Page 71 of The Air You Breathe

“Dev, I know you’re not your father,” I said, cupping his face, hoping he would look down. “You know what he is doing is wrong, you protect those you love from him, and I can see the anger you have towards him. You are not your father.”

His blue eyes finally looked down at me. “I’m still his son and with Giovanni gone, I don’t know what he is going to expect from me.”

“Look, whatever he expects out of you we are going to get through it okay?” I pushed to my tiptoes to kiss him on his lips, pouring all the comfort and reassurance into it.

“Darcy, I don’t deserve you, but I will do anything I can to keep you in my life. You. Are. Mine,” he growled, pulling me in for another kiss that definitely left his initials on my heart like some damn tattoo. “I want to be your everything, I want to be the air you breathe during the storm and on gorgeous summer days.”

It sounded like a declaration of love and before I had a chance to say anything to him, he kissed me senseless, leaving me dazed as he left to take a shower. The need to say something back was overwhelming, but I was so hesitant. I was scared of what it meant loving two men who could be taken from me in a heartbeat. I barely survived Evan leaving me, what would happen if they both left me?

29

EVAN

Walking into the club the past few days had left me feeling like at any moment Geraldo or Lucio were going to finally kill me. The day we left the cabin and I finally met with Lucio, he told me of Giovanni’s crime against him, and why he had to kill him. I defended Giovanni when I knew it was pointless, but for the first time since I had started working for Lucio, I argued with him.

I shouted Giovanni’s innocence hoping that he would tell me who had fucking tattled and also, to help my case too. Lucio didn’t budge but I managed to get a funeral for my friend if only because people would wonder what had happened to Giovanni. Saul had taken Giovanni’s body and had a place to keep him for safekeeping until I could figure out what we were going to do.

I pointed out that we also had the feds on our tail, we didn’t need to look even more suspicious. We had a funeral home and a medical examiner under Lucio’s belt so all we would have to do is come up with a story as to what had happened.

Giovanni deserved so much more, but I knew if I pushed too hard Lucio would take it all away, not giving his wife or his daughter a chance to say goodbye. My heart ached from losing him. He had been my rock the last few years and we managed to get through the rough days together. He was the brother I never had, he made sure I didn’t go crazy, and took me under his wing so I could become invaluable.

Lucio also asked me where the hell I had been, but I had a feeling he knew Geraldo had kicked my ass before I told him. All he told me was that we should play nice, and it was probably something that I had done. He gave me a list of shit Giovanni managed, expecting me to pick up the slack. I left his office seething because I was pretty sure he was playing me.

Two days gone and I was behind on a lot of stuff. Inheriting Giovanni’s list made it seem like he was either keeping me really busy or he wanted me to fuck up and have a reason to kill me too. Before I entered my office, I noticed Dev walking down the hallway to me and I instantly got nervous. I had hoped Lucio would leave Dev alone, but I knew that would probably take a fucking miracle.

He shook his head at me. We agreed to keep things quiet when we were around people, so as not to raise suspicion and to keep Dev safe. If Lucio was suspicious of me, we didn’t need him to question his other son. I went to work feeling like the weight of all my problems crashing in on me. How long I was going to be able to keep this shit up?

After I caught up with as much as I could, I walked into the club to see it busy for a Thursday. I did my normal rounds, checked all of the bars, and made sure that we were working well before I left.

“Evan!”

I turned around to see one of our bartenders behind me.

“Hey Casey!” I shouted. “What can I help you with?”

“I just thought you should know that Candy just arrived and is on her way to go speak to Lucio.” She leaned in closer to me.

I looked at her a little confused, not understanding why I would care.

“Word is she’s his eyes and ears,” Casey said with disgust. “I would watch out for her.”

I nodded at her, still confused that she knew this information.

“Vittoria is my cousin,” she stated, and it clicked.

“Did Giovanni know about this?” I asked, looking around to make sure we weren’t being watched.

“He knew about her, but I’m pretty sure he underestimated her.”

Grabbing a case of alcohol, I kept up the ruse we were talking about work. I walked to her bar hoping she was following. I set it down and replenished the bar.

“Is this the first time you’ve seen her here?” I asked.

“No, she comes in at least once a week.” She answered all my questions with no hesitation.

“Casey, I need you to tell me everything you know,” I said, feeling like this was the break I needed. The break we needed.

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