Chapter 6 · No More Decoy

"Don't stop." That's what I said, my back flat against the door Nico had just kicked shut with his heel, his hand already under my collar, his mouth at the hinge of my jaw. Then my phone buzzed on the counter like it had a personal grudge against me.

Nico didn't even lift his head. "Ignore it."

"It's going off like a bomb, Nico."

"So's my patience." His teeth grazed my jaw, not hard, just enough to make my knees do something stupid. "Ignore it."

I should've. I've replayed that thirty seconds about six hundred times since. But the phone buzzed a second time, then a third, stacked fast with no gap between, and something about that rhythm made my stomach drop before I even looked.

So I looked.

Unknown number. A name that wasn't a nickname, wasn't the alias on the fake ID I'd used for two years of jobs. My real name. Eli Tan. Spelled right. Followed by: *Nice of the Falcones to finally put it on paper. Tell your husband the Marchettis say congratulations.* Attached — a photo of the marriage license. My signature.