4. Tolerating

CHAPTER 4

Tolerating

TORI

I fumed while waiting at the truck for Nate until he finally exited the diner. My mind raced with wild thoughts about what to do.

“You made it clear you don’t want to do this, so give me the keys, our IDs, and all the money you have and we’ll get out of your hair.” I stormed up to him, one hand outstretched, palm up, the other on my hip.

“What the f—Are you insane? Cap gave me orders and I’ll be damned if I don’t complete this mission for him. I owe him. Now get in the truck,” he barked. Porsche had scrambled into the middle, but he and I stood there, locked eyes in a staring match for a beat, neither of us willing to be the first to relent. I drew in a deep breath, my nostrils flaring, my chest expanding, readying a retort. His eyes twitched, then fell to my cleavage. I smirked. Figured. Typical man, always sidetracked by sex.

He huffed toward the truck. “Come on. We need to go.” His voice shot tingles down my spine every time he took charge. My body wasn’t helping the situation, responding to him like that.

Once inside, the aroma of freshly baked goods hit me, at least replacing his cedar-scented musk, which suited me fine. I didn’t need his body, his eyes, his manly fragrance distracting me. He handed me a bag, though, and I took it, brushing fingers with him, instantly regretting the touch with the way sparks worked up my arm.

“Here. I didn’t know what you’d like, so I had them put several things in. And there’s a bottle of water, too. We have several hours of driving ahead of us and you didn’t eat anything, so this will have to do.” His gruff demeanor diminished.

Porsche eyed the contents of the bag with me. Inside were slices of banana bread, a bagel with cream cheese, a blueberry scone, and a mini cinnamon roll.

“Oh, yummy.” She reached for the scone before I could stop her, and my stomach growled.

“Uh, thanks.” Mildly impressed, that didn’t mean I’d open my heart to him. In the next beat, I asked, “Where exactly are we going?”

“To Kissing Springs.”

“Where?”

He drew in a deep breath and let it out before pulling the truck back onto the road. “My old hometown in Kentucky. If we need to hide, that’s as good a place as any, for now. Besides, I know the Chief of Police there, Robbie Boyd. I can trust him. He might know people who can help us.”

“What a cute name? Kissing Springs. I like the sound of it.” Porsche bounced in the seat, bringing the scone to her lips. I definitely needed her to stop thinking of this as an adventure. We’re running for our lives, and there was nothing sweet about that.

“Yeah, well, I’d prefer we go back to Chicago and find Cap to see if he’s still alive, but that’s hardly an option,” he muttered.

“That’s crazy. We don’t know where he’d be. Cap gave me a special phone in my backpack, and always said he’d reach out to me if he could, but he hasn’t. If you read the file, then you know who we are and why Chicago is not an option.” Irritated and with a headache, I needed to eat and chose the roll covered with cream cheese icing, stuffing an edge of it into my mouth. I almost moaned as well, except I didn’t want to give Nate the satisfaction.

“I do know. You two are the daughter-in-law and granddaughter to Antonio Bottesta. Used to be married to the late Ricardo Bottesta. No offense, but you have crappy taste in men.”

I glared and snorted at him. “I didn’t have a choice. My father traded me away to them when I was sixteen.”

He blinked, taking his eyes off the road and glancing at me. This time, his entire face somewhat softened.

“So you understand why we can’t go back. I shudder to think what Bottesta would do to us.”

His jaw tightened, the muscles in them twitching. “Tell me right now then, what the hell happened to Cap back there in Chicago?”

I swallowed hard before recounting the events. “He urged me to find evidence against the Bottesta crime family, something the FBI could use to arrest him. So I did. I found out Antonio was in collusion with another crime family to bribe some team members on the Baltimore Heat Hockey team, as well as a Football team in Florida and a Baseball team in Chicago, hoping to fix the championships.”

“Shit. Uh, sorry, Porsche. I didn’t mean to swear,” Nate said.

She passed it off as no big deal, shrugging. “I’ve heard it all before.”

“Go on.” He urged me.

“There were other things I’d been aware of or overheard. Eventually, the FBI asked Cap to have me wear a wire. I did, a great risk and peril of Bottesta ever found out. While we we’ve been in Chicago, the FBI raided his Las Vegas mansion and offices. Then they were to seize Bottesta at the hotel here, but we were ambushed. And the fire at the safe house—I don’t understand. Nothing happened according to Cap’s plan, almost like someone on the inside knew what would happen and tipped off Bottesta.”

I leaned an elbow on the window and chewed a nail, taking in a shaky breath as I found the words to describe the next part. “As soon as shots were fired, Cap shoved me aside. I turned to look, and he fell to the ground, yelling orange, our code word that meant I should run like hell. So I did. But Cap—” Everything hit me at once, choking me up. If he died for us—oh God, Cap—I hope it wasn’t all in vain.

My hand went to my chest. Nate’s eyes went there, too, raking me over sideways. Cap really talked up Nate, about what a hard charger he was, always doing the job and doing it well. So this should be just another mission to him. But the way he looked at me sometimes, like he’d gladly bend me over the tailgate and do me good… My breath hitched at that thought. It’d been way too long since I allowed myself any male attention, and now I’m what? Lusting after this guy, who so far has treated me as nothing more than an obligation? God, my life was pathetic.

He shook his head. “So you and Cap were… Lovers?”

“What? No.” I defiantly swiped away a stray tear, hating that one escaped. “We only became good friends for the past three years after he was hired to manage our security team. After Ricardo died, I thought my father’s debt was paid, that we’d be free of the Bottestas, but Antonio wouldn’t let us go, and separated us. He kept us under guard and rarely let me see Porsche. Cap was aware of our plight though, and kind to us, helping pass letters between us and finding ways we could see each other without Antonio’s knowledge. When he told me his plan to take me and Porsche away, to live as a family, and to keep us safe, I couldn’t believe he’d do all of this for me, for us.”

“I like Cap. He’s a sweet man. He taught me to play chess. I hope he’s okay.” Porsche put the other half of the scone back into the bag, but I took it back out for myself, eating two-fisted, savagely, a sweet treat in each hand, but right now my life was anything but proper, and emotional eating took over.

Nate finally spoke again a minute later. “At this point, we’re lucky to have put distance between us and Chicago. But faking a marriage? I’ll keep you safe, but I can’t pose as your husband and father. No offense, Porsche. I’m sure you’re a wonderful kid, but… I never wanted to marry and have kids, even fake ones.”

Porsche took my hand and gave it a squeeze. She’s so strong. Much more than I was at her age. Rage boiled up inside of me from a lifetime of letting men rule over me. Dammit. I’d pull my gun on him and force him to stop the truck and get out, if it weren’t in my backpack in the bed of the truck.

“Didn’t the FBI offer you witness protection? You could be in their hands right now instead of running,” he said.

“What kind of life would that be for us? Cap tried to talk me into it, but all I’ve ever wanted was to give my daughter a normal life. Free from thugs and danger. Where she can go to school and have nice friends and sleepovers like girls her age do, without a security detail in sight. Cap promised me if I turned over evidence, then he’d make that happen, somewhere far away form all of this, and we’d hide together. But now everything is so screwed up—and if you don’t want to be a part of it? Then stop the truck, give me the keys, and get out. We’ll survive somehow without you.”

He scowled at me. “Lady, I’ve never not completed a mission before, and I’m not about to start now.” He raked his hand through his hair. God, he had fabulous hair, the strands of it falling back into place, just above his gorgeous eyes. Any other time, another life, had we met under different circumstances, we might have gotten along better. But this? How do we even tolerate each other under these circumstances?