“I-I don’t know how to tell you the rest,” I whispered. “I just…”
“She’s easy to love,” he said, his voice wobbling. “I get it.”
“Had I known you were alive, I would have never pursued her. I swear I wouldn’t have, but she has a hold on me. I’m choking on her, Constantino.” I swallowed hard and stared at him.
He said nothing. Instead, he turned his head so he was facing forward, a muscle ticking along his jaw.
“I will go to her tonight. I will end things. She will want you without a doubt. You’re her reason for breathing. She loves you so much, and misses you terribly.”
“Is she happy?” he asked, his voice low. “Is my girl happy?” He looked at me finally.
“She smiles,” I murmured. “She laughs now, but I know deep down she aches. She is the bravest and strongest person I’ve ever met. I admire her deeply. And I respect the love you two have for one another. I will step away.”
“She’s alone. I know Anson hasn’t taken her. Alessio told me about it all, at least what he knew,” he said. “I just… all I’ve ever wanted in my life was for her to be happy. To have her dreams. If you make her happy, Klaus, I want that for her.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, staring at him.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s single as far as anyone knows. I’m stuck here. I don’t even know if she’d want me considering the way I look now.”
“She will always want you,” I said fiercely. “She is not a superficial woman.”
He said nothing and looked down at his hands. “I am familiar with sharing my girl, Klaus. I know how it works.”
My heart banged hard against my chest.
“You would share her with me?”
“If it made her smile, I would do anything she asked of me,” he said, his voice laced with meaning. “It may take me time to get used to… you, but I think I could. In time. I’d need time.”
“I understand,” I said earnestly. “I would give you that.”
He smiled at me. “I don’t think you’re as bad a man as I’ve heard. You clearly give a damn about my girl and have kept her safe and happy. Bad men don’t do that.”
I said nothing, not wanting to deny my feelings, but not wanting to admit them because it meant a hell of a lot of things I wasn’t sure how to navigate.
Things I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
“Matteo says I’ll be able to leave soon. When I go, I’m taking her with me,” he said, cutting into my thoughts. “In time, you can come to us if it’s what she wants.”
“I appreciate that,” I said thickly. “Truly. It is more than I deserve.”
He said nothing as he stared at the TV, not really watching it, but not really paying attention to me either.
“She-She goes out dancing alone,” I said into the silence. “She is lonely. She hurts because of what Lorenzo and the horsemen did to her.”
“Watch her.” He looked over at me. “Please. If anything happened to her…” He raked his fingers through his messy black hair. “I-I just couldn’t. I want her out of this life, but you sort of complicate things.”
“I would leave for her.” The words fell from my mouth before I could stop them. Words I never thought I’d say. “For her, I would walk away without question.”
“Then maybe there is no problem.”
“Well, there is a problem. I do find myself confused. I am trying to fix things with my boys, and Matteo needs me while we go through everything?—”
He held up his hand to stop me.
“Klaus, I don’t need to hear excuses and reasons. It’s easier to make excuses than it is to make changes. Believe me, I know, but if you want her, tell her. Don’t hurt her. Cut her loose if you aren’t sure. Whatever it is, just be honest. Trust me when I say that life is easier once you make up your mind.”
I let out a soft huff of laughter. “I believe you.”
