Alana

I heard the door open and I thought Tony was back. A part of me was thrilled that he came back and another part was ready to start screaming, but when I walked to the door, it wasn’t him. It was Reagan.

“What’s up?” I asked, wondering what she was going to say.

“I came to talk to you.” She was perfect looking, I bet her husband didn’t leave her to wake up alone all the time.

“Did he tell you to come up here?”

“No, I offered. I know that we don’t know each other, but our family is close and I know that you mean so much to Tony, but he doesn’t know how to stop being the man who answers to no one.”

I didn’t respond to it because I suppose she had a point. “And that’s why I’m trying to save us the trouble that would come later.”

“So, you’re telling me that you’d rather watch Tony move on with his life and find someone else who would be in your place? Watching your baby when it’s Tony’s turn to have the child?”

“No,” I yelled, then took off running. I made it to the bathroom just in time. I lost the bit of juice I had before she came into the suite.

“Are you okay?” she asked, handing me a damp washcloth.

“Being with or without Tony will never be okay.”

She chuckled. “I totally get you. I married a very similar man. It took some time, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Just think about it, soon he’ll be home every night once the club is sold and the papers are processed.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. I hadn’t heard anything about the club.

She clapped her hands to her mouth. “Oh poo. He didn’t tell you yet. I freaking forgot.”

“It seems I’m the last to know everything.”

“It’s not like that. It was supposed to be a surprise. According to what Dante told me, Tony didn’t like leaving you to go to the club at night. He didn’t want to live a life of you two seeing each other in passing, so he was planning to put it up for sale and an offer popped up in his lap. He loves you,” she said. This was all news to me and wonderful news, but it was a punch in the gut that everyone else knew before me. This may have been a surprise, but with everything else, I’m the last to know.

“Reagan, I don’t know. It’s just he doesn’t tell me anything. I feel like I’m just his plaything.”

“Alana. Tell me. Do you want to know his business? Do you really want to know if he has to kill someone or break someone’s legs? And as his partner in life, can you keep his secrets? Also, like Dante, Tony doesn’t want you tainted or in danger because of him. It was crazy when Dante and I got together and there was danger everywhere I turned. Last night I was left alone, guarded to the teeth, but all I could think about was Dante not making it back. They love us and our safety is automatic to them.”

“I know, but I don’t know how to get over the fear that he’s going to leave me.”

“I heard about your rocky start. He loved you since he first saw you. That’s something wonderful. You can’t fault him for what happened that night. You had a week to tell him the truth and he had to find it out from someone else.”

“I know, but…I really have no excuse other than I’m too afraid of losing him.”

“Let me get this right…you think leaving him is the smartest thing to do?”

“No,” I muttered. My heart was scared of the pain he could cause me. My father’s death followed by my mother’s neglect, drug abuse, and subsequent death tore my heart to pieces and yet I felt that Tony could do much worse. “I know I need to have faith in us, but it’s so hard.”

“Nothing’s easy when you love a hardheaded bad guy.”

“Thank you, Reagan.”

“Anytime. Trust me, it’ll get easier.” I gave her a hug and let her go.

“I need to see Tony.”

“Go get your man, Alana,” she championed. I got up and walked straight out of the door into a wall, but it wasn’t Tony. “Who are you?”

“Your husband didn’t learn at all. There’s too many of us ready to take him on. You’re a bonus. Ah and we have another little wife here. Double the fun.”

“Get the fuck away from here.” I pinched his nuts between my fingers, digging my sharp nails into his sack. A sudden vasectomy. He wasn’t ready for that. Reagan was on the phone to Dante. And the room was swarmed with their men. I walked away from the bastard as they had him trussed up by the throat.

Seconds later, Dante and Tony barged through. Tony pulled a gun out of his waistband. “Get her out of here,” Tony roared. Dante and Vinny grabbed both of us women and took us from the room. I didn’t fight or even look. I saw the pain in Tony’s eyes which told me that he was upset that he’d missed this guy.