Page 99 of Entangled

“I get it, no worries,” Cara assured. “You didn’t have to rush up here, either, by the way. I would have understood, Tommas.”

Her brother shrugged, setting his bag to the side as they entered the kitchen. “Who else is going to come here and see this baby of yours, huh? I’m the only family you’ve got left—I need to be here for him. And you, too.”

“Sit down. I’ll get your coffee.”

Tommas shrugged off his suit jacket and took a seat at the large kitchen table. Cara didn’t miss how her brother peered around the penthouse, or the bit of it that he could see. She hadn’t been the least bit surprised when he mentioned wanting to come down for a weekend to visit, but she had been a little shocked that he actually made time to do so.

Her brother had a busy life in Chicago, especially now that he was married with a child of his own, not to mention the fact that he was the boss of the Outfit. She suspected that her brother’s time was already pulled thin in every single direction, and yet he made time for her.

Time for Marcus.

Cara appreciated that more than Tommas could possibly know.

“So, this is a nice place,” Tommas said quietly.

Cara side-eyed her brother as she set a cup of coffee down in front of him. “Say what you’re thinking, don’t dance around it.”

“When did you move out of the apartment?”

“A couple of weeks before the baby was born.”

“Wasn’t that when the issue happened at the shelter?” Tommas asked.

Cara made a face. “Yeah, around that time.”

Tommas scowled, but hid it quickly enough by taking a drink of his coffee.

“That wasn’t Gian’s fault,” Cara said, shifting Marcus to sleep over her shoulder as she took a seat beside her brother. “That was completely unrelated to Gian, Tommy.”

“So you said before. A domestic abuse victim’s husband, right?”

“Right.” Cara rubbed a hand over her son’s lower back. “And Gian just happened to … get himself in the middle of it, which was mostly what ended up on the news.”

“And you, too. You ended up on the news, Cara.”

“Not by our choice.”

Tommas sighed, and looked around the penthouse again. “I guess he moved you in after that, huh?”

“Actually, I kind of did that by myself. He didn’t really say a thing either way, because it was what he had been asking for the whole pregnancy. It was a few days later that he finally did something about me moving in.”

“And what was that?”

Cara’s gaze darted away from her brother as she admitted, “Signed the deed for the place over to me. This place isn’t his, now. It’s mine. No one can take it from me, no one can force me out of it. It’s all mine.”

Tommas let out an appreciative sound, surprising Cara further. “Well, then.”

“I do like the penthouse.”

“It’s very high up.”

“I feel safer here, Tommy. It feels right to be here.”

“Are you happier here, too?”

Cara looked back to her brother to find he was searching her face for any sign of a lie or maybe even discontent. “I’m happy with him.”

“Even knowing what you do—even after everything?”