Page 62 of Worth of Waste

“And no one around you has mentioned that someone might be asking about you?”

“No,” Karen repeated dully.

Dino sighed, standing. “Then it might be just what the detective said. They’re looking into my businesses, the restaurant happened to be one of them, and you were an employee on their list to talk to. Nothing to worry about.”

He’d said that so flippantly, and she knew he had probably meant to calm whatever fears she was feeling, but it didn’t help.

Something just didn’t feel right.

“But what if—”

Dino quieted Karen’s statement by leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to her mouth. When he finally pulled away, his thumb stroked her cheek gently, reassuring her silently. “This isn’t about you—it’s about me. I haven’t had any officials come my way since my release, but I knew it was only a matter of time. This tells me they are building something against me, or maybe they’re getting everything ready before they do come my way. Either way, I know now.”

“And what about me?” Karen asked, looking up at him. “Or J, Dino. What about us?”

He stilled, turning into a cold statue right in front of her eyes.

Karen had the distinct feeling that Dino had not given them much thought, but maybe he hadn’t meant for it to be that way. He considered his legal troubles as his, for him to deal with alone, but he forgot to factor in that they were still a part of his picture, too.

“I don’t want to be left alone again,” Karen said softly.

Dino was kneeling down in front of her again in a flash. “You won’t, I promise.”

“Don’t make—”

“I’ll make this one and mean it, Karen. Whatever it takes, I will make it happen, I promise. I know it probably seems like you’re some dirty secret of mine that I keep hidden away, but you’re not. You’re so far from that—you and that baby are everything to me. I’m sorry that I can’t tell you more sometimes or give you more, but someday I will. I just don’t know when or how yet. What is more important is that I keep doing whatever you need to make you happy.”

“I am.”

“But you could be happier.”

Karen didn’t deny it. “I don’t want to be alone.”

She didn’t want to be heartbroken at the end of whatever this was. She didn’t want to wake up one morning to find out Dino was going to be taken away from her again. She didn’t want to be afraid and alone.

She hated how nothing had really happened except for a stupid fucking reminder.

A reminder from a detective that nothing was as it should be.

“Ruined my whole day,” Karen mumbled to herself.

Dino chuckled, a small smile splitting his lips. “Maybe I can make it up to you. I can afford to take a night away—I was at the house alone, anyway.”

“It’s a pretty big house to be alone in, isn’t it?”

“It’s cold and quiet,” he admitted. “I like being here a lot more.”

“Stay tonight?”

Dino’s arms circled Karen’s waist and pulled her from the chair before sitting back down and holding her tight in his lap. His chin rested on her shoulder, and Karen relaxed in his hold.

“Yeah, I’ll stay.”

She hadn’t expected anything different.

Dino

CHRISTMAS, Dino had learned, was a carefully planned event on his part. On the eve of the big day, he juggled his time between dinners and making sure he was where he was supposed to be, no questions asked. After all, he didn’t want to be questioned on Christmas when he didn’t show up somewhere else.