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“But it’s so hard for her,” he explains with a tilt of his head.
“No, is not.” Lia defends me with a fierceness that makes me laugh.
He goes to sit on the floor, but Livie pulls at his t-shirt, and she keeps going until he’s lying down with her in her twin bed, so I lie down with Lia in hers.
“I’ll read the story tonight. We’ll give Mommy a break.”
“But Mommy,” Lia whines. I caress her hair and drop a kiss on her head.
“Just tonight,” I whisper to her. “Let’s try.”
She huffs. “Mmkay.”
Lia quickly changes her mind. The way Nate reads is much different from how I do. Like someone who doesn’t feel like it’s a chore. Even I feel sleepy by the time he finishes. And I could have the best dreams if I fall asleep every night watching him, his strong arm wrapped around Livie and his tattooed fingers holding a book.
We slide out of their beds and walk back to the living room. I quietly close the hallway door and turn to him.
“We need to talk.”
His voice is a cold, deadly hand digging into my chest, and fear grips me so tightly I wonder if this entire day was a mistake.
I did try to kill him, after all.
41
KAYLA
505 - Arctic Monkeys
He sits down on the sofa, waiting for me, and I pad toward him, unsure what I should do.
“What is it?” I ask, standing in front of him, but he taps the seat next to his.
“Sit down, little sunflower. We need to talk about you attempting to kill me.”
My gaze darts around the room, avoiding his, and I sit down. He twists so he can face me, an arm on the back of the sofa as the other comes to my knee. His blue eyes, the exact same as our daughters, search my face. He has no idea what it’s been like to see him in them for four years. A piece of him never left me.
Instead of waiting for him to take control of the conversation, I start talking.
“How did you survive?”
“You missed.”
“I didn’t miss. You have a pretty scar to prove it.”
I think he’s amused by the way his fingers start tapping lightly on my knee, but there’s nothing else that shows in his voice or facial expression.
“You were in a terrible state. You missed any vital organ.”
My pride takes a hit, and it’s difficult to swallow that. “But the Lucianos were there, and they wanted you dead too. Lucky should have finished the job.”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Is that right?”
I retreat slightly, my voice weakening. “I-I mean because they wanted to kill you too.”
“You’re mistaken. You wanted me dead and went to the Lucianos for help. But you forgot I grew up with those people. Vito and I have known each other since we were kids. The Lucianos don’t care whether I’m alive or not; they care that we don’t impede on each other’s business. When Lucky told him I wasn’t dead, he nursed me back to life so we could negotiate a truce between us. He’s better off with me alive and sharing suppliers and routes with him than dead and not knowing what to do with the army I built.”
I lick my lips, my eyes darting down to where I know the scar is. The scar with a tattoo of a sunflower.
