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“She’s at our apartment.”
At that, his eyebrows climb.
“Tony will explain,” I say in response to his unasked question. “For now, we’re going to leave. I’ll see you later.”
He shrugs before walking on ahead to the living room. Roman remains. I catch his eye, wondering why he’s still waiting. He looks like he has something to say, but he seems to reconsider it and clenches his jaw.
Then he’s walking, too. My breath hitches when he brushes at my side on his way.
“Welcome home, trouble.”
His voice is a deep, low rumble that does the same strange things to my heart it did a year ago. I smile softly, even though he can’t see me. When I look back up, my brother’s looking at me strangely.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he says with a shake of his head. “Let’s go.”
Once we arrive outside the apartment, I spend the next five minutes convincing him not to come up.
“Kiara’s asleep. She’s seriously jet-lagged. Plus, the house is a mess. We don’t want anyone to see it until we’ve got everything in order,” I say, repeating the excuses I’ve been giving for the past few minutes.
They just won’t penetrate his thick, stubborn head. Tony looks really fucking suspicious, which is enough proof that I won’t be able to hide my secret for long. I inwardly sigh, feeling my heart drop.
“Dude, why the hell should I care?”
“Dude,” I say, my tone ripe with aggravation, “please just let me go in and rest. I’m exhausted. I’ll come and see you tomorrow.”
He must see on my face that I’m done with the conversation. “Fine. Go. I’m placing one of the men in front of the building, though. To keep watch and keep you both safe.”
I smile. His protectiveness can be sweet. Mostly fucking annoying, but sweet regardless.
“Alright,fratello. Goodbye.”
I step out of the car and onto the curb, waving him off as he drives away. My breath leaves me in a rush and I’m left feeling depleted as I trudge into the apartment’s lobby and inside the elevator. I’m delivered to our apartment on the third floor. Kiara opens the door as soon as I ring the doorbell, a worried expression on her face.
“Hey, how’d did it go?”
“I told them we were staying here together,” I say, walking inside. “And no, I didn’t tell them the truth.”
She frowns. “You have to tell them eventually, Lena.”
“And I will,” I say. “As soon as I tell Roman.”
Kiara follows me as I head into my bedroom. There’s a crib at the side of the bed and my heart clenches as I step toward it and peer down at the tiny little baby inside. She’s fast asleep. Cassiopeia De Luca was born three months ago. A happy, healthy baby. She’s the most beautiful, precious thing I’ve ever seen. And she’s mine. And Roman’s, as well.
The future has never seemed more uncertain than it does at this moment, but I’ll do anything to make it right.
For my little girl.
CHAPTER16
Roman
There’s something different about her.
That’s all I’ve been able to think about since Elena Legan showed up at my house earlier today. I haven’t seen her in a year. In some ways, she still looks the same, but she’s different. I can feel it. I just don’t know why.
I did pretty good over the past year. I barely thought about her. The first few weeks after she left, she dominated my thoughts, but over time, it became easier to keep her out of my mind. Unfortunately, her reappearance has led to the blossoming of those thoughts again. And for the past hour, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her.
