Page 83 of Bad Men

Mia.

Mia was texting.

I had a flash of her big, brown eyes and the way the corners of her mouth twitched just before she broke into a smile. I thought of her hair and the way it had looked the night before, splayed across my pillow. I thought of the way she always whispered my name before pulling me into her arms.

Her arms.

Fuck, I loved being held by that woman. I loved the way she smelled and the softness of her skin, and the sound of her voice and the way she laughed at my stupidest jokes. I needed her. God, help me, but I needed her because the very idea of her walking away shattered me on a level I didn’t know how to cope with.

“Dav?” Nero’s face appeared in my line of sight, scattering my fears and uncertainties. “Breathe. It’s fine.”

“What if she says no?” I choked out.

My best friend’s dark eyes blinked, but he didn’t ask who I meant. “Then we go on living our lives.”

How was it that simple? How could it be that simple when I was paralyzed inside?

“I don’t know if I could handle it,” I admitted.

“You can. It’s going to hurt like a motherfucker, but you’re a grown ass man and I’ll be there. We’ll figure it out.”

A glass of cold water was pressed into my shaking hand. I gulped most of it, wore the rest of it down my front, but Nero didn’t comment.

“So much could go wrong.” I put the glass down, feeling steadier. “You do realize that, right? She could only want one of us, she could want neither of us, or worse, she could want both of us.”

Satisfied that I wasn’t about to die in the red, sticky leather of my bench, Nero reclaimed his seat. “How is that worse?”

“Eduardo,” I reminded him. “Alejandro. The number of other ass clowns that could come after her because of us. Loving us isn’t like some book, but we chose this life. She didn’t, and even if she did, she has no idea what she’s signing up for.”

“So, we tell her. We give her all the information. We leave nothing out and let her decide.”

I closed my eyes, hating the calm wave that rolled over me. It was a sense of anticipation and excitement I knew I shouldn’t feel but the idea of maybe … maybe making this work…

“You really think this’ll work?”

His shoulder jerked up. “Only if we make it.”

“Jesus.” I swiped a hand over my face and back into my hair, a bit mortified by the collection of sweat gathering across my skin. “This is actually happening.”

Nero snorted. “Nothing’s happened yet. We need to talk to her first.”

I nodded. “When? Tonight? Do you think we should wait?”

“Dav,” Nero met my gaze and gave me a grin, “calm down. You’re going to freak her out if you barge in there like some crackhead coming off a hit.”

I gulped down a lungful of air, held it in for two heartbeats before letting it out. He was right. I had to get my shit together. I was supposed to be a damn professional.

“Okay,” I wheezed around my second mouthful of oxygen. “I think I’m good.”

“You sure?” he teased.

“Shut up.”

Ignoring his snicker, I picked up my phone. I unlocked the screen and swept open Mia’s message.

And froze.

I read it over twice, then again just to make sure I wasn’t still spiraling in some hysterical vortex.

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