Black Jack (Advantage Play #5) - Kelsie Rae Page 0,73

that you said Kingston is cool with me being here, but I’m a Castello,” she murmurs the name like it’s a curse. I’d take away her past if I could. Not because I’m ashamed of it or hold any anger toward her, but because I can see the way her spine curves and how her eyes drop to the ground any time it comes to light. I just hope that one day my love will be enough to lift the burden of her past. That it’ll be enough to ease the weight of it so that she can live the life she deserves.

Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pull her into my chest and drop a quick kiss to her forehead.

“Not anymore,” I rasp. “You’re a Connelly, remember?”

“I disagree,” a voice interrupts behind us. Bianca jumps, then looks over her shoulder as Dex closes the distance between us with Regina by his side. They must’ve been on a walk around the grounds because I didn’t hear their car pull up behind us.

“You’re a Romano now,” Dex announces. “Just like the rest of us.”

“Good to see you, Jack,” Regina greets me. Kingston’s little sister is in tight, black jeans, knee-high boots, and a white sweater that hangs off one shoulder. Her dad had kept her locked away for years because of her beauty and her mother’s murder. He tried to protect her from the outside world, but she snuck out anyway and was kidnapped by Bianca’s previous employer, Burlone.

Thankfully, Dex was beguiled by her beauty and ended up saving her from his own family, the Allegretti’s. To say thank you for his loyalty, Kingston made him a Romano, and he’s been a member ever since.

Regina turns to Bianca and offers her hand. “I’m Regina, though my friends call me Gigi. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”

Bianca blushes as she shakes Regina’s hand. “Nice to officially meet you. I’m sorry about––”

With a flick of her wrist, Regina waves her off. “Don’t worry about it, Bianca. I get it. Dex and I weren’t official at the time, anyway. And you didn’t sleep with him,” Regina reminds her.

Digging her teeth into her lower lip, Bianca argues, “It’s no excuse.”

“Desperation can make a person do crazy things, Bianca. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Trust me. I get it,” Regina replies.

My gaze bounces between the two of them, trying to put together their history without having all the pieces. I’ve missed something, I know it. I just don’t know what it is.

“Do you two know each other?” I ask.

“We’ve seen each other around,” Regina answers cryptically. “I’ve heard you found your own Prince Charming.”

Peeking up at me through her dark lashes, Bianca smiles. “I have.”

“Then it’s water under the bridge,” Regina announces.

“You sure?” Bianca’s guilt permeates the air like a thick haze, silently begging for forgiveness from the Romano princess.

But Regina’s warm smile seems to help dissipate it as she pulls Bianca into a hug. “Definitely. We all have our pasts.” Then she lets Bianca go and winks at Dex. “Isn’t that right, babe?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Dex admits. The bastard’s history is dark and twisted, but Regina brought him to the light, and helped him turn his life around. Without her, he would’ve wound up in prison or in a ditch a long time ago.

“The trick is learning how to leave our pasts where they belong so you can enjoy your future,” he divulges in a low voice like it’s a secret.

“Wise words,” Bianca rasps.

Dex nods. “Let’s get inside. They’re waiting for you.”

The air from the house warms our skin as we step inside Kingston’s home while the scent of cinnamon wafts through the air. What surprises me, however, is the sense of pride that overwhelms me. I’ve missed this place. I’ve missed the people. The conversations. The sparring sessions in the basement. The combination of all of them only confirms my decision. I just hope Bianca will warm up to the idea a little more, too.

Shaking myself from my reverie, I shrug off my jacket before helping Bianca out of hers.

“Thank you,” she whispers, trembling beneath my fingertips. She looks like she’s going to be sick.

I tug her into a hug and rub my hands up and down her back. “You okay?”

She gulps. “Yup.”

“Liar,” I tease.

“I hate being out of control.”

“I know it’s hard––”

“This is good for me though, right?” she interrupts, though I’m not sure who she’s trying to convince. “Personal growth and all that shit.”

I laugh and drop another kiss to