“I know. That’s why I’m asking, so I can make arrangements for the flight.”
I shake my head, my chin quivering. “I don’t have a passport.”
“That’s not a problem.” His eyes remain locked with mine. “I smuggle things for a living. It will be easy getting you in and out of Belgium.”
A tiny seed of hope sprouts in my chest. “Please. At least then I can say goodbye to her.”
“Okay.” Adriano gives me another kiss on the forehead. “Leave it all to me.”
“Thank you.” As a tear trickles down my cheek, I try to tell myself to be careful and to hold on tight to my heart, but figuratively speaking, it’s already in Adriano’s palm.
Adriano
I’ve made tomato soup and grilled cheese for a late lunch,thinking Laurie can do with some comfort food.
After setting everything down on the island, I take a seat beside my wife and place my hand on her back. “Eat,mia piccola farfalla.It will help you feel a little better.”
Laurie looks at the food, then gives me a vulnerable smile. “Thank you.” I watch as she takes a bite. “It’s tasty.” She pauses for a moment, then adds, “I love how you’re able to make meals from scratch. I’d like to learn sometime.”
I nod, and when she eats more, I turn my attention to my soup and grilled cheese.
Between bites, I can’t tear my gaze away from Laurie. She looks fucking vulnerable, and it’s only made me feel insanely protective of her.
When I got home, and she cried like that in my arms, my heart all but stopped dead in my chest.
“I wish I could carry this grief for you so you don’t have to,” I say.
Laurie’s red-rimmed eyes drift over my face, and she gives me a look I can’t place. Reaching for me, her fingers fold around some of mine, and she grips me so tight her knuckles turn white.
The small gesture tells me a lot. She needs me to keep her standing right now.
I didn’t know much about Elise. Only that she was a graphic designer, twenty-six, unmarried, and Laurie’s been friends with her for four years.
It would kill me to lose any of my friends, so I can imagine the heartache Laurie must be feeling.
“I’m here,mia piccola farfalla,” I murmur. “You are not alone in this.”
She stares at me for a long moment, and when a tear escapes, I lean forward and catch it with my lips before pressing a kiss to her mouth.
Laurie’s arm shoots up, and she grips the back of my neck, her heavenly blue gaze staring deep into mine. “Thank you, Adriano.”
“It’s nothing.”
I tuck a few strands of her silky hair behind her ear, and feeling the powerful bond we share drawing us closer together, I cup the back of her head when she closes the distance between our faces.
Slowly, I nip at her lips, the kiss tender because I know it’s what my butterfly needs. Wanting her much closer, I grab her hips and lift her from the stool to place her on my lap again. When I engulf her with my body, my heart feels some peace.
I feel as she slips into the trance I weave around her and brush my hand over her hair. I knead her lips with mine, my tongue sweeping through her mouth with lazy strokes.
This is where I want to keep her until the worst of her grief has lessened.
I swear, time has lost all meaning since I laid eyes on Laurie. Days. Weeks. Months. Years. It feels like I’ve known her all my life. Like somehow she was there from the day I was born, and she’ll be at my side when I die.
When I finally pull an inch back, and our breaths mingle, I watch as her eyes drift open. For a moment, there’s only a dreamy look of awe, but then slowly, the grief trickles back.
I brush some hair away from her forehead and whisper, “Eat,mia piccola farfalla. You need your strength.”
She sits back down again, and while we finish our late lunch, my thoughts turn to the fuckers I put the fear of God into earlier today.
