Page 52 of Wine & Whiskey
“What the hell! Is he okay? Are you okay?”
“I haven’t seen him, but Nick said he’s fine.”
“Oh, okay, good.” Her rapid breathing whistles through the phone. “What about you?”
She holds back a sob, her composure fading to say the words out loud. “I think we’re breaking up.”
“Wait a minute. Slow down. This is fucked up. His driver got shot, and you’re breaking up?” Carrie’s voice lilts with confusion matching her own uncertainty.
She takes a deep breath, trying to explain to her friend as much as herself. “Nick thinks it’s too dangerous for me to come home, and he wants me to move in with him. I can’t stay, but I can’t leave either.”
“This is crazy. I’ll get Nathan, and we’ll come and get you. We can call the police and—”
“No, please don’t…” Fear and guilt steal her breath. For the first time, she keeps a secret from her best friend, trying to protect her too.
“Why not?”
Because the man she loves is a mobster who has to kill his enemy or risk his own death. Her heart plunges. She reveals the only truth she can share with her. “I don’t want any more bad publicity. I can’t be involved with the police after what happened at the coffee house.”
“Shit, I know it.” A deep sigh echoes through the speaker. “Nick loves you, and he’ll protect you. You need to stay where you’re safe until all this gets figured out.”
Her shoulders droop. He does love her, and all she does is hurt him. “Okay.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. Max said he was in the gym, but I’m in here, and he’s not anywhere around.”
“He has a gym?”
“Yeah. A huge one in his basement.”
“Then why is he going to Jason’s?”
Her fingers knead his shirt as she looks around the well-equipped room. “I don’t know.”
“It’s not your reputation, is it? You love him.”
All Shae can do is whisper, “I know, but how can I stay with someone whose job puts us both in danger?”
“Fuck, I don’t know. This is so messed up. Do you want me to come over there?”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll figure it out. I feel better talking to you.”
“Call me back in a little bit and let me know what’s going on. I’m really worried about you.”
“Okay. Bye.”
Carrie’s voice brings her the only sense of normalcy she’s felt in the last twenty-four hours of chaos, giving her a bit of clarity to think about their situation. Refusing to heed Jason’s warnings, she waded into Nick’s world, believing she could handle everything it entailed. She shakes her head at her own naiveté.
Now, she has two choices. Live alone in a penthouse with armed guards and attempt to return to her old life, with the shadow of Juan’s threats hanging over her. Or stay with Nick, who’s generous, protective, and loving and makes her feel like no other man ever has before. Either way, fear will be a constant emotion, no escape from the threats permeating his world.
Her heart aches for him, his destiny determined before he was even born. A life sentence to a criminal world imposed on him by his family. If she leaves, they’ll both suffer. He can’t escape his fate, and she can’t be happy without him.
Looking around the cavernous room, her throat burns from trying to hold back her tears. The certainty of his feelings are always clear—irrespective of their jobs, their money, their lives, he has the simple desire to be with her, no matter when or where it is. And now, he’s letting her go, sacrificing his own feelings to make her happy. Except that it doesn’t.
* * *
She standsin the doorway of his bedroom, her hand trembling as she closes the door. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a gym downstairs?”
