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She gritted her teeth, grabbed her purse, and exited the car, slamming the door without looking back. Tires screeched as the taxi driver pulled off and she stood at the end of the driveway, gazing up at the house. It looked so homey and quaint.
Should she be here? Was this the wrong move? She’d been questioning herself lately, after sneaking away from Toro— Who she should not be thinking about right now. Fuck, but she couldn’t help it. Barely a minute went by where she didn’t think about him and miss him. But he couldn’t be a focus. Not now.
He’d withheld important things from her and she wasn’t condoning that shit.
It was better that she left Toro the way she did because he would’ve tried to stop her from leaving or talk her out of it and she might have listened. He possessed some kinda power over her that she hadn’t yet figured out. But in order to build her relationship with Israel, she couldn’t have distractions.
Her energy was better spent here, on doing what she had to in order to be a mother worthy of her son. There was no place for another man in her life.
She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath, then made her way up the drive and to the front door. It opened before she could knock.
“You were sitting out there for a while.”
She nodded. “Wondering if this was the right thing.” She held out her hand to him. “Levi, thanks for letting me come.”
Levi Nieto-Cintron took her hand in his briefly, expression difficult to read. “Don’t thank me yet. He said yes, but we’ll see.”
“I understand.” After recounting to Toro what she’d done to Donovan Cintron, she’d had those events playing over and over in her mind until she’d known she had to do something. In order to be a mother to Israel, she had to own up to her shit—to those heartless things she’d done to his brother. She had to put herself at Van’s mercy and let the chips fall where they may. So she’d had her people find Donovan’s number and she’d reached out.
He’d said no right out the gate.
She’d accepted that because that man didn’t owe her shit.
But Levi had called her back a day later saying Van had reconsidered. That was yesterday. Today, here she was, about to face a firing squad.
As she followed Levi through the beautiful home and into the bright and airy kitchen, she realized this visit wasn’t for her. It wasn’t for Israel. It wasn’t for anybody other than Donovan. He’d never had the chance to confront her because she’d never given him one, so convinced her actions were justified.
“Can I offer you a drink?” Levi was so opposite of his husband and his brother, Daniel, that she found herself sizing him up with her head cocked. He lifted a brow. “What?”
“No on the drink.” Her lips quirked. “I’m just taking in how different you are than your husband and your brother.”
His expression hardened. “Not that different if you even think to hurt the men I love. That includes Israel and Reggie.”
Seraphina couldn’t help the smile that had her cheeks hurting, it was that wide. “You know, back when I didn’t have Israel and didn’t know where he was or who had him, I used to pray he had a large family around him to smother him in all the love I had but couldn’t share.” Her traitorous eyes turned misty. “I’m glad,” she whispered. “I’m glad he has all of you in his corner.”
Levi stared at her for a moment before motioning to the backyard Sera spotted through the kitchen windows. “He’s out there.”
“Thank you.” She turned away and Levi grabbed her arm.
“Seraphina.” His features twisted into a pained grimace before smoothing out. “Do not make me regret this,” he warned in a low tone. “Because if I do, then so will you.”
It should be no other way. “I understand and I respect it.” She dipped her chin. “I will do my best.” Levi released her after a beat and she made her way out to the backyard that was set up with a bunch of white chairs lined up neatly facing a wood arbor.
Dressed in a black hoodie, jeans, black socks, and leather slides, Van stood in the small aisle between chairs with his back to her, head tilted back as he stared up at the cloudy Seattle sky. She kept her distance.
“My brother know you’re here?”
She swallowed. “No.” She didn’t want Israel thinking this was an act done simply for him, to appease him.
“What do you want?”
“To do what I should have done in the very beginning. Apologize for what I did to you.”
Van faced her then. He looked like his father, even with the scruff on his jaw. He had his father’s eyes. The first time she’d seen Van, when he’d entered her home pretending to be somebody he wasn’t, those eyes had unleashed something hot and lethal inside her. They’d been reminders of how she’d been used, tossed aside, and her baby boy stolen. Somebody had to pay and Van had been the only one within reach.
“You think an apology will suffice?” He just stared at her, and she saw the torment he tried so hard to hide.
“No.” Her voice turned hoarse. “But it’s a start.”
