“You’re like a dream,” he breathes as he lifts his hips to bury himself so far deep inside me that I’ll never be able to remove him from my heart.
“Let’s not wake up,” I promise as I explode around him.
“Never,” he utters as he comes inside me.
We don’t let go of each other for hours. We tell stories of our pasts and share some of our fears. It’s the most intimate I’ve ever been in my entire life. And I’m happy in this bed. Truly content.
It’s just Jesse and me, against the world.
Chapter Thirteen
I rise the same as yesterday—to an empty bed and the smell of coffee in the air. As I pass the dresser, I see Jesse’s things, including his wallet and the envelope Uncle Enzo handed him yesterday. I want to look inside yet decide against it. I take it and walk down into the kitchen.
“Do you ever sleep?” I ask when I see him in the kitchen, dressed and drinking a cup of coffee.
“Do you ever put clothes on in the morning?” He grins at the sight of me wrapped in a sheet and nothing more for the second day in a row. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“Good.” I hold up the envelope. “You gonna tell me what’s inside?”
“That depends. Did you peek?”
I lower my chin. “If I did, would I be asking?”
With a tilt of his head, he raises a finger, letting me know I made a good point. “Twenty thousand dollars.”
“Twenty. Thousand. Dollars?”
“Think it should have been more?” The way his mouth tilts up on one side lets me know he’s joking.
I stare at the thick envelope and hand it to him. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I have to report that I received it, but since it was given to me while undercover, I’m gonna use it for rent.”
“Makes sense.” With a shimmy of my shoulders, I think it over. “I should yell at my uncle. Saving my life is worth so much more than twenty grand.”
“Fucking priceless.” Jesse leaps forward and tackles me, swinging me around in his arms so my back is against his front while he kisses my neck.
I giggle and laugh at the assault. As his mouth comes to close over mine, I push him away. “No. I have to brush my teeth!”
“I thought we weren’t wasting any more kisses?”
He’s right. I drop the sheet and throw my arms over his neck, kissing him as if Jesse Davenport is the only thing in the world worth believing in.
His lips are on my neck while my hands are in his hair. We’re making out, hot and heavy, me bare in the middle of my kitchen while his hands explore every curve.
My lips part, ready to tell him to take me right here on the floor, when the front door bursts open.
Jesse pushes me behind him, grabs a Glock from the cabinet—a gun that I had no idea was there, by the way—and aims it at the door.
Sienna’s dark hair comes into view, as do her arms, which go straight up in the air. Then, she crouches down, pulling the door closed in front of her for protection.
“Holy shit!” she shouts from the other side of the door.
I push Jesse’s arms down. “It’s Sienna.”
“I can see that. What are you doing, walking into Amelia’s apartment like that?” he asks her.
“What the fuck are you doing with a gun?” she shouts.
He puts the gun back into the kitchen cabinet. “It’s clear. You can come out now.”
I’m gathering the sheet from the floor and putting it around my body while Sienna slowly comes out from behind the door and into my apartment.
“Close it,” Jesse demands, making Sienna look at me for confirmation that it’s safe inside.
“You’re okay,” I tell her.
She shuts the door and then places a hand on her hip and the other on her chest, calming herself down. “So, again, why does the bartender have a gun?”
“I believe in the Second Amendment,” he answers nonchalantly.
“You’re lucky I told my shadows to wait in the lobby. If I’m not down in five minutes, they’re coming up.” She motions between Jesse and me. My current state of undress gives everything away. “So, when did this happen?”
“Last night,” I answer.
“We’d appreciate your discretion. Amelia’s father might not approve,” Jesse adds.
“No shit, Sherlock. You’re the staff, and she’s a princess. But no one is going to care because we have bigger issues going on right now.”
Jesse and I look at each other, wondering what she’s talking about.
“Your father’s in the hospital,” she states.
“What!” I gasp, feeling my heart pulsing under my skin and the dread shaking down my spine.
“You’d know if you checked your phone. I’ve been calling you all morning. He was shot, Amelia. Your father is in the hospital, and they don’t know if he’s going to live.”
Teeth are brushed, sweats are thrown on, and I even manage to grab matching sneakers that I tie in the elevator. Sienna and I leave in the back seat of her town car mere minutes after her announcement. Having her bodyguards coming up and seeing Jesse in my apartment was the last thing I needed right now. I can’t text him. I can’t call. I can just hope that he shows up at our meeting spot outside the hospital. I look in my bag and see he tossed in a phone charger and a banana. I can’t eat it though.
I’ve been so mad at my father the last few days. Between the revelation of his crimes, the secrecy, and his abandonment, I’ve cared little about him.
That’s all changed now.
“Any news?” I ask Sienna, who has her face buried in her phone. When I see the hesitation, I level my eyes with hers.
“He answered the door to accept a delivery when he was shot in the abdomen. I don’t know anything else.”
The drive to Manhattan takes forever. We still don’t know where our fathers have been hiding. Sienna said
