Her gaze danced over me. “I don’t know. Whatever you’re doing looks pretty good to me.”
I leaned down to whisper to Katty. “I’m gonna get one of those too. Do you think pink would look good on me?”
“Yep. But you might like purple too. Or maybe blue. Declan likes yellow.”
“Well, if Declan likes yellow, I’m definitely not getting that color.”
That earned another laugh. “You’re so funny, Benny.” Then she shoved her chosen book at me. “Read this, please.”
“As you wish, sweetheart.”
I read all three of the books she’d requested and would’ve kept going—if she hadn’t turned into a melted puddle on her mattress, her eyes drooping. Looking at her made my chest hurt. In a good way this time. She was so damn cute, all tiny in her bed. Mazzy slipped her glasses off and laid them on her nightstand, and my heart nearly exploded.
“Good night, sleepyhead,” I choked out.
“Night night, Benny,” she replied, curling onto her side, covers tucked under her chin.
Mazzy kissed her head and shoved me out of the room, laughing under her breath as I dragged my feet. She closed the door, and I was tempted to yank it back open so I could take one last peek at her.
I wouldn’t—I wasn’t a total nutjob—but Ireallywanted to.
Mazzy tugged on the back of my shirt. “Don’t even think about it. If you wake her up, she’ll be a crank monster. You donotwant to deal with that.”
I glanced back to the door, torn on whether Ididwant to deal with a cranky Katty, but decided to let her sleep. I already knew I didn’t want to deal with a cranky Mazzy.
“She’s so cute, Mazz.” I followed her a few feet away into the living area, shoving my fingers through my hair. “I can’t stop looking at her. The glasses…god, how do you get anything done? Are you just used to it or superhuman?”
She laughed softly, folding herself in the corner of the sofa. “I’m a little bit used to it—definitely not immune, though. That’s why I have to study after she goes to bed. I get wrapped up in her when she’s awake.”
I took a seat on the opposite side of the couch. It creaked under my weight, and I wondered if she’d object to me buying her a sturdier one. I intended to spend a lot of time here—as much as I could get away with—and this couch didn’t feel built for a man my size.
I’d probably broach that subject at a later date.
Tomorrow at the earliest.
“Am I getting in the way of your studying?”
“Well…” she plucked at her bottom lip with two fingers, thinking it over, “I do need to study, but it can wait a bit. We haven’t talked much. I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”
“So many.” I rubbed my hands on my shorts, unsure where to go first. The beginning, I guessed. “Roman wants you to know how sorry he is. I…uh, almost killed him. Fortunately, our older brother, Nate, was there to stop me. But…yeah. Roman has a son—Jonah—and a daughter on the way, so he gets it—he understands what he took from me—fromus. I’m still pissed at him, but I thought you should know how much he regrets what he did.”
She sighed. “I should have tried harder. If I’d just said your name, mentioned the plane,anything, things would have been different. But we can’t change it. All we can do is forgive Roman and ourselves and move on.”
“Yeah. We will. I’m not there yet, but I’m not going to murder him.”
She huffed a laugh. “That’s good. Katty just got a dad. I’d hate for her to lose you to a life sentence.”
“Nah, no way I’d be convicted. The courts would understand.” I plucked at a loose string on my shorts. “How was your pregnancy?”
“Easy. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until four months along. No symptoms at all except the missing period, but I chalked that up to stress. When I did find out, I think I was indenial for a while. Then, once I’d accepted it and decided to go through with it, it was very peaceful. Well…minus the visit to Denver…”
“Good. That’s good. I’m glad it was peaceful.” I couldn’t be there, hadn’t been able to support her and buy her chocolate or rub her feet, but at least she’d had peace. “And her birth? Was that all right?”
“As smooth as birth can be, I suppose. My dad was with me every step of the way. He was so calm and reassuring, I wasn’t afraid.” Her throat made a strangled sound that she swallowed back. “You should know, Kateryna had congenital cataracts. She had surgery on her eyes when she was a small baby.”
My heart dropped out of my body. “She hadsurgery?”
“Yes.” She tapped her glasses. “I passed on my shitty eyes. I had the same surgeries when I was a baby. It was…well, that wasn’t easy—the guilt of it being my fault she had to go through that. She doesn’t remember, of course, but she’ll be wearing glasses for the rest of her life. And now, now we’re dealing with strabismus—”
