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I recall the rally from the other night when they thought something bad had happened and came together to find me, and I nod.
“And you’re happy here.” He runs a finger down my cheek. “Comfortable. As large and with as many amenities as my house has, this feels more like a home than any building I own.”
“You’d move in, too?”
“Of course. Where you and Jinx go, I go. You’re my family now.”
I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. Four simple words, sweet and painful to hear. I want to reject his words because they shouldn’t fill me with such light after living in darkness for so long, but I also want to clutch them close.
“What about protection? You have more guards than I can house.” I nibble my lip, worrying how everyone will cause the neighbors to react.
“We’ll work something out. What’s more important is you don’t have to put yourself or Jinx in danger to get here when you need a respite.”
“Okay,” I whisper, knowing I’m not saying it for solely Jinx’s benefit.
“Good.” Sansone kisses my shoulder. “I’ll pick up Jinx and give you the rest of the day to yourself. Aurelio will be here for your protection, but you can always call me. Or text. Even if you have nothing to say.” He moves to press his mouth against my neck. “I’ll bring dinner.”
“Okay…”
Sansone brushes his lips against mine, and the soft caress goes on for an eternity until I open and lick the seam of his mouth.
He groans before pulling away. “We don’t have time to take this where I want to go. Do what you need, and we’ll meet later tonight.”
When he departs, he leaves his presence behind. Although he wasn’t here long, my home feels like it’s also his. The kicker is before his arrival, I could have regrouped and faced off with him again, willing and able to fight against his insistence. But that was before. Before his quiet acceptance. It would be one thing if all his posturing is from blind willfulness, but no one has better eyesight than he does. At least, not when it comes to me.
And now that I’ve tasted it, can I ever do without again?
CHAPTER 21
Sansone
Walking away from Zakiya when she is vulnerable and sexy in that gown should put me in the running for sainthood. Saint Sansone, what a joke. I rarely have holy thoughts, especially concerning Zakiya, but putting her needs above mine is an easy decision to make.
I wait for Jinx in the parent pick-up line. When she comes out, she bypasses my car, probably looking for Zakiya. I exit the vehicle and call out to my daughter.
She hugs her toy tight to her chest, a sign today wasn’t an easy one for her. She spots me and runs into my legs, slamming me against the car in her eagerness to get to me. I awkwardly hug her to my side, the first real one I’ve given her since she moved in with me. I wait for a sign that she doesn’t welcome my touch. Instead of rebuffing me, she squeezes my legs harder.
“Mio angioletto, tell Papa what’s wrong, and I’ll make sure whoever made you sad doesn’t do it again.” I rub her shoulders to coax her into giving me something.
After a few minutes, a parking monitor approaches and begins to tell me to move. One glare from me shuts him up andcauses him to speed walk away. Jinx releases me and enters the car where she straps herself into her seat.
“Want to tell me about your day?” I try again to discover what prompted her greeting, but she shakes her head.
Her reaction isn’t unusual considering she doesn’t volunteer a lot of information. But something else seems at play here. Is her refusal to speak in this instance because a child isn’t involved? Looks like I’ll need to have words with Dr. Jakob despite not knowing if an incident occurred. All I need to open a can of whoop-ass on anyone is to see Jinx behave the way she is now.
She buries her face in the soft fur of her stuffed bear.
Yeah, someone at that school will be seeing me in person.
I gain her attention. “Angioletto, before we meet your sign language tutor, I have a stop I’d like to make.” Then I utter the words with the secret sauce to get any kid excited. “It’s a surprise.”
Although she has a sign language coach provided by the school, they only follow lesson plans. They are also supposed to advocate for her to help with her participation. The private tutor teaches her to actually use the language. Already, she shows she retains everything Tácito taught her.
Jinx’s eyes widen, and her hold on the bear lessens. She signs the simple question, “What?”
I tease her with a smile. “You’ll have to be patient and see.” I direct my driver to a new destination to fulfill the promise I made Jinx earlier.
We arrive at a residential home, and I take my daughter to meet the owner. She is an older woman who could put that Mr. Murphy in his place given the way they so casually address me. Jinx seems not to mind as we enter. Once inside, my daughter completely forgets my presence.
