Page 100 of Love Him Like Water

“It’s his wife, moron,” Elian said, rolling his eyes.

“On paper, right? Right?” he asked, brows scrunching like he’d missed out on something that Elian and Cinna were clearly in on. “Oh, shit,” Rico said to my silence. “You went and caught feelings for your wife?” he asked, shaking his head at me. “Fuck, man. Good luck with that,” he said, clamping a hand on my shoulder. “I’m gonna go ice my ribs.”

With that, he was gone, leaving me standing there with Elian’s sour mood coming off of him in waves.

“You don’t gotta say it. Cinna already chewed me out.”

To that, he nodded.

“What are you gonna do then?” he asked.

“Get her back.”

To that, he nodded.

“Do you know where she went?”

A memory popped up, Lore talking about not telling her family about her getting mugged, especially her older brother. There’d been a softness in her eyes, and a sadness in her voice.

Nico.

She would go to Nico.

“Drive me to Manhattan.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Renzo

“You want me to come up?” Elian asked as we stood there looking up at Nico’s apartment building. All gleaming glass and steel.

Elian’s head was on a swivel, likely feeling as uncomfortable as I was being on the Costa’s turf uninvited. Especially after one of their own ran from me upset.

“No.” I had to do this alone.

“Sure? Lore likes me,” he said, a little smile tugging at his lips at the small taunt.

“Fucked this up by myself. Gotta fix it myself too.”

I’d had a long-ass drive to think, thanks to a shitton of traffic on an already long trip.

I ran through what Cinna said, and circled back, and remembering each time I’d been with my wife. Which, admittedly, was not very often. And mostly consisted of sex.

I mean, when I’d pulled her out of the guest bed and brought her downstairs, I’d told her that I was going to try.

And did I do that?

No.

No, I fucking didn’t.

And while a part of me wanted to make excuses, say I’d been stressed, been trying to figure out what was wrong with my family. The other part of me knew that I didn’t have to work as hard as I did. That I could have delegated more to my capos, to the soldiers, even to the associates.

I’d just… always been the hardest working motherfucker in any room. That was how I got, and kept, my power. How I built this family back up after the last boss tore it down.

It never occurred to me that being married meant I would need to cut back.

I guess I figured that Lore would be happier at home without me, not that she was sitting around waiting for me.

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