Page 94 of Mafia Scars

“I don’t want you to judge me for it, though, or think that I wouldn’t change for you. I would do anything for you.”

Hearing that moved me to him. I shuffled into his lap and slipped my arms around his neck.

“This is what I want. Do what you think is right.” I reached for his jaw and stroked it. “I know you, and I don’t need to question you or your actions. If you promise me that you’ll always do what you think is right, then I’ll know it was the right thing to do.”

That was it, our compromise. My compromise.

Me meeting the point at which I could understand him, understand everything. I could understand and separate this vision I had of what mobsters were.

This wasn’t him being a… criminal. It was him trying to protect me, doing what he thought was best to protect me from a madman.

No mistake about it, Victor was a madman and deserved to be stopped, to be put down for what he did.

It wasn’t just Henry and his family, although it was enough. Victor killed Cole too.

Cole had such a promising future, and it was over in a few days. I would never forgive myself for his death. I had self-blame too.

If Cole hadn’t known me, if Cole hadn’t helped me the way he always had, Victor and his men wouldn’t have gotten to him.

This was war, and sometimes in war there were no sides to choose. It was action. Doing whatever achieved the best result.

When I looked at Luc, my heart lifted, grabbing on to hope.

Look at me, I’d found love. I felt what Millicent described. The knowing and value of true love.

Had to be true love because I’d never felt this way about anyone, and there was that feeling again. Of knowing it would only be with him.

“I appreciate that, Amelia,” he breathed, pressing his forehead to mine.

“I love you.” I could say it so freely now.

He smiled at me. “I love you. I’m not going to get tired of saying that.”

“Me neither.” I shook my head. When his smile turned into that sexy smirk and he ran his hands over the hard nub of my nipple as it brushed against his chest, I knew what was coming next.

Morning was just about to break. We should at least get back to bed to catch some sleep before we set out to make the plans I knew we had to and get back into serious mode.

But that wasn’t happening any time soon.

When Luc and I were together, it was this crazy passion fest where we belonged to each other and answered only to the call of need.

* * *

The pissed-off-as-hell look Dad gave me as Luc and I entered the garden reminded me of the summer before I left home, when I’d taken his car and driven to a party.

Never made it to the party though. I’d crashed into the front of a boutique on Main Street.

He’d grounded me for the whole summer, casting a dark cloud over my social life. The expression he sported on his face now was perhaps ten times worse.

It had just gone past lunchtime, and we’d found out on arrival that Claudius and Marcus had gathered in the garden with my father to wait for us. Dad had quite rightly called a meeting to make plans to go to the facility.

Millicent said everyone had been waiting for at least two hours.

What made matters worse was that Dad had clearly arranged the seats so that Luc and I wouldn’t be sitting together. We came out here with Luc holding my hand like he always did only to be separated like we were a bunch of teenagers.

I had to sit between Dad and Marcus, and Luc next to Claudius, who had a bright conspirator smile on his face.

This was my first time meeting with Marcus in God knew how long, and I didn’t need the embarrassment. I’d seen him a few times when I was so young, the memories were all foggy.