The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2) (57 page)

Next week she’d work on that bad habit, because she was guilty of it too as his very expensive tuxedo and her more costly dress were tossed aside. The gun he wore under his jacket ended up lost in silk and lace, forgotten because they were safe for the moment.

The two of them lay spread out on that massive penthouse bed, completely naked, kissing and touching simply because they could, and there was nothing in the world to stop them. The passion was a slow burn this time, filled with awe and gratitude in a way Alaine knew few love stories unfolded. That was the gift of this life she chose; it taught her how precious these things were in ways she couldn’t have comprehended before Miami.

Alaine ended up breathless, sweaty, tugging on his hair and arching her hips to the hot slide of his cock against her bare stomach. Chuito was starting to get desperate too, the tease becoming almost cruel for both of them, but it just felt so good to touch. To take their time. To love each other fully and unconditionally.

“
Eres tan bella, tan sexy
.” Chuito ran a hand up her thigh and then slid his fingers between her folds, tracing the outline of her sex as she moaned and closed her eyes against the white-hot rush of pleasure. “Feels good, mami. You always feel good.
Coño, te lo voy a meter tan duro
.”

Alaine got the impression the things he said in Spanish were hidden on purpose, dirty things he wanted to do to her, so much so he had to say them out loud, even if she couldn’t understand.

And that was okay.

She tossed her head on the comforter while he took his time with touching her. Brushing his thumb against her clit, making the hum of arousal burn brighter. When he finally pushed in, stretching her, she jerked under him. “God, Chu.”

Then she reached up to thread her fingers into his hair and tugged him down, because he had been watching her like it turned him on to see how easily he could make her wet. She kissed him and wrapped her legs around his waist, tangling herself up with him. She opened wide to the thrust of his tongue and pushed her hips against his, letting him know without asking that she needed so much more than just his touch.

She wanted to feel him in her.

Fucking her.

Claiming her.

Fusing the two of them together until it seared their souls to the point that nothing could pull them apart.

Never again.

She was still desperate to hide from the fear, and he was so very good at making her forget.

Chuito stopped kissing her long enough to suck on his fingers indulgently, making it obvious the taste of her got him off, but she was too needy to do anything more than claim his mouth again.

It was Alaine who guided him into her. Then she clung to Chuito, feeling his muscles clench under her fingers when he pushed in deep. She bit her lip to catch the moan as the bliss of coming together like this swept over her, making all the fine hairs on her arms stand on end from the force of it.

It might never be truly soft; even when they tried, the gentleness faded to the rush of passion. The tidal wave of pleasure always made them both greedy, hungry, desperate as they moved against each other, hot and hard until she was screaming and he was groaning against the curve of her neck.

She wasn’t really sure who climaxed first; it was just one pounding, violent crash of ecstasy that washed over both of them, leaving everything a little rosier in its wake. Alaine knew it was probably a lie, but right then she had to agree with Chuito.

Some days it was
very
good to be a gangster.

* * * *

It wasn’t until three days later, when Chuito and Alaine were sitting naked on the king-size bed in the penthouse hotel room Nova had rented for them, that Chuito remembered the envelope Tino had put in the bag.

It took them that long to get around to fetching the wedding bag from Tony.

Now the two of them were surrounded by a sea of white envelopes and cash, another one of the fringe benefits of being a gangster, and Chuito was enjoying the novelty of it as much as Alaine was.

But then she paused on the next envelope, staring at it in complete shock as she pulled out a check. “Is this a joke?”

Chuito reached over and took it from her, looking at the anonymous cashier’s check for five million dollars.

“Is that a joke, Chu?” she repeated as she pointed to the cashier’s check in his hand. “Who put that in there? Is that from Nova? Did Nova give us that much money?”

Tony had swept the room for them when they went down to the beach a few days ago, so they both knew there were no bugs, which made it a lot easier to speak freely. Chuito was almost positive Nova didn’t put anything in the bag, because Nova had pulled Chuito aside privately and given him his envelope, assuming Alaine would probably panic seeing the price tag for their loyalty.

Turned out he’d been right.

Chuito wondered if the brothers had planned it like that, to split the cost down the middle, or if the Morettis thought alike more than they realized.

“We’re definitely gonna have the Feds on our ass,” Chuito whispered as he studied the cashier’s check.

“We can’t take that,” Alaine argued. “You have to give it back to him. We can’t just put a cashier’s check for five million dollars in the bank.”

“Nova said he was gonna set up some different accounts for me. Foreign accounts. I’m gonna have to let him start managing my money, ’cause I don’t know how to hide this shit like he does.”

“Are you considering taking that much money?” Alaine asked in disbelief.

“This isn’t from Nova. It’s from Tino,” Chuito told her with a look of knowing. “This is his blood money. He suffered for it, Alaine. This is his apology to us. We
have
to take it.”

Alaine cupped her hand over her mouth as she stared at the check in Chuito’s hand. Her eyes got glassy, and she shook her head. “We didn’t need this from him.”

“I know,” Chuito told her with a shrug. “But I don’t think it’s about us. He needs us to take it. He’s trying to buy a clear conscience. That’s what they do. It’s the only way Tino has ever learned to make things better. To pay for it. With money or blood or pain. If we don’t take it, that would be bad, Alaine. It would leave him obligated in a way we don’t want for him.”

Alaine was quiet for a long time before she took the check back and slipped it into one of the envelopes. “Can we put it in the safe until Nova can help us figure out how to manage all this? I’ll never be able to leave the room if it’s not locked up.”

“Yeah.” Chuito nodded, keeping to himself that there was already another check in there. Instead he just admired Alaine, taking a moment to appreciate that she understood just how important keeping the gift was. “I love you, mami.”

She gave him a watery smile. “I love you too.”

Epilogue

Garnet County

Their honeymoon wasn’t long enough.

Just one week at the beach, which made Alaine more pink than tan, because she enjoyed the novelty of the ocean a little too much.

She was very freckled and rosy by the time she, Chuito, Tino, and Nova were forced to say good-bye to Chuito’s family because they had decided that they needed to go back to Garnet. One small side trip, alone and free of the mafia entourage, before life got crazy again.

Jules had a fit when she found out they’d gotten married, especially after seeing all the pictures that had been posted to social media of Chuito and Alaine arriving at the hotel.

Eloping was a decent excuse for the mad dash to Miami. The wedding had provided an alibi for everything else.

But they all knew no one in Garnet believed it.

So the big party Jules threw at the Cellar had banners that said congratulations, but everyone there knew it was really a good-bye party…for all of them.

And no one was doing a good job at pretending.

“I don’t understand,” Jules sobbed in the ladies’ room as she leaned against the sink and put her face in her hands. “Can you tell me? I know they won’t, but I need to know why we’re losing all of you.”

“We just want to see the world a little,” Alaine lied as she felt tears sting her eyes too. “I’ve never been to New York and—”

“Oh my God,” Jules cut her off with another sob. “Just don’t. If you can’t tell me why my babies are losing Tino, and I’m losing one of my best friends, and the Cellar is losing Chuito, then I don’t want to hear the bullshit.”

“I’m sorry,” Alaine whispered as she wiped at her cheeks. “It’s not forever.”

“The twins asked for Tino every day that he was gone.” Jules shook her head and looked to the door. “I don’t understand why Tino has to go. I don’t understand why you have to go either. Can’t Chuito leave you here if he has to—”

“I don’t want him to leave me here,” Alaine cut her off. “Would you want Romeo to leave you behind?” That really ripped Jules up. She just started sobbing, and all Alaine could do was hug her and say, “I love you.”

“No,” Jules snapped at her. “You’re leaving. What am I going to do with the office? You’re abandoning me.”

“Don’t. Please.” Alaine didn’t let her go; she just hugged her tighter because she knew Jules was angry and grasping at straws. “We need to make this day good. Somehow, Jules, try and make this day good.”

“Romeo’s not even speaking to Nova,” Jules choked out. “They got into a horrible fight last night when y’all got back. It was bad. Really bad. It’s like Nova’s taking his other child from him. We got Tino out, and now—”

“Hey.” Alaine pulled away from Jules and squeezed her shoulders. “You do know that Tino can take care of himself, don’t you? And it’s not Nova making him go. It’s the other way around. He didn’t really give Nova a choice in the matter. I know because I listened to them argue about it at every pit stop between Miami and Garnet. We finally had to separate them and take Tino in the GL with us.”

Jules shook her head. “No, he doesn’t belong in that life. He’s like my baby too and—”

Alaine couldn’t help it; she laughed. “Jules, Tino does just fine. He’s—” She shrugged, not knowing how else to put it. “He’s actually a lot more than any of you give him credit for. He lets you baby him so you won’t see that he’s the very last man in the world who needs to be protected. He’s been protecting you instead. Honor it. Let him do what he feels like he needs to do.”

Jules took a shuddering breath and asked, “What if he doesn’t come back? What if none of you come back?”

Alaine wanted to promise her that they would, but instead she just repeated, “Make this day good, Jules.”

Jules let out a horrible wail of agony and stood there shaking and crying because her family was being ripped apart, and she couldn’t even know the reason why.

Alaine was really glad she’d had the party in Miami, because if this had been her real wedding party, it would be horrible. People there knew how to live in the moment. They enjoyed the good times, because they didn’t know when it was all going to fall apart.

Jules didn’t understand.

No one here did.

“You’re gonna clean up,” Alaine said as she grabbed paper towels and handed them to Jules. “Then we’re going out there, and you are going to treat Tino like a brother you trust will come back and know he will bring Nova back with him. He is
not
your baby. He is a man who will do everything he can to come back to those twins. That, I
will
promise you.”

“How can I know that?” Jules wiped at her face with a paper towel. “I have no way of knowing.”

“’Cause I am telling you,” Alaine assured her, because Chuito had eventually told her the details of what happened in the house while she was upstairs. “I have seen him in action, Jules, and he is awe-inspiring.”

Jules paused at that and lowered her hand, looking to Alaine with tear-filled eyes. “Can we fix this? Can Wyatt fix it?”

Alaine shook her head. “No.”

“Maybe if you told me why. I don’t understand why you have to be involved. I don’t understand why Chuito is either, and—”

Alaine huffed and looked to the ceiling, searching for a lie. “’Cause Nova paid me five million dollars to be his lawyer. So consider me shallow enough to accept it, and consider Chuito shallow enough to decide that he was tired of concussions and bruises. That’s a lot of money.”

“I don’t believe it,” Jules announced with the conviction of a woman who knew Alaine too well.

“I can show you the receipt,” Alaine countered. “You have to get over your shit, Jules. Have you ever once stopped to think that maybe the reason Nova agreed to take Tino is to protect you? Has Romeo stopped to think about that when he was tearing into Nova? Did he stop to think what it must be like for Nova to choose between which brother he gets to protect? Maybe your real babies are safer with them gone, and they know it. I’m going to leave you in here to think about that, but I will be praying that you find a way to enjoy your day with them at some point. I’m gonna pray you talk Romeo into it too, because Tino and Nova love you enough to make sure there is no reason for anyone to come looking for them in Garnet.”

Then Alaine walked away. She found Chuito sitting at a table despite the music and most of the people at the party having no idea how truly depressing it was. Next to him was Wyatt, holding his daughter, whose hair was such a bright shade of red it glowed copper under the fluorescent lights.

Despite the baby in his arms, Wyatt seemed to be having a heated conversation with Chuito, who was looking at the ceiling like Alaine had done in the bathroom.

“I have a vested interest in your success,” Wyatt was barking at Chuito. “Do you know how much money I’ve put into your career, and you’re just gonna walk away from it?”

“Oh, now it’s about money when you got a perfectly good replacement for me in Javier. Maybe a
better
replacement, because he is younger and the titles still mean something to him,” Chuito snapped as if he’d lost his patience. “Do you want money? Do you want me to pay you back even though we both know you’ve made a hundred times your investment off me?”

“No, I want you to stay,” Wyatt shot back, his eyes as glassy as Jules’s had been in the bathroom. “I want you to talk Tino into staying. I don’t want my sister to lose her family. I don’t want my nephews to lose their uncle, and I don’t want my friend to go off and do God knows what in New York. Why did this happen? You promised me you’d keep out of trouble. I trusted you.”