Page 124 of Not Mine to Keep

I was teetering just on the edge of sanity as I replayed the plan again. I owed my father beers for life for intervening.

“I was the one who agreed,” Calliope said. “Be mad at me, too. I-I just wanted to help somehow. Make myself useful because you were gone, and maybe I ... was scared you weren’t going to come home, sowhy not risk my life? And I’d rather it be my life than your family taking more chances, and—”

“Stop.” I let go of Gabriel at her words and spun around to see her crying. Crushing her against me, I held her tight, resting my chin on top of her head. “You’re never allowed to risk your life, you hear me?” I shifted my mouth closer to her ear and whispered, “And I’m not mad at you. I never could be.” Okay, maybe that was a lie, because I was pissed. The fact she was willing to possibly take a bullet ... fuck that. Fuck it to hell and back and then again. “Never ever do anything that places your life in danger. You got it?” I stroked her back, then met my father’s eyes and gave him a nod of thanks.

He nodded back, then gestured for my mom, Izzy, and Constantine to clear out.

Right, I still needed to confront Gabriel about why else he was here. But first I had to get my heart to calm down from wild to normal.

“I’m sorry,” she said into my chest.

“Don’t.” I swallowed. “Don’t apologize. You’re okay, that’s all that matters.” I untangled our bodies and turned to look at Gabriel.

“I shouldn’t have listened to my case officer,” Gabriel said once Calliope was at my side. “I’m sorry, Callie. But I’m here for more than an apology.”

Keeping my distance, still kind of wanting to throttle him, I hooked my arm behind her back and waited for him to continue.

Gabriel stepped away from the wall. “First, I’m glad you’re okay. I wanted to reach out sooner after they found you, but I was tied up in jail until Armani accepted the offer. I had to wrap up things with AISE after that.”

Armani was why we’d all begun working together in the first place, and if not for him, the Barones wouldn’t be dead, a new conflict may not have been averted, a Russian oligarch wouldn’t be arrested, and I wouldn’t be ... well,married.

“As you know, AISE had enough evidence to lock Armani up for three lifetimes regardless,” he went on when I remained quiet. “Butsince the DiMaggios weren’t their targets, they held off on doing anything with it. Clearly, AISE has no choice now but to convict him.”

“Get to your point,” I urged, still a bit unhinged.

“The plan was always for Calliope to pass the power over to me, so I could continue to help AISE catch more dangerous criminals, and then eventually we’d dismantle the DiMaggio organization from the inside, once Armani died.” Gabriel said what I already knew. “They were concerned that arresting Armani would jeopardize that opportunity, but he gave us the new plan on a silver fucking platter, just as your father predicted he would.”

Calliope took an eager step forward, so I went with her. I was never letting this woman from my sight again, dammit.

“I visited Armani with his lawyer yesterday, and he told me why he arranged for my release. He hoped I could help Calliope prevent the collapse of the organization. Transition her into the role of taking over one day. But to remove some heat from his daughter, he wants me to run things until you two have an heir. By then, he thinks it’ll be safer for Calliope to step in.” He opened his palms. “Of course, he’ll be dead and never know you won’t be taking over anything. But this keeps you safe from anyone connected to the DiMaggio crime family ever coming after you.” He gave me a subtle nod as if hoping for my approval, but I wasn’t ready to give it quite yet. “Then when the time comes, I’ll help end the organization for good as planned, and Calliope can keep living her life how she wants without worry.”

Calliope shocked me, and probably Gabriel, by reaching out and hugging him. “Thank you.”

How could I kill him now? “If anything changes, you’ll let us know,” I said once she was back at my side.

“Of course.” Gabriel tipped his head toward my wife. “Rosa sends her love. And so does ... Armani.”

“I would’ve regretted personally killing him, but that doesn’t change the fact I want nothing to do with that man,” she said. “So he can take his love and shove it up his ass.”

And there was my Little Miss. God, I loved this woman so much.

Gabriel eyed me next. “Too soon for a handshake or something?”

“Too soon. But keep doing the right thing, and maybe one day we’ll have a drink together.” That was a bigmaybe.

His smile made it hard to hate the fucker. Damn him. Then he quietly left the room, and once I was alone with my wife, I pulled her back into my arms.

“I still can’t believe you agreed to his plan,” I said into her ear in case my family happened to be hovering out in the hall. “The idea makes me want to—”

“Swat my ass?” Her hands slid to my chest, and I dropped my chin to catch her eyes.

“We really need to get back to our place.” As I dipped in, preparing to kiss her, she closed her eyes, but first there was something I wanted to ask. “Unless you want our home to be in Nashville?”

Her eyes flashed open, and she quietly stared at me before whispering, “I want to be around family. Your family. And now they’re my family. If you’ll have me, I want to stay in New York.”

“You’re sure?” My heart had been racing earlier, during the confrontation with Gabriel, but now it flew.

“I’m more than sure,” she said before my mouth crashed down over hers.

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