Chapter Fifteen #2
What he doesn’t do is let go of my foot.
“Okay,” Stefano says, “I have Luca bringing over wool socks, gloves, and sweaters. Come on, little Don. Let’s get home and warm the house before your mama gets there.”
“All right, Steffy.” Livy looks back at me. “I’ll see you guys at home. Take care of my mama, Mav.”
“Only if you take care of my brother.”
“Deal,” she says, holding out her hand.
Maverick takes it with his free hand and shakes it once.
Then he kisses the back of her hand.
Livy’s eyes narrow. “That’s not how you make a deal with all the other people, is it?”
“No,” he says with a soft chuckle. “I don’t kiss their hands.”
“Good. That’s just for me.”
“Only you, piccola,” he promises.
Livy seems satisfied with that.
Stefano shifts her higher in his arms. “Come on, Don Livy. Let’s go boss around Luca.”
Her tired smile appears. “Finally. Someone understands my needs.”
The nurse steps forward and checks my toes, then my fingers. I told them earlier about my Raynaud’s, so she already knows why they’re pale.
“I think you’ll be fine,” she tells us. “Just get them warmed up as soon as you can.”
“I will,” I promise. “I just need to destress in a hot bath. That usually helps.”
She nods, gives Maverick one last look like she’s deciding whether he’s going to be a problem, then leaves.
The door clicks shut behind her.
“Livy’s taking over your empire,” I tell him once we’re alone.
His mouth curves.
“Everything I have is at her feet, bella. And yours.”
My smile fades before I can stop it.
“Maverick, I don’t want her involved in things that could hurt her.”
His expression changes instantly.
The softness stays.
The amusement does not.
“Never, Amelia.”
The word is quiet but absolute.
“The darker side of my life will never touch either of you.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Yes,” he says. “I can.”
I look at him, throat tight. “Maverick.”
“Olivia can Don her way around the Palm Springs estate because everyone there is family, and I trust them with my life.” His hand closes gently around mine. “But nothing else touches her. No business. No violence. No debts. No blood.”
My chest aches.
“You have my word,” he says.
I want to believe him.
That’s the problem.
I want it so badly.
“And me?” I ask softly.
His thumb brushes over my knuckles.
“You’re harder,” he admits.
I blink. “That’s comforting.”
“It’s honest.” His eyes hold mine. “I can keep Olivia away from that part of my life. I can build walls around her. I can make sure the people near her would die before letting anything happen to her.”
A shiver moves through me.
“But you?” His voice lowers. “You already know enough to be afraid. You already stand close enough to see the cost. I will not spend our lives keeping you in the dark if you don’t want to be there.”
“That sounds like a warning.”
“It is.”
I pull in a shaky breath.
Maverick lifts my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss against my cold fingers.
“But I swear to you, Amelia. If you choose me, I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret it.”
My eyes burn.
“And if I don’t choose you?”
His expression softens.
“I’ll still protect you.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No,” he says. “It isn’t.” His thumb brushes over my knuckles. “So it stands to reason that you should choose me. Choose us.”
The words settle deep.
I look at this impossible man sitting beside me, holding my cold hand like it’s something precious. Like I’m something precious.
And maybe I should be scared.
Maybe I am.
But not of him.
Never of him.
“I already have,” I admit softly.
His eyes still.
“I made that decision when you were feeding me spaghetti last week.”
For one breath, he says nothing.
Then his mouth curves.
“Spaghetti?”
“It was very persuasive.”
“Rosa will be pleased to know her cooking helped secure my future.”
“Don’t give her all the credit. You did say some decent things too.”
“Decent?”
“You’re fishing for compliments.”
“I’m starving for them, bella.”
A laugh slips out of me, small and shaky.
His smile fades.
“I’m sorry about your sanctuary, baby,” he says softly. “I’m sorry about your animals.”
My throat closes.
“Livy can never find out Billie was burned alive,” I tell him. “She can never know that, Maverick.”
“She won’t,” he promises.
“I couldn’t let her out.” My voice breaks. “I knew she would attack the first person she came across.”
“She would have attacked you the moment you opened the cage,” he tells me.
“Maybe.”
“No,” he says. “Not maybe. She was scared. Hurt. Surrounded by fire. And blind to it all. You opening that cage would have put you both in danger.”
I close my eyes.
“I told Livy to stay inside. I told her not to leave the house no matter what she heard.” A sob claws up my throat. “She almost died because of me.”
Maverick goes still.
Then his hand comes to my face, gentle but firm enough to make me look at him.
“No.”
“Maverick.”
“No, Amelia. Listen to me.” His voice drops into that quiet place that makes people obey before they think about it. “You told your daughter to stay where you believed she was safest.”
“The house exploded.”
“After you left it.”
“She listened to me.”
“Because she trusts you.”
The words hurt worse than blame would have.
Tears spill down my cheeks.
“I should have taken her outside with me.”
“To a burning barn? To panicked horses? Smoke? Fire? Falling beams?” His jaw tightens. “You made the best choice with what you knew.”
“It was wrong.”
“It became wrong because someone made it wrong.”
I stop breathing for a second.
His eyes harden.
“Someone set those fires. Someone turned your home into a trap. That guilt belongs to them, not you.”
I want to believe him.
God, I want to.
“I’m her mother,” I whisper. “It’s my job to keep her safe.”
“And you did.”
My laugh comes out broken. “She was carried out of a burning house.”
“She’s alive.” His thumb brushes a tear from my cheek. “Because you called me. Because Foster ran in. Because she stayed low. Because she listened. Because every choice you made before that moment taught her how to survive.”
My chest shakes.
“I’m so tired.”
“I know, baby.”
“I don’t know how to fix any of this.”
“You don’t have to fix it tonight.”
That makes me cry harder.
Because I always have to fix it.
Everything.
Every bill.
Every broken fence.
Every scared animal.
Every hard question from my daughter.
Maverick pulls me against his chest.
For one second, I resist.
Then I fold completely.
His arms close around me.
“Tonight,” he says against my hair, “you breathe. You get warm. You let me carry what you cannot.”
“Who would do something like this?”
“I don’t know.”
His lips press to the top of my head.
“But I promise you…I will find out.”