A broken laugh slips out of me.
Maverick kisses Livy’s forehead.
“Yes,” he says, looking at me. “She is.”
“Come on,littleDon,” Stefano calls from somewhere behind me. “Let’s go see who all is coming with us to the Shadows’ compound today.”
“Thank you for sharing them with us,” Livy says.
Then she wiggles out of Maverick’s arms and runs to Stefano.
A second later, her laughter trails down the hall.
Then it’s just the two of us.
Maverick cups my face and wipes the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs.
“So sweet,” he says, smiling sadly.
“I’m sorry about your family, Maverick,” I whisper.
Fresh tears fall.
Every time he wipes them away, more take their place.
A quiet laugh leaves him.
Not amused.
Tender.
A little broken.
He leans in and kisses the tears from my cheeks.
One side.
Then the other.
By the time he pulls back, his lips are wet, and his eyes are softer than I’ve ever seen them.
“My sweet girl,” he murmurs. “Your heart touches mine so gently, yet somehow you feel every bruise.”
I let out a shaky breath.
“That sounds exhausting for both of us.”
His mouth curves.
“It’s also beautiful.”
“Maverick.”
“I lost them,” he says quietly. “I’ll always carry that. Nothing changes it.”
I nod because I know.
Not the same pain.
