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“Have I just traded one bad situation for another?” Lilianna asked Hunter next. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you’ve just frightened Sammy like I’ve never seen him scared before, but I shudder to think what kind of threat it took to the other person at the end of that call.”
“So if I say, ‘don’t worry about it,’ you still will anyway?”
“You’ve got that right.” Lilianna stared deeply into his eyes, looking for he knew not what. But he knew in that moment that he loved her beyond all reason and never wanted her out of his life. Whatever it took, he’d make Lilianna understand his unstated, yet powerful, feelings of love for her.
Chapter Thirteen
Lilianna stared at Hunter and wondered what in the world he was thinking. He looked into her eyes with such unbridled intensity, she remained silent, absorbing his focused attention. Did he love her? Was he about to say it? Would she reciprocate?
Still, she wanted to know what he’d done and how he knew Lorenzo enough to be exchanging favors.
Before Hunter answered, Herbert held up his band of hundreds and said, “I’ll just take this back and put it away, so you can have a private conversation. If I don’t see you again, have a nice life.” He turned and was gone before she could count to one, slamming the door behind him.
Hunter took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and turned to her. “I just happened to be acquainted with the man who runs Larkmore Street in Chicago. His name is Lorenzo, and he owed me a really big favor from a long time ago. I called it in to get Sammy off your back.”
She nodded. “Yes. I know who Lorenzo is. What I want to know is how you know him. You aren’t really associated with Lorenzo, are you?” She tried not to look as stricken as she felt.
One of the many reasons she never gambled was partly the fear of who she’d ultimately owe if ever she lost. Sammy was bad enough. She’d heard that Lorenzo was a hundred times worse. And Hunter knew him well enough to illicit a favor. A big one.
“Nope. Not anymore. Honestly, this was a debt from so long ago, we were practically children. It was from well before Lorenzo ever started running his business on Larkmore Street. But I just happened keep tabs on him enough to know that’s where he ended up. I never actually planned to collect on this favor. But now we are even. Done. Finished forevermore. I promise.”
He looked so utterly sincere, that a smile slipped out before she could stop it. He grinned back. They were friends again for now. Her gaze then slid to the box she’d packed of all her belongings, and her bedraggled piece of luggage, both of which were still resting on the counter.
She walked over and stroked her hand along the edge of the sum of her belongings. She still held the briefcase full of money. It was more than enough for the start she’d always wanted. Or really the do over she’d always dreamed of if she ever got the chance.
Lilianna closed her eyes and wondered what she’d do with the rest of her life now. She could do anything. All the dreams she’d pondered well before Mick had died and sent her on this escape trip from Sammy now flooded her mind.
She could travel to far-off lands. She could live anywhere she wanted. Do anything she wanted. She could open her own treats and sweets shop and make hundreds of pounds of candy to her heart’s content. Then her deepest desires floated up from the depths of her mind and slid into her conscious like flotsam having been held underwater for too long now bobbing joyously above the surface.
She could have the fairy-tale life she’d always wanted. She could get married. She could have children. She could have the house of her own with a silly white picket fence if she wanted to.
Dylan’s voice stopped her in middream. “Just because you’re rich now, that doesn’t mean you’re going to ditch us, does it?” he asked from behind her. Her unearthed dreams of family, joy, and love skidded to a halt and shattered.
Dylan’s strong arms slid around her waist, and his chin rested on her shoulder. She hadn’t even heard him move. But she reveled in his touch. He made her feel things she’d never felt in her life. Was it enough?
The long-ago tucked-away dreamy fairy tale of a having a husband, babies, and the requisite white picket fence around a sweet cottage with gardens, and flowers, and love was suddenly out of her reach because she was in love with a man who didn’t share her ideals. It was as if a dark cloud had formed around all of her hopes.
