Not Mine to Keep (The Costa Family)

“I know you’ve been looking for a reason to hit me for a long time, so go ahead. Do it.”

Not the words I’d expected to hear from Gabriel as Calliope and I rounded the corner into the living room. Seeing Gabriel shoved against the wall, Constantine’s hand on his chest, pinning him there, had me letting go of my wife.

“What in the hell is going on?” I hurried by my father, who was wordlessly observing the scene alongside Izzy without trying to intervene. “Constantine, let him go.” Wrapping my hand over my brother’s shoulder, I urged him to back off, but he didn’t budge.

“Tell him what you just told me.” My brother didn’t usually become unhinged so easily, so what in God’s name had Gabriel said? He lifted his hand from Gabriel’s chest, so I let go of his shoulder, then he faced Dad and Izzy. “Why didn’t you tell us what happened?”

Gabriel shot me his signature look—it was his I fucked up one.

“Someone needs to tell me what’s going on.” I turned to the side, hands settling on my hips just over the hem of my clean T-shirt I’d thrown on after the shower. Izzy motioned my wife over to her, and damn it all to hell, I also knew that look in Calliope’s eyes, too. “What is it?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, and it was something I didn’t feel you needed to know unless your wife wanted to tell you.” Dad took the reins and also took me to the edge of frustration at being in the dark about something related to Calliope. “You’ve been through a lot. I wanted to focus on having my boys back. And Gabriel’s here to share good news. Not sure why in God’s name he decided to share with Constantine his original plan.”

“The original plan for what?” Patience was no longer a virtue or a fucking anything right now.

“Armani dying,” Calliope whispered. “I was going to help kill him while you were . . . well, gone.” I clocked the nervous movement in her throat. The hard swallow. Replayed her words to ensure I’d heard them correctly. Couldn’t be possible, though.

I left Gabriel to get to my wife. And yeah, no one was going to save her from me right now. I was about to toss her over my shoulder, then take her over my knee, dammit. What had she been thinking?

“Come again?” was all I could get from my mouth that didn’t involve swear words.

Calliope turned her attention to Gabriel, who was hanging back by the wall, then reached for my wrist. She’d feel my pulse flying if she held me a bit tighter. “While you were missing, Armani and Marcello decided to fly to the US to take me back to Italy.” She lightly shook her head. “Sorry, you know that.”

And I knew both my wife and father had been arrested for the sake of appearances while I’d been detained.

Then there was the fact Armani ensured Marcello never again saw the light of day and was shanked by someone that first night in custody.

Considering Marcello had been working with the crooked guard and the Espositos to send those men to kill her in the park in Nashville that day, I’d been more than happy the man was gone. I was only upset it hadn’t been by my hand.

I was also very familiar with the surprising bit of truth that once Armani was back in Italy, he not only sacrificed himself for Calliope but also for Gabriel. Armani exchanged Gabriel’s freedom for whatever additional intel he could offer to help bring down the rest of the Barone organization. Leo had been freed, too, not that Armani knew that part.

Dad’s plan had worked, though. Perfectly, in fact. I owed him so damn much. But right now what I wanted to know was the one thing I apparently had been in the dark about.

“It’s not her fault,” Gabriel said, stealing my focus. “I asked Calliope to piss off Marcello in the hope that we could get him to try and kill her. Then with any luck, Armani would take the bullet for her. We could pin Armani’s death on Marcello.” He lifted his palms in surrender. “It sounds insane now that I say it. I had AISE on my ass, and I never should’ve suggested something that crazy. Had your father told me he had a plan already in motion, I never would’ve made the suggestion. Of course, your father would’ve shut down my idea anyway.”

I looked at my wife’s hold of my wrist, trying to wrap my head around what the hell Gabriel just said. Place my wife in danger and also make her complicit in murdering her own father? Did he really . . . ?

I understood why Constantine had snapped, because I was going to do a lot more than kill Gabriel.

I freed myself of her touch and cut across the room to my target. I fisted Gabriel’s shirt and pinned him to the wall. He didn’t resist or react. He knew it was coming. And it was like he wanted it.

“I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes, and the break in his voice managed to halt me from losing control. “I had to tell you because I keep making mistakes, and that had to be one of my worst ones.”

“What’s going on?” Now my mom had joined the party. Perfect.

I was teetering just on the edge of sanity as I replayed the plan again. I owed my father beers for life for intervening.

“I was the one who agreed,” Calliope said. “Be mad at me, too. I-I just wanted to help somehow. Make myself useful because you were gone, and maybe I . . . was scared you weren’t going to come home, so why not risk my life? And I’d rather it be my life than your family taking more chances, and—”

“Stop.” I let go of Gabriel at her words and spun around to see her crying. Crushing her against me, I held her tight, resting my chin on top of her head. “You’re never allowed to risk your life, you hear me?” I shifted my mouth closer to her ear and whispered, “And I’m not mad at you. I never could be.” Okay, maybe that was a lie, because I was pissed. The fact she was willing to possibly take a bullet . . . fuck that. Fuck it to hell and back and then again. “Never ever do anything that places your life in danger. You got it?” I stroked her back, then met my father’s eyes and gave him a nod of thanks.

He nodded back, then gestured for my mom, Izzy, and Constantine to clear out.

Right, I still needed to confront Gabriel about why else he was here. But first I had to get my heart to calm down from wild to normal.

“I’m sorry,” she said into my chest.

“Don’t.” I swallowed. “Don’t apologize. You’re okay, that’s all that matters.” I untangled our bodies and turned to look at Gabriel.

“I shouldn’t have listened to my case officer,” Gabriel said once Calliope was at my side. “I’m sorry, Callie. But I’m here for more than an apology.”

Keeping my distance, still kind of wanting to throttle him, I hooked my arm behind her back and waited for him to continue.

Gabriel stepped away from the wall. “First, I’m glad you’re okay. I wanted to reach out sooner after they found you, but I was tied up in jail until Armani accepted the offer. I had to wrap up things with AISE after that.”

Armani was why we’d all begun working together in the first place, and if not for him, the Barones wouldn’t be dead, a new conflict may not have been averted, a Russian oligarch wouldn’t be arrested, and I wouldn’t be . . . well, married.

“As you know, AISE had enough evidence to lock Armani up for three lifetimes regardless,” he went on when I remained quiet. “But since the DiMaggios weren’t their targets, they held off on doing anything with it. Clearly, AISE has no choice now but to convict him.”

“Get to your point,” I urged, still a bit unhinged.

“The plan was always for Calliope to pass the power over to me, so I could continue to help AISE catch more dangerous criminals, and then eventually we’d dismantle the DiMaggio organization from the inside, once Armani died.” Gabriel said what I already knew. “They were concerned that arresting Armani would jeopardize that opportunity, but he gave us the new plan on a silver fucking platter, just as your father predicted he would.”

Calliope took an eager step forward, so I went with her. I was never letting this woman from my sight again, dammit.

“I visited Armani with his lawyer yesterday, and he told me why he arranged for my release. He hoped I could help Calliope prevent the collapse of the organization. Transition her into the role of taking over one day. But to remove some heat from his daughter, he wants me to run things until you two have an heir. By then, he thinks it’ll be safer for Calliope to step in.” He opened his palms. “Of course, he’ll be dead and never know you won’t be taking over anything. But this keeps you safe from anyone connected to the DiMaggio crime family ever coming after you.” He gave me a subtle nod as if hoping for my approval, but I wasn’t ready to give it quite yet. “Then when the time comes, I’ll help end the organization for good as planned, and Calliope can keep living her life how she wants without worry.”

Calliope shocked me, and probably Gabriel, by reaching out and hugging him. “Thank you.”

How could I kill him now? “If anything changes, you’ll let us know,” I said once she was back at my side.

“Of course.” Gabriel tipped his head toward my wife. “Rosa sends her love. And so does . . . Armani.”

“I would’ve regretted personally killing him, but that doesn’t change the fact I want nothing to do with that man,” she said. “So he can take his love and shove it up his ass.”

And there was my Little Miss. God, I loved this woman so much.

Gabriel eyed me next. “Too soon for a handshake or something?”

“Too soon. But keep doing the right thing, and maybe one day we’ll have a drink together.” That was a big maybe.

His smile made it hard to hate the fucker. Damn him. Then he quietly left the room, and once I was alone with my wife, I pulled her back into my arms.

“I still can’t believe you agreed to his plan,” I said into her ear in case my family happened to be hovering out in the hall. “The idea makes me want to—”

“Swat my ass?” Her hands slid to my chest, and I dropped my chin to catch her eyes.

“We really need to get back to our place.” As I dipped in, preparing to kiss her, she closed her eyes, but first there was something I wanted to ask. “Unless you want our home to be in Nashville?”

Her eyes flashed open, and she quietly stared at me before whispering, “I want to be around family. Your family. And now they’re my family. If you’ll have me, I want to stay in New York.”

“You’re sure?” My heart had been racing earlier, during the confrontation with Gabriel, but now it flew.

“I’m more than sure,” she said before my mouth crashed down over hers.

We both abruptly startled and stopped kissing at an excited “Yes!” coming from the hall.

“Mommmm,” I teasingly hollered out, but then my wife began laughing, and yeah, her laugh could really stop wars and save the world.

She for sure saved mine.