Page 59 of Breakup Games

“Smart, but not worth your safety. And I got you.” I stretch my legs out and pull her to me. “We do make a good team.”

“We do.” Mira rests her head against me and closes her eyes. Enzo is in custody and he assaulted a federal agent in his attempt to escape. It was enough for an arrest, and he actually had drugs on him. It was the perfect storm and just enough to give us clearance for a warrant to search his apartment.

“But that is done. I’m never putting you in harm's way again.”

“Hey, you got the bad guy because of me.” She tips her head up for a kiss. “And you also got me.”

“I like that more,” I say with a laugh, though it hits me as soon as the words leave my mouth. I do like it more. My life, up until now, has been about catching the next guy. No matter what, I always wanted another chase. It kept me going…and kept me distracted. Because now I want something else—someone else.

I’ve never craved a person before, and how much I want Mira almost scares me. Because I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough. Every touch, every kiss…it only leaves me wanting more and I know there is only one thing I want to spend the rest of my life not just chasing, but loving and protecting.

Mira.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

MIRA

“Holy shit.”

“Language,” Mom chastises, raising her eyebrows. “There are little ones around.”

“Eh, they say worse,” Beth confesses and we laugh. “And holy shit is right. I can’t believe you were working on this the whole time and didn’t tell us!”

I’m at my mom’s for Sunday brunch and I have the newspaper spread out in front of us. My parents still get it, and I almost forgot how shocking it is to see the large printed letters forming the headline of an article.

And right now we’re staring at the front page, which is about the FBI’s big bust on organized crime in Chicago. Lorenzo is in jail and the FBI recovered a bunch of evidence from his downtown apartment. There aren’t details in the paper, but I know from Mason, they found the keys to a truck, linking him to the Bow Tie murders. There are still a lot of hoops to jump through, but this is the biggest break they’ve had in years.

“I couldn’t! Trust me, it was a hard secret to keep but was for your safety.” I laugh. “I don’t feel like I did much. I just went on some fake dates with the guy and wore a wire the whole time.”

“That’s still risky,” Mom presses. “Tell me everything!”

“I’ll start at the beginning, but first, I need more coffee.” I get up and refill my mug and then sit down, telling them how someone hired me to see if this guy they were dating was loyal because something seemed really off. Then enters Mason, and our little arrangement was born.

It’s hard, actually, to talk about Mason without talking about how great he is…so I don’t, and I drop yet another bomb on them and tell them how Mason and I are now dating.

“I can’t stay too long,” I tell them after Mom starts bombarding me with questions about Mason. “I have to turn in my equipment to the FBI. It’s just a wire and fake ID they gave me.”

“That’s so cool. I want to go undercover!” Beth says and Mom and I laugh. She wouldn’t last minute. I give my nieces hugs goodbye and head out, going back into the city to meet Diego at a cafe near the FBI field office. He has a table and ordered me a black coffee, which is cold by the time I get there, but hey, it’s the thought that counts.

“Here you go, sir,” I say and hand Diego an envelope. It has the fake ID, phone, and the wire microphone that I wore. “Am I going to get charged for the last earpiece? Or can we just say my taxes cover it?”

Diego laughs. “I think you pay more than enough in taxes to cover a little earpiece. Oh, and while you’re here, I should invite you to the surprise party we’re putting together for Mason.”

“To celebrate his big arrest?” I ask, heart swelling with pride. Things got pretty dicey right at the end, but I knew, no matter what, I could trust Mason. Not only did he keep me safe, but he got the bad guy and had another police report filed on Cory’s inappropriate and borderline dangerous obsession with me. I know it won’t be the end of my ex-husband stalking me, but atleast buy me a little time to live in peace before he starts up again.

“Yeah,” Diego replies. “And word around the office is that they’re going to offer him the promotion he has been after for years.”

“Oh! That sounds awesome. He definitely deserves it!”

Diego makes a face and leans forward, frowning. My heart skips a beat the way it does right before bad news is delivered. “Yeah, but this promotion means he’ll have to move out of state.”

“Out of state?” I repeat, even though I heard him clearly.

“Well, thanks to what we were able to recover from Enzo’s apartment, we know the Morettis are moving the bulk of their operation to the East Coast.”

“Oh.” That's all I can say and suddenly it’s like I’ve been dipped in freezing cold water because my worst fear is coming true. Now that the case is over, Mason doesn’t need me anymore. His work is the most important thing to him, and I was a fool for—once again—believing I could be important enough for someone to choose me.

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