38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Mialina
Every instinct in me revolts against being ordered around by Maximo.
Normally I would have several arguments ready, but all I can think about is Ari and the distance between us.
The three Romero men are far too close to her, and the fact that Maximo considers it a problem worries me.
I get he wants me to stay where he thinks it’s safe, but I can’t wait around here when my sister is in danger. She’s fourteen, and Mamma trusted me to look after her.
“I’m going with you,” I declare, trying to put as much steel into my voice as I can. It still comes out more trembly than I’d like.
Maximo’s gaze holds mine for one brutal second. He’s probably deciding whether arguing with me is worth the time.
Apparently it isn’t. That alone can’t be a good sign.
We outnumber the Romero men easily, yet nobody around me is acting as though that’s reassuring. Then again, we’re not the ones closest to Ari. They are.
“You do not leave my sight,” he says. “And if I give an order, you follow it. Understood?”
I nod, just wanting to get to my sister, and Maximo is the one person who seems to know what to do.
Apparently satisfied, he heads into the alley without waiting. Two guards move ahead of him, sweeping the narrow passage while another remains close at his shoulder.
I look back once to make sure Paolo is with Sienna. Only then do I follow, two guards closing in around me.
The alley is narrower than I expected, with several smaller passages branching off on either side. Ari disappeared down one of them. Which one, though?
“Ari?” I call sharply.
There’s no answer. My heartbeat kicks harder.
The guards spread out, checking side alleys, dumpsters, and service entrances as they advance. One reports to Maximo before moving on.
“She wouldn’t go far,” I say, more to myself than anyone else. “Not intentionally.”
Maximo scans everything around us before crouching near the ground.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
His fingers brush against something in the snow. Small paw prints, with larger footprints following after them.
“A cat,” he says flatly.
I almost laugh. Ari went after a cat. Of course she did.
My youngest sister has never met a stray animal she didn’t immediately decide was her personal responsibility. Given half a chance, she’d fill the estate with anything willing to accept her affection.
Maximo rises smoothly. “She went deeper in.”
We move quickly, following the tracks, while an icy wind funnels through the narrow space.
Then I hear her.
“No, no, it’s okay,” Ari murmurs somewhere ahead. “I’m trying to help you.”
Relief crashes through me so abruptly it almost makes my knees weak. Without thinking, I reach for Maximo’s hand and squeeze.
“Ari,” I call, hurrying toward the sound of her voice.
A second later, we round the corner behind another building and find her crouched beside a stack of wooden pallets. Beneath them, a small gray cat shivers against the cold while Ari attempts to coax it out.
The cat hisses, and Ari murmurs something soothing in response.
Seeing my sister with my own eyes, I press my palm to my heart, willing it to slow down now that we’ve found her.
“Ari,” I say again, and she looks up guiltily.
I rush to her side, pulling her against me.
“Oh my God, bug, you can’t just run off in the middle of downtown Chicago!” I say, holding her a little tighter.
“The cat’s hurt,” she replies, as if that would explain everything.
“You scared ten years off my life when you disappeared.”
She isn’t listening to me, her focus on the cat that’s hissing weakly. There’s blood on one of its paws.
Ari’s face crumples. “I think someone kicked her.”
Maximo steps forward, and the cat retreats deeper beneath the pallets.
“Don’t scare her,” Ari says anxiously.
Maximo pauses. Then, to my complete surprise, he crouches.
The movement is controlled and deliberate, his attention fixed on the trembling animal. For a man who commands rooms just by entering them, he seems remarkably careful not to take up too much space.
Well, that’s new.
“She’s frightened,” Ari says.
“Yes,” he agrees, his voice lowered, while the cat watches him with huge, wary eyes.
For a moment none of us speaks. The wind rattles something metallic overhead while melting snow drips from a pipe nearby.
Maximo removes one of his gloves and slowly extends his hand. The cat flinches but doesn’t bolt.
Ari looks stunned. Frankly, I’m right there with her.
Maximo studies the animal before his attention settles on the injured paw.
“Likely glass,” he says.
“You can tell that from here?”
“Yes.”
My eyebrows climb. It seems Don Maximo collects skills the way normal people collect hobbies.
Architecture, urban planning, kidnapping prevention, injured stray cats. It all goes together, doesn’t it?
His eyes lift to Ari. “You frightened your sisters.”
Ari’s shoulders droop. She lowers her eyes, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Sorry,” she murmurs, still not looking at us.
“You do not leave your sisters again.”
There’s no anger in his voice, only quiet command. Somehow that feels far more serious than shouting ever could.
Ari nods once. “I won’t.”
Maximo studies the narrow gap beneath the pallets before his gaze shifts to me.
“Go around the other side,” he tells me.
I frown, already getting to my feet. “Why?”
“Because if the cat panics, she’ll run away from you.”
I stare at him. “Are we seriously conducting a tactical operation involving a cat?”
“Mia.” The warning in his voice sends me moving before I can argue further.
I circle the pallets while Maximo crouches closer to the other side. The cat retreats deeper into the shadows, but this time there’s nowhere left for it to go.
“Easy,” Maximo says quietly.
The animal hisses, but Maximo doesn’t so much as blink as he reaches beneath the pallets. His hand closes on the loose skin at the back of the cat’s neck while the other slides beneath its body. The cat freezes in surprise and lets out an offended noise at being lifted into the open.
“Got you,” Maximo murmurs.
He unwinds the dark scarf from around his neck and wraps it around the shivering animal. The cat instantly burrows into the folds.
Ari makes a tiny sound that suggests she’s moments away from adopting Maximo as well.
“She’ll be warmer like this,” he says, transferring the bundled cat into her arms.
Ari accepts it with the reverence of someone receiving a priceless treasure.
She cuddles the bundled cat against her chest, smiling down at it as though Christmas came ten months early.
Maximo watches her for a moment, still crouched beside her, one gloveless hand resting on his knee.
He smiles softly. It makes him look so gentle, so different from the man I keep telling myself he is.
My eyes suddenly sting, and I blink hard to stop tears from welling up.
Maximo notices and his smile disappears, replaced by a frown.
He tilts his head, silently asking what’s wrong. Somehow that makes everything worse, and the pressure behind my eyes builds.
Dammit. Don’t cry.
Why am I suddenly so emotional?
It’s the adrenaline crash. It has to be.
I turn away before he can see any more.
A lump rises in my throat. I try to swallow it, but it’s too stubborn and won’t budge.
I focus on the alley. The snow. The dumpsters. Anything except the warmth spreading through my chest at the sight of Maximo crouched beside my sister, taking care of an injured stray because it matters to Ari.
A second later he moves closer, though he’s not touching me.
He’s just there, solid and steady.
For reasons I refuse to examine, I want to let myself lean back against him.