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“Look what I found!” the girl shouted. She was holding up a jar with a blue-and-black, swallow-tailed butterfly perched on a leaf inside.
“I’m sorry,” Gemma said. “I told her you were busy, but she insisted.”
Devil knelt in front of the small girl. “Can I see?”
“Yes! I caught a spicebush swallowtail.”
“It’s beautiful. You must be pretty sneaky to do that.”
“Mama says I’m very sneaky.”
Devil laughed. “I’m sure she’s right.” Watching him talk to the little girl and show sincere interest in her butterfly made me fall for him even harder. In that moment, I knew I was probably going to end up doing something incredibly stupid because I didn’t want to let this man go.
“Come on, Noelle,” Gemma said. “You and your brother should come back outside.”
Devil looked up at Gemma. “It’s fine. We were finished in here anyway.”
Devil turned to Noelle’s brother and scooped him up. “What were you doing while your sister was catching her butterfly?”
“Playing hide-and-seek with Gemma. I beat her three times.”
“Did you now?” Devil glanced at the housekeeper and winked.
Damn. The man was too much.
“Why don’t you two go back out and enjoy the sunshine?” Devil said, setting the boy down. “Your mother will be ready to join you again soon.”
Noelle looked like she might protest, but Elena shook her head. “Go back outside with Gemma. Like Devil said, I’ll be out there soon.”
The children ran off, and Elena looked at me. “Did you have any other questions for me?”
“No. Thank you for talking to me. I appreciate you sharing your story.” I placed my coffee cup on the tray, then added, “Actually, I do have one more thing to ask.” My heart thumped hard, but I said the words anyway. “Devil really isn’t what he seems at first, is he?”
She glanced at him and smiled. “He is and he isn’t. But once you have his loyalty and support, he’ll never take it away.”
Devil grinned at me as he hugged Elena goodbye.
“What happened to her husband?” I asked as Devil and I walked to the car.
“She was married to Damian Ricci. Don’t you remember hearing about his unfortunate death and that of his son? It appeared they were killed in a home invasion.”
I sighed. By all accounts, Ricci was scum and so was his son. I wouldn’t reopen that case. “What about the stepson Elena mentioned?”
“He wanted to take over his family’s empire. The police would never have been able to touch him, so we made sure that couldn’t happen.”
“Want to tell me his name?”
“No, that would be unwise. Are you ready to admit I’m not all bad?”
“I was ready to admit that before today. I wouldn’t have… Things would’ve been very different last night if I didn’t already believe that.”
Devil held my gaze for several seconds before opening his car door without responding.
“Where are we going now?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
22
Devil
I refused to tell Joe anything about our next errand. I hadn’t been sure I was going to reveal this part of my life, but he’d been so considerate with Elena that I decided to do it even though it made butterflies, like the one Noelle had caught in a jar, jump in my stomach. I hated feeling unsure of myself.
As a distraction, I started talking about the baked goods I’d brought to his house.”
“You really love food, don’t you?”
“I might take that as an insult if I didn’t know how fucking good I look.”
“It’s not an insult… It’s just… Fuck, it’s kind of cute.”
“Cute? Now that is an insult.”
He laughed as I pulled into a parking garage.
“I know this building houses a bunch of children’s charities,” Joe said. “I’ve been here before because one of the charities works with children who’ve been abused or abducted, and I needed to talk with a victim’s counselor. Why are we here?”
I opened my door and stood. “Come with me and you’ll see.”
Joe looked apprehensive, but he followed me, which was good because if he’d argued, I might have given up and driven us back to his house. Fucking him and feeding him would be a lot easier than showing him something only Angelo knew about, but it wouldn’t change anything between us.
We entered the building and took the elevator to the second floor. While we were riding up, I grabbed Joe, cupped his face in my hands, and pulled him to me for a hot, tongue-filled kiss. When the ding for our floor sounded, I pulled away, but I let my finger trail over his lips. He was wide-eyed and panting when the doors slid open.
An older lady was waiting for the elevator, and she scowled at us as we brushed past her.
“Why did you do that?” Joe asked.
“I didn’t want you asking questions, and you’re fucking irresistible. By the way, they know me as Donnie here.”
“What—”
Before he could say more, I opened the door that was labeled “A Way Forward” and ushered Joe inside.
