Indebted to the Mafia King
Tracks

Dante

The next morning, I stir a pan of scrambled eggs the only breakfast I ever learned how to make on the shitty hot plate I had in my dorm at Wagner-and glance over my shoulder at Eleni. She sits at the island behind me, massaging her cheeks with one hand.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

She blushes just a little and tucks her hand around the cup of coffee she poured herself from the pot she insisted on making first. "Nothing?"

I shake my head. "I thought you were listening now."

Her blush deepens, and she shifts in her seat like she's trying to keep weight off the flogger marks I left on her ass last night. My cock responds instantly. Maybe we'll have a little breakfast to get our strength back and head right back upstairs. "It's lame but"-she shrugs-"my cheeks hurt because I've been smiling so much."

My chest squeezes. I didn't just have incredible sex last night. No, for the very first time in my life, I told a woman I loved her. And I meant it. She hasn't said it back yet, but I don't need her to. The simple joy in her bright eyes when she looks at me is enough. I've been with enough women to know what I have with her is different. She doesn't have the same experience.

I slide the eggs onto one plate, grab two forks, and join her at the island. "I won't say you're lame if you don't make fun of my cooking too much."

She kisses me on the cheek. "I'm sure it won't be that bad."

I sip my coffee as she takes the first bite and chews thoughtfully. Then, she stands and walks over to my spice cabinet.

"I thought you were sure they wouldn't be that bad," I say.

"They're not."

I laugh at the hesitance in her tone. "Fine, tell me what I did wrong."

She returns to the island with an armful of spices. "They just don't have a lot of depth of flavor. It's just...egg and salt. But if you add a pinch of dill, a sprinkle of marjoram—”

She shakes ingredients I didn't even know I had in my kitchen onto the pile of bright-yellow eggs, samples them, makes a face, and dumps the whole pile back into the pan. By the time my simple breakfast returns to me, it's a crispy omelet with visible herbs poking up through the crust. The whole time, I can't do anything but watch her. She's so goddamn smart, so at ease in my kitchen wearing nothing but her panties and one of my T-shirts. I could spend the rest of my life letting her tell me what to do like this.

"Now, try it," she says.

I lift a bite to my mouth and groan as the flavors spread over my tongue.

"So much better," I say through a full mouth.

She laughs and takes her own bite. "Still missing something, but I think only Mama would know what."

Her gaze drifts away from me, her thoughts obviously overseas. I consider telling her we can bring her mom back as soon as this situation with Luca is settled, but I know where that conversation leads: back to her telling me she wants to be involved in bringing him down. She needs to make her own decisions. I respect that. But the thought of Luca anywhere near her-

I shake away the thought before I can ruin our morning together by getting so angry I can't see straight and take her hand.

"Last night felt like the beginning of something," I say.

She smiles. "The beginning of my training, I guess."

Tony's words ring in my ears. I shake my head.

"I've been trying to have it both ways." I run my thumb over the back of her hand. "I've been keeping you with me, sleeping with you, parading you around, but I haven't given you the protections usually granted to the...girlfriend of someone in my line of work." I swallow. "Girlfriend or wife."

Eleni looks up at me with some emotion bright in her eyes. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

"No," I say quickly.

Too quickly. Her face falls, and I grimace.

"But that's only because I don't want to scare you off." I cup her cheek and force her to look at me. "And because I want you to be able to get out of this life, if you want to."

My heart pounds. Did I really just tell this woman I could see myself marrying her? The only crazier thing is that it's true. If she said right now, fuck the wait, let's go, I'd jump in the car dressed just like this and head for the courthouse. Maybe I really am losing it. I just can't imagine spending another minute away from her.

She nods slowly. "So, you're asking me to be your girlfriend. Whom you might marry someday."

Suddenly, the fact that she hasn't said she loves me seems vitally important.

"I am," I say.

She meets my gaze. "I'd like that. And I'd like to stay here, with you."

I nearly slump in relief. "Good. Great. Of course, you can stay. You can sleep in my bed."

"If you earn it." She giggles.

I smirk. "Then let's talk about security measures."

"You know how to make a girl swoon," she says wryly.

"This is serious, El." I squeeze her hand to stress my point. "I need you safe."

"And I'm listening." She smiles. "Talk."

I run her through the basic slate of protections. Guards when she goes out on her own. Background checking all of her professors and all the students in her classes. A car of her own with bulletproof glass and a highly encrypted GPS system. A new phone, with a new number. The whole time, she nods along, pausing only to ask that she can give her mom her new number, which I obviously agree to. It's her phone, after all. I only want her to have something not currently Googleable. "And you'll have to wear a tracker. Some people prefer bracelets or necklaces, but, well, rings have the highest success rate." I duck my head. It's true, but I know how that sounds after my marriage remark.

Eleni goes still, and my heart skips a beat.

"A tracker?" she says.

Thank god. "Yeah, just a simple GPS ping. Only me, Tony, and the head of your security team will have access to the feed."

"A feed. Like live information?" She pulls her hand out of mine. "I'm not a dog you can microchip."

"It's not like that, El." I stuff my hand into my pocket to keep from grabbing hers again. "It's for situations like last night, where you go somewhere I don't know, so I can find you." I stare at the counter and try not to let the panic and rage of finding her at the warehouse overwhelm me. "I can't lose you."

She exhales shakily. "It still feels like the dog thing. But...I'll think about it."

I sweep her up in a kiss.

***

Later that day, I sit in my office when someone knocks on the door. I wasn't expecting a meeting.

"Come in!" I grab the pistol attached to the underside of my desk and cock the hammer.

Uncle John steps in, and I uncock the gun.

"Paranoid?" he says. "Good."

I stand. "What can I do for you?"

"Just came to pass along a message." He runs his fingers along the back of the couch I set in front of the fire. "Somehow, I didn't expect you'd redecorate the office." "Well, it's been five years," I say. "What's the message?"

"Since the last one went so well," he grumbles. "I wanted to tell you to keep an eye on Thano Coppola."

My heart thuds. "What? What did you hear?"

"Nothing, nothing." He shakes his head. "I'm just trying to keep your head above water, Dino."

"My head is well above the water, and Thano was one of Dad's allies." I eye my uncle, trying to read him. "You wouldn't have turned on him without reason." "Prison does things to a man." Uncle John shrugs and sticks his hands in his pockets. "Family dinner next week?"