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The voice is bright, worried, and has to be the pregnant woman’s, so with a sigh, I get up and unlock the door. She comes in and sits, groaning.
“They never tell you just how gross swollen feet are,” she says.
She has long, dark hair like a cloud, and she’s as gorgeous as her traitorous friends.
“I’m Blake De Luca, my husband, Theo, is part of the family your Nicolo works for.”
“Not helping your case, Blake.”
Blake smiles, and it’s bright, sweet, and honest. “I know they blindsided you, but come out, please?”
I squeeze my hands. “I ran from this life. I hate it. And now, here I am. Betrayed on each side.”
“No one’s betrayed you. Come out, please? I’m jonesing for a Coke with apple juice.”
I stare at her. “That’s . . . disgusting.”
She giggles. “I know. Tell that to the baby.”
“Yours or me.”
Her mouth curls up. “This family can be a lot. I don’t blame you, but come on out.”
I swallow a sigh and follow her out, thinking it’s time to put my big girl pants on.
When we’re back in the club, Mia and Scarlett exchange a look, and then Blake guides me over to a booth.
The other two sit as well, and then Mia puts her hands on the table. “I’d say welcome to my club, but you look like you want to bite off heads. And . . . I’m sorry.”
“You sent Nicolo to me.”
It feels like betrayal, worse than when I thought my father was maybe behind it.
“Yes,” Mia says. “Because we saw the look on your face when you got that lingerie, and no woman should look that way. Trust me, I know fear. I know, well, a lot of bad things men do.”
Her gaze is on my face, where the bruise is, when she speaks.
I swallow. “And you’re all part of this world.”
“Guilty as charged.” Scarlett raises a hand. “I help Leo, and I hold a patch of power to keep things in balance. Hopefully peace. But Mia and Blake? By marriage, proxy, birth? And love.”
“I ran from this life, you know, and now . . .” I shrug helplessly. “Here I am, in it again, because of stupid lingerie.”
Mia sighs. “If Nicolo thinks you have a stalker of some kind, then I think he’s right. Because it all looks like someone is after you. And come on, you’re part of this world whether you want to be or not.”
“Sins of the fathers,” Scarlett says.
“I hate being treated like I’m a small child.”
Mia laughs as Blake’s phone rings. She answers, her eyes lighting up, and I can hear a man’s voice and a kid.
She holds up her hand and excuses herself, lumbering up to her feet.
Like magic, Diego is there, guiding her gently to another table like she’s made of glass.
“The thing is, De Luca men,” Mia says, “are a pain in the ass. A glorious pain in the ass, and there’s nothing they won’t do for their women.”
“Even when they don’t want to admit it.” Scarlett gives me a smile.
