“I…I’m so glad I met you.”
“And I you. But what’s this?” He cups my cheek as my mouth begins to tremble. “Have I upset you, little mouse? Would you rather I insist you stay here, my prisoner?”
I let out a watery laugh. “No, I—I’m justhappy.”
Whatever is going on between us…it’s real. It’s not someCute Crimsfantasy. It’s not at all what I thought it would be, and it’s not what Ifearedit would be that night he found me, curled up in a dusty cupboard.
“I’m happy too,tesoro mio,” he says softly. “Somehow—amidst all this bullshit piling up—I’ve found an island of happiness.” He falls back on the pillows with a groan, hand over his eyes. “Oh, no.”
“What is it?”
He begins to laugh, and I join him despite not knowing what the joke is yet. “Mamma,” he chuckles. “I hate to admit it, but…she was right. I needed someone.” He stops laughing, drops his hand, looks at me with a sense of wonder. “I neededyou, little mouse.”
I crawl onto him and we lie there cuddling for a long time, each thinking our own thoughts.
* * *
It’s late next morning when we finally emerge from the bedroom into the living area of his wing in Redwood Manor. I’ve dressed again in the clothes in which I arrived, and assured Alessandro that I’ll be gone from him one night—two at the most.
Then he hesitates, and my heart drops. “Why not make it a week,topolino?”
“Aweek?”
“You have been here with me now for one week,” he says calmly. “And the things that have happened to you here have been…difficult. I want you to stay away for another week, return to your own world, and see how you feel at the end of that. If you don’t want to come back—”
“I don’t want to leave in the first place,” I argue.
“—then I will understand. But I think it’s only fair to you that you take that week and really see if…” He lets out a sigh. “Besides, in a week, I will have cleaned up this mess in the Family. With you here, it’s hard to concentrate.”
I wish I believed him. A whole week away from him? I think I’ll die.
He looks down at me. “Our discussion last night reminded me: there are things I must do before I’m secure in my position—and can be certain that you will be safe with me.”
“Are you talking about Julian?”
“Julian, and others.”
“Jack?”
Alessandro’s lips press together, and I know I’ve pushed too far. “Let’s go down now, little mouse, and I’ll see you off.”
“But you need to give me a way to contact you,” I plead as he takes my hand to pull me on toward the door, “in case…in case I get more intel from myCute Crimscontacts in the meantime!”
“No.” He stops dead and takes my chin in his hand. “Listen to me, Teddy. This is a foolish game you’re playing, and I won’t allow it anymore. What if the Bernardis had found you that night, instead of me? You’d be long cold. When you get home, you will shut down that website completely. Yes, you will.” He grabs my shoulders and gives me a little shake at my frown. “Yes, Teddy. Promise me.”
“You don’t understand. It’s myjob.”
“Fine. I’ll pay you to shut it down—an allowance.”
“I’m nottwelve.”
“A stipend. My father used to give his women a stipend to live on. I’ll do the same for you.”
I don’t like that idea forseveralreasons. Top of the list is the fact that it makes me sound like I’ll be one of many, as far as Alessandro is concerned. “I don’t want your money,” I say stiffly. “And anyway,Cute Crimsearns me alot.”
“A million a year? Two? Name it, and it’s yours,” he tells me casually. I manage not to gasp. I didn’t meanthatkind of money. “But I don’t want you running that site, Teddy. And don’t you see, if you and I are—” He spreads his arms, shrugs. “You can’t be with me and also have that website. It’s a security risk.”
He’s touching on something we haven’t talked about, not really. We’ve danced around it, what we are to each other.
