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“So?” Lexi looks at me as if she expects me to be keen to go.
“I can’t put him at risk,” I say, even if my whole body is aching to be close to him, sleep in his arms again, and feel his warmth wrapping all around me in the most ecstatically protective way ever. “If he gets caught in the middle of this war bullcrap, he’ll lose his job. Maybe more. I can’t let him do that.”
“But he wants to see you?” Lexi says. “Orneedsto?”
“What are you getting at?”
“I just think you’ve found something worth fighting for,” Lexi whispers, then stands up and walks over to me, leaning down with David. “I also think Auntie Mia is going to hold little man while Mommy uses the bathroom.”
I try to tell her no, but it’s too late, and it’s a half-heartedno, anyway. When he’s in my arms, it’s like warmth is flowing through me. He looks up at me with his eyes blinking, his cheeks flushed and pink.
“You look like a little alien,” I tell him softly.
He smiles, then lets out a little sob.
“No, I’m sorry.”
He throws his head back and starts wailing. I rock him gently, singing. I’m not even sure what. I just sing softly, rocking him, acting on instinct.
Finally, he stops crying. I hold him to my chest, letting out a relieved breath when his eyes fall closed.
“See? You’re a natural.” Lexi almost makes me jump. She’s sitting on the bed behind me.
“How long have you been there?” I whispered.
“Just a minute. Or two. Or three. Nice singing voice, by the way. You and Scarlet should start a group.”
“Ha, ha,” I murmur, looking down at him. “I called him an alien. I don’t think he liked it.”
“He likes you, though, Mia. He loves you. He can sense you’re a good person.”
“I try to be,” I whisper, rocking him gently. “But sometimes, I want to… You know, Lex. Remember the screwdriver.”
I don’t have to explain what I mean. She knows what I’m talking about. Two years ago, Lexi was going to charge into a frat house armed with a screwdriver to avenge something that happened to her little sister, Ruby. It was Colt who stopped her in the end.
“I want a screwdriver,” I say, gritting my teeth while holding David gently.
“Do you think you could do it?” Lexi asks. “Your own dad?”
“He stopped being my dad a long time ago,” I tell her. “If I ever had a kid?—”
“What?” Lexi says.
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s just be quiet. I don’t want to wake him.”
Lexi comes and sits next to me. She places her hand atop mine, both of us looking down at her son.
“If you need a cover story to meet your man, just let me know,” Lexi says.
“Thanks, Lexi. Seriously.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?”
David smiles sleepily up at us.
CHAPTER 20
Dante
