TommasoI sat behind my desk wearing a new suit and staring blankly at my open laptop, trying to convince myself to think about work instead of Paige. When she woke up, she’d seemed so upset. She made me leave without even so much as a kiss. How badly had I fucked up?No. Work. I needed to flesh out the whole looks-like-cops idea I’d had last night. I grabbed my phone and opened to my contacts to dial Killian. He had a way with schemes like this.But as my finger hovered over his number, I froze. I’d always planned shit like this with Killian because he was my boss. My best friend, of course, but my boss. I couldn’t do much without his say-so. But now, I was the boss. I should be planning this shit with my people, the ones who needed my say-so, not with him. After a long moment, I tapped Stan’s number instead and sent him a quick text to come to my office. We didn’t have long before I had to take Paige to therapy, but we could start nailing a few things down.Stan arrived in minutes.
PaigeI blinked at Tom, who was holding onto my wrist. He wanted to know if we were okay. It was the question I’d been asking myself all morning, the question I’d been trying not to ask him when I came in here. The stoic nothingness I had seen on his face before he left this morning was gone, replaced with something raw and open.“Yeah,” I said slowly. “Yeah, I think we are.”A grin blossomed over his face. “Good. Great.”He stood, and we walked to the car hand-in-hand. Outside, birds started twittering back and forth to each other, the first sign of early spring. I smiled at them.“You like those chatty assholes?” Tom said with a grin.“Oh, come on, you’re telling me you don’t like them?” I nudged his shoulder before dropping his hand to climb into the car. “They’re basically a musical promise it won’t be cold anymore soon.”He shook his head. “Some of us have the body mass to survive a little winter.”I swallowed, waited for the comment to sting. I’d lost more weight than I thought
TommasoI glanced at Paige out of the corner of my eye, singing along to some rock song I’d never heard before. She seemed different; she had since she’d answered my question in my office. There was a lightness to her now. She barely stopped touching me, and she never stopped smiling. I couldn’t deny that I liked it. Her cheeks still had a little hollowness to them, and I knew from last night that she still wasn’t totally physically healed from her encounter with Zahur, but she seemed so much better. Like a woman I might meet in the real world and fall in love with, not one I pulled out of the worst depths of human filth.Still, I kept glancing at her like this, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like at any moment, she’d realize what she’d done and be afraid of me again.“Good therapy session?” I asked as the song ended, not really expecting anything.“The best,” she said.“Great.” I smiled at her. “That sounds good.”“It totally was.” She grinned at me, her hair bouncing as she bob
PaigeI stared down at Tom, looking for any hint of rejection in his green eyes. Desire threatened to overwhelm me, but if he didn’t want this, I’d curl back into myself forever.His own want warred with a gentle love in his face. My panic dissipated, and I grinned at him.“Scared?” I kissed a line down his bare chest. “I’m starting to think you should be. Last night was all about me, and I’m ready to repay the favor.”“Paige, we don’t have to—”I started unbuttoning his pants, eye-level with the massive bulge I’d been grinding against since the car. “Stop me if you don’t want this.”He bit his lip and stroked my hair.“Exactly.” I yanked his pants and underwear down and licked my lips. I’d only read about doing this with someone I actually wanted to be with. I’d refused to try it for Eric because he refused to do the same for me, but Tom deserved it. He’d been so good to me, so sweet.“I love you,” Tom said. “We can stop whenever you want.”The promise resounded through me, but I did
TommasoI gathered a sleeping Paige in my arms, twisted, and lifted her off the couch. My legs ached as I lifted her. Whatever had gotten into her today made her wild, and the sun had disappeared over the house, a sure sign we’d fucked into the early evening. I laid her gently in bed and tucked the covers over her, then scribbled a little note that I’d gone to get some work done. She’d understand.I tugged on my suit pants over my still-sticky dick and padded out of her room with the rest of my clothes in my arms. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. The little voice in the back of my head kept nagging that something had to be off, that she couldn’t have changed this much this quickly, but I ignored it. If I was going to follow Paige’s lead, I had to follow it wherever she led, not just when her lead made sense to me.I stopped in my room for a shower and another change of clothes. There’d been lots of dry cleaning this week, and more if she insisted on coming onto me like she did i
PaigeI stared back at Tom, who looked at me like I’d just grown a second head. Like I was crazy, just for wanting to help, wanting to do the thing I said I was driving toward all along.Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice reminded me that I was crazy.“This is going to be extremely dangerous,” Tom said slowly. “I double-checked with all my guys, mafia lifers, that they were actually willing to take on something with this high of a chance of going wrong.”I crossed my arms. “Consider this your double-check. I’m in.”He cupped my cheek, and I resisted the urge to lean in to his touch. “These women are going to be moments out of captivity. You did fantastic with Beth, but are you sure you’re ready for that?”I pulled away from him. “I’m not some wilting fucking flower. I put you and Steve on your respective asses.”That same voice reminded me I’d almost gone catatonic when McKenna had talked about her experiences in captivity, that I’d almost broken down just making fake women to
PaigeAs I expected, Sera Bianchi’s number was not only programmed into the phone Tom had given me, but added to my starred contacts. I trudged into my room and shut the door behind me. Tom said she’d patched him up after a gunshot wound and saved his life. Dr. Martinez might do house calls, but I doubted she did them on short notice, so having Sera nearby would hopefully bridge the gap. I had no idea who the mafia men used for their doctor when Sera wasn’t around, but if it wasn’t a woman, it wouldn’t work anyway.I dialed and held the phone to my ear with my eyes closed.“Paige!” Sera picked up almost immediately. “I’ve been waiting for you to call. How are things?”“Good, good,” I said automatically. “So—”“So, I heard from Killian that Tommaso said you might be willing to think about going shopping soon!” she trilled. “I was so glad to hear you’re finally on the upswing. I was thinking you, me, Olivia, and Penny could really tear up the town.”“Totally,” I said mostly to make her
TommasoOn Friday morning after Paige’s therapy, I sat at my desk, tying up a few loose ends. I hadn’t heard anything from Tony yet, but if I had to guess, I’d say the bastard would keep me waiting as long as possible as some kind of punishment for making him show me his set-up in the first place. He definitely seemed to want the “product” I “had,” but he also seemed like a petty piece of shit.The door to my office opened, and I looked up, expecting Miranda with the espresso I’d requested. Instead, Killian stepped in, wearing the sort of scowl I knew meant he wasn’t pleased. Part of me, the part that knew I was sitting in my own goddamn house running my own goddamn operation, wanted to demand what the hell he was doing here. The rest of me just saw my pissed-off boss—former boss.Killian dropped into one of the leather armchairs across from my desk. “What the fuck have you gotten yourself into now?”“What?” The tips of my ears warmed.“I’m not stupid, Tommaso.” Killian plucked a pen