Page 41 of Texting My Mafia Savior

Nico:It will mean we can never be together. I’ll probably end up on the run or in prison for the rest of my life. We need to end this, Arria, but any time I think about being the honorable one, the mature one, your uncle, I remember seeing you at the cafe. I was sitting in the window seat, and you stopped to take pictures on your cell. A sea of pedestrians, hundreds, it seemed like, and only one beautiful, enthusiastic, gorgeous soul stopped to look up and experience the miracle and the majesty of the city.

My breath comes faster, my body buzzing with his words. People look down on texting. Bonding, caring, and loving through simple words on a cellphone—it can’t be possible, can it? But with each sentence, the warmth in me expands.

Nico:Do you know what I thought? I found myself attracted to a woman for the first time I could recall. I remember thinking about going out there and trying some sort of line on you. But I didn’t know what to say. I’ve been married for a long time, but I’ve got no experience with relationships. Then you walked into the cafe. I thought—maybe it’s fate. But then you approached me. Terror gripped me. I knew who you were. I knew why it could never work.

Me:Don’t say that.No relationship ever happened without bumps in the road.

Nico:These are more than bumps. These are mountains.

Me:Then we’ll climb them together.See? The Arria from before we started texting would’ve thought that was cheesy as hell. But I don’t care. It’s true. We can do this.

Nico:The only way I can do this is to make myself cold.In my life before, when I had to ‘do things,’ I never had somebody I cared about. I never had somebody I desperately needed to see again. I never had somebody who made me afraid to die. But now I do. Your dad will hate me for this. But I care about you, Arria.

Me:Dad will come around. When he sees that we are real.

Nico:What does it mean, though?I haven’t even been able to take you on a date.

Me:Real is what you described in the cafe. Hearing Destiny talk about you and knowing you’re the best man I’ve ever met is real. Real is knowing that you never stopped being 'The Savior’ because you never stopped being capable of doing the right thing no matter what it took. Real is the fact you risked everything to stand up for me when nobody else, nobody, would’ve done the same. That’s real, Nico.

Nico:I’m not Nico anymore.This morning, I’m Nightmare. Barbarian. The man you care about—I can’t let him exist. Only contact me if there’s a problem now.

Me:Nico?

But he doesn’t reply. I stuff my phone in my pocket and take a scalding sip of cocoa.

What the hell is he going to do?

CHAPTER 18

NICO

Ihead to the club, knowing I may regret this, but I know I’ve got to put Lucy, her sister, her brother-in-law, and most of all, her niece first. It doesn’t matter what I want. It doesn’t matter that I never wanted to be part of the mob longer than it would’ve taken to help my parents. I’m The Savior. I’m Nico the Nightmare. My biggest mistake was pretending I could be someone else.

I’ve already called ahead and let Enzo and Dominic know I’m coming. They’re waiting for me in the same back room where my angel and I met with Enzo the last time. Both have got shit-eating grins on their faces. Like father, like son. Enzo is back on the whiskey. Dominic drums his fingers on a glass table, a calculating look in his eyes.

“It’s brave of you to agree to face me after last night,” he says.

I incline my head, swallowing wave after wave of fire. I want to kill these two men, to spring into enforcer mode, and murder them in cold blood. But what if they’ve given instructions to go after Lucia or Arria after their deaths? Or what if they’ve gotmen waiting outside this room? Hell, that wouldn’t be so bad. I’d gladly give my life if I knew my niece and my wife could be safe.

Ha. Niece. Wife. Titles stopped meaning a thing a long time ago.

“I’m here to offer my services,” I say. “If you’ll let me, Don Caruso, I’ll come to work for you again. On a subsistence wage, just enough to live. But I have conditions.”

“Oh, really?” Dominic grins at me, raising his eyebrows. He looksgiddy. “Would you care to explain what they are?”

“You leave Lucia and her family, including her sister, niece, and brother-in-law, out of this. You agree not to question me about my and Lucia’s marriage. For this, I’ll go back to my old work. Any man who’s given himself to the life…” I swallow. Darkness grips me. Just when I thought I was capable of something else, something more. “You can send me at them. I’ll be your weapon.”

“It’s too late for that,” Dominic says after a pause.

I look up, my body beginning to hum with adrenaline. But unlike last night, this comes naturally. This is completely genuine. My mind springs into action as I attempt to figure out how to tear both men apart, the distance between me and Enzo leaning against the wall. What sort of weapon could Dominic be hiding under the table?

“Don’t look at us like that, Nico,” Dominic says. “This isgoodnews. For both of us. I’m willing to let bygones be bygones.”

Is this a trick? “Really?”

“Fetch her, Enzo, will you?” Dominic says with a wave of his hand.

“Sure, Father.”

---