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If she regretted this, I didn’t think I’d ever recover.
“Was it worth the wait?” she finally asked.
That was what had her mind racing?
I pulled her head back, diving down for a filthy kiss. “You were always worth the wait, baby. You always will be.”
“You are too, Dominic.”
I hoped she always felt that way.
It took more effort than I’d ever admit to get out of bed, but by the time Greyson and Nate returned loaded down with food, Mari and I were showered and dressed. Though, admittedly, we’d gotten more dirty than clean.
“You went to Little Sal’s? How is everyone?” Mari asked. She had an uncharacteristic squeal in her voice that made me grin. Looking around, I saw I wasn’t the only one who heard it. Mari’s joy was quiet by design, so having a front-row seat to it was an honor I’d never get over.
“They’re great.” Nate directed her to the table with a hand at the small of her back. “They sent well-wishes and far too much food. Seriously, we only ordered half of this.”
Greyson laughed. “I already told you, it’s normal. They’re in love with Mari.”
“I know the feeling,” I whispered, pressing a kiss behind her ear as I sat at her side. She flushed just a touch, while Grey handed her a coffee.
It was almost unreal how docile she was, how easily she let us care for her. I wanted to know what I had to do to keep her like that, so soft and sweet and relaxed. So easy to please and happy to accept what we were offering.
Don’t get any ideas, I told myself firmly. It’s only safe for her to be like this with us.
Mari was the protector. She was the power, and even though I hated it, I couldn’t forget it. Even when every part of my brain was screaming my girl to protect, that wasn’t my role. I had to accept it or risk losing the love of my life again.
The four of us sat squished around one end of the long dining table as Grey and Nate started unpacking food. Despite not being in our own home, it felt normal. Routine.
Would we do this more often now that things with Mari and I were settled? Start our day off as a family?
Was that what we were?
“Seems like you have enough there to feed an army.”
The voice interrupted my thoughts, and I had a knife poised and ready to fly in less than a second. Mari’s hand on my thigh was the only thing stopping me from throwing it at Rafael’s face.
Fucking Osorio.
“Uncle,” she said with marked wariness. “I thought you were gone to wherever the hell you’ve been.”
He smiled, though he didn’t offer up any more information than that. “Thought I’d stick around until you got out of here. The morning after a huge party seems like the perfect time to take you out.”
Though Mari would never get trashed in the middle of a war—she wasn’t a moron—Cash could’ve assumed she would and made plans to get her when she was too hungover to protect herself. When my phone buzzed in my pocket, I knew Greyson was thinking the same thing.
I planned for this, but let’s add an extra car to the detail.
With somebody other than Geneva driving Mari.
Mari cleared her throat, and I tipped the phone toward her so she could read. We weren’t making plans behind her back. I just didn’t trust Rafael to keep the information to himself, family or not. Apparently, Grey agreed.
“Thank you for your consideration, Uncle, but we’ve got it covered.” Mari squeezed my thigh gently, her unspoken acceptance of the change of plans. “Would you like to eat with us?”
“I’d love to.”
As Rafael took his seat across from me, Mari sent me a please don’t be an asshole look, so I swallowed the urge to tell him to fuck off. As if it was any other normal family meal, we talked about nothing important. The weather, traffic, baseball. All boring, surface stuff. The one thing we didn’t talk about was work. It was almost as if there was an unspoken rule hanging above our heads. It made me antsy and nervous, especially with Rafael being so secretive.
I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust any of the Osorios, with good reason, but Mari didn’t know what I did. Or why. I could tell her, but I wasn’t ready yet.
