Page 56 of Soulmate of the Mafia King (Kings of Philly #8)

PAIGE

I squeezed Tom’s hand in the car on the way to the airport.

“Sad to be leaving?” he asked.

I smiled. “Always. It’s so magical here.”

He laughed. “Not just saying that because we’ve spent most of the vacation in bed?”

I ran my free hand up his leg. “No, we have weekends for that at home.”

“Fair enough.” He kissed the back of my hand. “I do like going on these little vacations, though. It’s a nice escape for a few days.”

I nodded. I really was going to miss Paris, but I wouldn’t have wanted to stay much longer anyway.

Lauren had been texting me updates about the shelter, especially the new one as women settled in.

I kept thinking about how much I was missing, how much they needed me there.

And I knew Tom was feeling the same. Apparently, Lyle had his sights set on someone new, and Tom was itching to pull the trigger.

Anybody else would probably think we were freaks, desperate to leave a luxury vacation to get back to our grueling jobs.

But those people didn’t realize just how much those jobs kept us who we were.

We pulled up to the airport and boarded the plane.

The whole time, I kept thinking of Killian and Sera on the island.

In the days after Tom’s proposal, I’d wondered if he was going to say something about buying an island like Killian and leaving the city.

I’d kept jumping when I thought he was about to start that sentence because I’d just found the place I fit in the world.

But I should’ve known. Tom understood me too well to suggest it.

And I knew him too well to think he’d want that now either.

I sat next to him on the plane and looked him over for his usual anxiety tells. The furrowed brow, the bouncing gaze. But he just smiled at me. Was he really happy enough not to be worried on this little private jet?

The flight attendant shut a compartment loudly, and he jumped.

I smiled. No work was ever done, but he was more relaxed than I’d ever seen him.

When the plane started taxiing forward, I told him the story of my dad’s favorite movie because we’d spent so long talking now that I was running out of new things.

Instead of closing his eyes, he held my gaze and nodded along.

If it were possible, I fell even more in love with him.

The flight back home took a long time, and we both slept for most of it, but when we touched down in the mid-morning, I hopped out of my seat.

“Somewhere to be?” Tom asked sleepily.

I bit my lip. I hadn’t told him. “Well, I figured you’d be getting right back to work when we got home?—”

He stood and cut off my words with a kiss. “So you’ve already texted Lauren you’ll be in this morning.”

I nodded guiltily, and he laughed.

“Go.” He patted my butt. “Save those lives.”

God, I loved him.

I took the SUV he’d arranged to have dropped at the airport, and he called Lyle for a ride home while he inspected the refueling of his jet.

Pulling up to Rafael’s Angel Haven felt almost more like coming home than my first breath of Philly air. There was no welcoming crew out front, but that was how I wanted it. I walked inside, slipped my car keys into my pocket, and started heading back to my office.

“Um, hello?” Lauren popped out of the common room with a dramatically hurt expression on her face. “Were you just gonna breeze by me?”

I laughed. “I was going to go to work at work.”

“In a minute.” She launched herself at me for a hug.

I squeezed her back. How had I ended up with everything I wanted? A man and a career and a best friend. I couldn’t ask for more.

Finally, Lauren released me. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to fix whatever happened to it after she nearly tackled me.

Big mistake. Lauren snatched my hand and stared open-mouthed at the ring for a long second. “Aren’t we friends?”

“Yes?” I said.

“Okay, then why didn’t you call me the second this happened?” She shook my hand at me. “I’m not crazy, right? This is an engagement ring?”

“It—”

Cat leaned out of the doorway of the common room. “Did Tommaso propose to you?”

A few other women popped up behind her, their eyes glowing with curiosity. I couldn’t help but laugh. I should’ve known I couldn’t come here without the engagement news creating a whirlwind. I walked into the common room and sat on one of the couches.

“Does someone want to get Lily and Andi?” I asked with a smile. “I don’t want to spend all day retelling the story.”

A few of the women darted off to grab staff and friends.

When they returned, the whole common room packed with women, most of whom had known the terror I’d known, albeit in different forms, and all hanging on my every word.

Suddenly, I remembered the moment with Beth in the car that sent me down this path.

She told me I was lucky when she saw me with Tom.

That strange feeling broke over me again.

I’d been through so much, experienced real evil, but I was lucky.

“I’m so happy I have you guys to tell this to,” I said. “So, he gets me onto this plane and refuses to tell me where we’re going…”

It took almost an hour of telling the story, retelling it despite my plan to get it all done, and answering questions about a wedding I hadn’t started planning yet before I could actually get to my office and try to do some work.

I loved every second of it. The women out there looked at me like their chance at a better future.

They might be in the dark part of their story now, but I was a promise light could—would—come again.

I wandered back into my office and started to sit when Lauren walked past. An impulse seized me, and I grabbed her wrist.

“Hey,” I said. “I didn’t mean to cause that whole ruckus, but I wanted to ask you something.”

She stepped into my office. “Anything. But only if you describe the dress. I think it’s very mean you don’t have pictures.”

I laughed. “Of course. It’s not at all what I pictured for myself, but—” I shook my head.

“It’s this insane French fabric that clings and drapes like nothing I’ve ever seen.

The whole silhouette is fitted, but there’s a little train at the bottom, and a slit up the side so I can actually walk.

But the thing that got me was the top. It’s super structured and square, but basically backless.

” I swallowed. “You can see the big scar on my side.”

Lauren took my hand and squeezed. “And you love it?”

I nodded. “But speaking of things I love…wouldyouliketobemymaidofhonor?”

She paused for a second, then laughed. “Of course. But you weren’t actually afraid to ask me, were you?”

I looked at the woman who’d helped save my life and become my best friend for a long moment, then shook my head.