Page 94 of Pink

“Nothing, baby.”

“Hey,” Gigi said, the sound of her fingernails tapping a beat to the table echoing in the kitchen, “how about you go find me that singing mirror you told me about, and I will show you how we put this lip gloss on, hmm?”

“Yes!”

A chair scraped hard against the floor before pounding feet followed, racing across the floor of his townhouse. Lev still didn’t move, even when the creak of a chair sounded, and Gigi approached from behind until she was leaning against the counter beside him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I was just making a joke.”

He waved his free hand, muttering, “It’s not you asking. It’s her.”

Setting her chin into her palm, Gigi peered up at him through thick, dark lashes. “What do you mean?”

“All she knows about my work is that her dad looks after an important man named Andino. And that’s really it. She doesn’t understand that I have a whole moniker and persona when I step out of this house.”

“Makes sense.”

“Does it? Sometimes, it feels like I’m just lying. Daddy gets to be her hero, right? But what about when she figures out her daddy is really just a paid bodyguard for one of the biggest criminals in North America?”

Gigi let out a woosh of air. “You’re going that deep?”

He laughed, as weak as it was. “I mean, someday she will.”

“Lev.”

“Hmm?”

He kept his attention on the boiling pot. It was made more difficult when Gigi reached out to drag the fingernails on her thumb and forefinger across his cheek and up to his jawline.

“Don’t those men have kids, too?”

Lev did look at her then, only to find her wide eyes waiting for him to answer expectantly. “I mean, they do. What does that—”

“Do you think their kids understand what they are or do? Do you think their little girls wake up one day and hate their fathers when all they knew was love? I mean, I assume they love their kids. Why wouldn’t they?”

“People just see criminals, Gigi. And it’s … fair.”

“That doesn’t change that they’re also people who have lives; people they love; homes they go to at the end of the day. Because that’s the thing, right? All she knows from you is love. Even I can see that. This whole place, this home … it’s just like a little world you’ve created for you and her. Worry about what you’re building inside here with her and less about what’s out there. I promise, this home and you are what she’ll remember the most.”

“Did your dad—”

“Never knew him. And that’s not okay. Dads are so important to their daughters. More than they realize. You’re the first person she is going to look to when she’s learning how to let other people—boys—treat her, you know?”

Lev blinked, heavy in his chest again. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Do,” she replied. “It’s the only thing that matters.”

Without waiting for a reply, she straightened to her full height, leaned in, and gave him a soft kiss on the underside of his jaw as little footsteps echoed from the hallway nearing the kitchen. He turned his head to capture her lips with his own, their kiss slow and steady, building one stroke at a time, until she pulled away first.

Just in time, too.

Her pink cheeks told the truth when Arely ran back into the kitchen with her mirror in hand. The toy was already singing one of the three songs it had prerecorded.

“Found it!”

“Awesome,” Gigi said, her voice lighter than before. “You good?”

Lev nodded. “Perfect. And hey?”