Free Elicit by Rachel van Dyken Page A

but remember what I said, Mo.” He winked and punched Tex in the shoulder before walking out of the room.
    Tex stared at me, his deep blue eyes swirling with anger. I took a tentative step back, trying to protect myself.
    “Do you really think I would hurt you?” he asked in a low voice.
    I shrugged. “You’ve been slamming a lot of doors.”
    A smile appeared then disappeared. “Yeah well the doors deserve it.”
    “Because?”
    “Easy.” He took a step towards me. “They block my view of you, and my number one obsession is your safety.”
    Air whooshed out of my lungs. “R-right.”
    “Go shopping.”
    “What?” My head jerked to attention. “Are you serious?”
    “I never joke about clothes.” Tex smirked, humor returning to his eyes. “Or wine. You know this about me, Mo.”
    I smiled back at him, feeling a bit lighter in the chest.
    He took another step; we were close enough to touch.
    Exhaling, he reached out and tilted my chin towards him. His touch burned me, creating a need so possessive that my entire body started to shake.
    “Shop, relax, take the girls,” he whispered. “Enjoy yourself and know that I’ll be here when you get back.”
    “But—”
    “Mo.” Tex’s grip tightened on my chin. “I’ll send some men with you. You’ll be fine. Safe. And I’ll be here taking care of business.”
    His eyes flickered to my lips. Before I could stop myself, I kissed him. Our mouths collided. Tex lifted me into the air, growling as his hands slid into my hair giving it a little tug so that he could kiss down my neck. When his mouth found mine again, he broke off the kiss with a curse, taking a step away, his chest heaving.
    “I’m sorry,” I murmured, mouth swollen and eyes filling with tears. “I know you hate me.”
    Tex’s eyes hardened as he placed his hands on his hips and looked away. “I could never hate you as much as I love you. That type of hate? That depth of hate? Doesn’t exist, baby, believe me, I search for it every night that you lay next to me and I refuse to touch you. I crave it every minute of every day when I see your beautiful face.” He swallowed. “Go get the girls, you’re wasting daylight. I don’t want you out after dark.” With that, he stomped off.
    And I fought the urge to run after him.
    To tell him I loved him too.
    To explain everything to him.
    But telling him the truth would solidify his death. So I kept my mouth shut and sent a text.
    Me: Talked with Nixon this morning. Marriage is a go. Looks real. Forged. We good?
    G: Good work, Mo. I knew I could count on you… don’t make me regret doing this your way. He has the protection of the Abandonato family, it’s a start.
    Me: That’s good, right?
    G: If it was bad, you’d know it by the bullet sized hole in your husband’s forehead. I’ll text you when I need you.
     
    ****
     
    Shopping proved to be more fun than I imagined. First off, apparently Mil hadn’t had any alone time since being married. Not that Chase minded, or Mil for that matter, but she was excited to have some freedom.
    It wasn’t lost on me that we were walking around the downtown area of Chicago with a newly minted Mafia boss on one side and the wife of one of the most powerful Mafia families ever… on the other.
    Which left me.
    Fake wife to the would-be Cappo . Awesome. If anyone was going to get shot, pretty sure it would be me first, them second. Then again, we took Vinnie and Lou with us.
    Apparently they’d gotten drunk on the job a few weeks back so this was their way of repaying Nixon for not keeping a sharp eye.
    Vinnie was our cousin and had a tendency to screw up, but he was a kick-ass shot and found great joy in all types of violence, so shopping? You might as well tell him you were replacing his penis with a flower.
    And Lou, well he was one of my favorite associates. He always dressed nice, smelled nice, but he had a real serious problem with playing nice. Let’s just say it wasn’t in his nature to be