Bending down, his hands touched my waist, and he stood again. I wrapped myself around him and held tight. I couldn’t have made myself let go, even if I wanted to. I was his. He was mine. I didn’t care what would happen. I couldn’t deny this feeling. I needed him.

He looked up into my eyes. “Now I’m going to walk you back to the bedroom.”

“I have an idea where this is going.”

He drew a deep breath, his eyes growing soft. “I’m going to do everything you want me to do. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. If you want me to hold you, I’ll never let you go. If you want me to kiss you all night long, you’ll have to buy me chapstick in the morning. Anything you want, I’ll do.” He carried me to the bed and laid me down. His arms never let me go. He bent over me, my arms and legs still wrapped around him. His forehead rested against mine, so softly, matching his voice, “Except leave. That’s the only thing I won’t do.” His eyes searched my face, studying every detail.

“I’m going to help you become Addison once more. Just you. Just me. No one else.” And then, as his mouth touched mine, gently, tenderly, he did as he’d promised.

Cole was in the mafia. The motherfucking mafia.

The sun had begun to creep in. It was probably around seven in the morning, and I lay there, wide awake, as he slept next to me. The sheet trailed down, resting a little higher than his waist, giving me a good eyeful.

I knew his chest and back were contoured with muscles, but I didn’t know about the scars. I saw them clearly now, scattered all over him. There were two holes in his chest: one by his shoulder and another lower on his side. I leaned over and touched the latter. It was bigger than the other and had been stitched up, leaving a little ridge where the stitches healed.

This man—I studied his face again. His eyes were closed, his body relaxed, and he looked peaceful. I realized how little I knew about this man. He was the head of his family, but what did that mean? The articles I’d found on the web said Carter Reed had run the family until last year. One blog went into more detail than the others and said he’d been the one to name Cole as the new leader.

My mind raced.

If there was peace between the Mauricio family and the Bertals, why did Liam’s parents seem guilty of something? They were scared and tense, and all that jazz, but there was more under the surface. Carol had gotten the same look on her face the one time I confronted her about the women she kept pushing on Liam. I went to her house, told her to stop bringing them around. She’d looked ashamed that day, but only that day.

I saw that same look last night.

Maybe it wasn’t just that peace doesn’t always last, as Cole said, but that it was already ending?

I skimmed a hand down Cole’s side. He rolled over on his stomach and buried his head under my pillow. One of his arms came to rest on my waist, scooping me closer to him. I waited, but a second later his breathing evened out, like he’d fallen back asleep.

“Your thinking is waking me up.” One of his eyes opened. “Stop thinking. It’s annoyingly loud. I haven’t slept in three days, and all I want to do is stay in bed with you. Go to sleep, Addison.”

“What does it mean?”

“What does what mean?” His arm tightened its hold around me. It felt nice.

“Can we be like this? I mean, with my connection to the Bertals and yours to, well, you know.”

Could Cole get in trouble? Could I? And what did trouble even mean in his world? Death? I shuddered at that thought.

“It means…” He caught my hand at his hip, lacing our fingers together. “…that I can’t share anything with you.”

“And if you do?”

He rolled to his back again and observed me. His eyes darkened. “And if I do, then you’re in. You’re all the way in.”

My stomach flipped over. “What does that mean?”

“You’re officially a traitor to your in-laws and everyone else connected to Liam’s life.”

His hand traveled up, covering my side, over my arm, leaving shivers in its wake. Or maybe those were from his words. I was starting to not discern the difference.

“Does something happen to me? If they cast me a traitor to them?”

He shook his head. “You mean, do they kill you or something?”

God. I couldn’t answer. I could only move my head up and down.

“No.”

The ball of tension that had formed in my stomach loosened a notch. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. They’ll only put a hit on you if you have something to give me, something they don’t want me to have.” His eyes narrowed. He seemed to be waiting for something.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He caught my other hand and pulled me over on top of him. My breasts rubbed his chest and he wrapped his arms around my waist, anchoring me in place. “We can’t go public, not unless you’re ready. It has to be your decision.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’ll cut you off. There won’t be an order on you, but I meant what I said. Any ties you had to Liam’s family will be severed. Is there anyone you care for?”

I laughed. “No. I don’t even have to think about that question. I’ve always talked as little with his family as possible. His dad never cared about our marriage, and his mother hated it. Liam didn’t get along with his sister, and I never met his younger brother. We felt like it was us against the world sometimes.”