Page 132 of Pink

Only if she needed to be.

Andino hummed under his breath, adding, “Every move you make will have a consequence if it’s not done properly.”

“And yet?” Lev asked.

“You know I don’t actually enjoy making enemies in my business, right?”

“Andino.”

“If I don’t get a response to my requests for a phone call by tonight, then tomorrow we go after Jensen first.”

A pressure released in Lev’s chest.

One night.

That was it.

He just had to get Gigi through the night and like he promised, it would all start to go away.

“Even if the world is watching?” Lev asked.

Andino didn’t hesitate. “Even then. Do you love her?”

Yes.

More than the sky and sea and everything within it combined. He loved his daughter in the same way he needed air to breathe. His love for Gigi came from a different place. How could he not love her—she reminded him of who he was before he was Pink … when he was just a man and nothing and nobody owned him by their will. She did, though.

She owned him.

He was hers.

Freely.

He planned on telling her exactly that. But the when was just a matter of time because he wouldn’t do it while it felt like the rest of the world was watching. He didn’t belong to the world. Neither did his love for her.

To his boss, however, Lev simply replied, “Of course, I do.”

“I’ll make a call. Check up on John and his wife. See how Arely is doing with them out of state.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s almost over, Pink.”

But was it?

Why didn’t it feel like it?

• • •

Not knowing what to expect during a runway show for Fashion Week—seeing as how Lev’s life had only intersected with that business through Gigi—the shock of the rather large crowd for the Delavange event put him off-balance.

It wasn’t a good place to be, and the longer he sat in the front row seat off to the left at the end of the long runway stage, the worse his agitation became. That he couldn’t see her; that the show had yet to start; that it felt like he didn’t know anything.

Gigi hadn’t lied.

They couldn’t get backstage. Only her team was permitted access and even then, not for long. The stylists and teams working on the models needed room to move and then more room again just in case, apparently. The only reason they were even inside the building was that the Marcello organization pulled weight in the city.

Or just the Marcello name did.