Making the Rent the Hard Way - 52

 

Gino arrived right then—to lecture Luca when he heard his story and tell the rest of us that the two other shifters who'd been helping Bracco were dead. "Fucking bastards, but no match for me and Jack."

"And me," Orchid said. "Okay, not me, since I was doing my best to distract Bracco so Rocky could take him out without getting hurt in the process. Didn't work too well," she admitted, patting Rocky's arm.

"Yeah, it did," he protested. "Without you, I'd never have gotten in the final bite that tore out his throat."

I tried not to shudder at that image, even though I knew it was the best way to kill in a shifter-on-shifter battle.

Luca squeezed my hand again. "Hopefully, you'll never have to witness that again," he said softy.

"Mind reading?"

He chuckled. "Nope. As I've said before, I can read your face and body language. In this case, it was real clear what you were thinking."

I gazed at him, trying not to show what I was feeling at the moment—which was how much I loved him. Apparently, he was able to read it anyway, because he said, "I love you, too. More than you'll ever know."

Rather than reply, I kissed him. When it came down to it, that was an answer.

The moment we broke apart, Luca said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

I was about to protest that he needed his doctor's okay on that. Obviously, Luca wouldn't have agreed because, before I could even open my mouth, we were in his apartment.

Which is now our apartment.

I moved in two days after the final battle with Mr. Bracco, despite what I'd told Luca when he'd asked me—damn, it seemed like months ago, although it had only been a few weeks. Anyway, I don't feel as if I have to be here. I want to be. Physically and emotionally this is my home. Our home.

Someday, when the law allows, we will get married—something that's still forbidden between a human and a shifter. I've got a feeling it's a law that's "more honored in the breach than in the observance," to quote Hamlet. After all, as I know for a fact, it's almost impossible for humans to know who is and isn't a shifter, unless they have my strange ability. As far as I know, I'm unique when it comes to that.

"If the world, or at least the city, didn't know I was a shifter..." Luca said with a sigh, when I mentioned marriage to him.

"We're married here." I placed my hand over his heart. "Isn't that what counts?"

He smiled, putting his hand over my mine. "It is. It's the only thing that counts when it comes down to it. In our hearts, in our souls, we are one."

We are, and we will be until the day I die. I have no illusions about that. I will die before he does. Until that day happens, I will do everything in my power to make him as happy as I am. What more could anyone want?

The End