2 WEEKS LATER
We're sitting in the hospital waiting room. Briar, Grace's sister, has gone into labor today. Her giant Russian husband prowls the length of the corridor. He's been pacing nonstop for the past two hours.
Grace leans her head on my shoulder.
She's been quiet and contemplative lately. I understand it, so I don't question it. She's just taking time to digest everything that happened.
"Let's get something to drink," I say, squeezing her hand in mine.
“Okay.” She stands and glances at her eldest sister, Chloe, who's asleep on her husband's shoulder.
The doctors have said that since it's Briar’s first child, it will take several more hours. We've been camped in the waiting room for the past few hours.
"I can't wait to meet the baby," Grace says, her eyes sparkling as she looks at me.
My love for this woman hits me like a punch to the gut. The intensity of my feelings for her washes over me like tidal waves every once in a while.
I check the home security feed on my phone. My sister is sound asleep in bed. The only reason I left her there is because Enzo is watching over her. I notice a movement in Ida's bedroom that makes me stop in my tracks.
"What's wrong?" Grace asks, peering over at my phone.
"There's someone in Ida's room," I say, pointing at a dark corner in her bedroom. "Right there.”
"Um, isn't that Enzo?" she asks, tilting her head at the live footage.
"Oh." I frown as I watch him sit on the edge of her bed. "Right. It is him."
"You need to relax," Grace says. "Your sister is a strong woman. She'll be fine. Not to mention, Enzo's watching over her."
A strange feeling settles in my gut. I asked Enzo to watch over Ida, but I didn’t ask him to lurk in her bedroom while she slept.
"Do you think he likes her?" I blurt out.
"Oh, he's totally smitten with her," Grace replies. "I think he stopped breathing when he first saw her."
"I don't like this," I growl.
"Aw, look at you being a protective brother," she says, pinching my cheek. "You have nothing to worry about. Enzo is a stand-up guy."
"He can also be a stand-up guy outside my sister's bedroom," I say, trying to suppress the unrest that rises inside me. "I should call him. This is beyond inappropriate."
Grace snatches my phone away.
"Let them be," she says, hiding the phone behind her back. "They'd make a cute couple. Your sister likes him, too."
"Why am I just hearing about this?" I ask. "I never would have left the two of them together if I knew."
"Dante, you need to relax," she says. “They’re both adults and are capable of making their own decisions.”
She rests a hand over my cheek as she brushes her thumb between my eyebrows, smoothening the crease there.
Her face is so close to mine. I can count every dark eyelash that surrounds her almond eyes. I see the way she blushes as I tug her closer toward me.
"I need you," I say. "Now."
Her mouth pops open. She glances over my shoulder, where her family waits. I hold her wrist as I take her down the corridor. When we’re out of sight, I take her to the nearest janitor's closet. We're at a private hospital that takes very few patients, so nobody sees me as I drag my woman into the tiny room.
"On your knees, little girl," I say, unbuckling my belt. "Get it wet before I put it inside you."
