Elicit (Eagle Elite #4)(42)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken

She wouldn’t do it on purpose. Mo didn’t have that type of mind.

But I did.

I was protecting her from me, and protecting her from herself… a clean break was the only way to keep her safe but selfishly it was the only way to keep me sane.

Every text.

Every phone call.

Every picture.

Would haunt me for the rest of my life.

So once I hunted down Alfonso and killed the sorry son of a bitch, I would find my sister and take control of my family.

And the war between the families would continue because I knew one thing Mo didn’t.

The Campisis didn’t just want my blood.

They wanted the Abandonatos.

I wished I could go back and forget the words that Luca and Frank said, but the men knew more than anyone else—bad blood gets people killed and the Campisis, though momentarily leaderless, wanted my head and were more than happy to ask for Nixon’s and Chase’s in the process.

I’d rather die a thousand deaths than put the people who raised me in danger.

“Tex!” Mo wrapped her arms around my neck. “Where’d you go?”

“Right here, sweetheart,” I murmured, brushing a kiss across her lips. “I’ll always be.” I moved my rough hand to her chest and pressed. “Right here.”

Her lower lip trembled. “You promise?”

I nodded. “When the nights are dark… when you’re alone and afraid… when you’re sick at the prospect of dating for the first time, when you’re sad…” I shrugged and rubbed my hand across her chest. “Know that a part of me will always be with you.”

Tears streamed down her face. “It doesn’t have to be like this, Tex.”

I wasn’t a strong enough man to lie to her face, to tell her everything would be okay when I knew it wouldn’t. Hell, I was too weak to tell her I probably wasn’t going to survive The Commission in the first place.

“Come on.” I gently pulled her off my lap. “I want to show you something.”

“Uh.” She looked down. “But aren’t we—I mean two hours and—”

“What? You afraid of a little adventure?”

“No,” she growled. “I just feel—”

I laughed and moved her hands around me, damn her hands felt good. “Yeah, I feel too, but I promise, this will be worth it. Do you trust me?”

Mo released her grip and sighed. “Yes.”

“Excellent.” I grinned and lifted her gently off me. “We’ll have to be really quiet. We’re sneaking out of the house.”

“We’ve done that before.” She pointed out grabbing one of my white t-shirts and a pair of sweat pants.

“True.” I licked my lips and tossed a red t-shirt over my head and pulled up a pair of athletic shorts. I held out my hand. “Everyone should be in their rooms or in the kitchen eating, we’ll sneak out back.” I winked.

She gripped my hand and nodded.

I grabbed a blanket from the bed and limped alongside her until we were outside by our favorite tree.

With a sigh I spread the blanket on the ground and sat down, she followed, the blanket was big enough to wrap both our bodies in.

“So.” Mo exhaled. “You interrupt rocking my world to take me outside under the tree?”

“Yup.”

“Because?”

“Because of that.” I pointed behind me to the little scratch on the trunk that said Tex and Mo forever.

Mo gripped the front of my shirt as her eyes welled with tears. “I forgot about that.”

“I never forget,” I whispered. “Plus I have a scar from trying to do that when I was five.”

Mo chuckled. “We used to come out here after everyone went to bed.”

“And I’d tell you to pick a star.”

“I picked a different one each time.”

“As any smart little girl would.” I grinned at the memory. “A new star means a new wish.”

“My wish was always the same.”

I choked on the emotion clogging my throat, filling my lungs, making me want to scream. “Mine was too.”

“Together forever.” Mo interlocked her fingers with mine. It’s what we’d written under the Mo and Tex forever… I’d just wanted to be by her side when I was little.

“You were my favorite then, Mo. You’re my favorite now.”

Her head pressed against my chest, the wetness of her tears soaking the front of my shirt.

“So tonight…” My voice was hoarse. “I wanted to make the best of what we’re leaving behind—I want to make a new wish on a new star.”

“What’s the new wish?”

I dug my fingers into her hair and kissed her forehead. “My new wish… is this…” I tilted her chin towards me and kissed her lips. “Be happy Mo. It’s all I want in life, your happiness. It’s why I live, why I breathe, why I bleed—for your smile. Don’t let what has to happen turn you into a person I don’t recognize.”

“H-how,” Mo sobbed. “How can you expect that of me when you’re ripping away my reason for being happy?”

I kissed her salty cheeks. “I didn’t say it would be easy.”

“Which is why we’re using the stars.”

“Right.” I trailed kisses down her neck. “It’s why we need the stars.”

“Tex.” She blinked her clear blue eyes a few times as tears washed down her face and slipped down her chin. “This is my wish.” Her lips trembled. “For you to find peace—in a lifetime full of war.”

“You’re my peace,” I admitted with a grim smile.

“So when you’re in war—think of me.”

Our mouths met in the middle, each of us digging at each other’s clothes, pulling them off and tossing them under the tree. I’d always wanted to make love to her under the stars.

I was getting my final wish.

With a groan I pulled off her sweats and hovered over her. “Say it, Mo.”

“Now!” she cried, her hands fisting over my back, as her legs wrapped around me, rocking her core towards me. “Tex Campisi, I love you…”

I surged into her with a primal cry, knowing, it would be the last time my name would most likely cross her lips.

Slowly I glided in and out, savoring the feeling of her body contracting around me, wishing things were different but vowing that I would protect her until my last breath.