Page 59 of Secret Seduction

“So, two babies in two years.” I whistle lowly. “You ready for that? You were just talking about coming back to work soon.”

Dani shrugs. “With Matteo by my side, I’m ready for anything.” She sniffles. “Now, he just needs to stay alive.”

Her eyes fill with tears, and I pull her into my arms.

“Hey, he’s not going anywhere. I saw him at the hospital, and he was talking shit and cracking jokes. He’s good.”

“This time,” she cries. “But what about next time?”

“That’s life, sis. We can cross the road and get hit by a car. It’s short and fragile, and all we can do is live each day like it’s our last. Matteo loves you so damn much, and he’d do anything to protect you. And that includes making sure he stays alive.”

She nods in agreement and sniffles. “Matteo said you were on a date with Vanessa …”

“Didn’t even attempt a subtle transition.” I chuckle.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yeah, I was on a date with her … one that nearly ended with her getting abducted.”

I run my fingers through my hair and yank on the ends, so damn frustrated. She came so close to being taken tonight. Too close.

“But you saved her,” Dani points out.

“She deserves better than this.”

“You said the same thing about me. But, Lo …” She locks eyes with me. “That’s not how love works.”

“Love?” I scoff. “It was one date.”

“And you going on that date tells me she means something to you. And before you try to act like it was part of a plan to coax Leysa out of hiding, Matteo said you planned the date before he mentioned his idea.”

“She’s fifteen years younger than me.”

Dani snorts out a mirthless laugh. “Who cares? I’m twelve years younger than Matteo.”

“She’s still in school.”

“Again, who cares? How does she make you feel?”

My thoughts go to our date tonight before she was almost taken … the touching, the talking, the banter. She’s so beautiful and damn sexy, but it’s more than the physical attraction that has me wanting more with her. She’s fun to hang out with. I feel like when we talk, she listens and hears me. And then there’s the fact that she genuinely cares about my son. I have no doubt she’d do anything to keep him safe.

“Like … she might be the fucking one.”

Dani grins. “That’s what I thought.”

When I get back to the condo, I thank Bri and Kane for hanging out, and then I head straight to the kitchen, setting the groceries I bought on the way home on the counter.

“Whatcha got there?” Vanessa asks, hopping onto the counter.

She changed out of her dress and into her pajamas—an oversize T-shirt and tiny cotton shorts, which I only know she’s wearing because the shirt lifts, exposing a sliver of them.

“You never got your milkshake.” I pull the ice cream, milk, and Oreos out of the bag, along with the whipped cream, and set them on the counter.

I grab the blender and add all the ingredients into it, then turn it on. Once it’s blended, I pour it into a large mason jar and squirt some whipped cream on top before pushing a glass straw—which Vanessa keeps on hand for her iced coffees—into the jar.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she says, taking a sip of the shake. “Oh God,” she moans. “That’s so good.”

“Keep that shit up, and I’ll give you something else to moan about,” I mutter.