Page 92 of The Fixer

“It killed me to let you go, my son,” my father said, hand once again on my arm. “But I was worried if I didn’t, we would lose you for good. Your mother and I, we couldn’t let that happen.”

“I gave you everything I could,” Paulo told me. “Your education, a home to live in, as much love as it was possible to give a boy who was hurting as much as you were.”

“And this position? Making me your lieutenant? You’re just giving that to me, too? Because you feel sorry for me?”

Paulo let out a dark laugh. “Is that what you think? That I would let a man who was unworthy stand at my side?” He shook his head. “You earned this position by the time that… that witch got to you, Jet. She almost took away one of the best things that ever happened to me. I have loved you like a son since before you were out of diapers, and I knew from the beginning I wanted you right here. At my side, at my table, helping me run this organization the way it needs to be run.”

Paulo scrubbed a hand across his jaw. “And after Fahrid was killed and Halil was taken down, after everything you did to bring an end to the Silva’s organization, you go and handle Niles Murphy’s betrayal so quietly I didn’t even know about it until it was over. That, right there,” he said, jabbing a finger into my chest, above my heart, “that is why I appointed you lieutenant. Because you always do what I want of you before I even know I want it.”

Paulo turned, gesturing to the door behind us. Eliza stood there, hands clutching the collar of her sweater. He motioned to her, and she rushed into the room.

Rushed to my side.

Curled her sweet body around me while holding me up.

“Charlie Westbrook made me promise after his wife died, if anything were ever to happen to him, I’d look out for his daughter. Do you see what you’ve done, Jet? Do you realize you have once again stepped up and taken care of something for me that needed to be done? I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to Eliza. And here you are, giving her all the safety and the love she deserves.”

Chocolate eyes peered up at me, the gold glittering in the afternoon sun shining in through the door. Those fucking freckles were everywhere, darker now than they were when we first met, the waning summer bringing out the colors on her face the way the sun changed the color of the leaves.

It hit me, in that moment, with Paulo’s words ringing in my ears.

Love.

I’d known Eliza roughly two months, and already I could feel something blossoming inside me. This gorgeous woman had come into my life and knocked me off center, knocked me back to where I belonged. The emptiness that lived within me had left me, her presence filling every crack and gaping canyon of my heart until I was overflowing.

Love.

It was beating inside of me.

Just as my heart beat for her.

“I chose you for this, Jet,” Paulo told me, “because there is no one I’d rather have at my side.”

Eliza gave me a squeeze, then pushed me forward, telling me what to do without saying a word.

My heart sang with the feeling, my soul feeling right and whole, as Paulo pulled me in for a hug, showing me the same love he always had. Only this time, my eyes were opened, and I knew it wasn’t out of pity, it wasn’t out of some duty to defend and protect.

It was because we were a family. And though we were woven together with pieces from all over the world, this family was full of love.

24

Jet

“Piper! Logan! Get in here!” my mother called. “It’s your turn to open gifts from Babbo Natale. You can eat your oranges later.”

“Yes, Nonna!” Piper called as her brother raced into the room, snagging a gift from my mother’s hands.

“I’m going to get a big pwane!” the boy yelled, zooming the square package over his head as if it were the airplane he was sure he’d be getting. He crash-landed on the couch next to Eliza, offering his gift up to her. “Will you help me with the paper, Ewiza?”

“Of course, sweetie,” she told him, picking the boy up and seating him in her lap. The two of them ripped at the gift wrap, the scraps from Logan hitting me in the face. They oohed and ahhed over the spaceship inside the box.

“Your turn, Jet,” my sister, Rebecca, prompted. The woman had a Cheshire grin as she ignored her son tapping me in the head with the side of his box.

“Pew, pew!” The child laughed just like his mother, wild and raucous, then raced away to join his cousins next to the tree.

“Open ours, Zio!” Rosalee and Julia stepped before me, each with a gift in their hands. “One for you and one for Eliza.”

“Why, thank you.” Eliza offered them one of her gorgeous smiles, taking the package with her name on it. My girl bent to drop a kiss to my lips, and I had to stifle a groan.