“How do you know?”
“Because Adriana loved me,” he says, voice rough but steady. “She would not want me to spend the rest of my life alone.”
Livy listens with the kind of seriousness only children can give.
“And Elena?” she asks.
Pain flickers across his face.
“Elena had the sweetest heart,” he says. “She would have loved you.”
“She would?”
“Yes.” His mouth trembles at the corner. “She would have followed you everywhere, asked too many questions, and probably helped you boss my guards around.”
Livy’s eyes widen. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Would she have liked animals?”
“She loved animals.”
Livy looks stricken. “Oh. Then she would have loved the sanctuary.”
Maverick closes his eyes for one second.
When he opens them, they’re wet.
“Yes,piccola. She would have loved it very much.”
Livy presses her little hand against his cheek.
“Then I can love animals for both of us. I won’t ever let her or her mama be forgotten.”
Maverick breaks at the promise.
Because that’s exactly what that was. A promise. One my daughter will keep until her dying breath. The world will never forget about Maverick’s first family.
“I think she would like that,” he whispers.
Livy nods, satisfied by the answer.
Then she looks toward me.
“And your wife wouldn’t be mad at Mama?”
Maverick’s eyes find mine.
“No,” he says. “Adriana would have seen your mother’s heart. She would have understood why I couldn’t stay away.”
My breath leaves me.
“And if she were here,” he adds softly, “she would tell me I was very lucky.”
Livy thinks that over.
Then she nods. “Good. Because Mama is a lot of work, but she’s worth it.”
