“If that’s the case, he shouldn’t be here.” He drops his arms from his chest. “He should be home, with you.”
Warmth spreads through me. His eyes are still hard, fierce, but there’s something else under them. Understanding and compassion, maybe? If a man like him is truly capable of those emotions.
“Tony made Uncle Vicente Tommy’s guardian. Not me.” I grip the back of the chair tighter, wishing the bite of the wood into my palm would take some of the sting away, but it doesn’t.
“Why the hell would he do that? Vicente doesn’t even live in the States.”
“I’m positive it was my uncle’s doing. My brothers never—” I take a breath. “I wasn’t considered, is what I think. But Tommy gets to keep living here. And now I’m closer, so I can see him more often. And I can be part of his life now.”
I say this last part tentatively. Kaz can do the unthinkable right now if he wanted. He could forbid me from coming here again. He could lock me away in his brownstone and leave me to rot.
“This is how your uncle got you to agree to the marriage. He used the little boy as leverage.” There’s a heaviness to his words. His expression contorts back to anger.
“Did you think I was marrying you for love?” It’s meant to be a joke, but his eyes are stormy.
“He was afraid of me when he saw me. Why?”
“Have you seen yourself?” I laugh. “You’re enormous. Your neck and hands are covered in tattoos, and you didn’t exactly look like Santa Claus when you saw him.”
His left eyebrow arches sharply again. “I was surprised to see him.”
“Of course you were. And he was surprised to see you.”
“Does he know about Tony?”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “Tony rarely came here. Almost never. Tommy didn’t know him. Which is good. Tony wasn’t—” I stop myself.
Tony was my brother. A monster by every definition of the word, but still my blood. And this man standing here is supposed to be my enemy. He killed my brothers.
Yet he stands here in this kitchen with more concern for Tommy’s well-being than any of my flesh and blood relatives ever did.
“Tommy’s going to be fine without Tony. There’s no difference now that he’s dead.” I explain. “He’s still grieving for his mother, though. He misses her.”
Kaz nods, and I think I’ve comforted him with that admission. Could this big bad mobster actually feel some remorse over something?
“Vicente doesn’t give you problems for visiting him?”
“My uncle doesn’t care what happens to Tommy, so long as it gets me to do his bidding.”
Kaz narrows his eyes. “And what is his bidding? What has he told you to do now that you’re here?”
Tommy runs up the stairs and into the kitchen, skidding to a stop when he sees Kaz standing two feet away from him. His eyes go wide like saucers as he tilts his head back to look up at him.
When he finally turns to me, I’m able to sign to him that everything is fine.
“What are you saying to him?” Kaz asks.
“I’m telling him who you are.” I explain to Tommy that Kaz is my husband, his uncle now.
Tommy signs back that Kaz is too big. I laugh.
“What’s he saying?” Kaz asks, and he manages to keep his tone low. But even in the short time we’ve been together I’m getting to know his tells. He’s trying to be patient.
“He said you’re too big. Like a gorilla.”
He grunts. “I’m not that big.”
“You’re a full head taller than me, and to a little boy you’re basically a skyscraper.”
