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Okay, alright. When he puts itthatway…
“Listen, baby,” Adriano says, leaning forward. “You were in a world of danger. I took the steps necessary to protect you. That’s who I am. That’s what I do. I don’t know any other way. It would be like me asking you to be meek and quiet and”—he makes a face like he just ate a lemon— “chaste.”
I manage a smile at the last one.
“I won’t strip you of who you are or ask you to change. I have a reputation for a reason, the same reason Sergio took me into his fold.”
He’s loyal, dependable, and fearless, and if I’m honest, I love that about him.Love it.
I blow out a breath. “I have another question, and you have to promise not to lose your shit.” I need to know.
He waits for a few seconds before he nods. “Okay, it’s a question.” Through gritted teeth, he agrees. “I won’t lose my shit.”
I swallow and don’t back down. “I was told you killed a former lover in Italy.”
I see the pain in his eyes before he responds, but he doesn’t avoid my eyes. “It’s not true. I was assigned to protect her. I liked her a lot and we had some good times with each other. But one day, I discovered that she was atraitor; she betrayed me and the Montavio family. In the end, she got what she deserved. It wasn’t by my hand. I could have saved her, Quinn. I just chose not to. It’s a decision I’ve had to live with every single day since. I chose loyalty to my brothers because they were the only family I had ever known… until now.”
I’m so relieved I could laugh and so sad for him I could cry. “Thank you for the truth.”
I want us to be alone, then. I want this diner to disappear and his phone to disintegrate and everything in the world to cease to exist for one little moment in time so we can be together.
I feel such a need to cry, to really let it all out, but I hold the urge back and swallow. We aren’t done yet.
“But my mother, Adriano.” I sigh, fidgeting with my cutlery on the table. “I always come back for her.”
“What if you didn’t have to come back?”
I pause and blink, not sure if I heard him correctly. “What do you mean?”
Pulling out his phone, he flips to a website. “I made a list of every local care facility around Boston that would take your mother. A nice place that increases her quality of life. You’ll sleep better knowing she’s got real security guards watching over her. I’ll sleep better knowing you’re not gonna hightail it down here on a whim because you wanna see your mother.”
I stare at the website. I flip through the amenities. “Holy shitballs, this must cost—” I pause and look up at him, cock my head to the side and snark, “The equivalent of the spare change lying around in your car?”
He grins, and my heart soars.
“This is beautiful,” I say, shaking my head. “I couldn’t ever repay you.”
Reaching for my hand, he gives me a squeeze. “I bought you a ring, a bracelet, and a necklace, Quinn. But I haven’t bought you earrings, because I can tell the ones you wear mean something to you. You never wear any others, and security footage shows you went back for one the night you saw me end Reno.”
I nod.
“Who gave them to you?”
He knows. Others might see a criminal and leave it at that, but I see a man who is capable of deep, heart-throbbing, abiding love.
“My mother,” I whisper. “They were hers, and she gave them to me.”
Adriano brushes his thumb across the top of my hand. “She’s the only family you have left. Believe me when I tell you, if my parents were still alive, I’d be taking the best care of them I knew how.”
He would. I absolutely know he would.
“If she needs to go to a doctor, we can take her. We can give her anything and everything she needs. And we’ll know she’s safe. I like the idea of having her close… You may have noticed that’s a trend with me.”
“Adriano,” I say, trying to hide the fact that my eyes are all watery and my throat is tight. “I don’t know what to say…”
“Say yes.”
“Yes?”
