His thumb kept rubbing. The manager returned with three servers in tow. Each held a tray overhead. The manager set up a long table just off to the side. She spread a cloth over it, and one by one, the servers put the food and drinks on that table. They were setting up a buffet, complete with a bartender who had moved to a portable bar in the corner of our space.
Brooke squealed, heading to the bar right away. “Shot, please! Give me a sex on the beach.” The bartender reached for an already opened bottle, and a guard stepped up. He’d merely looked at the bartender before the manager went over to have a word with her employee. Within a few moments, all the already opened bottles were pulled and sealed bottles took their places.
As this was happening, a guard came over and tasted some of every food on the buffet.
He was testing, and it hit me what was happening. They were making sure nothing had been tampered with.
I had fallen in love with a mob boss.
I’d forgotten for a moment.
A wave of doubt hit me, but just as quickly, it was gone. I’d gone down this path. I had tortured myself over what I was doing. I had decided.
I had chosen Kai.
Jonah said before it was all of them together—one for all. Sitting here, seeing how the people around us seemed mesmerized by Kai, I began to think about power shifts. Everything was balanced out. What would happen if Kai forced one of the illegal trades to grind to a halt in their country? What would replace it? I wasn’t naive enough to think something wouldn’t, or someone wouldn’t. Everyone wanted to make a dollar, and bad fucking people could be ingenious.
That’s why Kai kept Jonah close.
Jonah was good. Jonah was a genius, but so was Kai. The intelligence must’ve been passed on through their mother? No, Kai had said he thought the way his father had. Both his parents must’ve been highly intelligent.
“What’s wrong?”
Kai pulled me from my thoughts, leaning forward in his chair.
Jonah had joined Brooke at the bar. He shook his head as she pushed a drink toward him. The guards had moved back. The servers were gone, the manager too. In our little bubble, we had a small bit of privacy.
“I know you don’t have a hand in the drug business, but if you pushed to eradicate it, what would happen?”
He didn’t blink or pause. He didn’t even question why I was asking. “A new drug would happen. There’s always something new coming down the pipeline. New guns. New drugs. New form of sex slaves. That’s just the tip. There’s gambling. Black market for organs, for bodies, for anything you want. Credit cards. ID theft.”
“Do you control all of that?”
A beat. Two. Then, “I know enough about it.”
I gave him a rueful grin. “That’s all you’re going to tell me?”
“Why are you asking?”
I pressed a hand to my chest, as if to keep it from exploding. “I thought I could help do something. Anything. But learning about it all, I’m left with this helpless feeling of how can anything be made better when the bad is always there?”
He held my gaze. The way he paused was significant before he reached over to cup the side of my face. His thumb ran over my lips, his eyes darting to them before rising to look tenderly into my eyes, taking my breath away.
“In the world I live in, it’s hard to be good. But I will try. For you.” He tipped his head down, his forehead resting on mine. “I’ll do what I can. I promise.”
I closed my eyes, his words filling me up inside.
He wiped away a tear on my cheek.
That meant more than I could put in words.
It meant the world to me.
It meant that I could stay.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Brooke was drunk, dancing alone beside the table.
Jonah was also drunk. He kept giggling, resting his head on his arm braced on the table, his shoulders shaking. He would stop, stare off, and repeat.
It was past midnight now. The beer garden had closed. I was sure Kai bought out the rest of it. Most of the staff had gone by now, but the manager remained. She approached to let us know she’d kept a lone chef on in case we wanted anything from the kitchen.
Brooke’s hand shot up. “Ooh! Quesadillas! Please.”