Page 320 of Legacy
I shift, reach for her, my hand finding her cheek as I tilt her face toward mine. My thumb brushes the fading edge of her lipstick.
“You can always trust me,” I murmur. “If something makes you uncomfortable—say it. Doesn’t matter if we’re speaking or not. Doesn’t matter how mad you are. I’ll always fucking listen.”
She hums, eyes fluttering closed as she nods gently. That quiet little sound she makes when she’s letting me in, it kills me every time.
I kiss her. Slow and deep. Like a vow.
When I pull back, my hand still cradles her jaw. I pause, then ask, because I can’t help myself…
“Who were you talking to just now?”
She lifts her head, eyes shining just a little.
“I got the internship. The firm I interviewed for picked me.”
I freeze.
Then grin. “You’re serious?”
She nods.
I grab her waist and lift her off the bed, spinning her once before she can protest. She laughs, arms around my neck, that sound more grounding than any intel I got today.
But when I set her down, that glow dims a bit.
My brows pull together.
“What’s wrong?”
She takes a breath, deep and shaky.
“I don’t know if I can take it.”
My stomach knots. “Why? I thought you wanted this.”
“I do,” she says softly, “but how—how can I be a good lawyer, amoralone, when I…”
She trails off.
“When you what?” I ask, my voice low now. Serious.
Her eyes lift to mine.
“When I was born into crime… and then married right back into it?”
I exhale through my nose, crossing my arms.
“That’s no one’s business but ours.”
“Everyone knows who you are, Angelo,” she says, pointed and clear. “They know what your family is. What you run. What you’ve done.”
“So?” I shrug. “That’s good. It lets them know not to fuck with you.”
She shakes her head. “No. It tells them I could be corrupt. Dirty. A liability to the firm before I’ve even started.”
I let out a soft chuckle, trying to lighten the weight in her voice.
“Aren’t you? Little miss jewel thief?”
