Page 34 of Heaven Help Me

She waves away my argument like I’m being ridiculous. “Clearly, you were fine. You’re making too big a deal of things.”

“I have things I’d like to say, but I’m currently trying to get rid of a possible tail, so if you could fucking focus, that’d be great,” I snap.

Valentina instantly sinks low in her seat and then swivels left and right, trying to get her eyes on the tail. “Gray sedan?”

“Yup.”

She reaches into the glovebox of my car and pulls out a gun.

“Jesus, V. Put that away! We don’t even know if he’s following us.”

She doesn’t answer, keeping the gun in her lap as she tracks the guy’s turn to a different street. I keep going, watching to see if he reappears, but he doesn’t. I keep weaving through streets for another ten minutes before heading for home. Valentina puts the gun away when we pull into the driveway.

“Do you miss it?” I ask her as she closes the glovebox.

She looks at me, gray-blue eyes clear and intelligent. “Do I miss fearing for my safety at every moment of every day?”

I shrug. “You were good at it.”

She nods, that slip of hair getting caught in the corner of her mouth. She tugs it free like she hasn’t just launched a thousand butterflies in my gut. I’ve discovered that the attraction to Valentina is still there. Full force. I’m just older and wiser now and therefore refuse to act on it.

“Thanks,” she says dryly, like taking a compliment from me is foreign. “I miss being able to bark orders and have people jump to carry them out. But I don’t miss the fear. Or the times I had to enforce things with violence.” She kicks the exploding binder at her feet. “As much as this event is sucking the life out of me, I’m kind of enjoying it.”

“Probably because you’re getting to bark orders at people, just like old times.”

She holds up a finger. “Just without the violence.”

“And without the cursing.”

She winces. “Most of the time.”

“Valentina,” I chastise.

“Deuce,” she lobs right back in the same tone.

We both get out of the car and head inside the house. The gray sedan is nowhere to be seen, so I’m probably being paranoid. She drops the binder on the kitchen table with a loud thud.

“Why don’t you take a long bath or something while I make dinner?”

It’s a peace offering, one I don’t feel like making, but having her out of my way would be nice. That way I don’t have to look at her lips or her smooth skin or the way her ankles look in flat sandals. Yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds. I’m lusting after Valentina’s ankles. It’s just so weird to not see her in kick-ass heels. I feel like I’m getting to see the more relaxed version of Valentina. The one she might have become if Bettina hadn’t been the one to adopt her.

“I hope you get a paper cut on your tongue,” she says with a comical lack of heat.

Then she flounces out of the room and I hear her run up the stairs to the guest bathroom. A minute later, the water’s running and my brain tries to conjure up a naked Valentina. I wonder if she looks the same as when she was seventeen. I highly doubt it. I don’t look the same, so it stands to reason she won’t either. Fuck, what if she’s gotten prettier? A man might not survive that.

The chicken, onion, and bell peppers I’ve chopped are sizzling in the pan while I daydream. I probably added too much seasoning to it, but I like my fajitas spicy. I look out the window and realize the side gate is open. I never leave the side gate open.

A loud thump comes from the floor almost directly above my head. Alarm runs through my veins in an instant. I sprint for the gun I’ve stowed under the living room couch since Valentina moved in. With that in hand, I run up the stairs, moving quickly but silently. I stop at the top and listen, not hearing another noise. All kinds of scenarios run through my brain, but the biggest one is that some asshole got the drop on Valentina while she was showering.

Without wasting another second, I lift my leg and kick open the bathroom door, expecting to have to shoot some clown sent by whomever has tried to take over the Barzettis. The door hits the far wall with a bang and Valentina screams. I enter the bathroom, gun drawn and barking orders. At whom? I don’t fucking know.

No one’s here.

Well, except for Valentina.

She’s definitely still here, which is great news.

Except she’s on the floor. Completely naked and sprawled like she fell.