Page 63 of Married into the Mob

“So we had some trouble but it’s okay now kinda thing?” She’d storm over here, demanding I never see Hunter again if I gave her the blow-by-blow description and say I shot a guy, the one who married us. “I’d better not put it off.”

I picked up the phone and walked into the bedroom where I’d slept and called Aunt Louisa.

“Odell!” Her anguished voice tore at my heart.

“I’m fine.” Where to begin and end. The conversation might be short.

“I need you to tell me everything, love.” She coughed, the one I blamed on the crappy apartment with its mold and mildew. “Where are you?”

“At a friend’s house.” If I told her I was with Hunter, she might assume he was holding me prisoner again. “So much has happened, but I’ve learned I’m stronger than I realized.”

She cleared her throat. “I’m so glad. Are you coming home today?”

Was I, and would I? I fudged my answer, putting an answer off for at least twenty-four hours. “Soon. We have to tie up some loose ends.”

“We?”

Damn. Why did I say that?

“You’re not with Hunter, are you? He’s only a small step up from Draven, but we can get the marriage annulled and resume our lives. Perhaps the man who married you could start that process. Stefan.”

If I hadn’t put a bullet in him maybe. I shuddered at the reference to the guy who wanted to kill me.

I turned on the camera to reassure her I was in one piece.

“And what about Uncle?”

“Rudy made an offer that he could stay in a cabin on one of their properties for a while. I’m going to accept that, as I don’t want to be around that old fool.” She coughed again, a wheezing that made me think of sandpaper scraping over a surface.

“That was kind of him.” One less decision to make in the short term.

I turned around so the window was behind me. “That’s a nice view. Your friend must be a gardener.”

“Maybe.”

There was a moment’s silence at the end of the phone, and I rushed on, telling her she couldn’t go back to the apartment.

"But where would I go?” She coughed and spluttered, the awful sound reminding me of fabric being ripped and shredded.

“Let me see what I can do.”

I raced to Hunter who was now dressed and in the kitchen. “I need a huge favor.”

“Anything.”

“Do you have a place where my aunt could live temporarily? Our home is a hovel, and she also needs to see a doctor.”

“Of course. We’re in the real estate business. Give me a minute.” He phoned Ranger and repeated an address in the heart of the city. Louisa was still with Rudy, so Ranger arranged for a car to take her there while escorted by bodyguards.

I leaped into his arms, and he kissed my face, throat, and chest. Any visible flesh was fair game.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. She’ll be there a short time until we can arrange something else.”

“She can stay as long as she likes. It’s fully furnished.”

“What, you can do that?”

He shrugged as if he didn’t understand what I was getting at. “I can. Money, my dear Dellie, doesn’t bring happiness, but it gives you choices. Lots of them, and they can make life easier. So accept the gift.”