Page 40 of Naughty and Nice
My fiancée shrugged. “I don’t know how she’ll feel.”
“Your parents?” Mia asked.
“Would you contact them?” Liliana asked. “Let them know it’s happening. The choice to attend is theirs.”
“Nick,” el Patrón called.
I leaned down and kissed Liliana’s cheek and whispered. “Don’t forget my rule. I love you.”
Her soft brown eyes sparkled as she smiled my direction. “I love you, too.”
For a moment, I simply stared at Liliana’s beauty, understated and regal. Her delicate features and petite frame were her disguise. Liliana wasn’t fragile or weak. She was a phoenix who had risen from the ashes, now a magnificent creature, capable of anything she set out to do. Her thick crown of long dark hair framed her lovely face. I imagined the scene a few days ago in her apartment when she was nearly nude, and her hair was flowing over her shoulders.
The wedding couldn’t happen soon enough.
I made my way down the hallway. Pushing Jano’s office door open, I was met by Em’s snarky smile. “Hola.”
He came my way, wrapping an arm over my head and pulling me down. “You proposed without telling me you did it.” He released me and laughed.
“I told you I wanted to ask her.” I scoffed. “I don’t recall you telling me before you proposed to Isabella.”
“Oh fuck, she’s going to be so excited. I should call her.”
“Or maybe you could let Liliana do that. She’d like to ask if the two of you will stand up with us.”
“Of course.”
El Patrón cleared his throat. “Now that the vital information is shared, maybe we can talk about more important things.” He held up his hand. “No offense, Nick. We have a budding war happening.”
“No offense.” There was always the prospect of war, war, or war recovery. It was a vicious cycle.
Em and I sat in the chairs opposite Jano’s desk.
“Rei volunteered to speak with Cabezõn’s men.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Em, you’re good, but Rei is one of the best at interrogation. I spoke with Dario Luciano…” el Patrón began.
Dario Luciano, the boss of the Kansas City Famiglia and el Patrón’s brother-in-law, was the person who first pursued an alliance between his organization and the Roríguez cartel. Those negotiations began with Dario’s father, Vincent, and Jano’s father, Jorge. Over the years the alliance has grown, despite the two original leaders no longer being around.
Aléjandro and Dario were determined to keep it going for the betterment of both organizations.
Chapter
Seventeen
Liliana
* * *
I woke in the same bedroom I’d been in the night before. Unlike the night before, I’d slept much better. Rolling on the cool sheets, I realized I was smiling, actually smiling. Today was my wedding day. Lifting my hand from below the blankets, I stared at the ring on my fourth finger.
The large round-cut diamond on a platinum band was simple, elegant, and new. No one else had ever worn it before. I gave the rings from my first wedding to Sofia. They’d first belonged to her mother, and she deserved to have them. Offering me a dead woman’s jewelry should have been the first red flag in that marriage.
Yesterday afternoon, after receiving el Patrón’s blessing, Nick and I went to the county clerk’s office at Waterfront Park. While the sign said we needed a prescheduled appointment, Nick spoke with the person at the desk and arranged for us to be seen. I hadn’t thought about proving Gerardo’s death. Thankfully, Nick had. He had Gerardo’s death certificate with him. After answering a few questions and paying a fee, we had our marriage license.
When we left the clerk’s office, Nick handed me the death certificate. “He’s gone now. Your last name will no longer be his but mine.”
I folded the certificate and placed it in my purse.
Nick reached for my hand, and I leaned into his shoulder. “I’m proud to have your name.”
