Page 89 of Cardinal

"Wait, so, are you two really married now? Like legally?" Gale knew about that night. Hell, he knew more about my life than he probably should, but we shared nearly everything with each other. I mean, I definitely knew way too much about his life behind closed doors than other people. I didn't get into full detail with him about the events of that night, but he got the Sparks Note version of it, basically.

"Eh? I mean, the papers are signed, but they're not filed or anything." Yeah, the papers from that one night still sat in limbo, but that's only because we were having a little too much fun with the whole husband and wife thing.

Lifting an eyebrow at me, Gale leaned back in his seat and sipped at his coffee. "Why don't you guys just file it then? I mean, you two are headed in that direction. Besides, you're not one for the grand wedding kind of shit. I mean, you barely want to throw your own birthday party every year." He had a good point.

"Well…" I started, dragging out my unsure voice and rubbing the back of my neck. "I mean, it just feels kind of rushed? Too soon? We haven't even been together for a year. Not that I plan on leaving him, but what if something happens down the line a few years from now?"

It really did feel too soon, even if things felt perfect right now. I mean, what if things fell apart after our honeymoon period? What if he got tired of me? What if he woke up one day three years down the line and decided I wasn't enough for him? Or that he was tired of me? Surely, a man like him wanted a woman, not some girl half his age who caused more trouble than good in his life.

"Hey." My body flinched at the feeling of something hitting my face. "Don't." Gale's firm voice warned me, along with his soft glare. "Don't start going down that rabbit hole. You two are perfect for each other, really." Gale assured me with a smile before balling up another piece of ripped napkin and throwing it at me. "I really hope I find someone who looks at me like how you two look at each other. The way your eyes light up at the slightest glance at each other, the uncontrollable smiles. If that's not true love, I don't know what is."

"You sound like a sappy movie." I jokingly remarked with a dry chuckle. "There's no way we look like that, especially Luciano."

"Juliet, that's what makes it true love. Men like him never show their hearts, keep a mask on, all that shit, but there's no hiding true love that comes through no matter what. That dude is wrapped around your finger, well, body in this case." Gale teased with a smirk, earning a middle finger from me. "You two are the epitome of love and relationships."

"Okay, quit sounding stupid and cheesy." I playfully scoffed with a roll of my eyes. "Let's just finish our coffee and spend some money."

"Seriously though, I say file those papers to make things official. I mean, you already took his last name." Gale commented before chugging down his drink. "And by the way, tell Luciano thank you."

My face instantly furrowed together in genuine confusion. "For?" I wasn't aware of anything, and Luciano definitely hadn't told me anything.

"The anonymous grant donation for me to attend Cornell," Gale replied with a breathy and confused chuckle of his own. "I mean, I don't want to take the hand-out, but I can't give up a chance at Cornell. So, tell him thanks."

Well, if this was true, then it would be the first time I had heard about it. "Sure, I'll tell him. But congrats, I'm really glad and happy for you. I know how much you wanted to go to Cornell and how bummed you were because of the cost, so I'm really happy for this opportunity for you. Even if it's coming from Luciano."

"He's not gonna, like, come after me in a few years and demand I work for him for helping me, is he?" Gale's nervous joke was strained out between his chuckles as he looked at me with an unsure but hopeful smile.

Smiling, I shook my head at Gale, waving my hand dismissively. "Luciano isn't like that. Contrary to what people say and what goes around the street, he is a good man. Unless you begged him for the money as a loan, he's not gonna go after you." I highly doubted this was the case because Gale wasn't the type of person to do something like that. "Besides, if he did do something like that, then he would have to go through me first, which he won't."

Honestly, Luciano was that bad of a man. However, he was only a bad man to bad people. Other than that, he was a good man—at least, as good as a mafia boss could be. "Oh, kinda unrelated, but what did he say to that idea about you starting up a little hacking and tracking business for pedos on the black market?"

"Surprisingly, he's cool about it and gonna help me, and Aidan is fine with Evie helping as well." Granted, there were a lot of stipulations, but they were ones I could live with. "We're still kinda setting things up, but the first stint should happen soon." One less creep out there in the world meant at least one person could sleep soundly.

"Are you fine with handling all of that, though? Not that I'm doubting you, but I just want to make sure you're fine mentally." And leave it to Gale to naturally worry about me when I couldn't find the time to do it myself. "And what about when school starts up? Are you sure you can handle a full schedule on top of that?"

"Yes, dad, I can," I replied sarcastically. "Most of it is a waiting game for someone to take the bait, unfortunately, and even after we get a bite, it still takes a little bit to trace shit. Besides, I'm not too worried about my classes this first term."

Sighing softly, Gale's eyes softened at me with concern as he looked at me for a few seconds. "Just take it easy, alright? Don't bite off more than you can chew."

Assuring him with a confident smile, I reached over and patted his forearm. "Don't worry, I will." Thankfully, I had a very good support system to help me through every step of the way now.

"Look at us two, future founder of the cure for cancer, world renown hacker who is gonna shut down the black market in New York and Florida. What a dashing pair of friends we are." I boosted with a grin and laugh.

Rolling his eyes, he sipped his drink before smiling at me half-heartedly. "Just because I'm going to be a geneticist doesn't mean finding the cure for cancer is in the cards for me. Like, it would be totally awesome if it was because that's ending a whole world of suffering." Gale was too humble sometimes, I swear.

"Gale, you got one hell of a brain up in that noggin of yours that needs to be used, and Cornell is going to pry all those juicy secrets out into the open." It was the honest truth, Gale was stupid smart, like nearly got full marks on his SATs and ACTs stupid smart. Hell, he got some stupid high mark on a mock MCAT he took a while back for shit and giggles on a bet from another person in our friend group.

"Okay, but the cure for cancer is a huge reach because it's more complex than people make it seem. I probably have a better chance of curing diabetes before cancer." Gale retorted with a soft chuckle. "But thank you for the faith in me. I promise I won't let you down, and if I get to name anything I discover or create, the first one is gonna be after you."

"As long as it's not some stupid bacteria that's annoying or some shit." I joked, flashing him a big grin.

"Oh please, you are above eukaryotes and prokaryotes." He remarked with a snort and playful chuckle. "Now, hush and finish. We got a whole mall to scour and a lot of time to burn through."

Finishing our drinks, the two of us took our time scouring every inch of the three-story mall for hours, filling every inch of our arms with bags from a majority of the stores—my bodyguards' arms were lined with bags, too. Then, after we dropped all our bags off at the car, we went for a fancy dinner because why not. It had been a while since Gale and I had a chance to hang out like this ever since the cleaning of New York went underway, so I figured I might as well enjoy it to the fullest.

"Thank you for this." Gale gave me a side hug as the two of us made our way to the car from the restaurant. "I'll make it up to you, promise."

Scoffing playfully, I playfully backhand his chest. "Hey, don't worry about it. You deserve to be spoiled. Besides, you put up with my shit, so consider this payment for that and all future occurrences." I don't know how Gale and Luciano put up with half my crap most days because I know how much of a pain in the ass I could be.

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