Page 104 of The Last Ones Standing, Part Two

She moves a bit more but doesn’t open her eyes. So I try this time in Danish. “Nyla, skat, vågn op. Glædelig jul. Vi har en gave til dig.”

“Merry Christmas to you too, but what are you two going on about? I don’t want to wake up yet. What time is it?”

She sits up slowly, causing her scarf to fall into her lap. She frowns and pushes a hand through her unraveling wrap. My heart swells as she blinks those beautiful brown eyes.

“It’s time to wake up. We have a lot to do today.”

“If you want to keep me from shooting on sight, you should allow me another hour of sleep. Please,” she groans and flops back down.

“Allow us to give you your gift and you can go back to sleep,” I say.

“We need to head out ahead anyway,” Gio finishes.

“Fine,” she grumbles and flings the sheet off. “Do I need to get dressed?”

“No, just throw on a coat. It’s downstairs,” Gio says.

She gives him a suspicious look, then smiles. “It’s my car. Aww, thanks, guys.”

“Thank us after you see it,” Gio says and looks down at his watch. “Come on, baby. Bella has already texted me twice from Dante’s phone.”

“She can text?”

Gio scoffs. “Marone, she can. Shocked the fuck out of me.”

She palms her face. “She’s going to hate my gift.”

“I doubt that,” I reassure her.

“All right, all right, I won’t ruin the baby’s Christmas. Give me a second to brush my teeth.” She looks us both over and smiles. “You both look great, by the way.”

She bites her lip as she climbs from the bed and moves to the bathroom. Gio pulls out his phone and chuckles.

I look at him and lift a brow. “It’s Bella again,” he says in response. Then he lifts his gaze to mine. “I want you to stick close to Ny today. Don’t allow Riccardo to corner her. If he does, she’s going to kill him. It’s not time.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I’m on it, but I have a question.”

“Why not kill him now? He has no value. Why do this for them?” he says, asking my question for me. “Yeah, I know, but I’m going to allow this one to play out.

“For one, if it goes south, it could pull my focus from Dario’s problem. Another thing, I want to talk to Kingston. Ma chose him as my first contact. If I’ve learned nothing else, everything that woman does has a purpose. I can fight against her, or I can understand her and take over the match. Once I connect all the dots, we move. For now, let the bastard shit himself waiting for my next move.”

“Okay, I’m ready,” Ny sings as she enters the room in sweats.

We go to her sides and lead her to the elevator to go down to the garage. Gio has had a spot reserved for her for years. I believe he hoped to have moved her in a long time ago.

When we get down to the garage, Ny steps from the elevator and grabs both our hands as we lead her to the truck parked in her spot. She looks up between the two of us and smiles from ear to ear.

“I love it. Oh my God, the paint job and rims are fire.”

I knew she would like the black on black. We had the grill and rims painted to match. I dig in my pocket for the key and hold it up.

“Merry Christmas, baby,” I croon.

“Thank you, thank you both.” She lifts onto her toes to peck my lips, then does the same with Gio.

When she releases him, she bounces back to me to take the key fob. She tucks herself into my side for another hug, and instead of letting her pull away, I wrap my arm around her and walk her to the driver’s side. We spend a few minutes while she explores the truck.

“We need to head out,” Gio says after about fifteen minutes. “You can meet us there.”

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