Page 117 of Pink

Gigi quieted throughout his spiel. Her silence continued long after he was done, too. Lev hadn’t meant for his words to hit so heavy, but it was what it was.

“Things were easier then, weren’t they?” she finally asked softly. “Before I was this and you became … you. What might have happened if we had a little more time back then?”

He didn’t have the answer to that. Still, he smiled for her, saying, “But it might be worth it.”

They hadn’t gotten that far to know yet.

Gigi shot him the kind of look that would usually have his thoughts darkening with filth, but the server coming their way with plates of food balanced on her arm took his attention instead. Funny how the only things that could get Lev’s mind off fucking Gigi was food or his kid. Neither of them said much as the dishes of the restaurant’s most famous lasagna were placed down to the table, and they dug in.

It was only when Lev noticed the enforcer walking past the windows again that he told Gigi, “I’m probably gonna have to run before you’re done eating. Meet up with the boss—can’t keep him waiting or he turns into a raging asshole. The guys will still stick close. You’ll be fine.”

Gigi arched a brow at that. “You know they’re not going to be allowed backstage at the event, right? There’s no way, Lev. Even my security gets posted where they’re told. The event has its own security and—”

“We’ll handle that.” Reaching across the table to squeeze her hand, he decided to go back to the conversation they hadn’t finished when he said, “And back to your mother.”

That had Gigi frowning.

He hated that.

“What’s that face for, anyway? Your mom seemed great that morning we spent with her. She was great with Arely and—”

“She is … I love my mom,” Gigi was quick to say. Her eyes said she was telling the truth. But that didn’t mean everything was fine, either. Those were two different things. “When I first wanted to leave home to come to New York, she hated the idea. Then she was so excited when I went big. She was a model, too. And then I came along so that changed … anyway, the more time I spent overseas, or the bigger I became, the less I wanted to come back here. I think she noticed that and took it personally. Sometimes we’re good. Other times we’re—”

“Like the other morning?”

Gigi glanced down at the table, saying, “I mean, yeah. I don’t like it, but I haven’t exactly had the chance to make it better. It’s easier to just get her off the phone than try to argue my way through a conversation about whatever. Doesn’t matter, I guess.”

“Why’s that?”

Because he figured she was lucky to even have one parent considering he had fucking none. If he did, he would want them around as much as possible. If not for himself, then for his kid. But he also wasn’t Gigi.

Setting the fork to the side, Gigi let out a heavy exhale. “Well, in a few more days it’ll be over. I’ll have walked the runway. She’ll go back to Jersey. And I’ll go … wherever I want. I don’t want her to think I’m in trouble or that I can’t handle this. She doesn’t say it, but she worries too much as it is. Another reason why I hate taking her calls.”

“Don’t do that to your mother. That’s not fair.”

Across the table, Gigi stiffened. “You don’t know—”

“What does she think all the security is for? The enforcers? She must know you don’t usually have that many bodyguards on a regular basis.”

“She thinks it’s because of the tabloids and Fashion Week.”

“What are you going to tell her when it’s all over and we’re gone?” Because that was the thing. Lev had heard the other statement she made—how she was going to go wherever when her work here was done. Where did that leave Lev in her plans? Without, apparently. Without her. “When you go, what are you going to tell her?”

Or me, he wanted to ask.

He held back.

The ache in his heart didn’t hold back at all, though. That bitch came in fast, strong, and without a lick of mercy.

On the other side of the table, Gigi stared at him but said nothing. The hurt shined through in her gaze, unashamed and clear for him to feel as well. Maybe she didn’t know what to say. Frankly, neither did he. This was not how he expected their lunch to go down.

Immediately, he regretted his words. He wanted to apologize if only because to be fair, they hadn’t really discussed anything beyond the next time they could get five minutes together, but the ringing of his phone stopped him from saying anything at all. Not bothering to excuse himself for the call, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and answered it without checking the screen.

The pre-recorded message, the same robotic voice that he’d heard at least five times leading up to the day his daughter started kindergarten as the school sent updates for parents, droned on in his ear. It chilled him to the very fucking bone.

“Bomb threat at Karter Elementary. Evacuation in progress. Police have been notified.”

Lev didn’t hesitate to leave the table without an explanation. He had already dialed the number to one of two men currently posted outside of his daughter’s school. Behind him, Gigi called his name, confusion coating her voice. “Lev, wait!”

He didn’t.

He couldn’t.