Page 89 of Wild Ace

“I need you, Vinny. The moment I walked in there, I wish I would’ve told you where I was. The thought of you and us and seeing you again was what drove me to stay calm and do what I went there to do so I could come home to you. And when you pulled up back there and I heard your voice, I’ve never felt relief like that. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d offer to help, and I don’t want your money. I don’t want to be some financial burden you feel you have to help just because we’re… Because I’m…”

“Together? Mine?” I finish for her, and she nods.

A horn blares behind us and I speed off to the next red light.

“If you can’t even admit or say it out loud, then your sentiments don’t mean much, do they? Because I’ve thought of you as mine since I asked you to dance with me in the club.”

“You have?”

“You know I have,” I tell her, my words slicing through the air. “I called you my damn wife before I even knew your name.”

“I know,” she agrees softly.

Lexi puts her hand palm-up between us and I engulf her smaller one in mine, entwining our fingers. I bring our joined hands to my lips and kiss her knuckles.

“There’s been no one else since I laid eyes on you, dolcezza. You’re the missing piece to my puzzle. A perfect fit, made just for me. I know if you were to walk away, you’d take more than just a piece of me with you. You’d leave me with a gaping void I’d never be able to fill again, and you don’t seem to get that. You don’t seem to get that I’d do anything for you. I’d do anything to protect you. I’d give you anything you need, want, or desire. No matter how big or small, if it made you happy and made you smile, then I would do it.”

I hear her sniffle and I look over to see her swipe her cheeks. “Pull over.”

My heart twists. “Dolcezza.”

“Can you please pull over?”

“I’m not letting you out alone at night in the city.”

“I don’t want to get out. Just pull over.”

I park in the next empty street spot I see and look at Lexi, her blue eyes shining from tears.

She reaches up and cups my cheek, and I lean into her touch.

“I’m sorry,” she says, regret dripping from those words and ringing clear in my ears. “I didn’t mean to scare you, or upset you, or make you doubt me and how I feel about you. I need you too, Vinny. I’ve been fighting that fact and denying it when it’s been there the entire time. It's you. You didn’t hesitate to give up your night to help me when you didn’t even know me, and you’ve kept being there even when I yelled at you and told you to leave me alone. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you didn’t listen.”

She blinks out more tears, and this time I wipe them away.

“You’re mine just as much as I’m yours,” she continues, and the admission has my heart soaring. “I’m sorry I lied about tonight and put myself in a position to make you worry. I knew if I told you, then you would tell me not to do it, and I would’ve listened.” She shakes her head, pleading with her eyes to get me to understand her.

“I know I messed up tonight. I know I shouldn’t have been there. I lied to Charles to get him to tell me about any games he knew about, and once I walked in there, I knew it would look bad if I just turned around and asked to leave. So I pushed my fears aside and did what I do best. Win. But then it all took a turn when that guy lost all his money and started yelling at me. He was hauled away, beaten up, and shot. I thought they killed him, Vinny. I thought I was responsible for a man’s death until he came out of the shadows and started yelling at me again. I thought I was going to have to run for my life to my car, and then I heard your voice, and I’ve never been more relieved in my life. Thank you.”

“Anytime, dolcezza. If you need me, I’m there.”

“Thank you,” she whispers.

“I love you, Lexi. So fucking much.” I cover her hand on my cheek with my own and turn my face to kiss the center of her palm. “I know you can do any and everything on your own, but you don’t need to anymore. I want you to share your life with me. The good, bad, and everything in between.”

“I want that too.”

“No more secrets?”

“No more secrets,” she agrees.

Lexi lets the metal briefcase slide to her feet and she tucks her leg under her, using it as leverage to lift herself closer to me.

Pressing her forehead to mine, she cups my face with both hands and pauses, her lips an inch from mine.

Even if she can’t say it back right now, I know she loves me. I can feel it. I can feel it right now as if she’s telling me silently with her mind and hoping I can hear her.

“I hear you, dolcezza,” I whisper against her lips, and she gasps – a sharp intake of breath that brings my lips closer to hers.

---