“Deal?”
“I’m going to kill you the minute you have that baby. I swear.”
“Threats will get you nowhere. I’m hanging up now.”
Way to mess up a girl’s steam. “Wait! Okay, one pound cake and five banana nut bread loaves.”
Zoey squealed. “Awesome. He’s about to leave and head home. He was just checking in with Dominic. Remember your promise. Loveyabye!”
She disconnected before Kalinda could threaten her with more bodily harm. Now she had baking to do when she hadn’t even had to go anywhere. She really wanted to punch that girl. Seriously.
“Are we going somewhere?”
Kalinda looked over at Silva. “It seems the target is heading here. All we have to do is wait.”
“Well, boo. You catch steam when you have to go get someone. Now you’ll calm down by the time he gets here.”
Kalinda wasn’t so sure about that.
She’d messed up baking, couldn’t remember her orders, and had been roped into making more. She figured she could use all that as fuel to stoke the fire. Not that she was pissed at him, of course. She just didn’t want his habit of making things about everyone else to take root to the point she never knew how he felt.
She knew Romano could be in pain, depressed, or hurt, and he wouldn’t tell her if he thought it would stress her out or worry her. Kalinda didn’t want things to be like that. It wouldn’t be fair for him to take all of her shit and then not be taking care of himself. He’d have to stand beside her while she challenged the Trinity, ran her business, and navigate the new world of her powers, all while maintaining what he did for his pack and the Family. They needed to share this, or it wouldn’t work.
It didn’t take much time for him to show up. He came in like he always did, his nostrils flaring as he scanned the house for scents, and then his gaze sought her. Kalinda smiled at him, deceptively hiding what was about to happen. He came to her, a ready smile on his lips, and took her in his arms to kiss her. Right before their lips touched, she figured it was as good a time as any.
“Do you love me?”
Silva, the minx, sat to the side, wide-eyed and unabashed in her attention of the conversation.
Adorably, Romano went red, the blush spanning up his neck and across his cheeks. “Where did that come from?”
“That isn’t answering the question, mate.”
He cleared his throat. “I’m not sure why you’re asking.”
He wouldn’t meet her gaze now, and she didn’t like it. She gripped his chin and turned his head. Considering his strength, it wasn’t lost on her he could have ignored the pressure and kept his head to one side, so she appreciated he didn’t do that to her.
“Does it matter?”
“Look—”
Before he could start some asinine excuse or dance around the topic, she spoke. “No more putting everyone first. You deserve it too, Romano. Let me do this, for once.”
His smile was hot, filled with sexual promise and memories. She heated up just seeing it. “We could recreate that night, if you’d like.”
“Including the ‘love you’?”
He sighed. “You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
“What does it change, Kalinda? I could answer, and you and I both already know what I’d say. But will it make things different? Will it make you love me? You know, and that’s all that matters. And maybe, one day, when you’re ready, we’ll be at a place we can talk about it.”
Or. Not. He wasn’t getting off that easily. Romano didn’t know how to put himself first. She’d never truly realized how selfless he was, under the comedy and jovial personality, until recently. Even in the quiet moments, or when he was in protection mode, he was constantly thinking of other people and working that way.
She watched him for a moment and realized he believed what he was saying. He never expected anything he gave would be reciprocated. His relationship with everyone, even those who supported him and called him friend, made a part of him sit back and wait for it all to end, for it to just go away and he’d be alone—again.
How she hadn’t realized how deep this went made her feel ignorant. Like she hadn’t been paying enough attention when all the answers where there, right in front of her.
