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“If you can hold on to those memories and those feelings, he will always be with you.”
“You promised last time.”
“Yes, I did.”
She peeked an eye open. “Do you promise again?”
“Promise.”
“Okay, I’ll eat.”
I gave her my best grin. “Want to help me cook?”
She nodded her head, and I lifted her up and carried her into the kitchen on my back. She was way too lanky, but I did it anyway. Plus, all my time on ice shift had prepared me for this.
I peeked over my shoulder at her. “You can brown the meat.”
She slid off my shoulders, grabbed a little stool to stand on, and helped me stir the meat, light returning to her eyes for the first time in a couple of days.
Both of us jumped a little when the door opened and Bastian walked in.
“Is everything okay?” My eyes darted to the clock.
Six in the evening.
He was ten hours earlier than he usually was.
He shrugged off his sweatshirt, tossed it onto a barstool, and kissed Tessie on the temple. “What are you guys making?”
I knew he was ignoring the question, and the undercover agent in me felt compelled to force an answer out of him, which was why I did the exact opposite.
“Lasagna. Lucy stopped by for lunch and gave me her recipe. I hope she’s not a shitty cook.”
Tessie tilted her head back to look at me. “That’s a bad word.”
“And now you know not to say it,” Bastian remarked.
He grabbed Tessie with one arm and let her cling to his body so she didn’t have to stand on the stool. The three of us cooked the meal together, and it felt odd because it felt normal.
Like we were a family.
I shook the thought out of my head as soon as I had it. I was Apate not Jupiter and definitely not family material.
But I wanted this.
A family. This love.
More than I’d ever wanted anything else.
I could never have a dime or a car or clothing on my back, but if I had this feeling, bottled up and relived for eternity, I’d die happy.
BASTIANO ROMANO
The weight of Vince’s secrets sank my sanity. I couldn’t keep looking for him knowing he’d lied. I needed, at the very least, some distance before I tried again tomorrow.
I found that refuge in Ariana and Tessie.
Every time the guilt over not being outside searching for Uncle Vince threatened to bowl me over, Tessie would smile at me or Ariana would say something so unexpected, she’d become the center of everything.
