“Besides, he knows it wasn’t your fault. He’s just…”
“Being a dad,” I finish for her.
She nods and steps closer, her shoulder brushing mine. “Exactly. So don’t let him ruin your night.”
“My night?” I ask, curious where she’s going with this. I shift forward, close enough that she has to tilt her chin to look at me.
“Yeah,” she says softly. “Consider this a welcome-home party.”
“This was your idea?”
“I might’ve made the suggestion. Better late than never.” Her head tilts, a slow smile curling at her mouth. “After everything that happened, I feel like your homecoming got overshadowed. And I figured it’d be a good icebreaker. A chance to get everyone under one roof again—just…better circumstances than my near-death experience.”
I arch a brow. “Thought you said we weren’t bringing that up anymore?”
Valentina bites her lip, eyes gleaming. “Oops. How naughty of me.”
I drag in a breath that feels like it might tear me open. “Valentina.”
“Hmm?” she murmurs, tugging at the front of my shirt, closing the last of the space between us.
Ruin me.
The words echo, looping in my head. Her voice, hushed and desperate, that night in her kitchen. Wine still on her lips. Fingers twisted in my shirt. The way she looked at me, begging for destruction like it was salvation. It’s been clawing at me ever since, every second a fight to forget what she asked for, and that I wanted to give it to her.
Still do.
“What are we doing?” I ask, though I already know.
Fire. That’s what this is. A fucking inferno. And we’re not just playing in it, we’re already burning.
“Val, dinner’s…ready.” AJ’s voice is like a bucket of ice water. Neither of us moves.
Her eyes dart between her sister and me, clocking the closeness, the grip of Valentina’s hand on my shirt. She reads it instantly, the way only a younger sibling can when they’ve stumbled onto something they shouldn’t.
Valentina doesn’t pull away. Instead, her grip on me tightens, and she flashes her little sister a cool, unbothered smile.
“We’ll be right there.”
AJ presses her lips together, mischief sparking in her eyes before she pins me with a look that could gut a man. A Cain, through and through.
“Now it all makes sense. Oh, fuck, Val. And here I thought dinner was gonna be boring. Dad’s gonna shit himself.”
“Alessandra!” Valentina snaps, but the laughter curling beneath her voice gives her away.
She turns as if to follow her sister, then pivots back on her crutches. “Don’t worry. She won’t tell.”
“And what exactly is there to tell?”
My arms fold across my chest, locking me in place. I don’t trust myself to move yet because space is the only thing keeping me sane right now.
My gaze drops to her ass, like it always does.
“Coming?” she teases, tossing a wicked glance over her shoulder, “or are you just going to stand there and stare?”
My answer is a slow nod and a quiet, “Fuck.”
“So, Maksim, how does it feel to be back for such a long stretch?” Amalia clasps her hands together, smiling warmly across thetable. “This is almost like the last time we were all together in Rio. Do you remember?”
