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“It’s probably not as interesting when you live here all the time,” Q points out. “You’d get used to it.”
Charlotte hears him as she finishes the final touches on the long table where we’ll eat our dinner. “Not even a little bit,” she says with a light laugh. “There are still days when I have to pinch myself, even after all these years.”
“You have such a beautiful home.” I can’t help but gush a little. The woman’s living a dream life, at least as far as a girl like me is concerned. Living in an Italian villa off Lake Como, which even I knew before now is an exclusive area only the wealthy and connected can call home. And here I was, thinking she was a threat to Lucas and me while she had a husband and two little boys.
Two little boys who are now running around, trying to sneak bits of food off the table no matter how often their mother tells them to knock it off. “That’s for everybody!” she reminds them before hustling them away from the table again. They run over to Aspen like their big sister will protect them. It’s only been a couple of weeks since we arrived, but they’re totally enamored with her.
And she adores them. “I don’t know what you want me to do about it,” she offers with a shrug. “You heard her. And if you don’t behave, we won’t be able to go swimming tomorrow like we planned.” That seems to change their tune, even if they don’t look happy about it.
Quinton’s mom laughs indulgently from her chair beside Scarlet. “I remember when Quinton was that age. Always getting into little boy trouble.”
“I was a perfect angel,” he deadpans. Even Xander has to laugh at that, and he hardly laughs at anything. Especially lately. I know it has to still be under his skin, the way he completely missed the threat Ren posed.
As far as I know, the guy disappeared. Nobody knows where he ran off to, only that there’s no trace of him. I’m sure Xander hasn’t left a stone unturned. It’s personal for him. He needs to know how somebody could get that close to his family, then betray them—and evidently get away with it.
“Let’s eat.” Charlotte claps her hands briskly, and we all make our way to the table where a feast has been laid out. I’m surprised the table can stay in one piece under all that weight. I sit between Lucas and Aspen, beneath strings of lights swaying gently in the breeze.
It’s bizarre, considering these people part of my extended family, but it’s the truth. Thanks to Lucas, I now have the big, boisterous family I always dreamed of. And unlike those awful visits to my father’s house, I feel like I’m part of things. I’m wanted here. Even Xander has calmed his attitude toward me. We’re not exactly friends, but I feel more welcome around him than I ever did around my father and brothers. It’s a step up.
Lucas leans in and brushes his lips over my earlobe. “Eat fast. I need to get you back in bed as soon as possible.” A little shiver runs through me before our eyes meet, and I see the hunger flickering in his. But he’s not fooling me. He’s happy to have an excuse to spend time with Aspen and repair things with Charlotte. It’s almost funny now when I remember how jealous I was of her.
I guess in our world, questions will always be unanswered and vague, shadowy threats lurking in the background. Like Ren, wherever he is.
But right now, things are pretty much perfect. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s how to grab onto the perfect moments when they come along because there’s no way of knowing what happens tomorrow. That’s what’s on my mind as I raise a glass with everybody else and toast to being together. To being a family. And to being loved.
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