I swallow hard.
“He wants you to feel safe here,” Stefano continues. “And you are, Mia. No one is getting inside this building. No one is getting near our family. The guards are not here to frighten you. They’re here because Maverick would rather overprotect you than risk being one second too late again.”
“I don’t need him to protect me from the truth,” I say. “I need him to trust me enough to let me stand beside him.”
“He does trust you.”
“Not with this.”
“He’s trying.”
“Trying doesn’t make the bed less empty.”
The words come out before I can stop them.
Heat rushes into my face.
Stefano’s expression softens again, but this time I don’t hate it.
This time, it almost breaks me.
“He’s slept beside you every night since you moved in,” he says gently.
I nod, blinking hard. “Until now.”
“He isn’t avoiding you.”
“It feels like he is.”
“I know.” Stefano steps closer and lowers his voice. “But listen to me, Mia. When Maverick pulls away, it’s rarely because he wants distance. It’s because he’s afraid of what will happen if he reaches for what he needs too much.”
I look at him.
“You are what he needs,” he says. “That terrifies him.”
My eyes sting.
“Then he should come to me.”
“Yes,” Stefano says. “He should.”
For some reason, hearing him agree makes me feel a little less crazy.
“But until he remembers that,” he adds, “don’t mistake his fear for rejection. My brother is many things. Foolish about his own heart, certainly. But he is not finished with you.”
A shaky laugh slips out of me.
“Finished with me?”
His mouth curves. “Bad phrasing.”
“Very bad.”
“Yes. Forgive me. English is difficult when my brother is being an idiot.”
I wipe under my eyes.
“Thank you.”
