“That’s unacceptable,” Jett mutters.

  Carmello runs his palm back and forth across the top of his head. “This is some shit, brother. You’re in deep. You love this chick?”

  “I…I…” I stop myself from answering. Can you love someone after such a short time? I have feelings for her, but love? I’ve never loved anyone except the members of my family, but this feels different… It is different. “How do you know?”

  “How would you feel if she walked out the door tonight?” Mammoth asked.

  I don’t answer right away. I think about the possibility of her not filling my apartment. All her girlie shit being gone. The sweet smell of her perfume not surprising me as I walk into my bedroom. The way her laughter echoes off the walls, making my heart speed up just a little bit more.

  “Shitty,” is the only way I can explain it.

  “You like her there?” Rocco asks with one eyebrow cocked.

  I nod. “Too much.”

  “He’s a goner,” Mammoth adds.

  “Yup,” Jett says with a few firm nods.

  “Fucking finally,” Pike states. “Thought this prick would be single forever.”

  “This is fucked up,” Stone says to me. “I can’t believe you went out and caught feelings for some chick.”

  “Hey now,” I warn my cousin, “she’s not some chick. She’s my wife.”

  He groans and waves an arm at me. “How fucked up is that? You get married to a woman you don’t even know, and now you’re thinking with your dick, talking about feelings and actually wanting to stay married to someone who’s basically a stranger.”

  “You’re the biggest asshole,” Asher tells him. “You’re lucky you have me by your side and that I let you be my wingman.”

  “You two done?” I ask before they have a chance to keep going.

  “Dumbass,” Stone adds as he raises his chin, looking down his nose at me. “Fucked up our group. Now all I got is Asher. Thanks a fucking lot.”

  “Again, are you done?” I ask him.

  He nods and kicks at the grass near his shoes. “I said what I needed to say.”

  “Just think, if I’m out of the running, think of all the primo ass you’re going to get. I won’t be there to take the hottest ones.”

  His eyes narrow as his lip curls. “I bagged the hotter ones.”

  “Tell yourself whatever you need to, buddy,” I tease.

  “I hate you,” he replies.

  I laugh, knowing he’s full of shit. “We done here?” I ask the group.

  Pike shakes his head. “What are you going to do about her father?”

  I stare at him, wondering if he’s lost his marbles. “What should I do?”

  “I say take him out. It’ll be better in the long run if the man isn’t around,” he tells me.

  I blink, staring at Pike in astonishment. “You want to kill him?”

  He shakes his head again. “I want you to kill him.”

  I roll my eyes, stopping myself from laughing at the stupidity. “First, impossible. Second, are you fucking mad?”

  “Nope,” he clips out. “The man will be a problem forever.”

  “You’ve watched too many mafia movies,” Carmello tells Pike. “Do nothing, Trace. Protect her from his venom as much as possible, but don’t go off half-cocked like this moron and try to kill her dad.”

  “I don’t mean do it yourself,” Pike clarifies like it’s any less dumb.

  “Listen, I’m not taking the man out. That’s completely off my radar,” I explain. “He’s a piece of shit, and she wants nothing to do with him. I’ll make sure she doesn’t have to see his mug, but beyond that, we’re going to live our life here, far away from his reach.”

  “He doesn’t have boundaries. He’s a criminal, Trace,” Dylan, Rosie’s husband, reminds me, but I haven’t forgotten.

  “I can’t imagine he’d bother us.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Nick says, finally entering the conversation. “Expect the unexpected so you’re never surprised.”

  “After the last time I saw him, I’d be shocked if he bothered with either of us.”

  Carmello stares at me. “What happened?”

  “I made it clear that we were done with him and that Ana was off-limits.”

  “I’m sure men like him are used to being told what they can do and what they can’t do. I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Carmello says sarcastically.

  “Just be ready for anything,” Rocco adds. “Don’t have every gun locked up.”

  “I have one nearby at all times,” I tell him.

  “Right now?”

  I tilt my head at his stupidity. “We’re at Grandma’s, moron.”

  “Never let your guard down with a man like him. Not even here.”

  “So, I should come in packing? That won’t set off any alarm bells or anything.”

  “Who the fuck cares?” Carmello states. “Dad knows how those types of people are. Most of this family has had their lives in danger at some point or another. Everyone will understand.”

  “Not happening,” I tell them all. “I’m not going to be looking over my shoulder at every moment, waiting for someone to come after me.”

  “What did your dad say?” Dylan asks. “I can’t imagine you being unarmed while Ana’s father is unhappy flies well with him.”

  “Don’t fucking care,” I mutter.

  Carm sucks in a breath through his teeth. “This shit isn’t going to end well.”

  “It’ll be fine,” I tell him. “You all need to calm your shit and stop acting like such scaredy-cats.”

  “We’re just being real. Every one of us has dealt with some shit,” Carmello reminds me.

  “Someone has to break the pattern.”

  “That someone isn’t going to be you,” Pike says with a quick tilt of his head like I’m an idiot.

  “I’ll roll with the punches. I always do.”

  “You going to fall with the bullets too?” Mammoth asks with a straight face.

  “No one’s getting shot,” I tell him.

  Mammoth lifts his hands. “Whatever, man. We warned you. We’re here if you need us, but at least be fucking smart about shit.”

  “I’m always smart,” I bark.

  “Says the man who was kidnapped and married a woman he didn’t know,” Rocco muses to himself.

  “And I haven’t regretted a single moment of it either,” I tell him, adding a middle finger for good measure. “We done here?”

  Pike waves his hand at me before stalking off toward the backyard. “There’s no talking sense into you,” he calls out over his shoulder.

  “Fuck it,” Mammoth mutters and follows Pike back to the lanai, where the women are probably deep in gossip, and if I had to guess, it’ll be all about me and Ana.

  “Hardheaded like the rest of them,” Jett says to me before he peels off with Pike and Mammoth.

  “We’re here for you, though. Anything. Just call,” Dylan tells me before he makes an exit.

  “What he said,” Nick says and leaves.

  Each guy echoes the same words until it’s just my brothers and me left.

  “You sure about this?” Carmello asks.

  “Never been more sure about anything before.”

  Rocco places his hand on my shoulder. “We got you. If you need anything or see anything suspicious, you call someone. No fucking around. Don’t leave yourself open to getting your ass killed. Got it?”

  “Got it,” I tell him. “I learned a thing or two lately. I won’t get taken again.”

  “I’m not worried about you getting taken,” Rocco tells me. “I’m worried about your ass getting killed with a bullet.”

  “I don’t plan on that happening either.”

  “I don’t think anyone ever does,” Carmello says. “Just be smart.”

  “Has he ever been smart?” Rocco asks Carmello.

  “Eh,” Carmello says with a twist of his lips. “He’s never been the brightest of us three.”

  I roll my eyes, both hating and loving my brothers. “It’ll be fine.”

  “Famous last words,” Rocco tells me as he moves me toward the backyard with a simple push of his meaty palm against my back.

  I brace myself for the worst. Hopefully Ana isn’t sitting like a deer in headlights, deep in the Gallo inquisition. The last thing I want to do is have words with my cousins about being civil to the new girl. But to my surprise, when I turn the corner, reaching for the screen door, Ana is laughing, kicked back in her chair with a new glass of wine.

  She looks so light. So happy. Something I haven’t seen from her in…well, ever. Ana looks like she’s been a part of the group forever, and for a moment, I let myself believe that the rest of our lives will be this easy.

  21

  ANA

  Trace places his hand over mine as I rest it on the console between us. “You okay?”

  “I’m great.” And I am. The day went better than I ever could’ve imagined. I thought meeting his family would end in disaster, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

  They were the best kind of people. I worried they’d hold some sort of resentment toward me, given the way things went down. I don’t know why, but I thought they’d hate me for it. It wasn’t like Trace had many options, and while I saved his life, I didn’t do it for the most selfless reasons.

  “You’re quiet.”

  “Sorry,” I whisper, staring at his profile as he drives.

  “Don’t be,” he tells me, curling his fingers into mine. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I like your family,” I blurt out, looking back out of the passenger window. “I’m just thinking about how great they are.”

  “They can be a handful sometimes. And man, are they nosy or what?”

  I laugh. “No nosier than other families. I mean, my dad is nosy, but he sends out his spies to get information instead of asking himself.”

  “I hate that for you.”

  I hate it for me too. When I was younger, I didn’t realize how messed up it was. I thought everyone’s father had people who spied on their kids and reported back to them. It took until I was in my late teens to realize that shit wasn’t normal. Nothing about my life has been.

  “It’s in my past.”

  “It is,” he says in the sweetest tone. “You deserve all the good things.”

  I’ve never felt I deserved anything. My father made sure not to spoil me, and in return, I never expected anything. He gave my brother and me an allowance—although it was pretty hefty compared to other kids—and we were left to get what we wanted, when we wanted. My brother used his money on gambling, while I started investing as soon as I was old enough to open my own account. Our father did shower him with more affection. If that’s what you would call it. My father didn’t hug. He never kissed. And he rarely had a good word to say, but when he did, it was always aimed at Sean.

  But Trace’s life has been very different. I can tell his family makes sure to make every person in the family feel special. Like they have a place. Like they belong. I envy him, but not in a bad way. I wanted what he has, but I came to terms with the fact that I’d probably never have it a long time ago.

  The guilt I have been trying to push down since we left the island starts to creep back in. Slowly, at first. And I’ve been able to store it away in the back of my mind. But with each passing moment, the scratch in my soul gets deeper.

  “Trace, I want you to know, if you want out, for whatever reason, I’m okay with it. I won’t be mad or upset. I won’t think any differently of you. You did everything I asked. You stayed by my side when most men wouldn’t. There’s no threat from my father, there’s no future birth to worry about or pregnancies my father will disown me over. Not that that matters anyway. After what he called me, I never want him in my life ever again. But you’re a great guy. You deserve a great girl. And…”

  “You done?”

  I blink, my mouth open and stuck on the words I was about to say. “Pardon?”

  “Are. You. Done?”

  “Well, no.”

  “You’re done,” he says calmly.

  I turn my entire body in the seat, pulling at the seat belt to make the move possible. “I’m not.”

  “Y’are.”

  I jerk my head back and blink a few times. The audacity. “We need to have this talk.”

  “Had it like twenty times already, Ace. I’m over it.”

  “You’re over it?” I repeat, staring at him in disbelief.

  “Yep,” he snaps, squeezing my hand in the process. “You want a divorce?”

  “Um,” I mumble.

  “Do you?”

  Do I? Fuck no. I’m not stupid. This has been the calmest and happiest time in my life since my mother died, but my happiness doesn’t outweigh his. We need to be equals, and if the relationship doesn’t give something to both of us, it isn’t worth staying in.

  “I’ll take that as a no,” he says when I don’t answer his question right away. “Can we drop it now?”

  “Drop it?”

  He nods but keeps his eyes on the road. “Yeah. We’ve beaten it to death and always come out with the same answer.”

  “But what about—”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “But you—”

  “No.”

  “But your fam—”

  “They’re happy.”

  “But you may—”

  “I don’t.”

  I sigh, letting my back rest against the passenger side door. “You’re impossible,” I mutter.

  “I never thought it would be so hard to get a woman to stay with me,” he says.

  “I’m not trying to leave.”

  He turns his head toward me, staring at me for a second before looking forward again. “Then what are you doing?”

  “Making sure.”

  “Of what?”

  “That you’re happy.”

  He smiles. “I’m a no-bullshit guy. If I’m not happy, I’ll let you know I’m not happy.”

  “So, you’re happy?”

  “I’m fuckin’ over the moon.”

  “This is absurd,” I whisper. “Makes no sense.”

  “Sometimes the best things don’t.”

  “Like what?” I ask him.

  “Breaded mushrooms.”

  “Ew.”

  “They’re primo.”

  “Not even close. What else?”

  “Blue cheese.”

  “You’re losing here. You’ve named two things that make me want to gag.”

  “Getting spanked,” he says.

  “As punishment?”

  He lifts shoulder very slightly. “Or as pleasure.”

  All the air leaves my body. I sit motionless, staring at him.

  He turns his head, a smirk on his face. There’s nothing but pure sex appeal dripping from him. “Cat got your tongue?” he asks when I don’t reply.

  “No,” I say, feeling defensive as he turns his gaze back to the road in front of us.

  I’ve had sex, but never once in my life has someone spanked me in the middle of it. I can’t imagine it feeling good.

  “You’re not a fan?” he asks.

  “I…” God, I feel naïve and ridiculous.

  “Never?” he asks like he’s reading my mind.

  I shake my head even though he isn’t looking. “No.”

  “That’s sad,” he whispers. “You need to expand your mind a little.”

  “My mind is expanded,” I argue, thinking I had a healthy sex life before, but clearly, I’m wrong.

  “We’ll tuck that away for the future,” he says with that smirk still on his lips.

  My stomach flutters at the very thought of having sex with Trace, with or without the spankings. The man is beautiful. A little rougher around the edges than my normal flavor, but totally someone I would’ve fallen into bed with.

  “What the…” he starts to say as we pull in. “Who the…” He leans forward, trying to get a better look.

  I follow his gaze to where my brother is standing, flanked by two men, and holding an envelope.

  “Shit,” I exclaim. “I’ll handle him.”

  I’ve handled him and his stupidity my entire life. Doing it one more time won’t be a big deal.

  As soon as Trace parks the car, I reach for the door handle. But Trace’s hand pulls mine back, making it impossible for me to leave the vehicle.

  “I’ll talk to him,” he tells me, and the tone he says it in lets me know he’s not asking my permission.

  “He’s my brother.”

  “But he’s my problem. After what went down with your father, I’m not letting Sean near you unless I know he’s going to be kind. No one talks to you that way ever again. Got it?”

  I blink, my mouth hanging open, shocked and confused. No one has ever come to my rescue. No one has ever tried to shelter me from anything bad, not even my own blood. “Trace, I don’t think…”

  “I want you to sit here and hang tight. If he’s not being an asshole, I’ll call you out.”

  I’m both pissed and relieved not to have to deal with Sean. The last thing I want is another scene like my father caused.

  “You two already have bad blood,” I explain. “It may be wise if I talk to him.”

  Trace gives me a hard stare. “Ana.”

  “Trace.”

  “I’m not talking about this shit any longer. You sit your beautiful, fine ass in the car and wait for me to call you out. If shit goes south, you call the cops. If shit goes really south, there’s a gun in the glove box.”

  I jerk my head back. “There’s a gun in the glove box?”

  He nods. “I don’t leave the house without it anymore. It’s too dangerous.”

  I’ve brought that danger into his life. It’s my doing. My family’s doing. Never before did he need to carry around protection, but since my brother had him kidnapped, he’s felt compelled to carry a weapon.

  I glance at my brother, who’s standing in front of Trace’s door, shoulders puffed out, arms crossed. He has the same mean look on his face he always does. The man only knows how to smile when he’s winning or about to get laid. He has very few joys in life, and that shows on his face.