Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

Enrique

Ellie’s surrendered to me.

I feel it.

Will she finally let herself feel for me what I feel for her? It’s not love. Not yet. But it’ll build to that if she doesn’t put any more walls between us. We need time together. We need to do normal couple things.

I withdraw, and neither of us like it. But we shift to lie on our sides facing each other. She inches into my embrace, and we bask in our afterglow. Her fingertips trail over my back absentmindedly, and it’s comforting and arousing all over again. I don’t remember the last time my jimmy’s done this many jumping jacks. I’m insatiable with her. It’s not like I’ve been a hit it and quit it kinda guy, but basically. My partners have always known I have no emotional attachment beyond lust, then enjoying the physical fulfillment after a good fuck.

When I’ve been a Dom, I’ve enjoyed the aftercare. But it was never sentimental. It wasn’t perfunctory either. It just never had the overwhelming peace I feel with Ellie. It had no tenderness and fondness. It was praising and comforting. Never loving.

I watch as her eyes grow heavy, and I fight the urge to sleep because I don’t want to miss watching her. But I’m exhausted too.

I love seeing Ellie bound to her dining room table. She’s spread eagle on it, her arms and legs secured to the table legs. I roll the Wartenberg pinwheel over her nipple before circling it three times. I leave a trail of pinpricks between her tits as I move it to circle her belly button. The sensation follows as I travel over her right hip bone and down the inside of her thigh all the way to the arch of her foot. It twitches. I shift to the left, lingering behind her bent knee. Then I’m arriving at the juncture of her leg and hip. I run it over the crease. I’m careful as I move it along the outside of her pussy lips, not wanting to pinch.

“You’ve been a naughty chiquita , haven’t you?”

“ Sí, papí .”

She tests the phrase, and my cock’s ready to abandon me and find its own way into her cunt.

“Why am I edging you?”

“Because I came this morning when you didn’t give me permission.”

“That’s right. Who does your body belong to now?”

“You, Daddy.”

“Who decides when you come?”

“You do.”

“Then what made you think you decided?”

“I couldn’t help it. It just happened.”

“You thought I couldn’t tell. You thought you’d get some relief then carry on. You thought you could fool me. Why can’t you?”

“Because you already know me.”

I lean forward and nip at her belly, grazing my teeth over the flesh before sucking. I’ve marked her all over her body since we woke up from our nap yesterday. We’ve had round after round of kinky sex since then. I’ve tied her up all over her house. We’ve used everything I bought except for the swing.

I watch her as I straighten, then continue to draw the pinwheel over her in an unpredictable pattern. Goosebumps rise on her arms and legs, both from anticipation and her natural response to the light pricks. I’ve been edging her for the last half an hour.

She’s done so well with everything we’ve tried over the past two days. I’ve offered her all the things she’s asked for, and she’s been open-minded, trying all the variations I suggest. Every moment we share like this, we rebuild the trust that cracked and continue to make a solid foundation for a relationship I no longer have doubts about.

It was hard not to question myself as I learned about the past she didn’t want to share. She’s told me a little more, and if I weren’t committed to spending the weekend with her, I’d be in Boston beating the shit out of Tommaso and Frank. As is, once they know I’m with Ellie, they’re going to owe me a shit ton to make up for what they did.

I don’t care if it was years before I met her. Just sending her on the mission last week is enough to make my blood boil. Rather than stew in anger, I keep my focus on the woman tied to the table in front of me.

“Do you think you deserve to come yet?”

“I don’t know that I deserve it, but I’d really like it.”

My lips twitch. She has a colorful sense of humor, a quirky sense of humor, a sarcastic sense of humor, and a dry sense of humor. I’ve seen all of it this weekend. It’s only made me want her more, and it’s made it easier for me to open up to her.

I slip my fingers along the outside of her pussy lips, then twist the vibrator that’s running on high with the little arm turned away from her clit, rubbing the smooth strip of skin. I bring it back to her clit, and she tries to arch her hips off the table, but she has no leverage since her calves hang over the end.

This position leaves her pussy resting at the edge. I put the pinwheel aside and merely watch her as the vibrator makes her tremble. I observe how her body tenses until she’s straining to get off. She wants it so badly right now. She’ll risk another punishment just for momentary relief. I withdraw the vibrator and put it on the tablecloth we laid for this express purpose.

I lower myself until I’m kneeling between her legs. I lick and groan at her sweet, musky taste. I’ve never minded eating out a woman, but it’s never been my favorite thing to do. However, with Ellie, it’s like nectar from the gods. I think some of it’s knowing I’m the first man to do this in so long. It’s almost like I’m actually her first. At our ages, it’s practically impossible to try anything we haven’t somehow done with previous partners.

As I dip my tongue into her, I twist the plug I put in her ass this morning. We started with a medium-sized one for a few hours yesterday while we watched a movie, and she warmed my cock. She offered, and I said yes. We spent the first half of the movie with my cock in her mouth. It was divine torture for me. Then she sat on my lap, continuing to warm it, flexing her pussy every so often to keep me hard.

Now I bring her to the edge as I spin the largest plug. Her eyes are closed as she moans over and over. I know how sensitive she is after all of this tormenting. I don’t want to go from hurting to harming her. I’d never trust myself again, and this isn’t something I want to give up sharing with Ellie.

Just the opposite. I hope this intimacy continues to grow.

I slide three fingers into her, rubbing her clit in between flicking it with my tongue. I planned to leave her needy even longer, but I don’t have the heart to do that.

“Come for me, chiquita . Let me taste how much you love my mouth on you.”

“ Sí, papí .”

Those two words make my heart feel three sizes too big in my chest and my cock about ten sizes too big in my boxer briefs. After her son walked in on us yesterday, we decided going naked wasn’t a good idea. We settled for a tank top and little shorts for her and my boxer briefs for me. That’s less traumatic if anybody walks in on us than her in nothing except maybe a bra, since I refuse to allow her to have her panties back. In fact, I laid a fire and symbolically burned the ones I slashed, the rest I threw in the trash.

“I’m so close, Daddy. Just keep going, please, a little more.”

Her wish is my command.

“Yes, yes, just like that. I’m coming. I’m coming, Daddy!”

That word’s never been my thing before. I’ve never asked a woman to call me that. I never even considered it. It’s something I haven’t shared with anyone other than Ellie. I guess we have a first, after all.

Her cream coats my lips, and her taste is still on my tongue as I stand. She watches me as I lick my lips and grin. She opens her mouth and turns her head to the side, her invitation obvious. I untie her legs and move her up the table, so her head is at the far end, able to tip back off the edge.

I don’t rebind her legs, so her feet come up onto the tablecloth. She pushes back a bit more until she’s comfortable. As I drop my boxer briefs, I realize our precautionary minimal clothing is moot since we’re both naked now, and she’s tied to a table. It was a placebo thought because it would traumatize any of our family to walk in on us like this. Hell, it would traumatize Ellie and me if anyone saw her like this. But it makes us worry less when we aren’t in the middle of sex.

When we live together, I question whether I would give keys to her sons like they have to this house. I’m already picturing her sharing a home with me. We’ll have to implement the same rules for my family as we’ll have with hers. They need to call or text as they arrive in the neighborhood, then call or text again as they come through my gate. That way we should have ample time to get Ellie dressed since I intend to keep her naked as much as I can.

I stroke my cock three times, then tap her lips. She opens for me and sucks my cock practically down her throat. She works it in a way that tempts me to think about her past and the clear experience she has doing this. But I refuse to allow ghosts to share this time with us.

I lace my fingers through her hair, helping support the weight of her head as it bobs.

“Ellie, you’re going to make me embarrass myself with how fast I come. Fucking hell, chiquita . You’re going to swallow all of me, aren’t you?”

She hums, and the vibration nearly does me in. I intended to fuck her throat, but she’s the one fucking me. I can’t get enough of her. Everything about her lures me in like a siren.

“Ellie, if you don’t want to swallow, snap.”

Her hands flatten on the table. I don’t hold back.

Considering how many times I’ve already come, it shocks me there’s still any left. I know how the male anatomy works, so that’s an exaggeration. But it defies understanding, since every orgasm is so intense.

When I withdraw, she licks her lips just like I did. Her grin matches mine. I hurry to unfasten her arms and help her sit up. I rub and move them around. She promises she’s not stiff anywhere from the many times I’ve restrained her.

I’ve spanked her enough her ass remains a deep shade of pink. I noticed the beginning of a bruise last night. I stopped immediately. That’s not my goal. I like her ass cherry red while I’m spanking her. And I love seeing how pink it still is. But I don’t want to mar her with bruises.

I’m about to carry her upstairs when I remember what’s at the other end of the table. I guess her son really has me spooked because I don’t want to leave anything behind. I grab the vibrator and the pinwheel along with the pillowcases and sheet I used to bind her to the table. She holds out her hands to make it easier for me. I pass her everything as I stoop to gather them, then I lift her off the table and into my arms.

“I can walk. I don’t think my feet have touched the floor since yesterday morning.”

“Why should you walk when I prefer to carry you? I enjoy having you where you belong.”

“And where is that?”

“In my arms.”

“You say the sweetest things, Enrique.”

She kisses my cheek and rests her head against my shoulder as we make our way to her bedroom. What I have in mind next involves a mirror. I place her on the bed before I grab the full-length mirror on a wooden frame that lets it tilt up and down. As I lay it on the floor, I know she’s watching, wondering what I’m doing. I’m certain she can guess part of it. I set it up in front of the rocker recliner she has in her room. I grab the lube from the bedside table before I offer her my hand. She takes it without hesitation.

“You’re letting me walk somewhere?”

“For now, little one.”

I guide her over to the chair and mirror. We put a foot on each side of the mirror.

“Lean forward.”

She grasps the arms of the chair. I twirl the butt plug again, gliding it in and out. Sometimes all the way to the tip. Sometimes barely enough to notice.

“Do you think you can take me, Ellie?”

“I’ve known I can the whole time. You’re the one who insisted on stretching me.”

“Because I don’t want to harm you. I never want that.”

“I know, Enrique, and I’ve never worried you would. You’ll always be careful with me and always mindful of your size and strength. I know if you were thoughtless and harmed me, you’d never forgive yourself, and we wouldn’t do this anymore. That would be an epic tragedy.”

“Epic?”

“Yes. Of the greatest proportions.”

“You really are a little kinky.”

“A little? I thought I was showing you I’m pretty fucking kinky all the time.”

It’s not like we haven’t had vanilla sex. That was partly to let her body rest. But it was more about sharing something neither of us is ready to say. It was practically a spiritual experience. It was like the first time we did it slowly. We watched each other the whole time, and I didn’t want that connection to end. I don’t think she did either because we both fought to hold out for as long as we could.

I ease the plug from her and let it fall to the floor beside my foot. I snap open the cap and pour lube over my cock. I let a stream dribble down her ass to the place I haven’t visited yet, but I will soon claim.

“What’s your safe word, little girl?”

“Mushrooms.”

I use the tip of my cock to spread the lube around, pressing into her enough for it to dribble farther inside her.

“Look down, Ellie. Watch us.”

We peer into the mirror together. I’ve had sex in rooms with mirrors on the ceiling. I’ve had sex standing in front of mirrors.

But I’ve never done this. The view is mesmerizing as I sink into her over and over again.

“Enrique, I don’t...I didn’t know…Holy fuck.”

“I know, Ellie. I feel the same way.”

We continue to observe ourselves. I’m not a young man anymore, but I feel like a horny nineteen-year-old around her. It’s not like I’ve ever needed a little blue pill to get me up or keep me hard. But it’s been a long time since I could have round after round of sex as fast as I do with Ellie.

It’s almost like I’m making up for lost time. All the years she wasn’t in my life. All the years I wish she had been.

“How are you doing, little one?”

“Don’t you dare stop.”

I chuckle as I obey her command. But when I know I’m close, I reach past her into the box where we placed all our new toys and implements last night. I snag another vibrator that’s even wider than the one I used downstairs. I turn it on and slide it into her pussy.

“You take it, Ellie. Do what you need to.”

“Thank you.”

The two words come out on a moan. My hands grasp her hips as I move faster. The gliding rocker pulls her away as I thrust, then supports her as I pull her back. I drive into her over and over as she moans, begging for me to keep going.

“God, Enrique. Everything’s so tight and so full. Don’t stop.”

“Don’t worry, little girl. I’m not. My balls would never forgive me if I did.”

“Enrique, yes…Yes…I’m coming. I’m coming.”

I don’t hold back as I shoot my load into her. I groan and tilt my head back. When we both come back down to Earth, we look in the mirror. As I pull out some of my cum drips from her ass.

“Enrique, if I wasn’t completely yours before, I am now.”

“Nothing will keep me from you. Chiquita , I will move heaven and earth for you, and I’ll burn it all down if anybody stands in our way.”

“We’re going to have to face the real world soon, chiquita .”

“But I don’t wanna.”

She playfully pouts, and I chuck her bottom lip before giving her a kiss. We’re walking into her living room where we’re going to jump on a video call with her boys. We set it up for this evening because we want to go into the new week with everything out in the open. Plus, she’s understandably concerned that the longer we wait, the greater the likelihood Tommaso will find out on his own. Then he’ll tell her other two sons. She also doesn’t enjoy expecting Will to keep a secret from his brothers. She suspects he probably already told them.

However, she won’t assume that, and she doesn’t want him to bear the responsibility of being the one to tell them. It would only come across as though she’s hiding from them. That’s not what she wants.

She heads into her office, and I can see her from the living room. She unplugs her laptop and brings it over to where I’m standing by the sofa. When we sit, she positions it so the camera will allow her sons to see both of us. She already texted them the link to this call. They’re waiting for her when we hop on together. Her brow furrows as she looks at the three young men.

I’ve only met Will. I haven’t seen the other two besides the photos I’ve noticed in her house. I barely know their names. I was aware Will had brothers, but they weren’t men I’d ever met or had any interaction with.

“Hi, boys.”

She tries to keep her tone airy, but their scowls deepen, knowing there’s nothing light about this conversation.

“Will, did you tell your brothers?”

“Of course I did. What did you think was going to happen when I found out you’re involved with a jefe de jefes ? When you wind up with your head cut off and the rest of you is hanging from a bridge, we need to know who to go after.”

“William.” She snaps his name, and anger radiates from her.

I remain quiet, though I have plenty I’d like to say.

“For starters, you know as well as I do Enrique is Colombian, not Mexican. Don’t use recycled stereotypes unless you want me calling you all Guidos as though Mafias are interchangeable from Boston down to the Jersey Shore.”

“That’s not fair, Mom, and you know it.”

“Then don’t sound like a petulant child.”

Will clams up, but it’s easy to tell he has far more he’d like to say. Since we can see Constantine nudging one of her sons, I know he must be Hunt. It’s Steve who speaks next, and I can tell he’s the peacemaker in the family.

“Mom, we thought you wanted as far away from syndicate life as you could get. And rather than run from it, you’ve run right back to it. You couldn’t pick somebody more entrenched than Enrique Diaz.”

“That’s just the way life worked out. It wasn’t like either of us planned this.”

Hunt’s eyebrows shoot straight up, and he glowers at me. I feel it’s time for me to speak up.

“I did not target your mother. I didn’t know who she was until yesterday morning when William showed up. Your mother has done an excellent job protecting her anonymity. I never would’ve guessed, and she never gave a hint.”

She jumps in when all three of her boys open their mouths at the same time.

“You know I disappeared, and you know how well I can stay hidden. If Enrique and his family didn’t discover who I am, then it means I did the job properly.”

“But do you really believe, Mom, that he didn’t know who you are?” Hunt pats Constantine’s head before gently easing the dog away from him, so he can lean back and cross his arms.

“Do you believe I’ll give away family secrets to Enrique? Is that what this is about? You’re worried what I’ll tell him?”

All three boys shake their heads.

“So, you believe he’ll torture me to get information from me?”

Three sets of eyes dart from their mom to me before looking back at her. None of them react beyond that.

“What would Enrique have to gain by doing that? If he’d discovered who I was sooner, he would’ve just recognized my reputation sooner. He would know I’m not telling anybody anything I don’t want to. He also would’ve known I haven’t done any jobs for Tommaso in quite some time. So, anything I might have to tell him wouldn’t be very current.”

“There are old family secrets you could divulge.”

“Hunter, do you really believe I would give away a single bit of our family business knowing how that would endanger you if I did?”

“He could force it out of you.”

Her expression hardens as she looks at her boys.

“Nobody’s ever gotten anything out of me, and nobody’s going to. It’s not like people haven’t tried.”

“Ellie, what’re you talking about?”

I turn to look at her rather than the screen. I haven’t seen any questionable scars, so that makes me wonder, are there invisible ones? What have men done to her?

She puts her hand on my thigh where the boys can’t see it and squeezes. She turns to offer me a reassuring smile.

“If anything horrible had happened to me, nobody would’ve let me live to tell the tale. The reputation I cultivated as the accountant meant people knew Tommaso would avenge me. You said yourself my nickname was ‘The Ball Buster.’ I didn’t know that, but that should be some reassurance.”

“Hardly.”

My voice overlaps with her three sons, and we scowl at one another. This conversation isn’t progressing as well as I’d like it to.

“Look, boys, I understand what an unlikely match we are. I understand the position it puts you guys in. Don’t you think it’s going to be even harder for Enrique?”

“Not if this has been his plan all along, and his family knows about it.” So much for Steven being the peacemaker.

“If Enrique were going to do something to me, don’t you think that would’ve happened the moment he found out who I am, so he could keep me from speaking to any of you?”

“Or maybe, Mom, he’s planting things he thinks you’ll repeat to us.”

“So, you expect me to betray all of you?”

She lifts her hand, her index finger pointing up as she circles it.

“That I would betray the three of you by giving away Vizzini secrets and endanger you. And you think I would betray Enrique by giving his secrets to you? That’s how little honor you believe I have?”

All three boys grimace.

Questioning anybody’s honor and loyalty is an invitation to a duel.

“I know this isn’t easy for anyone, like I said. But I’m happy with Enrique.”

“You barely know him.”

Hunt snaps. His miniscule patience is gone. He throws his hands up in the air, fully exasperated at his mother. Constantine’s head nudges his arm, and the dog looks toward the camera as though he wishes to get between Hunt and us.

“Maybe we will get to know each other better and realize we’re not as compatible as we thought. Then we go our separate ways.”

“You really think he’s just going to let you walk away?” Will leans forward as he glowers at me.

“And you really believe I would harm your mother?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time your family targeted women.”

“And every time someone in my family thought to take it upon themselves, I punished them.”

“Obviously, you didn’t do an outstanding job if it happened more than once.”

He’s not entirely wrong, but many of the times my nephews acted questionably with the other syndicates’ wives, it’s been us or them. And as much as they didn’t want to target women, they still put our family first. But I don’t need to explain myself or them to anyone.

“You saw me yesterday morning with your mom. You heard what I said about protecting her. However any of you feel about me and about this relationship, it’s your mother’s decision what happens. I won’t walk away. It’ll either be her leaving me, or us staying together for good. I won’t end it. That means I need all three of you to forgive your mom for the slight you think she’s giving you because I need to know you’ll never hesitate to protect your mother.”

“ Eres un verdadero pedazo de mierda si crees que no protegeríamos a nuestra madre solo porque está con un gilipollas como tú .” You’re a real piece of shit if you think we wouldn’t protect our mom just because she’s with an asshole like you.

“Steven!”

She probably didn’t need to understand all of that to recognize words she wouldn’t want them to say about me or in front of her, considering how Will caught himself before he swore in front of her. That was not just him. I believe that’s a rule they all have from the flash of guilt on Steve’s face before he goes back to glaring at me again.

“Steve, I don’t think you’d begrudge your mother your protection. But I need to know that no matter what happens, she’s the first person on your mind. That none of us assumes someone else is there for her unless we see it with our own eyes.

“She’s more likely to protect you than you are to protect her.”

Steve’s hunch isn’t wrong about that. But I never want Ellie in that position. I pray it never comes to that. However, I’d be a fool not to know it very well could.

“Boys, you know how unhappy I was for so long. You knew what it was like for me. It’s the opposite of what it was, and I have the chance to be happy. I was fully prepared to give that up and let it pass me by because it terrified me that someone would disappoint me again. But hopefully I have many years ahead of me. And even though I told myself I wanted to be and would be fine on my own, that’s not really what I ever wanted. I told myself that to justify not having another failed relationship, to avoid that kind of hurt ever again. But I want to be with someone who makes me happy. Somebody who understands me. Somebody who can accept my past and not resent me for the things I can’t tell him. There’s so much of that, and there are not too many men who would be okay with that. Their suspicion would be an assumption I’m unfaithful to them or that I don’t care about them the way they care about me. I don’t have to make excuses with Enrique. And that means I have a chance again that I haven’t had since I was twenty years old.”

She pauses to look at me again, and I hate she’s in the middle of this. But as she looks at me, even though she’s speaking to her sons, I feel like I’m the only person in the world to her.

“It’s a chance I never believed was possible. I know Enrique isn’t who you want me to be with, but are you going to begrudge me finding somebody who cares about me and will take care of me the way I’d always hoped someone would?”

“Couldn’t you find somebody else—anybody else? Even a Mancinelli?”

I grit my teeth at Will’s suggestion. That is not a family I ever want to picture Ellie with. Not that I want to picture her with anybody but me.

Ellie snorts.

“And who in that family would I wind up with who isn’t an infant? There’s not an unmarried man over the age of twenty-five. You know I would never cheat, and they never would consider it either. I know this isn’t what you want from me. And I understand that. I already admitted I also understand the position this will put you in. But I’m asking you again to at least give us a chance to see whether we have something that will last. I’m asking you to give me the opportunity to have something I never thought I would.”

Steve goes back to being the peacemaker again. “Mom, none of us want to see you unhappy. Just the opposite. You deserve the chance to find someone who will treat you the way you always should’ve been treated. But none of us’ll think that this is a good idea. That anything good can come of this. No one would call Enrique naive, but that’s what this seems like. If he’s not naive enough to think this could work out, then there must be something else at the heart of it. You can’t blame us for being skeptical.”

“I don’t blame you for being skeptical at all. But you will not insult him. You will not cause problems where there don’t need to be any. We’ll have enough problems from Tommaso without you guys adding to it.”

“Enrique, what about your family?” Will seems to have cooled off the most.

“My family knows I care a great deal for your mother. They know I wouldn’t bring any woman into my life if I didn’t see potential for it to be permanent. They also know after the problems I had in my first marriage, I’m wary about bringing in anyone who could sabotage my family. They’ll have the same concerns and complaints as you. There’s just more of them.”

“Do you believe they can accept Mom, or will she always be an outsider?”

“That’s a fair question, Hunt. I know and trust my family. It’ll take a little while for Ellie to gain their trust like it’ll take me a while to gain yours. They trust my judgment. I’ve been leading this family since I was younger than any of you. They know I’d never do anything to risk their lives and what I’ve built. So, they know I don’t enter this lightly. I’m not with your mom on a whim. If I were using your mother, my sister-in-law would never forgive me. Her opinion of me matters a great deal. My sisters wouldn’t forgive me either, and they terrify me.”

That garners a chuckle out of all of them. Hunt’s eyebrows rise as he speaks.

“So, in other words, they’ll get along with Mom like a house on fire.”

“Your mom’ll fit in perfectly, especially once she learns Spanish.”

Will jumps back in and ends the moment of needed levity.

“What type of protection are you putting in place for her? I saw the guy in your driveway. He stopped me. If I didn’t look enough like my mom for it to be obvious I’m her son, he wouldn’t have let me pass because I wouldn’t have told him my real last name. I wondered who he was and whether he was private security Mom hired. Then I saw you together, and it made sense. One man in the driveway and one man tucked away in the trees aren’t nearly enough protection for our mom.”

“I agree, it isn’t. Once we go out in public, it won’t be a secret we can keep. So, from here on out, your mom will have two regular bodyguards. She’ll also have a man from my family.”

Will shakes his head. “Your brother travels too often. He disappears all the time. What happens if he’s on the schedule and suddenly has to take off?”

Will’s concern is valid.

“I never planned to put Luis on the rotation. It’ll be my nephews. There are five of them. There’s no one I trust more with your mom’s safety than them. No one outside my family, except for you three, will ever be good enough for me to trust entirely with Ellie’s life. So, it will always be at least one of them if she’s not with one of you. I understand why you might not appreciate me insisting one of them join you if you’re out with your mom. I won’t insist upon that. But, besides you three, she will always have a Diaz with her.”

“Mom?

Hunt tilts his head as he watches Ellie. I can see us on the screen, but I look toward her when her youngest son speaks.

“Are you all right with this? You’ve never had bodyguards with you at all times.”

“I know, but I haven’t been in this position before. As senior as Dad is, it’s not like he’s the don. Stella always has one of the guys in the family with her. I see this as being no different. I appreciate Enrique wants me to have that level of security.”

“Before you accuse me of assigning them so I can spy on her or control her?—”

“No.” Steve interrupts me as he shakes his head. “It’s obvious from the way Mom started leaning against you when we began talking about her protection that not only does she trust you, but it’s obvious relief on her face. Mom’s no fool. It’s one thing for us to hear her say she trusts you and that we should too. It’s another to see it. She was never this relaxed around Dad. From the way you’ve wrapped your arm around her waist, you’re being discreet, not wanting to rub this in our faces. But you’re supporting her, and she deserves that. It’ll take us a while before we’re absolutely certain. We know you don’t blame us for being suspicious. It’s obvious how different things are between you and what our mom has known for so long. None of us wants to begrudge her finding somebody who will take care of her the way she deserves. Who won’t just expect her to give and is only willing to take.”

“Just because your mom can defend herself and take care of herself doesn’t mean she should have to.”

All three of them visibly relax when I say that. They don’t like that I’m me and all that I bring with me. But I think they’d be just as concerned about another man taking advantage of her.

Ellie and I remain quiet as we observe the boys looking at each other through the computer screens. It’s obvious how close they are and how they’ve learned to depend on one another in situations where they can’t speak. Some agreement passes between them before they look at us again.

As the oldest, it seems to fall on Will’s shoulders to pass the final judgment.

“Like I told you yesterday morning, do anything to hurt our mom—disappoint her even in the least—ruffle a single feather—and you’ll learn why I deserve my reputation. And my brothers may not be Mafiosos every day like I am, but don’t underestimate them because none of us will forgive you if you do anything we consider even a smidge wrong. One word, one thought, one anything, and we won’t care who you are, what your title is, or who could come after us. We won’t forgive you.”

“I believe you. And like I said yesterday, the moment you stop being that protective of your mother is when we’ll have problems.”

“Can you live with this, Mom?”

“Yes, this is better than I could’ve hoped for.”

Will sighs. “I don’t envy you having to face your family, Enrique, when there’s only three of us and six of them.”

“Nine. There’re my five nephews, my brother, my sister-in-law, and my two sisters. There’s no way any of them won’t have an opinion on this.”

Ellie looks over at me. “When will I get to meet them?”

I squeeze her hip as I look at her.

“Tonight.”