The door to the balcony opens, and Sofia appears in front of me, beaming. “My mother no longer hates you. She simply distrusts you.”
“And that’s progress?”
“Yes.” She giggles as I take her in my arms. She immediately makes all of those bad feelings vanish.
“Having fun?”
She nods her head against my chest.
“Oh.” She looks up at me, her brown eyes shimmering. “Is it okay if Bianca stays for a while this summer?”
“As long as she isn’t as annoying as your brother and cousin, I see no problem with it.”
She smirks. “Those two are pretty annoying, aren’t they? Well, luckily for you, Max is too in love to visit for a long time, and Nick is depressed.”
“Depressed? Huh. I wouldn’t have guessed.”
“Recent breakup. He hides it well. Or at least, he hid it well when things were life-or-death.”
“As annoying as he is, I hope he gets things sorted out.”
“Me too.”
She steps back and sweeps her thick brown hair over her shoulder as the breeze hits us.
“You look so beautiful,” I say. She blushes, and I love that saying those words still has that effect on her. “I’m serious. Doyou know how happy you made me a few moments ago just by stepping out on this balcony?”
She plants a quick kiss on my lips. “You’re turning into such a sap.” Her tone is teasing, but I can tell she feels the same way from the look on her face. “Sometimes I wonder if you became possessed by a friendly demon during this whole kidnapping scheme, because who you are now is nothing like how you were in the days surrounding our wedding.”
“You’re upgrading me from ghost to demon? That’s good. Puts more fear into our enemies.”
My arms are around her too tight for her to get away, but she arches her back so she can look up into my eyes. “Friendlydemon.”
I laugh and pull her back in, wanting to keep her out here all to myself rather than sending her back in to her party. I don’t even care if that’s selfish of me. The words Sofia said a moment ago make me reflect on how I’ve been acting—how I’ve been feeling. And she’s right. I’m not myself.
And that’s undeniably for the best.
I don’t think I ever understood what it’s like to feel at home before. I thought I felt that when I was safely sheltering myself from the world in isolation. But that wasn’t home. It was a temporary hiding place. With Sofia, it doesn’t matter where I physically am. Knowing that she’s in the same room with me gives me a comforting, homey feeling.
She’s my family now.
And that will only expand in the coming years.
I can only hope that I provide the same happiness to her as she does to me. I look to my left towards the party, at the great number of people that all love Sofia. It’s not jealousy that hits me; I’m happy she has these people in her life. It’s fear. Knowing that she’s literally all that I have. While I have close relations with some of my capos and soldiers, it’s not the same.
“What is it?” she asks.
I return my attention to her and force a smile. “It’s nothing.”
Her eyes narrow. “Nope. You’re going to tell me what’s going on with that look on your face. I told you how I felt about being in the dark all the time with my family’s business.”
She thinks I’m nervous about our enemies or money or something more mundane than what I’m actually feeling. “You’re all that I have.”
Her eyes grow misty, and she buries her head in my chest. “I’m sorry about Elena.”
“It’s not even Elena necessarily. I feel better after receiving that letter.”
“Then what is it?”
