The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2)(151)
“Nova—”
“Just two,” Nova promised as he walked away.
Alaine giggled next to him. “Your mother is very beautiful. Stunningly so.”
“Ay Dios mio, don’t tell her that.” Chuito groaned. “’Cause she knows it. Italians everywhere and she had to find the one who was in charge. Typical.”
“I like your mother,” Alaine said softly next to him. “Very much.”
“Yeah, I like her too,” Chuito said with a smile. “Even if she’s a magnet for trouble. Must be genetic.”
“Must be.” Alaine laughed as she leaned into him and whispered, “Dance with me.”
“Absolutely, Mrs. Garcia.” Chuito stood and held out his hand to her. “Let’s lose the bag.”
“I’m terrified to set it down,” Alaine said as Chuito pulled her to her feet. “There are a lot of envelopes in here.”
“We’ll get someone to hold it.”
They found Tino on the dance floor, and Chuito cut into the dance he was sharing with Junior’s sister to ask, “Will you hold the bag for Alaine?”
“Sure.” Tino stepped away from his dancing partner, pulling Chuito to the side as he lost some of the ready humor that came to him so easily when he needed it to. “You’re enjoying it, right? The wedding.”
“Yeah.” Chuito grinned. “Best day of my life.”
“Good,” Tino whispered as he looked down for a moment, his smile genuine. “That’s good. That makes me happy, Chu.”
Chuito squeezed his shoulder before he went back to Alaine, because Tino was still struggling with the guilt.
He pretended not to notice Tino slipping an envelope in the bag when he thought Chuito wasn’t paying attention. Then Chuito forgot about it completely when Alaine wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “I love dancing with you.”
Because he loved dancing with her too.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Alaine ditched her shoes early on in the dancing, because heels and lawn didn’t play well together. It felt so good to dance barefoot in the Florida sunshine with Chuito.
It made her feel wild and free, like for the moment nothing could touch them. She more than anyone knew that wasn’t true; two days ago her love story had nearly turned into a tragedy.
Now it felt more like a fairy tale, a loud and boisterous fairy tale where all the princes were packing heat, even at a wedding, or maybe especially because of the wedding. Even Chuito had a gun. She felt it under his tuxedo jacket, but she didn’t dwell on it.
Not when Chuito looked like he did, that expensive, tailored black tux making his chest look so broad and imposing. Alaine was almost ready to skip past the wedding party and get to the honeymoon, because dancing with him always made her hot.
It reminded her of years of teasing, and even though they had an audience, they danced like they were alone in their Garnet prison. She was soft in his arms, letting him lead and moving to the music that felt so much more appropriate here in Miami…like the final piece to the puzzle.
As strange as it was, Alaine felt like she’d found home.
The place she had been searching for when she’d packed up her stuff and moved into the little apartment above Jules’s office. At best, life was unpredictable right now. At worst it was terrifying, but she still felt like it was where she was supposed to be.
Because Chuito was here, and she would rather be in an uncertain life with him than in a stable one without him.
So she hung on for the ride, letting him lead and trusting that maybe there were happy endings for gangsters too.
“Look at that motherf*cker.” Chuito turned Alaine around and pulled her against him so that her back was flush against his chest. “That’s his fourth dance.”
Alaine giggled as she spied Nova dancing with Sofia.
Nova actually wasn’t a bad dancer. Even more than a little drunk, he danced like he belonged there on the lawn in Miami.
“Why is everything so easy for him?” Alaine asked Chuito, because it seemed unfair someone that smart and that good-looking could dance too.
“’Cause we let it be,” Chuito said before he called out, “Hey, Casanova!” and for the first time, Alaine appreciated how ironically fitting his name was. When Nova looked over, Chuito held up four fingers against Alaine’s chest. “Go back to school, motherf*cker. You can’t count.”
Alaine laughed again and turned around in his arms. “You’re no fun at all. Ruining his day after everything he did to put this wedding together.”
“That’s my mother,” Chuito said dismissively. “Let him find someone else to make his day better. A few more glasses of wine and he won’t notice the difference anyway.”
“Really expensive wine,” Alaine pointed out. “Did you notice that?”
“They’re Italian; everything’s really expensive with them. Spoiled.” Chuito pulled her closer to him and then wrapped an arm around her when Nova grabbed her hand. “No.”
“One dance with the bride. For tradition.” Nova gave Chuito another wide smile that made him look more like Tino than Alaine had noticed before. “Trust me, Garcia, having seen firsthand what happens to motherf*ckers who mess with your woman, she’s safe.”