Allison
“You smell like smoke again.” I gaze at him across the bed, blinking sleep away.
“I really did shower twice.”
“I believe you.” I sit up, rubbing my face, then lean closer to him. I’m exhausted from staying up all night, sick with worry. He made the mistake of telling me what he planned on doing last night, and while it sort of comforted me knowing that Paul was about to die, it also freaked me out. “I was pretty terrified, you know.”
“Of what?”
“Losing you.” I laugh at the absurdity of the words. “Which doesn’t make sense, since I’ve thought about strangling you myself maybe a hundred times since we met.”
“Ah, my sweet wife, you’re fond of me, aren’t you?”
“I would say that I’ve grown very tolerant.”
“And yet here I am, sick with want for you.” He comes closer, that beautiful man with his intense, lovely eyes, and those lips. Those amazing lips. He kisses me gently. “Does that bother you?”
“No,” I say. “Not really.”
“Not really?” His smirk is like a velvet whip. “Come now, princess. Tell me you like when I tease you.”
“And let you win? Absolutely not.” He laughs as he pins me back down on the bed. “What happened last night?”
“Paul is no longer a problem.”
I stare up into his eyes then push against his grip so I can kiss him. He returns that kiss greedily, happily. Anxiety and fear slowly melts away as Gregory’s lips move back to my neck.
“Does this mean I can stay?” I whisper, shivering with ecstasy.
“Yes, it does.”
“And you’ll let me help you build this business?”
“Yes, I will. I suspect I’ll need you. The easy part is over.”
I laugh, dizzy with excitement. Suddenly, my world is shifting again. I thought he was going to keep me locked away in a strange city surrounded by strange people, but instead I get to stay in my home and work, finally work.
“How was that easy?”
“Killing men is simple. Building alliances, balancing politics, this is going to be the complicated part. And we’ll have to do it while the police breathe down our necks for a while. They won’t like it when a dozen Debarcio Bratva members disappear so suddenly.”
“You’d think the police would be happy that a bunch of criminals are gone.”
“Only to be replaced with new ones.” He kisses me softly, biting my bottom lip. “But we can talk business later. I feel like I haven’t properly had my wife in too long.”
“You had me yesterday.”
“Like I said, too long.”
I laugh as he pulls me on top of him, and I submit to his desires.
Three weeks later, the first delivery shows up. “If you can put the desks in each of the offices, that’d be great,” I tell the furniture guys. “And that desk in the corner is for my husband.”
The guys get to work. I stand back, watching as the space begins to fill, turning what was once a murder-scene-movie-set into a proper work area. Now, when business associates come in for a meeting, they’ll be less likely to wonder if we’re about to duct tape them to the ceiling and torture them to death.
Though there hasn’t been any killing since the night Paul died.
“Okay, wife, you convinced me.” Gregory leans into my office, a sly smile on his face.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say, batting my eyelashes at him.
“I saw your gift.”
“Gift?”
“The desk.” He drifts closer, arms crossed. “It’s a nice desk.”
“It’s more than nice. It’s a vintage executive desk, once used by GE’s Jack Welch himself.”
Gregory’s eyebrows raise. “How’d you manage that?”
“Unlimited Callahan money. Also got lucky and saw it go up for auction at Christie’s. I got the rest of this stuff in the same lot.”
“You are nothing if not thrifty.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you saw the bill.”
He laughs and comes over, bending down to kiss me. “What, are you trying to turn this into some sort of legitimate operation?”
“That would involve having a legitimate boss. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with you.”
“You should consider yourself lucky, my darling.”
“But seriously, we do need some employees. Things are starting to move.”
“Thank to our favorite farmer, Ms. Tess.” He sits down on the edge of my desk.
“Once she fell into line, the others followed. What did you say to make her so amenable, by the way?”
He shrugs, looking at his nails. “I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.”
“What a lovely mobster you are.” I stand, draping my arms around his neck. He holds me by the hips. “I want ten new members of our team. And we’re going to need accountants.”
“Anything you desire.”
“My favorite words.” I kiss him gently.
“Only I have one thing I need in return.” He tightens his grip. “We need to return to Boston.”
“For what?” I ask. We’ve already been back once to visit with his mother and his brother. Carson was unhappy about how things played out, but couldn’t argue with the results.
“Our wedding.”
I stare at him, not sure if he’s joking. “We’re already married.”
“You said you wanted a ceremony. You wanted to feel like a princess. Well, I’m going to give you the biggest, most elaborate day imaginable, and you really will feel like royalty as the most important people in the country bow down at your feet. At least for a day.”
I stare at him, not sure what to say. My lips move, but nothing comes out. He looks a little worried, so I kiss him hard.
“You like it,” he whispers when I pull back.
“I love it,” I say, fighting tears. “You’re really serious about this?”
“I’m already making plans. You have a month to get everything together, then we’re going to Boston and getting married for real.”
“Do you want my input?”
“If you want to be involved, but I hired a team of obscenely expensive wedding planners to make sure everything is perfect.”
I grin at him, my stomach bubbling with excitement.
This is more than I ever dreamed possible.
More than I ever thought I’d have.
“I love you,” I whisper. “I’d love you even without the wedding planners.”
“I know.”
I kiss him again and hold him tight, hugging his broad chest, feeling his steady heartbeat against my cheek.
——————–
I stand outside the venue watching Boston traffic pass. Orin’s next to me, looking anxious. “We should be inside,” he says, shifting from foot to foot, but doesn’t argue when I wave him off.
Orin’s my personal secretary now. Also a very good friend.
It’s confusing, but it works.
“I just want to enjoy this for a second,” I say, breathing in deep.
I feel beautiful. It’s weird, but I’ve never really felt this before, but today it’s like everything has conspired to make me perfect. Hair, makeup, the dress-the freaking dress, this beautiful tulle-and-lace dress from a rising-star French designer-everything’s exactly how I pictured it when I was a little girl.
“Not many people get this, you know,” I say. I turn, expecting to see Orin-
But instead, Gregory’s standing there.
He looks incredible. Suit impeccably tailored, shoes shined, hair slicked back just so. I laugh, putting my hand to my chest.
“You deserve it,” he says. “After what the world’s put you through? You deserve a thousand nights like this.”
“And are you going to provide them?”
“I’ll sure as hell try.” He steps up to my side. Behind us, an enormous hotel in downtown Boston is completely empty right now, the entire structure rented out by the Callahan family. Guests include senators, pop stars, police chiefs, everyone I know from back home, and all the other Callahan wives. Keely, Dara, Ash. My new sisters.
I lean against his shoulder. Behind us, the hotel’s full of happy guests just beginning the night’s festivities. We did a beautiful private ceremony earlier in the day at the oldest church in Boston, and now it’s time to cut loose. I won’t be drinking, for obvious reasons, but I can already tell this is going to be one crazy party.
And I’m the center of attention.
But for right now, I want to enjoy the relative quiet, the deep breath before running a marathon.
“We can leave, you know,” he whispers, sounding sly. “I have the nicest room in the best hotel in the city reserved for the next week. We can go get the honeymoon started.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Only if it would make you happy.”
I shake my head, smiling. “We can’t disappoint the guests. Besides, Keely would murder me if I didn’t dance with her.”
“I suspect all the girls feel that way.”
“I like them, you know. Keely and Ash and Dara, but also your brothers and your mother. I think they’re good people.”
He’s quiet for a moment. I can tell what he’s thinking.
Good and Callahan are not words that get mixed up often, unless someone’s saying how skilled his organization is at killing.
But he seems contemplative. When he speaks, it’s like his voice is far away. “Are we good? We take care of our family, protect the people we love, defend those in our organization. I would murder a man for you, Allison. Does that make me good? My brothers would do the same for their wives. Are they good? I don’t think the word has meaning when it comes to people like us. To be good requires more than self-preservation. More than I can offer at least. No, I think the word falls short. We aren’t good. But we are Callahans, and we protect our own.”
I take his hand, squeezing it. “That’s good enough for me.”
“I meant to tell you earlier, but I suppose now is a good time. I took care of your father.”
I don’t reply right away. I know what he means. My father is gone. I should feel something: relief, joy, sadness. Instead, my father is only a cold emptiness in my guts. “Do I want to know the details?”
“No, but I’ll tell you, if you ask.”
I raise his hand to my lips and kiss it. “No. Thank you.”
“That’s what I mean when I say I’m not a good person. But I do love you very much.” He looks down, the corners of his lips pulling into a slight smile. A rare sight from Gregory. “Should we go inside before I get even more introspective?”
“Please, this philosophizing is bumming me out.”
“Wouldn’t want to damper your big day.”
I get on my toes and kiss him. “Thank you. And I love you. And if you’re not good, at least you’re mine.”
“That’s all I need.”
We hold hands as we head back into the party.