“Of course.” He looks toward the kitchen, where the girls are whispering like criminals. “Now, we should return before your daughter and Sabrina pull off whatever it is they’re planning.”
“You know they’re up to no good,” I laugh.
Stefano starts to move, but I reach out to stop him.
“I know you won’t tell me everything,” I say. “But I need something. Was the threat only against Maverick?”
For a second, I don’t think he’s going to answer.
Then Stefano shakes his head.
My stomach drops.
“Who?” I whisper.
I don’t know Maverick’s entire family. Shoot, I don’t even know half the people who live here in Palm Springs. But I need to know who he’s trying so hard to protect.
Stefano glances down the hall before lowering his voice.
“You. Olivia. Me,” he whispers. “The entire Palm Springs estate, and the Shadows.”
His entire family.
Not just Maverick.
Not just one man.
All of them. All of us.
The children. The women trying to keep their fear hidden. The guards walking the halls. The Shadows standing beside him. The men who call him brother. The people who trust him to keep this whole world standing.
No wonder he can’t settle.
No wonder he hasn’t come to bed.
No wonder there are more guards, more locked doors.
Something moves through my body.
All at once, the worries I’ve been carrying for the past few days shift into something else.
Purpose.
I know how important family is to the man I love.
Right now, he doesn’t need his woman standing in the hallway wondering if he still wants her. He doesn’t need metaking up space with hurt feelings and quiet insecurity while he’s trying to hold an entire estate together with both hands.
When he gets home later, I’ll seek him out.
I’ll hug him.
I’ll kiss him.
I’ll let him know I’m still here.
Then I’ll give him the space he needs to think, plan, and do whatever it is a man like Maverick does when someone threatens what belongs to him.
He doesn’t need to worry about me.
