Now Or Never (Erotic Romance) Book 2 (The DeLuca Brothers) by Lucinda DuBois Page A

you
that we couldn't be together.”
    “Then what was
all this?” Anthony's tone was hurt, but Cecile could hear the edge of anger to
it.
    She took a deep
breath. The least she could do is have the guts to look him in the face when
she said it. “This was a mistake.”
    “A mistake.” The
words came out flat. “I found you because I wanted to be with you and I thought
you wanted to be with me too.”
    “I do.” She
forced herself to admit it. She crossed her arms, as if she could hold herself
together through sheer willpower. “I thought this would make a difference. That
either we'd both realize that we were imagining this connection or you'd...”
Her voice trailed off.
    “Or I'd what?”
    There was an
edge to Anthony's voice that made the knot in Cecile's stomach tighten.
    “Or I'd quit my
job, right?” He yanked on his pants. “Make everything nice and neat for you,
wouldn't it? Give yourself a little pat on the back because you get a big bad
gangster off of the streets and then you can tell yourself that you reformed me
so you don't have to be ashamed of who I am. You don't know why I do what I do.
All you can see is your perfect little world and how I don't fit into it.”
    “You think it's
about being ashamed of you?” Cecile's temper flared and she pushed back the
small part of her that reminded her that she actually was a little concerned
with what people would think. That wasn't the point. “You hurt people,
Anthony.”
    “So do you,” he
snapped as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Or are you telling me you've
never used that gun on anyone? Never arrested some kid in front of his crying
mother? Taken a parent away from a screaming child? There's a whole lot of shit
in this world, Cecile, so don't tell me that you don't give your fair share.”
    “I uphold the
law.” She fought to keep her voice even. The last thing she wanted was her
neighbors calling the cops, but she was going to have her say. “It's not
perfect and I know that, but it's what we've got. And you know what, I have
arrested some punk kid who busted windows out of half a dozen cars, and his
mother cried and cursed me to hell. But, I was also there in court to tell the
judge that I thought the kid could be rehabilitated. As for that father I
arrested in front of his screaming daughter, he'd spent the last six months
beating the shit out of her and her mother. There may be mistakes made, but the
good I do far outweighs any unintentional bad.”
    “Whatever you
have to tell yourself so you can sleep at night.” Anthony stalked towards the
door.
    “I sleep just
fine. Why don't you give your own life a once-over and tell me if you can say
the same.” Cecile followed him.
    He yanked open
the door, pausing to deliver one last remark. “You may sleep just fine, but you
also sleep alone. Think about that when you're congratulating yourself on a job
well done.”
    He slammed the
door shut behind him and Cecile slowly sank to the floor. Her hands were
shaking and she wasn't sure if it was because of what Anthony had said or
because, despite all of it, there was a part of her screaming to go after him,
and to hell with the consequences.

Chapter 9
    Six days. It had
been six days since Anthony had walked out of her apartment, and it wasn't
getting any easier. Cecile had done her break-up ritual of ice cream and beer.
She'd cried herself to sleep that night, and then woken up with the intention
to throw herself into work. At work, she'd asked for paperwork to do while the
captain decided on her assignment, forcing herself to read and re-read every
line to make sure everything was perfect. Staying busy had almost worked the
first day, and then the captain asked her to proofread a report on Tommy
DeLuca, one of Anthony's cousins who'd married in to another of the city's
crime families. After that, with every new sheet she picked up, she'd braced
herself until she read the name.
    When she'd
gotten the go-ahead to start an undercover