Page 67 of Sacrifice

"Well, I mean," she points to Jorge, then herself, and back to Jorge. "I'm not a guy. So he wouldn't be interested."

Jorge doesn't speak and for once I'm glad I don't have to shoot someone. Mossimo takes Espresso from me and I growl. He looks at me and winks. The fucker.

"Anyone not interested in you must be dead because you are amazing, Aribella." I get up after eating my last bite of food. Standing next to her, I see her plate is empty as well and I'm proud of her for finishing.

She looks up at me with such sincerity; I have to take a deep breath to keep from having my emotions show. I realize this woman can take me down with one damn look. Pushing my hands through her hair, I bend down and kiss her. I'm not sure if it's to stake my claim on her, or if it's so I can taste her mixed with breakfast. Hell, at this point, I'm not sure if fucking matters.

"I've invited Janice to come over here today." I move my thumbs along her cheeks and she smiles. "There are some things I need to finish with Mossimo, and later, my brothers will be here. I'd like you to meet them."

"Thank you, Vincent." Aribella reaches up and pulls me into another kiss. I lose all track of time as we make out right in front of Jorge.

"Alrighty then," Jorge says, and it breaks the spell.

Pulling back, I look down atmi pequeña reina.She's smiling at me.

"Mossimo and I will be in the office for now. But if you need anything, let us know or Jorge. He can assist you." With one last kiss, I walk away with Mossimo trailing behind me.

Once Mossimo sits down in the chair next to my desk, I lock the door and I sit down across from him. "What kind of fucking nonsense is this that you aren't any good to me anymore?"

Steepling my fingers, I look at him, waiting for an answer.

"When your brother, Miguel married, and you found out that his wife had a massive heart condition, you benched him. Hell,Miguel was livid for months that he was no longer welcomed in the family business. But you did what was best for his wife. Which meant he dealt only with the legitimate construction business."

He pauses and I don't speak. No, this is his time to let me know what is going on.

"I don't have two hands, man. How the hell can I possibly run a casino, protect you, and be worth any salt?"

Taking a moment to understand what he's saying, I nod. "You're absolutely right. I did bench him, but I kept him in the family business. He runs a four state operation with one of the highest success rates I've ever seen. Miguel is happy and his wife doesn't have to worry about him coming home at night."

Getting up, I walk over to the far corner of my office, put my hand up against the wall and wait for the beep. The panel opens and I pull out the deed to the casino, plus the expansion plan I had drawn up a few weeks ago. Going back to the desk, I don't sit across from Mossimo. Instead, I sit next to him and open the file.

"This is the plan to rebuild the casino and the expansion plan for it. It would be a full hotel, spa, shopping experience, casino destination. There will be banquet halls for weddings, parties, or whatever people do in these damn things."

Mossimo takes a look at the plans and I can see the excitement in him. "We've talked about this kind of thing for years," his voice is barely a whisper, and I smile. I just might have sold him on taking this over.

"You're right. Mossimo, you've always been more to me than a hired gun. You know that." I put my hand on his shoulder and he looks at me. "We've been fighting alongside each other for years. Hell longer than we should have been. This is what I want for you. To take over this side of our business. Make itlegit,and not a single person can touch it."

As he looks at me, I see the doubt in him, but I also see the need to prove something to himself, and possibly to me. "What about you, Vincent?"

"I can't stay in this life. It finally has clicked why Miguel let me push him out. He had something to bring him home, and to tie his fate to more than war and crime. Diego isn't ready to get out of the game, and I know he has the business savvy to help build this dream of ours. Yes, we had the casino, but we used it for bad. Now that it has crumbled, we can start fresh. I get dividends from all businesses, like I always have. Believe me, I'm ready for retirement."

Nodding his head, he looks me square in the eyes. "I can do this." He smiles and I shake his hand in a hard grip.

"I know you can. You've never let me down, and I know you won't start now."

I'm expecting him to let go of my hand. He pulls me into him for a hard hug and I am glad we got this shit over with. My phone goes off and I sigh. Hell, we’ve been in this office for over two hours. It’s amazing how time flies.

"Looks like my brothers are ready to meetmi reina, Mossimo."

Chapter Thirty

Janice walks in and I cannot contain how happy I am. She grabs me in a tight hug and I let the stress melt away. Sure, Vincent has been doing everything he can to make me feel comfortable, but having Janice here makes me feel better.

"So, another person showed up at the same time as I did, and I'm kind of excited about it," she says softly as she looks back over her shoulder and I move around her.

"Charlotte!" I grab her into a hug and Hypnos comes around the corner along with Kronos and Ayres with the babies. "Oh, my goodness. The whole group is here."

"Janice, this is Charlotte and her husbands." Charlotte hugs Janice and the brothers come up.

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