Page 104 of Pink

Lev swallowed the lump forming in his throat, slightly happy that Arely was quiet in the back seat but also torn the fuck up inside because she was sniffling. Scared. Sad. It was all the fucking same to him, and he hated that he was partly to blame for it.

“Listen, I have been quiet and private with Gigi after that first shitshow and tried to stay out of trouble like you told me.”

“You have, I agree. You can’t control the spiral, can you?”

“No, but on the real side of things, I like that girl. So, she might stay around. With that said, she’s got important shit coming up. Big stuff, Andino.”

“Mmm, Fashion Week, huh?” Andino eh’d under his breath, adding quickly, “My wife did a whole search and showed me all the things when I explained to her the situation about the tabloid mess. Have to love her, don’t I?”

Lev couldn’t help the tinge of amusement pulling at his chest, but it did very little to help with anything else that he was feeling in that second. “I don’t want this shit going on to affect that for her. She’s not said much one way or another, but if there’s even a chance your friend from Cali or the prick here might do something to her—”

“Pink,” Andino interjected, his tone calm but kind.

“You know I wish you’d call me Lev, right?”

A laugh answered that followed by his boss’s amused, “I do.”

“And yet …”

“Pink has just stuck for us, you know? You’re Pink to us, like it or not. Back to what you were saying, though.”

“Yeah?”

“You are my most loyal man, you know that, right? You’re not even made—you just are. You’re also my friend. I’ve told you this before. I don’t have many of those. Running fucking joke in my life. I digress … you can do whatever you need to handle your situation while we also handle ours. Fair?”

Yeah.

That’s all he needed.

“Fair,” he replied.