He hated this. “I love you, Graciella. I’m so sorry that I failed you. None of that shit should ever have happened.”
The smile was back. “You haven’t failed me.” She looked at Alesha. “Take care of my brother. Make sure he’s loved and protected.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Wait, you can’t go,” Xavier said. This reunion was decades in the making. She’d been through more hell than he could have imagined, and he wanted to undo all the horrors.
“The world never sleeps for me. I’ve got to go, otherwise I’ll end up as one of Boss’s minions. That bastard will not stop when he wants something. I much prefer keeping one step ahead and taking the contracts from under his nose.”
“You could become part of Killer of Kings.”
Graciella grimaced. “I hate to say this, but they’re a lit
tle too tame for me. Besides, I work on my own. Nothing in this world is easy, and I don’t have time to get attached. We’ll talk again soon.”
He watched her get to her feet. Heard her heels clicking on the floor, and he didn’t follow her. The Graciella he knew, she wasn’t there at the moment. He hoped she wasn’t gone forever. But El Diablo had managed to find peace, and so could she.
Alesha rested her head on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay. I promise,” she said.
“I’ve got you. I know I’ll be fine.”
She cupped his face and made him turn to look at her. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Boss said you enjoyed his company.”
She rolled her eyes. “He thinks he’s a comedian. Believe me, he’s not even close to being funny. I just wanted to be with you. To stay here. To love you.” She stroked his cheek. “Please tell me we can be together now. No more secrets?”
“Well, you’ve met my family. That’s all I have to offer.”
“I think your sister likes me.”
“She’s gone, Alesha. She really is gone.” Her quick disappearance after just finding her hit him like a blow to the gut.
“She’ll come back.”
“How do you know that?”
Alesha held him tight against her chest, the soft cushions of her tits still so inviting.
“Because she cares enough to come and see you. If she really didn’t, she wouldn’t have been here.”
He pulled Alesha into his arms, pressing his face against her neck, breathing her in. This was home. She was his woman, and he loved her more than anything.
“I’m never letting you go.”
“Good, because I don’t want to go anywhere.”
****
Two months later
“Don’t drop me. Please don’t drop me,” Alesha said, giggling as Xavier held her a little bit tighter against his body.
After they’d had the tackiest wedding possible in Vegas, with Boss, several of the guys at Killer of Kings, as well as his sister present, he’d decided to piggyback her to their hotel. They’d made it into the elevator, and he refused to let her go.
She couldn’t stop laughing as he rested her against the wall of the elevator and his body. With her arms draped across his chest, she’d tightened her hold as the elevator doors slid open and she had no choice but to go with him as they walked toward their room.