Page 80 of Till Death Do Us Part

“You ready for what comes next if I don’t?”

I looked away from him. “No. It’ll be war. I can’t do that to Lo right now. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”

He sighed. “I’m not fucking used to this.”

“To what?”

“Waiting for what’s mine, now that I have it again.” He set my hand over his heart. “You break me.”

“You break me too. You stopped talking to me and coming around because someone tried to hurt me. The accident that wasn’t an accident at all.”

He squeezed me to him so hard it was hard to breathe. It always felt like he was fusing us together.

“Was it—” I had to take a deep breath. “Was it Babbo? Alfonso? Jack?”

He met my eyes. “Tommaso.”

I lifted some, leaning on my elbow. “Your boss?”

He nodded. “Jack had texted Alfonso at the museum’s party. He told his old man I’d showed up. When Emanuele called Tommaso, he told him he wanted me stopped. No one tells Tommaso to do anything. You ask him, or he gets creative.”

“He tried to kill me.”

“No. The delivery truck wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal. The first car was the warning.”

“How can you direct the outcome of a car accident, Felice?”

“You can’t, but he doesn’t give a fuck. In his mind, he did as Emanuele told him to. He didn’t get a specific order, so he sent the message in a way he knew would get through to me and Emanuele. We brought the problem to his door. He fixed it on both sides.”

“His threat worked. You stayed away from me.”

“You wanted me to ignore it?”

I didn’t say anything.

He took my chin in his hand. “I’m not worth your life, Roma.”

“Am I worth yours?”

“We’re talking about you, not me.”

“What if I cut you off? What would you do? Your—” I felt weightless and then breathless as he flipped me over and took my wrists in his hands, pinning them to each side of my head.

“You fucking leave me...” he rolled his teeth over his lip. “I’ve tasted your blood, and it’s in my system.” He came down and licked the split on my lip. “I’ll find you.”

“Your absence in my life felt like a painful wound that refused to heal, Felice. You were ripped frommeagain. Remember Plato. It takes two to complete the circle. I feel the same way you do if you leave me. I can’t be whole unless we’re together. I can still function, but only at half capacity.”

“Fuck,” he said, releasing my wrists. He turned on his back and stared at the ceiling again. “I’ve always been told I was heartless. Makes sense now. The entire thing went to your half.”

I started laughing. He set a hand over my mouth, but he was grinning. I bit him and his eyes lowered before he started to kiss me.

“What are we going to do, Felice?” I breathed out when I could catch my breath.

“We’re going to Italy,” he said. “Everything after is up in the air.”

“You’re going to Italy?”

He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “I have business to take care of.”

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