“More than life itself,” I answer without hesitation.
“She loves you too?”
I nod, throat thick.
“Good.”
Kai reappears, presenting her with the abomination of a snack. Tess eats it with a smile, like it’s a fucking delicacy.
“Your dad’s been texting me daily. Always asking for updates,” Tess says between bites.
“He’s your dad too.”
She winces. “I know. It’s just…”
“I get it, Tess. You barely know him.”
She deflates, clearly relieved by my understanding.
“He’s stepping down,” I say.
Her brows knit. “Stepping down?”
These idiots I call family may be lethally dangerous—and willing to kill for each other—but they really have no idea how my world works.
I roll my eyes at her. “Mafia shit.”
She sucks in a sharp breath.
“He wants to be closer to you,” I add, nudging her with my shoulder.
She smiles. “I guess that could be nice. Maybe he can help babysit when he’s around.”
“Not sure he knows much about babies, but maybe.”
Papa wasn’t around for my childhood. Mamma raised me on her own until he showed up when I was fourteen and whisked me off to America. The idea of him changing diapers is laughable.
Tess just laughs. “I don’t know anything either.”
Izzy wanders over, looking so fucking sexy despite the woolen jumper dress and thick tights to fend off winter in England. She wraps her arms around my waist, smiling up at me.
“You look happy,Cuore mio.”
She sighs. “I am. But I’m nervous.”
I cup her cheek. “Why?”
“How did they find us? Was it Lucas that broke in? Someone else? What does he want other than my life?” Her words tumble over one another.
I shake my head at her. “Have some faith. You think I haven’t been working behind the scenes?”
“What do you know?”
My face crinkles into a frown. “It was Lucas that orchestrated both break-ins. But he wasn’t actually there for either of them.”
“As for how he knew where to find us?”
Now I smile. “I have a theory.”
