, “What’re you going to do if he doesn’t?”

“Beat the ever-loving fuck out of him.” Tino gave her that handsome smile that made every single woman at this wedding giggly. “’Cause you’re special, Alaine. I mean that.”

She hugged him, because Tino was one of those men who was just so easy to hug. “Thank you, Tino. You’re special too. Very special.”

“Don’t.” Tino shook his head, the guilt shining in his eyes. “I’m sorry about what happened. I haven’t told you I’m sorry, and you were the first one I should’ve said it to.”

“Today is my wedding day. No one’s allowed to be sad at my wedding. Yesterday is over. Today is perfect.”

“Okay.” He nodded, as if he understood better than most. “I’m gonna try really hard to make sure your tomorrow is perfect too. I owe you that. I owe both of you.”

“I believe you.” Alaine gave him another smile, because she could tell how genuine the vow was. It wasn’t a guarantee, but it was a promise to try and that mattered, especially from a man like Tino who, they’d learned firsthand, was a force to be reckoned with when he was protecting someone. She hugged Tino again and reminded him, “It’s because of you we’re having a wedding. So let’s enjoy it.”

And they did.

Everyone.

For the moment, they just stopped worrying about tomorrow and made the day beautiful.

Chapter Forty-Nine

There had been a time in the foreclosure house when Alaine had wondered why anyone would choose crime over security. Then she got married into the mafia and saw the other side of the coin.

It was more than wealth.

There was this entire undercurrent of society that had a hierarchy. One that Nova was clearly at the top of, or at least close enough to be something akin to a king.

Or a god.

Alaine still had rice in her hair, and she sat in the limousine Nova had rented, trying to get it out. The ride hadn’t been long enough, because neither Alaine nor Chuito felt comfortable going too far for a honeymoon, but they did both feel like they had earned some alone time.

The car was beautiful, but she hadn’t appreciated it like she should.

The second they were alone, Chuito had kissed her, and the two of them got sidetracked, because the driver in the front couldn’t see them. Chuito looked a little too handsome in that tuxedo to resist. When they pulled to a stop, Alaine was flat on her back on the long bench, with Chuito’s big body over hers. The top three buttons to his shirt were undone, and his tie was abandoned somewhere on the floorboards.

So Alaine sat there, straightening her hair, rice falling into her lap while someone knocked on the window.

Chuito stuffed the tie into his pocket and opened the door faster than Alaine was ready for.

“Mr. Garcia.” A man in a suit looked past Chuito to Alaine. “Mrs. Garcia. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Alaine said with a smile as she kept running her fingers through her hair that had been up but was now a tangle of curls, bobby pins, and flowers. She worked faster at taking it out.

“My name is Raul. I’m your personal concierge assigned by the management. They also send their congratulations.”

“Gracias,” Chuito said and then went on in Spanish as if sensing Alaine needed the break.

The two of them had a conversation while Alaine did the best she could with making herself presentable. Then she leaned forward and rubbed at Chuito’s neck, because there was lipstick there.

At least she hoped it was lipstick.

The two of them really needed to work on that bad habit.

She thought she heard the name Moretti in there a few times, but then Raul said to her, “Anything you need, I’m here to help.”

“Do we need help with anything?” Alaine asked Chuito.

“No,” Chuito said with a smile but reached into his pocket. “This is gonna be the easiest gig you’ve had all year. We’re not leaving the room.”

Alaine hit him, but Raul just laughed.

“Well, if you do, I’m giving you my personal number. My assistant will be available during the late-night hours.” He held up a hand when Chuito pulled out cash. “Mr. Moretti already took care of it.”

“Take it, bro.” Chuito put the cash in his hand. “Mr. Moretti won’t know.”

Raul looked behind him, and Alaine noticed for the first time some of the Italians who had been watching the house had followed them to the hotel.

“They’re not gonna tell,” Chuito assured him and then grabbed Alaine’s hand. “I think they got my back.”

“It’s between us.” An Italian Alaine knew as Tony gave Chuito a smile. He’d been working guard duty a lot, and he was very intense about it. “You’re sorta causing a scene, though. We should probably get upstairs.”

Alaine saw what he meant when she got out. People were standing around, taking pictures and filming with their phones. At first she just thought it was the spectacle of their mafia entourage. It was surely what tipped everyone off, but that wasn’t why they stayed around. The real reason didn’t hit her until someone called out, “Slayer, one picture?”

“Not today.” Tony held up his hand, giving the man a harsh glare. “He just got married.”

“Oh my God,” Alaine whispered, staring, because after five years, this was the first time she got to see Chuito’s celebrity status in person.

It was really amazing, until she realized he was giving it all up.

Then it was just sort of sad.

“It’s okay, mami,” Chuito whispered in her ear as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

She nodded, feeling her eyes get misty, and she was suddenly glad for their new Italian friends clearing their way through the lobby, even if it did make them more of a spectacle.

People took videos and pictures until Chuito and Alaine got into the elevator. The other Italians stayed downstairs, but Tony stepped in the elevator with them as Raul slipped a card into the slot and pushed the top button for them. Then he handed the key card to Chuito. “It’s just your party on the top floor.”

“Are y’all staying?” Alaine asked Tony with a frown.

“In another room. We’ll be invisible,” Tony said as he held up his hands as if he understood her concern. “You won’t know we’re there unless you need us.”

“We’re not gonna need you.” Chuito grinned. “You guys need to get some rest. You missed both parties. I dunno why you keep ending up with the shit jobs.”

“This isn’t a shit job,” Tony assured him. “This is an easy job.”

Something about that seemed to sober Chuito, and when the elevator chimed, he turned to Raul. “We’ll call you if we need you.”

“You’re sure?” Raul asked, as if he sensed he was being dismissed.

“We’re sure,” Tony answered for him. “I know where the room is.”

Alaine, Chuito, and Tony stepped off the elevator, but Raul went back down. Then Chuito turned to Tony and said, “I know you had to clean up my shit.”

Tony shook his head. “Mr. Garcia—”

“Chuito,” he corrected him.

“Chuito, it’s fine. I have a lot of reasons to be loyal to Nova.” Tony sounded honest and then said in a very New York accent, “Forget about it.”

Chuito handed him a much larger roll of cash than he’d given Raul. “Take it.” Tony hesitated, but Chuito said, “It’d be an insult not to.”

“Well, I’d hate to insult you.” Tony pocketed the cash. “You’re high on my list of guys I
do not
want to piss off.”

Chuito laughed. “Jesus, man—”

“Go enjoy your honeymoon,” Tony said dismissively. “I’ll have the boys bring your stuff up and leave it outside the door.”

“We forgot the bag in the limo,” Alaine gasped as she remembered the silk bag full of envelopes.

“We got it,” Tony promised her. “I’ll keep it in my room—1825. Just come knock when you want it.”

“Thank you, Tony,” Alaine said with a smile. “We appreciate you.”

“Congratulations.”

“Yeah.” Alaine nodded, remembering the crowd downstairs, and realized again how much Chuito was giving up. Until now, she’d been very selfish in what she had mourned losing. “Maybe we’ll meet again after this week.”

“It’s very likely,” Tony said to her. “I’m not part of the Miami crew. I followed Nova down from New York after he took off. I was meeting up with him when he got Tino’s text.”

“Oh,” Alaine whispered and then couldn’t resist asking, “Aldo sent you?”

Tony shook his head. “No. I sent myself. I’m one of his personal bodyguards.”

“I see.” Alaine met Chuito’s gaze, seeing that he was also studying Tony. Then she turned back to the young, handsome Italian who was taller than most of his friends. “Well, then you never know.”

Tony shrugged. “You never know.”

“You probably didn’t need my cash,” Chuito said with a laugh.

“Probably not,” Tony agreed. “But the gesture meant something. Truly.”

Tony showed them their room, as if this wasn’t the first time the Italians had used it. Then he disappeared into a room across the way. There weren’t many rooms on this floor. The doors were so spread out, and when Chuito slipped the key card into their door and opened it, she saw why.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, because all she could do was gape as he closed the door behind her.

She was so stunned she ended up gasping when Chuito swept her into his arms. It made her temporarily forget Tony and the questions she had about what was going to happen.

This wasn’t a room; it was a penthouse, with an amazing view of the ocean.

When Chuito found the master bedroom and tossed her on the bed, she had to roll over and just stare out the window with wide eyes. “This is the first time I’ve seen it.”

“What?” Chuito followed her gaze.

“The ocean,” she whispered in awe, even if the setting sun was about to ruin her view of it. “I forgot it was here.”

“You forgot the ocean was in Miami?” Chuito asked with amusement.

“I’ve had other things going on,” she reminded him and then turned back to Chuito, who crawled on the bed with her. She couldn’t help but ask in a hushed whisper, “Is Tony a good guy or a bad guy?”

Chuito held his finger to his lips and mouthed the word,
Feds
.

“Here?” she asked in disbelief.

“They probably cleaned the place, but just in case.” Chuito shrugged. “We’ll just keep it general.”

“Good or bad?” she asked again.

“I don’t know for sure,” Chuito said as he looked past the bedroom door thoughtfully and then turned back to Alaine. “But when I was twelve, my brother Juan adopted this fucking cat. He wanted the cat, so we let him keep the damn cat. It was Juan’s cat. Only, he was a kid, so you know, he didn’t feed the cat. Marcos fed the cat, ’cause that’s what Marcos does, takes care of everyone else’s strays.”

“Okay,” Alaine whispered, because she understood Chuito was telling her something else. She just had to decipher it. “Go on.”

“So, this fucking cat loved Marcos, and it didn’t matter how many times Juan said it was
his
; the cat still crawled into Marcos’s bed every night.”

“’Cause he fed it,” Alaine whispered in understanding.

“Yeah, the cat wasn’t loyal to Juan. Who the fuck was Juan to him? Just some kid who stomped his feet and said it belonged to him. All the cat knew was the one putting food in his bowl every morning was Marcos.”

“Is that a true story?”

Chuito nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. My cousin’s still taking care of other people’s strays. Only now, it’s teenagers. I wish he would’ve stuck with the cats.”

Alaine laughed but then sobered as she looked at Chuito. “How many cats does he feed?” she asked, hoping Chuito understood she was asking about Nova instead of Marcos. “Do you think the cats understand he’s the one who feeds them?”

“I think
that
cat understands,” Chuito clarified as he tilted his head to the door, indicating Tony. “I think most of them do.”

“So, the old man was pissed off the cats weren’t his anymore?” Alaine asked.

“Yeah, egos are a bitch,” Chuito agreed.

“I had someone tell me pride fucks up business faster than a love story,” Alaine whispered, remembering Nova telling her that in the house the night before everything went bad. “I guess it’s true.”

Chuito snorted. “It’s
very
true.”

“Can we do this, Chu?” Alaine asked him, because knowing they had others on their side made it seem a little easier. “Do you think we can do this?”

“Yeah,” Chuito whispered, sounding confident. “I think we can do this.”

“Will there be cats to help?” she asked, because it seemed so daunting with just the four of them. “Lots of cats.”

“Maybe more than we realize,” Chuito said thoughtfully. “He has spent a lot of years solving a lot of problems for a lot of people.”

Alaine looked at her hands, hoping it was true.

That Nova had fed enough cats to help them all survive this.

“I’m sad about the fighting, Chu,” she whispered, because it was easier than admitting she was still scared. “It seems like such a waste to retire so young.”

“Well, you know, mami.” Chuito stretched out on the bed. “There’s something to be said about going out on top, with all my faculties intact. Fighting’s not exactly great for my health.”

“Luckily you plan to just retire to a life of nice, easygoing luxury,” she said sarcastically as she fell down next to him and stared out the window. “But the view is nice.”

“Some days it feels good to be a gangster,” he offered in a lazy voice. She turned to look at him in horror, and he laughed. “It’s a song.”

“Is it?”

He nodded and laughed again. “Just a song.”

“But it
is
true.” Alaine rolled up to him. “Some days it’s good.”

“Some days,” he agreed as he ran a hand through her hair and then pulled her closer.

Chuito leaned up and captured her lips with his, letting his tongue slip past her lips when she parted to him. The two of them kissed long enough for her to forget the bad parts and just savor being Chuito’s wife, in his arms, with his ring on her finger and his hard cock pressing against her hip.

Chuito rolled them over and moved down to her neck, sucking and licking even though she had to use a lot of makeup to cover up all the other marks on her body.

Today she didn’t care.