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He rose from his seat and took Lilos’s hand when he noticed us, pulling him in. He didn’t seem to care that his thousand-dollar suit was getting dusted with flour. They slapped each other on the back, white powder floating in the air, then pulled apart.
“How’s Aren? Michele?”
“Both good,” Lilo said. “Michele has a clean shot. In and out. But Aren needs more work. He needs surgery.”
“I’ll see to them both.” His warm brown eyes turned to mine. He had the kind of soothing presence that made a person want to sink into his arms and forget about the world, letting him take every worry and care.
Just like his nephew. Even the cologne.
“Hello,” he said to me, taking my hand and kissing it. “You must be the newest Mrs. Valentino. My mother and sister told me so much about you.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. “Thank you for taking care of my dad.”
He nodded, studying my eyes, keeping my hand in his. It was warm. Pleasant. Like his stare. “My pleasure.”
His eyes looked past me for a second. I turned my head a fraction and watched as Ava took a seat, her phone to her ear. She bounced up, pacing a bit, and then sat down again.
“Your sister?” His hand held mine a little tighter, but I didn’t think he meant to do it. “Ava?”
“Yeah,” I said. “My sister.”
Lilo put his hand on my shoulder, pulling me closer. Tigran snapped out his trance and looked at Lilo again, releasing my hand. He didn’t just drop it. It was much smoother than that. And that was exactly what he was—smooth. He didn’t flaunt his power; he didn’t need to. It radiated off him.
“Pick your prize, baby.” Like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but the proof stared me in the face.
“You need a shower,” Tigran said, but he looked us both over.
“Does that favor have a time limit?”
“For my sister’s son? Never.”
Lilo glanced at me and then he met his uncle’s eyes. “Get us a room here for tonight? My wife’s hurt and pregnant and she needs sleep. And then I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
Ava’s eyes snapped up. I nodded. She shook her head and went back to her conversation, but she stood and walked further down the hall, her voice quiet.
“Done,” he said, like Lilo was asking him for a ride down the street.
We checked on Sonny, but there wasn’t much we could do. They wouldn’t let us see him. They said he was too unstable. A doctor came out and led us, with two men trailing, to an empty room on a floor that seemed extremely quiet. Not many patients. She seemed excited to do this favor for Tigran. I was too tired and too stressed to ask Lilo about it.
The guards walked the floor, but I knew they would be stationed on the unit for the night. But they didn’t linger. Maybe because they didn’t want to make it obvious where we were.
We took a hot shower, careful not to get my head wet, and I slipped into the clothes Ava had brought along. One thing about her, she was used to living on the run, so she always came prepared. Except everything of hers was too short on me. The doctor had given Lilo a pair of scrubs to sleep in. One of his uncle’s men would be coming back with a suit.
Lilo leaned in and kissed a tear from my eye as we stared at each other from across the bed. It was a tight fit. I was thankful for it.
“You’ve always been it for me,” he said. “The moment I saw you. I knew.”
“You know when you know?”
“Yeah, you know when you know.”
He kissed me, softly at first, and then it evolved into something else. Something rushed but deep. Something that made me feel panicked for him, but oddly enough, it only made me feel how deep the connection was between us.
It was soft but raw. It was frenzied but controlled. It was all those years ago, it was the present, and it was the future.
“I love you,” I almost gasped into his mouth.
“Lock it up. Save it for me.” His voice was deep and gruff. “Tell me when I get home.”
