“Niko. If you ever need anything, go to him. Tell him your name, he’ll help you.” He holds me tighter. “He knows Scar too. It’s the reason I saw her.”
“Is she with him?”
“No, they’re friends. I won’t put them in danger by telling you while we’re here, but if anything happens to me, I don’t leave with you, whatever—go to him. He’ll explain it all to you. You’ll get all my money and Scar is a trustee. She’ll make sure you know what to do.”
“You’re close to her?” I whisper.
“No, she’s the closest thing I had to you so I knew I could trust her. She’s still a bitch and she threw a drink in my face when I first saw her.”
That sounds exactly like my sister.
“Why?” I ask.
“Do you remember how she’d always tell us to shut up when we were playing?”
I nod.
“Then you’d always pick hairdresser when she agreed to play with us?” His smile touches my cheek. “You’d pull her hair, and if she’d complain you’d tell her to shut up? So when I saw her again, I pulled her hair and told her to shut up. But she didn’t recognize me.”
“You’re lucky you only got a drink in the face.”
He laughs lightly, slowly massaging down my ribs. “Are you sore, koukla mou?”
“A little.”
“If we weren’t here, being watched, I’d make you feel better.”
“How?”
I’m being an idiot, but I want his gentleness as I slowly trail my fingers up the back of his arm, keeping my body relaxed so it looks like we’re asleep.
“I’d run you a hot bath,” he whispers. “You always like the water to be scalding, and the bubbly shit that fizzes at the bottom.”
“A bath bomb?”
“Little violent, pretty girl.” He kisses my cheek as he remains hidden by the pillows. “We’d have a huge skylight above the tub so you can watch the stars while I wash your hair.” Another soft kiss, before he whispers even lower, “Then I’d put you in bed to check on our baby. They’re older now, but we’d still check on them every night to make sure they’re safe.”
Our baby.
He saidourbaby.
I push my face closer to his in an attempt to hide my tears from the cameras. There’s no more painful admissions as hesilently kisses my tears away. Just like Ghost did. They’re not something to be hidden or embarrassed about anymore; they exist and he accepts them without the need to berate me.
19
KANE
Three loud knocks hit the door as Lennox’s voice booms through. “Kane?”
I sit up, wiping the sleep from my eyes and instinctively hold my arm in front of Delilah as she does the same with the sheet at her chest. There’s no light in the room other than the small slivers filtering through the sides of the drapes drawn across the window.
I open the door, expecting him to walk away but he walks into the room, flicking on the lights, uncaring we’ve been in the dark and how it will hurt our eyes as he lowly warns, “Little shadow, don’t cause problems.”
There’s no one else in the hallway as he closes the door behind him before he takes his phone from his pocket. I can’t see through the privacy screen to work out what he’s doing until he tilts it, showing backdoor code in some security software.
There’s no lust or disrespect as he nods his head at Delilah and says, “Mrs. Xandros, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She glares at him as she hugs the sheet tighter. “I can say the same.”
