“Bianca took care of Kyle’s aunt during her last days when she worked for the facility in Portland,” Gio explained.
“She left me a house.”
“What?” Frankie squeaked, rushing to read over Camilla’s shoulder.
“Why didn’t she leave Kyle the house... or his brother?” Angelica asked.
“She hated Kyle,” Bianca said. “She said he was an entitled prick. And as far as his brother, I don’t know.”
“Is this for real?” Frankie asked. “You should have a lawyer look at it.”
“I can have Mack go through it,” I offered.
“That’d be great, Gio,” Bianca said. “I don’t really know what to do with all of this.”
“Well, you’re staying away from Kyle for a start, right?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Um, yes. Absolutely.”
“I’m starving,” Frankie declared. “Can we please eat?”
Camilla handed Gio the paperwork and the drama was forgotten, at least until the women saw my ring. Then congratulations were in order, and lots of female squeals filled the room as I had the chance to show off my ring.
The rest of the evening was everything I’d ever dreamed of, reveling in the love of sisters I’d never had and the love of a mother I’d lost long ago.
Razor
IT HAD BEEN three days since I proposed to Waverly, three days since she’d found out about Cupid’s escape and her nervous system was on the verge of overload. Even the look of pure happiness on her face couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes. At first, she tried to hide her ‘moments of panic’ from me, saying she didn’t want me to think she wasn’t happy about our engagement. But soon those moments turned to full on panic attacks, and those, she couldn’t hide. I knew one of them would soon bring me to my breaking point.
I’d run out to the Plaid Pantry near Waverly’s place to get her some orange juice and a packet ofchocolate Yum Yums. She’d barely eaten anything in the past seventy-two hours, and this was the only breakfast I could talk her into, so I was counting it as a win, especially considering it wasn’t Cheetos and wine. I also grabbed some Pedialyte and the least bruised pieces of fruit from the basket next to the cashier in hopes that I could get some nourishment into her once she was feeling a little better. I’d only been gone for fifteen minutes, but that was long enough for Waverly to suffer her worst panic attack yet.
I’d barely made it through the front door when I saw Waverly falter. She was standing near the entryway, her knees beginning to buckle and her eyes rolling back into her head. Within a split second I dropped the groceries, catching her as she went down, but only just. I carried her to her sofa, setting her down gently. Her face had turned an alarming shade of gray and her breathing was labored. I called her name three times before she finally answered me.
“Jesus,” I hissed. “Are you okay, baby?”
“What happened?”
“You passed out, sweetheart,” I replied, brushing the hair from her forehead. “You’re burning up. Wait right here.” I grabbed an ice pack from her freezer and wrapped it in a towel.
“That feels amazing,” Waverly moaned as I placed it on her forehead.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared in my whole life,” I said.
“I’m sorry. You were gone and I just startedthinking about Cupid and I tried to stop but I couldn’t, and—”
I kissed her. “Never apologize to me for how you feel. None of this is your fault. It’s his, and I’m going to personally make sure he can never get anywhere near you.”
“You have enough going on with the Spiders. You can’t fight every war.”
“If I have to choose between protecting you or fighting the Spiders, I choose you. Hatch has plenty of soldiers at his disposal, I only have one of you.” I kissed her again. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better. Thank you.”
“When you think you can sit up, I’ll pick up your breakfast from off the floor and get you fed.”
Once Waverly had eaten and I was sure she was okay, I stepped into her bedroom and called Hatch.
“Hey, brother,” he said after the first ring.
