Page 54 of Possession

He takes a long pull from his bottle. So long, he drains it. He leans forward and drops it back into the six pack and picks up another barely cold beer. After he cracks it open, he finally answers. “Two years. Two long years.”

He sounds different than he normally does. Tired. I realize I’ve never seen him sleep, even though I know he sleeps because the bed is always rumpled when I wake up on the sofa. But he comes in after I pass out and is gone before I wake.

“That’s not very long,” I say. He turns and hikes a brow. I go on. “I mean, for being in charge. Mr. Marino—Damian’s father—trusts you.”

“He should. I saved Damian’s life once. Not twice, obviously.”

I shift on the bench. “You did?”

“I took a bullet for him the second month I worked for the family.”

I rest my beer on my bare knee and shift to him. “What happened?”

I wish I could see his eyes when he speaks. “I was new to the organization. If you think there’s a lot of guards around now, you should’ve seen it then. At first, I just thought he had a big head, but then I realized he thought someone was out to kill him everywhere we went. He got that from Alamandos. Here in the States, he could’ve gone about his business, but he was paranoid.”

“Did it happen here?”

Boz shakes his head. “Mexico. We were coming back from a meeting and were ambushed. I was Damian’s bodyguard that day.”

My eyes widen. “You threw yourself in front of him?”

He tips his head and looks back out to the waves. “Does it matter? I caught the bullet and saved his life.”

“That’s horrible.” I can’t stand the thought of him getting shot for anyone, least of all Damian.

His full lips tip on one side. “It wasn’t the level of shitshow as your wedding, but bullets were still flying. I had to recover at Alamandos’ estate and was treated by his doctors. We didn’t want it on record.”

“You didn’t even go to a hospital?”

“Nope,” he mutters and takes another drink. “That was all it took. I guess Damian never had anyone in his life loyal enough to do shit like that. He elevated me to be his right-hand man. Don’t get me wrong, I was still his bodyguard. But he also brought me into the business in a way that shuffled everyone else down that ladder. People like Nic and Ed Decker. Even though Ed isn’t a Marino by blood, he’s been in the business since he married Alamandos’ sister. He hates me and wants Nic to take over.”

I raise the bottle to my lips and take a sip. “Nic and his father. So charming.”

“You haven’t seen the worst of it, chica.”

“You spared me from that.” It’s a statement that gets his attention. He shifts to me and drapes an arm across the back of the bench. He stays silent, so I keep pressing. “That doesn’t make any of this less confusing for me. I want to understand.”

I flinch as he brings a hand up. The tips of his fingers brush the hair from my face that’s blowing in the light, ocean breeze. He doesn’t try to make me feel better or help me understand anything about my new life. Instead, his words come out of left field. “I didn’t lie to you about your dad. He left three messages in the last couple days, all about business. If you want to see your mom, I can make that happen.”

For the second time today, emotion washes over me. “You’d do that?”

His fingertips tease the side of my face. “I will, if it’s what you want. But there’s no fucking way I’m going to allow your father to see you. He’s not getting near you again.”

“You’re different,” I whisper. I’m almost afraid to say it even though we’re in a wide-open space, safe from cameras and security and eavesdroppers.

He pulls in a breath as he studies me. I’ve never wanted to look into his eyes more than right now. “Yeah? What makes me different, baby?”

“Everything,” I explain. “You say I’m a possession, but you don’t treat me like one. Not like everyone else has.”

His jaw goes tight, but he doesn’t confirm or deny my assumption.

“I still can’t believe I’m here,” I go on and motion around us. “I’m living in the same city I grew up in. My parents are here. My friends are here. But it feels like I’ve been picked up and plopped into an alternate universe. I’ve been forced into a marriage I didn’t want, nor one I understand. But it’s easy to see, Boz. You’re not like the rest of them.”

He shakes his head once, and this time, his tone is low and rough. “You don’t know who I am, baby.”

“Maybe.” I can’t take it anymore and reach up to pull his shades away from his face. He doesn’t flinch when the big ball of fire in the sky hits his beautiful eyes. It’s like this is the first time I’ve looked into them. They’re deeper, less black, and there’s something smoldering behind them that piques my curiosity even further about my new husband. “Do you know how strange it is to be married to someone who you know nothing about? If this is forever and ever, until death do us part, I want to know everything about you.”

“Trust me, baby. What you see is what you get. You drew the short stick.”

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