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“I like that. Do you know Tripp?”
“As well as I know Zoe. He’s at the coffee shop whenever she is. He’s chatty.”
We stop walking, watching Panda stand still while some other dog sniffs his butt. “Have you spoken to Gabriella?”
“A little. She’s still hurt about the whole Leo saga.”
He rolls his eyes. “It's not a saga, Bianca. It’s a way to keep her safe.”
We continue walking. Vincent pulls me into his body, an arm slung over my shoulder.
“You did kind of throw it on her. She hasn’t grown up the way we have. We’ve known from a young age that we’d be told who to marry for the sake of the family. She hasn’t been able to come to terms with it.”
“Are you still coming to terms with me?”
I dig my elbow into his side. “You know I love you, Vincent.”
He leans down, kissing my lips.
It’s not lost on me that he has never explicitly told me he loves me. Ifeelit. He says things that allude to the depth of feeling he has for me. He shows me whether he means to or not. His actions and the way he protects and pleases me bleed with implicit love and affection. He watches me closely, the closed-off shadow now lost to the devotion and passion in his eyes.
But I want to hear the words. More than anything, I want him to confess that the heart he was certain didn’t have the capacity for love,did, if only for me. Just once. I’d hold them with me forever. He’d never have to live through the reality of sharing his greatest weakness ever again.
“Why do you think Enzo chose Leo?”
He looks at me quizzically. “Leo is the obvious choice.”
I clear my throat, hoping I can disguise any eager curiosity in my tone. “Enzo seems the obvious choice to me.”
“How so?”
“You’re worried about Big Joey and Dante too, I imagine. She’s your sister. She’s safest with Lorenzo,” I surmise. “Big Joey would never cross theboss,and Dante will listen to his dad.”
Vincent’s phone chimes.
“Enzo himself said Leo was reluctant,” I push.
“Leo is reluctant to settle down, period,” he says distractedly.
“Why force your sister into a life of misery with a man who doesn’t want her?”
He frowns at me but doesn’t reply.
“What’s wrong?”
He looks back at his phone. “I just got a notification of entry to Gabriella’s apartment.”
“Enzo?” I ask, the hopeful uptick in my tone making his lips turn down.
“No. Trixie.”
“What?” I move closer to his phone, watching Trixie enter Gabriella’s apartment.
Swiping from the camera app, Vincent hands me Panda’s lead. “Andre, where are you?” He waits for a second. “You’re closer than me. I need you to go to our apartment building. Trixie has just entered Gabriella’s apartment.”
He hangs up. “Let’s move.” He moves swiftly, and I jog to keep up.
“Why would Trixie be with Gabriella?”
