Breathless & Bloodstained (The Chicago War #4) (40 page)

Abriella’s brow
furrowed. “But … it’s just church.”

“It’s more than
church. It’s us being together outside of a home. It’s not hiding because of a
few older generation of people are whispering about what’s been going on
between us for years. It’s a sign of solidarity and happiness, Ella.”

“You make it sound
like we’re married or something.”

Tommas quieted instantly.

Oh.

Shit
.

The boss needs a
wife.

She should have
known that was what Tommas was dancing around. It was a long standing tradition
in Italian based mafia families that the men who ran the organization be
married. It was believed that a woman settled a man in a way that a single man
couldn’t be. It looked good for the public, and
la famiglia
as well.

Wildness was
frowned upon in a boss. Standards was praised in one.

Tommas had earned
his spot, he was both feared and respected, but he still had things to make it
final. Things like marrying an appropriate wife.

Abriella cleared
her throat, and stood from the couch. “We’re not married, Tommy. Taking me out
and showing me off as your significant other is only going to make people talk.
And not necessarily in a good way after all that’s happened.”

“Actually, I look
at it like this is a way for me to show off the woman I intend to be my wife.”

Maybe it was the
fact that Abriella had always felt like her relationship with Tommas would be a
stain on both their names, and that was why she hadn’t ever thought so far
ahead. She had never assumed that the role of being his wife would be hers even
though she had wanted it for years.

“There’s never
been anyone but you, Ella,” Tommas said as if he could read her mind.

“I don’t want
people to talk about you or me.”

“Let them. It’s
not their choice.”

Abriella laughed.
“Oh?”

“No. I’m the
damned boss, Ella. It’s all about me now.”

Her smile bloomed
instantly. “And me, apparently.”

Tommas shrugged.
“You don’t really need me to say that, do you? You already know—”

“Everything you do
is for me. I do know, Tommy.”

“Then get dressed.
Pastels, I think. It’s church, but you don’t have to look like you’re at a
fucking funeral again. I love you in light colors. It reminds me of spring,
beauty, and young life.”

“Does it?”

Tommas smiled. “It
reminds me of you.”

Her heart swelled.

Yeah, this man was
totally hers.

Abriella glanced
at the clock. “We might be a little late.”

“Good. I love
making an entrance.”

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

T
he sermon
dedicated to forgiveness of past transgressions, and moving on to a beautiful
tomorrow felt incredibly fitting for a portion of the people gathered in the
pews. At Tommas’ side, Abriella sat quiet with her eyes drawn down to the
sympathy card in her hand. Another three rested on her lap.

He smiled as she
flipped the card open and read the scrawled words inside.

We’re so sorry for your loss.

Love,

Theo & Eve

It was a simple
card, but Tommas knew it was significant to his lover. Someone had thought
about her, several people, actually. The other cards came from Alessa and
Adriano, and Lily and Damian. His girl had been so distant for the last couple
of weeks.

Tommas grabbed her
hand in his and pulled it into his side where he could hold a piece of her
close. His affection and love for Abriella wasn’t a secret, but it was Tommas’
choice of how much of his adoration that others would get to see.

In a way, he wanted
to shout his possession and jealousy to the world and make sure every man knew that
Abriella was his and stayed away. But on the other hand, he knew that he didn’t
really have to do any of that at all.

She was already
his.

People knew it.

Let them assume
what they wanted.

Tommas didn’t
care.

“I love you,
bella
mia
,” Tommas murmured in Abriella’s ear.

Her smile was a
sweet, honest sight.

“I know you do.”

“Don’t forget it.”

“I won’t, but you
might. You’re thirty, Tommy. Your age might start catching up to you.”

Faking a
half-growl, Tommas lifted Abriella’s hand and brought it to his mouth in what
looked like a kiss. Gently, he nipped her skin with his teeth, warning her
silently.

“Nasty,” she said.

“Very,” he
replied. “No jokes about my age.”

“It’s all in how
you feel, right?”

Tommas didn’t know
how to answer that question. In his mind, he felt decades and decades older
than what he really was. He’d seen enough, done enough, and felt enough to be
two-hundred instead of almost thirty-one. But in his heart, he was young enough
to believe that there was always hope for something better, and that the
darkness of a person’s past didn’t have to color the light in their future.

“I think,” Tommas
murmured, drawing Abriella closer to him in the pew, “… that how you see
yourself is what’s more important, Ella.”

“So … you’re
saying that you feel old.”

“Stop it.”

“Do you?”

“No. How could I
when you remind me what it’s like to be twenty-two with your whole life ahead
of you, just waiting for you make a choice?”

Abriella’s hand
tightened in his. “That’s an interesting way of looking at things.”

“I try.”

Subtly, Abriella
glanced around at the people in the pews surrounding theirs. A good portion of
the Outfit families had come to attend the Sunday Mass. Some, like Abriella and
Tommas, talked quietly amongst themselves, while others focused in on the
priest still delivering his words of hope and compassion.

“Everyone seems happy,”
Abriella noted.

“They are.”

And he wanted to
keep them that way.

Tommas took the
chance to gage the people around them like Abriella had done. While the couple
had shown up twenty minutes late to Mass, a seat in the very front pew had been
saved for them without question. Down from Tommas’ left, he found Damian and
Lily sitting quietly together. As usual, Damian had a hand resting on his
wife’s rounded stomach, keeping a proverbial eye on his unborn son, while his
other was on his wife. Lily was only a couple of months away from her due date.

A new generation
for their families would soon be born.

Just behind Damian
was Theo and Evelina. The couple didn’t look entirely interested in being at
church, but they did seem happy to be together.

A tap on Tommas’
shoulder had him looking behind to find Adriano.

“Hey, boss,”
Adriano said quietly.

Beside the man sat
his very pregnant, tired wife. Alessa was a week over her due date, as far as
Tommas understood. That couldn’t be fun for the young woman.

“Yes?” Tommas
asked.

“Plans still the
same after church?”

Tommas nodded. “Of
course.”

“Just checking.”

Adriano rested
back in the pew without another word. Tommas turned back to stare at the
priest, knowing that likely no one had given the quick conversation with his
Capo a second thought.

Tommas smiled.

His Capo.

It had only been a
couple of weeks since Tommas took the seat as the boss of the Outfit, but
occasionally, it still sneaked up on him and surprised him all the same. At the
same time, taking responsibility for
la famiglia
meant something far
more to Tommas.

He was responsible
for these people.

He needed to
protect them.

Hopefully, after
today, he could do that for at least one aspect of problems their families had
been facing. The police and FBI attention had been a little much. Tommas still
had two particular detectives that just wouldn’t back the hell off. If he
considered all of the issues the two detectives had caused for him and Abriella
over the last little while, he figured they deserved everything they were going
to get.

“At least we don’t
have to worry about someone’s car blowing up when the service is over,”
Abriella said.

Tommas didn’t
respond. He figured she meant it hypothetically, but recent past events made it
all a little too raw for him.

“Lily invited you
to dinner later, right?” Tommas asked.

Abriella shrugged.
“Yeah, but—”

“Go, enjoy
yourself. You’ve been hiding away for two weeks. It’s time to get back to
normal, Ella.”

“Nothing is really
normal, Tommy. It can’t be.”

“You can have a
new normal,” he said softly.

“As long as it
includes you.”

Tommas smirked.
“It sure as hell isn’t going to include anyone else.”

“No swearing in
church, Tommas. My God.”

Pressing his lips
together tightly to keep from laughing, Tommas simply shook his head. “Whatever
you say, my little rebel queen.”

Abriella scowled.
“Don’t say that, either.”

“But you are.”

“Keep it up.”

Tommas chuckled.
“You’re so sexy when you’re angry.”

Abriella smiled.
“And I bet you’re sexy when you sleep alone.”

Oh
. Damn.

Well, then …

“You win,” Tommas
said, letting his lover have the battle.

Abriella put her
head on his shoulder. “I always do.”

“Where are you
planning on living after this?” Adriano asked.

Damian laughed in
the driver’s seat as he passed a lighter back to Theo. “Same place he’s been
living for the last two weeks.”

“Thanks,” Theo
said, snatching the lighter.

“Don’t stub the
cigarette in the back. I’d like to return this damn thing without anyone
noticing I took it for a spin.”

“You still owe me
a new car,” Theo muttered around the cigarette in his mouth.

Tommas eyed Theo
beside him. “I’m surprised Eve doesn’t tell you those things are bad for you.”

“She does. I
pretend like I don’t hear her.”

“But you do,”
Tommas pressed.

Theo smirked.
“Sure, but it helps with the stress.”

“You had massive
heart surgery a couple of months ago,” Damian pointed out. “Cigarettes was not
on the list of what you should be doing, Theo.”

“Hey, when I pay
you to babysit my ass, then I’ll give a shit about your opinions,” Theo said.

“Enough bickering,
Jesus,” Tommas mumbled, rubbing at his forehead. “D, you could have stolen a
bigger car. This is ridiculous. I feel like I’m in a fucking sardine can.”

“Truth,” Adriano
agreed. “Who drives these little hatchbacks, anyway?”

“Green people,”
Theo said. “Whatever that means.”

“Would you shut
up?” Damian growled. “It was the easiest to take because the people are gone
for a week. You didn’t want to be in a noticeable, recognizable car. This piece
of shit does the job, Tommas.”

Laughing, Tommas
conceded to his cousin’s points. That didn’t mean he liked having his knees
driving into his chest because the back seat was so small.

“Oh, here we go …”
Damian said, trailing off with a nod down the street.

Parked where they
were in a driveway down the block, their car with dark tinted windows wouldn’t
be noticeable. It probably looked like any person’s car.

Tommas found who
Damian had mentioned quickly enough. Down the street, a familiar unmarked,
black cop car pulled into the driveway of Tommas’ home.

“So, you’re going
to be living at the mansion?” Adriano asked.

“Why not? It
belongs to Abriella,” Tommas said.

“Yeah, but you
have a house.”

Tommas chuckled.
“Not for long.”

“You checked it
all out, right?” Damian asked.

“Yep,” Tommas
confirmed. “Seems Darryl had a job to do leading up to the day of the sit-down
with Joel. That little search you did in his apartment the night you killed him
gave me everything I needed to know, D.”

“Good.”

Tommas had taken a
special care to stay the hell away from his house ever since Damian took Darryl
out. Apparently, Joel’s enforcer had left Tommas a nice little gift in his
foyer that would leave a nasty mess once the front door was open.

“I’d been staying
at the apartment,” Tommas said, sighing heavily. “I had Nate watching my car
and the apartment instead of the house. I didn’t think Joel would be brave
enough to try something on my house like that right out in the open. Maybe I
did know, but I was too busy being stupid.”

“Hey,” Theo said,
catching Tommas’ gaze. “You finished it out, Tommas. Everybody’s fucking safe,
they’re happy. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Maybe not.

Tommas had still
come terribly close to losing his life.

“Nonetheless,”
Tommas murmured, shrugging, “I’ll make an anonymous phone call to the police
tomorrow, telling them to check Darryl’s apartment. There’s a dead body that
still hasn’t been found, after all. Plus, all that evidence leading straight
to—”

“Be quiet … look,”
Damian said.

Tommas watched the
detectives stroll across the driveway and climb the front steps of Tommas’
home. Delog and Crown had no idea what was waiting for them. Tommas suspected
blame would be on him for a short while, at least until the evidence in
Darryl’s apartment was found along with the man’s dead body. Direct information
and instructions had been sent in emails between Darryl and Joel for the
enforcer to set the bomb in Tommas’ townhome the day of the sit-down.