“What?” I whispered.
He leaned down and kissed me gently, barely brushing his lips against mine. His hand gripped me harder as he kissed my neck and I felt his breath hot on my throat. He pulled back and gently touched my cheek with his hand and I leaned into it, wanting him so badly, needing his body, his arms, everything he could give me and so much more.
“I love you,” he said. “I’ve loved you for a very long time. I never stopped loving you when you went away, and I won’t stop even if you run again. So let me keep loving you, Irene. Stay with me.”
“I love you too,” I said, standing on my toes to kiss him deep and slow.
We stood in that forest for a long time, maybe forever. I felt his lips and heart, his body, tasted his tongue and knew that I couldn’t go back. When the kiss ended, I rested my cheek against his chest as he held me harder.
“What were you going to say before I very rudely interrupted you?” he asked.
I smiled slightly. “Just that I was wrong,” I said. “I never should’ve run away. That was a mistake, and I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You did what you thought you had to do, but you’re back now. That’s all that matters.”
I closed my eyes and listened to the wind in the trees and the bird fluttering from branch to branch and the sound of leaves crunching against bushes and knew in my heart, in my chest and gut, in every inch of me, that this was my man, that this was the person I was meant to be with forever.
This was my Cam.
I never should’ve given up on him and ran away. When he joined the Valentino family, I thought I was losing him forever. I thought they’d change him into a monster.
And they did change him. But he wasn’t some mindless beast, murdering for the fun of it. He did his job and protected his family, but he wasn’t the rotten, dark prince I feared.
He was still my Cam. Still the man I loved back then. He was the man I could still love.
He was so much more than that—and I wanted it all.
Running was a mistake and I’d pay the price for the rest of my life.
But if I stayed now, maybe I could make up for some of that lost time.
I pressed myself against him and we stayed there beneath that tree until dusk came and the sky turned pink then purple then black, before heading back up to the house.
22
Cam
Right at midnight, I parked my car in the middle of West Philly and killed the engine. It was a quiet block close to Drexel, and there wasn’t anyone out on the street, no pedestrians walking their dogs or taxis rolling past. The place was dead and silent and cold.
Irene slumped down in her seat wearing all black. She crossed and uncrossed her legs and shifted her position over and over again. I knew she was terrified for what was about to happen.
I got out my phone. “Text from Sasha,” I said.
Irene perked up. “What’s it say?”
“She’s in position and all the girls are ready.” I looked at the clock. Four more minutes. My phone buzzed again. “Another text from Anna. She’s ready, girls are ready.” More buzzes, from Lara and Vera, from a few other girls that were leading their attacks on their houses. Everyone was ready and accounted for.
I wouldn’t hear anything else from them, at least not right away. Now it was time to wait.
“I’m scared,” Irene admitted. “It’s weird. I lived so long with being afraid, and then I forgot what it felt like for a little bit being with you.”
“Nerves before a fight,” I said. “Everyone gets them.”
Myself included, but I didn’t let it show. I didn’t want Irene to know how worried I felt.
So much could go wrong. Some of the girls would be decent fighters, but some of them were hopeless in front of a completely still target. When it came to pointing a gun at a man and pulling the trigger, when it came to blood and murder, it was easy to freeze up and make a mistake. The houses with Anna and the sisters and Sasha, they’d be fine.
And all the other houses had my guys ready and waiting to go in.
One per house. I couldn’t mass them all together. I had to spread them apart and hope that the girls stepped up and did what they had to do. Their orders were simple: when they heard shooting and fighting, get in there and help kill. The girls knew my guys would come in, but that didn’t necessarily mean it would be safe. I had to hope they’d be careful and make it through this.