Page 130 of The Boss

“Later,” she says in a tone that goes from my ears straight to my dick. I kiss her again, forcing myself to be gentle, then pull away to distract myself. We are still cleaning up the first mess at the house, now we have busted trucks, busted men and another funeral to plan. Most days, I really hate this life I was born into.

But as I hold Luna’s soft, small body closer to me, I have to swallow down a lump of gratitude in my throat. I don’t deserve it, but this fucked up existence led tous.Brought meher.

Now, whatever her demands, whatever she asks of me, I’m never letting her go.

CHAPTER 59

Luna

“I’m ready to talk terms,” I say, feeling much braver than I should. Van’s big hand is around my waist. O and Allie, especially together, in person, wearing immaculate suits, O with glasses that I know are not normal, Allie tapping her ear piece off, not a hair out of place…they’re maybe the most intimating human beings on the planet. But I lift my chin.

“I see why you love her,” O says.

“As do I,” Allie says.

O smirks at his wife, “I was talking to you.”

Van chuckles behind me.

“As tempting as your original offer was,” I say to the woman who is basically Van’s mother, “I don’t belong at a desk, even a super spaceship desk in the sky.”

“So, you’ve chosen the Irish, then?” O asks.

“No,” I scoff, and the couple in front of me frowns, “I mean yes, but the Irish barely exist anymore. I choose Van, obviously,” the man squeezes my waist. He’s like a wall beside me, all the support I could ever need. “But you went on and on about me wasting my skills,” I say to Allie, “Yet you’ve been sleeping on Van this whole time.”

She raises a brow, not pleased. Not used to this, probably. Too bad. I’m here now and I’m calling her on her shit.

“We reopen the cave, here,” I explain. O’s jaw ticks. I focus on him, “I’ve watched the film. Vanisyou.” I feel his chest puff out behind me. “You trained the boys, made them into men, into freakingmachines, and he can do the same thing. And so can I. We…we’re going to be you,two point oh.”

I smile and wait.

After a long, awkward pause, Allie deflates a tiny bit and says, “Fine, you were right. Three credits.”

O just chuckles and says, “Not bad for a bumbling old quarterback, eh?”

Allie walks toward us, seeing the confusion on our faces she explains, “I lost a bet and my husband, apparently, did not care for my football analogy.”

“What was the bet?” Van asks.

“Allie wagered a significant sum that Luna would join her in the skies, I countered that she would come up with something neither of us had considered,” O gloats.

The gorgeous, formidable woman rolls her eyes and waves off her husband, “Yes, yes, you’re very smart, darling, we’re all thoroughly impressed.”

O and Van grunt the dismayed same sound at the same time.

“You want to train our recruits?” Allie asks.

“I want to run recruiting,” I correct. They both consider this, heads slightly tilted in unison. Kind of adorable. I elaborate, “We’ll have to craft a new narrative for the Irish. Quinn’s growing, advancing, gaining power.” The man at my side squeezes me again. I go on, “But yes, we bring them all here. Assessment, combat training, placement in the organization. I looked at the command structure, the different branches. You’re weak in a few areas.” Both Van’s parents are starting to grin now. I add, “And I still want Zeno out. Mia as quickly as possible, nomore moving the damn chess pieces. We bring her into the foldnow.And we start to work on a strategy for Vix, too.”

“You see?” O grins at his wife, “She could be your twin in every way but looks.” He looks back at me, “Any other demands, Miss Mancini?”

“It’s Mrs.Quinn,” I correct him, “and no, not at present, but I may think of more.”

He laughs, a hearty, unexpected sound that bounces around the smooth edges of the underground garage space. “Not at present,” he repeats before he starts laughing again.

After he’s calmed himself, he asks Allie to run through what that would look like. She asks me questions, makes suggestions. I explain my vision and Van does too. It’s our vision, really. I told him about my crazy plan in bed the night before last, laying there in his arms like we were just a normal married couple chatting and not two very beat up, bandaged, exhausted and heavily medicated spies.

He loved my plan. He had a lot of additions, which he explained in between making me sleep or giving me orgasms. Gentle ones. He plays my body like I used to play the cello. I love his skills a hell of a lot more than mine.