“—blood,” I whispered. “So you’re saying.”
“I’m saying in the end remember who you are.” Nixon shrugged. “Remember who he is.”
“I’m tired.” I faked a yawn.
“Right.”
“Oh, and Nixon.” I gripped his hand together. “Tell Trace I’m happy for her.”
Nixon’s eyes narrowed. “Interesting.”
“What?”
“I would have thought you would have noticed by now… what with experiencing the same things… similar symptoms and such.” He crossed his arms.
“Yeah, well.” I shrugged. “Every pregnancy is different.”
“Just like life,” Nixon added. “Sleep tight Mo.”
I nodded, emotions clogging my throat.
Two hours later, a heavy weight descended on my bed and large arms cocooned around my body.
“Tex?” I whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Enemies or lovers right now?”
He sighed and kissed my head. “Both, we’ll always be both.”
And I had my answer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Sometimes all you want to do is pull the covers over your head and pray the truth out of existence.
Tex
THE NEXT MORNING came too soon. Sunlight flickered through the dark curtains, landing on my face. My body ached, my bones felt brittle, and I’d lost all feeling in my left arm.
Mo snuggled closer to my body.
My body decided it liked it and pressed against hers.
I told it to stop.
But yeah, it had a mind of its own. Besides, when you fit so perfectly with someone, it’s kind of hard not to want to fuse the pieces together. With a sigh, I pried myself away from her, the tingling sensation in my arm reminding me of the loss of her body.
The chat with Nixon the day before hadn’t gone well. My uncle had suddenly decided to go off the map. All the Sicilians were currently in flight to the states for The Commission, and he’d disappeared like the bitch he was.
Sergio, aka shit for brains, even tried tracing the cell number and it was disconnected, meaning only one thing, he’d heard about The Commission and he knew what my next move was.
Mother freaking splendid news.
The meeting of the powers wasn’t to take place for another week—we needed everyone to get adjusted. And Nixon had cheerfully given Luca and Frank the job of making sure no shots accidently misfired, yeah I didn’t envy them.
Mo made a little noise in her sleep and flipped onto her back.
God, she was beautiful.
God, I was an ass**le for not telling her that every damn day.
Someone knocked softly on the door then opened it. Trace’s head poked through, staring at a calm Mo and then glaring at me.
“Whoa.” I held my hands up in innocence. “I was staring at her, not aiming a gun.”
“You choose her,” Trace whispered. “When it comes to making a choice, you always choose love, screw blood.”
“Are you drunk?” I took a few steps towards her.
“No.” A tear streamed down her cheek. “I just… you need to know, in the end… your life is about choices, they either make or break you, don’t let your past destroy your future.”
“And if it already has oh wise one? And by the way this is weird, I haven’t even had breakfast, how are you even able to think this early?”
Trace’s brown eyes narrowed, with a flip of her dark hair she shrugged. “I’m an Abandonato. I’m always watching.”
“Vacation,” I muttered. “You should try it—you know away from the boss.”
“Tex,” Trace snapped. “I’m serious. When the time comes it’s not about what Nixon wants, it’s what’s best for her.” With that, she closed the door, leaving me confused as hell and a bit curious as to what she put in her Cheerios to make her so awake at seven a.m.
Damn Nixon had his hands full with that one, always had, always will.
I took one last look at Mo and left the room making my way to the kitchen for some breakfast.
Trace was sitting calmly at the table eating, what do ya know, her Cheerios. Chase was in the process of stealing the box from her fingers while Mil hit him on the head with a newspaper, you know like owners do to their dogs when they piss on their shoes, and Nixon, he was deep in conversation with Sergio, Luca, and Frank.
“Did I sleep in or something?” I yawned gaining everyone’s attention.
“Ahh, the beast’s awake.” Luca smirked.
“Says the trained house cat.” I flipped him off. I’d never been afraid of Luca. Hell, if anything, he should be afraid of me, of what I represented.
He ignored my slight to his scariness and shrugged, taking a long sip of his coffee.
I poured myself a cup of coffee and joined everyone in the kitchen. Nixon was the first to speak.
“We’ll do it at The Spot.”
“The meeting?” I clarified.
Nixon nodded and leaned back in his chair. “We can control the environment there.”
“And what exactly are we hoping to accomplish?” I asked.
“What we always aim to accomplish.” Frank ran a shaky hand through his silver hair. “Peace.”
Just then Chase fell out of his chair on account of Mil pushing him, just as Trace freed the box of Cheerios and made a run for the pantry.
“Can’t even control our own breakfast, but world domination and peace, good luck with that.” I snickered.
Luca licked his lips, his cold eyes watched me drink my coffee as though memorizing each movement. “You will help us.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll shoot you.” Luca picked a piece of lint off his suit and glanced back at Nixon. “It really is a lovely day. Why don’t you take Tracey out for a nice morning walk? We have time to plan later.”
“My death,” I grumbled.
“What other choice do you have?” A muscle popped in Nixon’s jaw. “Either you stand with us or you stand with them. You stand with us, they try to kill you but at least we protect you. You stand with them, they still try to kill you, and in the end we have to.”
“And why’s that?” I licked my lips. “Why the hell would you have to kill me if I took my rightful place? Because really, that’s the only messed up piece to this entire puzzle! I killed my own father, so why shouldn’t I take his spot? What makes you, Nixon, any better than me? What makes what I have to do any less damning than what all of you did when you became the head of the family?”