Page 154 of Pink

Did she?

Gigi’s throat flexed with her swallows, the muscles loosening enough that she felt almost comfortable to talk and not sound like a two-pack-a-day smoker. “Why do you call him that?”

“Pardon?”

“Pink. He’s … Lev.”

Andino smiled slightly. “To you. And that’s okay, he can be whatever you need him to be if he continues being what I need him to be, too. No worries,” he added at her dipped brow, “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“But … why?” The man didn’t seem to understand what she was trying to ask. Maybe it was because she was high, but Gigi just had to know … she never asked before now. “Why that name—Pink?”

“He’s never told you?”

“I didn’t ask.”

Andino grinned, the severely sharp lines of his face that made him seem handsome but terrifying, softening enough that she found humanness behind the facade he clearly kept at the forefront. “Laundry error—he came to work in a pink shirt. An associate gave him the moniker and in business, it just stuck.”

She shouldn’t laugh.

It wasn’t the right time.

And yet … “That’s cute.”

“You really are very high,” Andino muttered, shaking his head as he replaced the cup to the table with a chuckle. “I’m not sure this is the best time for a visit, but I don’t think I’ll have another chance and since my cousin is working tonight in the hospital … well, unfortunately, this is the only time I might have to do this before the police begin to flood in here, and I won’t be able to come again. Do you think you can listen for a moment? Hear me, and really understand?”

She did.

Sort of.

“Police?” she asked.

“Expect a lot of police attention,” he replied.

Huh.

Then, Andino added quieter, “You were recognized at the hospital in Mexico where you were taken after Corrado was able to get you and Lev to shore and call for help.”

“Corrado?”

The man waved a hand. “Not important. Focus on the bigger picture, not the minor details. Your high-profile nature meant there really wasn’t a chance for us to keep you under the radar, but you needed help. You were in a very bad way when they took you from Jensen’s estate in the bay. Three days ago, once they had stabilized you enough, they transferred you back to the states. Here, at this hospital.”

She remembered none of that.

Not a single thing.

“You nearly drowned when you jumped into the water,” Andino explained. “You were already injured, probably had little to no energy to fight the water … by the time Corrado pulled you into the boat, you weren’t breathing. No doubt, him having to turn back for Lev didn’t help, either.”

She stared back at him, her memories fuzzy though some things still managed to break through the barriers in her mind. Nothing that she liked. Everything that left her scarred with horrors she wouldn’t be able to forget.

“I’m sorry for what he did to you while you were there,” Andino told her, his voice quiet and kind. “I’m so very sorry that I didn’t take the threat of Jensen seriously enough to think he was worth more effort than I had already put forth to keep him at bay. I’m sorry you were the sacrifice made for it. There might not be anyone else who tells you those things, and because I do try to be a good man, I will be the one to do it now.”

Gigi didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

A single tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek in a warm, wet trail. She didn’t bother to try and wipe it away.

Drawing in a breath, Andino added, “I have called in as many favors as I can to begin moving things to my—Lev’s—benefit as a lot has changed since you were returned to the states and public caught wind of it. I don’t have time to explain all of it right now, but just know it’s not good, and I have just about run out of favors to call in, Gigi. I really only have one question for you and then I can go and you can begin to get better. Because you’re going to need to do that. Get better—be strong.”