“Yes, I do.”
My skeptical gaze returns to Dante’s.
“There’s nothing Tom wouldn’t have dropped to get back to you if you needed him.”Dante breathes out, fanning the hair next to my ear.“When that shit happened in high school with Verity?”
“Yeah?”I flinch, remembering how torn apart I was.Tom came home immediately and stayed up late watching movies with me, getting me ice cream and chocolates, making me laugh even through the tears.
“Tom had been working on this girl for months to go out with him.He finally wore her down and then canceled on her to be with you.”Dante adjusts me on his lap.“It may not seem like much, but to him, that was going to be his grand finale of the semester.That girl didn’t talk to him when he came back.”
“So he missed out on getting laid?That doesn’t sound like a big deal.And if she actually liked him, she would have forgiven him.”
“Maybe it’s a Tom thing, but this date was big on his to-do list.He set up this fantastic date that would show her that he was the one she should be with.”Dante chuckles low and runs his fingers up my arm, leaving a little wave of sparks in his wake.“To Tom, that was the most important thing, but you trumped that.”
I don’t know.It sounds pretty fucking weak.“Maybe.”
“It’s those types of things that make Tom our friend.If I needed someone to save me from a date my uncle set me up on, Tom would help by either faking an emergency or sometimes by taking the girl.Nothing gives a girl a good time more than another man wanting her attention.”Dante’s touch is soft and soothing.Again, Tom gets laid.I’m sensing a pattern.
But I also know how I feel at this moment.
“I don’t know that I can forgive him.”I let the chill race down my spine as those words settle inside me.“I’m never going to feel safe again.Someone broke into our home, destroyed my stuff.I was kidnapped and sure, it was probably the politest kidnapping ever, but it still left a mark.I didn’t even know if Peabody was safe.”
“I’m not denying that, pip.”Dante tips my chin so our eyes meet.“But it’s okay if you want to forgive your brother.What he did might never be made right, but that doesn’t mean you have to be mad at him forever.”
I breathe him in.Dante grounds me.He protects me, and if he thought Tom would continue to hurt me, he would cut Tom out of our lives for good.But he also knows that to me, family is everything.And that at some point, I’ll need to forgive Tom to move on and Dante will help me with that.
My heart fills and I press my forehead to his.“I love you, boss.”
“I love you.”His words are soft and he just holds me like that for a moment.My heart thrums a little harder because this man loves me.Dante could have anyone, and he wants me.He loves me.
Finn squeezes my hand, and when I turn, Natasha is watching me and Dante.Drew gives a little nod.Wyatt and Tom haven’t come back in.I glance out the window, but they’re almost too far away to see.
I clear my throat and look at Natasha.“Did you ask Tom about Verity and Wyatt?”
Natasha grasps her pendant necklace and slides it back and forth.Her gaze drops to her lap.“Not yet.”
I shake my head.“Are you scared to face reality?Afraid to find out who you really married?Who you’re having a baby with?”
She glances out the window and sighs.
“Your relationship won’t work if you don’t know who he is.He isn’t always going to be your hero and whisk you away when Daddy does something bad.”I straighten on Dante’s lap.“It’s not all bad, but some of it is.You know what your father did to me.Maybe it’s time to stand up and figure out what your husband did to me and his friends.And why we’re all so angry at Tom right now.”
Dante lifts me to stand.I glance over my shoulder at him and he rises and places his hands on my hips.“I think maybe a little space is needed.”
Finn rises and glances at Drew.
“I’ll stay with Natasha until Tom is back.”He gives them both a subtle nod and then winks at me.
“I’m safe here,” Natasha protests.
“Whatever they’re working out, they need to get through.”Finn smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.“Meaning you can’t go stomping in to save Tom.Now if it were me, I’d be making points with punches, but Wyatt uses his words.”
Natasha’s worried gaze goes to the window again.
“Here’s the thing.”I step a little closer to Natasha.“Tom will take care of himself.He always has, he always will.All we can hope for is he cares enough about us to make an effort to take care of us too.”
Her resigned, dark eyes lift to mine.“I’ll ask him.”
“Good.”
