Page 32 of Bobby

“Not good.”

I set down my paper with a frown. “What happened?”

Yes, I’m still old-school enough to enjoy my morning coffee with a physical copy of the paper and look at Marco’s grimace. Followed by the appearance of a rumpled, but still beautiful, Willow as she rounds the corner.

“What happened was….” She trails off, taking me in as I stand quickly when I see her. She looks me over and then the rest of the room. “Did you spend the night here?”

“Yes.” I nod in confusion.

“Why?”

I look at my second-in-command, who only raises his hands in confusion as well. “Why wouldn’t I sleep in my own home?”

She grabs the seat at the other end of my dining table to catch herself as she stumbles. “You live here?” she whispers as I move quickly to her side. Marco is there first and grabs her elbow to help her sit down.

“Water, please,” I tell him, and he goes to the kitchen to get some. “Have you eaten today?” I ask her as I run the back of my hand along her cheek and across her forehead, then squat down before her. She sits a little taller, and I enjoy having the chance to look up at her from this angle.

“You said this is corporate housing.”

“It is.” I dip my chin once in agreement.

She shakes her head. She needs more from me, and not just the simple parts. Marco hands me the water bottle, and I uncap it and then hand it to her to drink it down.

“I’m going to check on the girls.”

He doesn’t need to. This building is not only one of the safest in the city but in the world. It’s a family building, not just famiglia. The Leone family takes this as a personal building, one I just happen to call home as well. My brothers each have areas that are theirs in this place, and some select members of the famiglia live here too. Like Marco. The apartment I had Willow and girls stay in really is used for guests. Just those who are close to us.

“Since I own the building, I take certain liberties in the wording.”

“I thought this was a place where people from the company live. Like a housing plan or something like the military has.”

It’s actually not a bad idea. If I provide opportunities to secure housing for new hires, we might be able to grow certain departments that have run stagnant because the cost of living in the city is too high for some qualifying individuals to even apply. I pocket the thought for now and focus on what’s important.

“Sorry for misleading you. I didn’t think you’d accept my offer to help last night if you knew the full details.” I brush her hair away from her face but keep my hand flat against her cheek.

She has a slight wave to her hair that I always thought was done with products, but from her fresh face and pajamas, I know now that it’s natural. For the first time, I also see its length, since she usually has it in a ponytail or bun. It comes to her elbows and frames her face with the small hairs that seem to highlight her warm cheekbones and bright eyes.

She came up here on a mission, and every part of her that she usually hides behind the work mask of makeup and a corporate outfit is gone. The clothing I had sent over was a matching sweatsuit. I won’t tell her that it cost more than a week’s wages. And of course, the girls had matching ones. Why only splurge on one when I can do that for them all?

While I know them to be pajamas, unless she slept in the nude last night, she still looks put together, only rumpled a bit at the pants, and there’s still a crease against her cheek from her pillow. I thought the girls would have been up by now, taking a guess that they were early risers. But perhaps a 7:00 a.m. breakfast delivery was too much.

“You’re right.” I half wonder if I said that last thought out loud until she speaks again. “I definitely would have said no.”

“Too stuffy?” I smile as I pull my hand away.

“Too perfect,” she says softly, and I feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach.

She’s looking at me like I’m her salvation. The man who fights the wars to keep the monsters at bay. She doesn’t know that I’m one myself, just in a suit. That everything I’m doing for her and the girls is more for my needs and wants than hers.

I can only hope she feels the same when the other deliveries arrive and she realizes I plan for them to not only stay in the apartment but make it their home as well.

Chapter 13—Willow

“This is too much.”

“No, it isn’t, Mommy,” Lily says, not even looking up from placing each new toy gently in its chosen spot on her side of the room.

Of course she would say that. She’s never seen this many toys outside a store.