Drake took his shot and sank it, making me mutter obscenities at him in Italian, which only made him chuckle softly.
“Quite,” Matteo replied as Drake sank another shot.
I might end up a thousand down tonight.
“He’s allowed to, right?” Alessandro pressed.
“He is,” Matteo answered softly. “It’s simply unusual.”
“He seems happy,” Alessandro commented.
I grunted at that and caught Matteo’s eye. He gave me a quick nod, letting me know we were on the same page and that we’d definitely be looking out for our brother.
“You didn’t haveto do this,” Indigo said, frowning down at the opened gift on her lap later that evening.
“I know I didn’t,” I replied, staring into her pretty blue eyes. “I wanted to.”
“Well, you don’t need to bring me a gift each time you come to see me. In fact, you don’t need to take time out of your day to come see me.” Her cheeks flushed pink at her words.
I frowned, not liking them.
“Why would I not want to come see you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Why do you want to?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that because, really, why did I come to visit her? I didn’t need to, I knew that, yet here I was.
She stared back at me, so much innocence on her face that it made my heart clench.
“I come because I care,” I said, deciding it was a truth that needed to be said.
“What does that mean?”
“Indigo, it means I give a shit, and I want to see you. I enjoy our time together. Can you accept that?”
A tiny smile teased the corner of her lips.
“If I must.” She lifted the book out of the box on her lap. “How did you know I like fairytales?”
“Good guess.” I smiled at her. “If you can believe that.”
“I think I could pretend.” The smile erupted on her face this time.
I shook my head, smiling at her. Truth be told, Indigo was a sweet, charming girl. I knew she hid more than she spoke of, though, and if she were anything like her brother, then she was definitely sitting on a lot of secrets.
And maybe that was why I came to see her. She intrigued me. Maybe I wanted to know her secrets.
Lord knew I had enough of them. A lifetime living my life, and of course, I had many to store.
I didn’t have anyone to tell, though, which was disheartening. I used to go home to my wife and tell her about my day. She’d worry and admonish me, beg me to leave the life, but Matteo and Klaus were my brothers. I would never abandon them. Ever. Then she died on me. I lost the love of my life. I’d never found a woman who could rival her kindness, beauty, compassion...
Until now.
The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, and I immediately got to my feet and backed away.
“Where are you going?” she asked, frowning at me as she got to her feet. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” I shook my head and adjusted my collar. I had to get the hell out of there. “I, uh, I forgot about this thing I have to do for Matteo. He gets pissed if I neglect his orders. I’ll see you later.”
