“You know, for some big bad cartel prince, you can be really sweet sometimes.”
“I want to talk to your father. About us,” I tell her.
“What? Why would you do that?”
“Because I don’t like lying to people, Frankie, and I really don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks about us being together. If I go and talk to him, he might be reasonable enough to see that we are happening with or without his blessing.”
“It’swithout,Emilio. My father is never going to be okay with me dating anyone. Especially you.” She sighs.
“Well, he will have to find a way to live with it. Because we are not going back to where you ignore me and pretend I don’t exist.”
“I never ignored you,” Frankie argues. “I just ignored how you made me feel.”
“Same thing.”
“What happened to let’s just keep this a secret? That secret lasted not even an hour before your family knew about us. My brother knows. My mom knows. Aunt Lailani and Sammie Junior.”
“Also, Uncle Carlo and Aunt Antonia, CJ too,” I tell her.
“Great. Why not just put it on blast on the front pages of the tabloids?” Frankie groans.
“Is it really that bad? For the world to know that you’re dating me? Are you that ashamed?”
“I’m not ashamed of you, Emilio, and you know that. I don’t want to make anyone upset. I don’t want to cause a rift between our families, and I don’t want to be the reason you die.”
“You’d be the best reason I could think of to die, Frankie.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Wasn’t trying to be. He’s going to find out. I’d rather it be from me.”
“Fine, but we’ll go together. He won’t kill you in front of me,” she says.
My lips tilt up at the sides. “I don’t need my girlfriend to be a human shield.”
“Too bad. That’s exactly what I am for you. You know my mom took a bullet for my dad when they were first married and they lived happily ever after.”
“Frankie, I’m only going to say this once. You are never jumping in front of a bullet for me. If you see a gun, you step behind me.”
“And I’m only going to say this once. Actually, that’s a lie. I feel as if I’m going to be saying this a lot. You, Emilio Lopez, are not the boss of me and you cannot tell me what I can and can’t do. If I want to save your pretty ass from a bullet, I will and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
“Eat faster,” I tell her.
“Why?”
“Because I need to get you home so I can fuck the sass right out of your mouth.”
“You’re welcome to try.” Frankie laughs.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I’m walking through campus when I spot Hudson approaching me. I’ve managed to avoid both of my brothers for an entire week. It’s been a blissful few days of beingwined and dined by Emilio. Who would have thought the guy could be such a romantic?
He’s taken me on dinners, lunches, and more breakfast dates. We’ve seen movies, gone to an art exhibition, and he even took me to a cabaret show. Between all of that, he’s given me multiple orgasms a day. So much sex, to the point I think I might actually be starting to walk funny.
“I’ve been looking for you,” Hudson says, stopping in front of me.
“Why?”