Cassidy kept her face impassive, but she was trying not to smile over the prospect of spending more time with him and helping to find Julie. Nearly dying in a fire had left her feeling almost as invested in locating the girl as Dante.
“I’ll meet you at your place tomorrow at ten then,” she said.
Dante squeezed her hand as she turned the corner onto another street. “How about I meet you at your place?”
“Do you want to see my brothers again?”
“No,” he admitted, “but I’d prefer it if you didn’t walk the streets alone.”
Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Again, I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”
“I know, but—”
“There are no buts. I’m strong and fast. I amnotsome fragile little thing. Please don’t treat me that way. I get it enough from my brothers; Iwon’taccept it from you too.”
His eyes widened slightly, and she had to admit her vehement tone surprised her a little, but she was so tired of being treated like a weakling when she was stronger than him and Kyle.
“It will be easier if we meet at your place,” she said more calmly.
Dante didn’t argue with her; she was right, she could handle her own; she’d proved that tonight. However, he couldn’t shake his almost desperate, overprotective instinct to keep her safe. He didn’t understand, and he’d certainly never experienced it with any other woman, but it festered inside of him.
“Okay,” he said. “We’ll meet at my place.”
Cassidy fidgeted with the ends of the sleeves of her new sweatshirt. There was something else she should tell him, but she had to talk to Brian first. She wasn’t exactly sure how her brother-in-law’s ability to locate people worked. He could probably help find Julie, but she didn’t know about Maya.
Still, she felt wrong keeping the possibility she might know someone who could find his sister from him. However, after everything he’d been through with Maya, there was no way she would get his hopes up only to destroy them.
They turned another corner, and her apartment building came into view. The headlights of the cab driving toward them bounced off the sidewalk. Cassidy lifted her hand to shade her eyes as from inside the taxi, a woman let out a low whistle.
“Hello, handsome!” she yelled, and the other women with her laughed.
Cassidy glared daggers after the taxi, but Dante didn’t react to it. She wasn’t sure if he didn’t know the woman was calling to him or if he didn’t care. Or maybe he’d gotten so used to women throwing themselves at him that he didn’t notice it anymore.
“This is my place,” she said as she stopped in front of her building.
Dante glanced at the brownstone before looking at her again. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“You will,” Cassidy said.
Before she got too lost in her head and overthought her actions, she rose on her toes and kissed him. The second her lips touched his, all doubts faded and a sense of rightness stole through her.Thiswas precisely where she was supposed to be.
Dante was starting to lose himself to her when the hinges of a door creaked open. Cassidy pulled away from his grasp. When he lifted his head, he spotted her brothers in the doorway of her apartment. The light behind them emphasized their silhouettes as it spilled down the stairs to the sidewalk.
He braced himself for a confrontation while he waited for them to charge down the stairs at him. He was not in the mood for a fight, but since he intended to keep Cassidy in his life, he would not back down from them. They’d have to get used to seeing him and having him in her life as he didn’t plan on going anywhere unless she told him to get lost.
Instead, her brothers remained where they were. Their mouths parted as they gazed back and forth between them. And then their disbelief vanished and something like sadness came over their faces.
“Are you okay?” Kyle asked.
“I’m fine,” Cassidy said for what felt like the hundredth time tonight. “I’ll be inside in a minute.”
They both hesitated before retreating into the building and closing the door. Dante stared after them in confusion. After the difficult time Kyle gave him every time he entered the bar, he expected a lot worse from them.
“They took that well,” he muttered.
Cassidy gave him a half-hearted smile. Once she got inside, she’d be facing an inquisition, but they wouldn’t interfere if they suspected Dante might be her mate. And since they’d never really seen her with any other guy, that was probably exactly what they suspected. She was still uncertain about everything, but she was grateful for the reprieve from her brothers.
The sound of a window rising drew Cassidy’s attention back to the building as Aida poked her head out from their kitchen window. Her best friend beamed and waved at them. Cassidy rolled her eyes as Aida ducked back inside and closed the window.
