Page 143 of Alessio

They loved her.

She loved them.

That’s all that mattered.

She wished two other people were here, too.

“Here we are.”

The car rolled to a stop in front of an apartment complex that was decent, considering the area and location.

“And what am I here for?” she asked.

In the driver’s seat, Andino chuckled. “Well, you need a place to live, and your old apartment is gone.”

“Gone how?”

“Kev and Darren forced the girls’ into Siena’s care—not that she minded,” he added when Ginevra gave him a sharp look from the side. “But she has things to take care of with John, and starting their life, so I figured you would want the girls with you. The apartment is furnished, and ready for you to use.”

He leaned over and opened the glove compartment. There, he pulled out a manila envelope that looked to be two inches thick, or more. “Here—cash. It’ll take care of whatever else you and your sisters need for a time while we wait for Siena to settle out your brothers’ estates, which she has decided will be divided between you, and the girls.”

Ginevra swallowed hard, trying to take all that information in. “And how much is their estates worth?”

“A lot.”

Huh.

Did that mean she would go back to college? Buy a house? Could she pay for Greta’s college next year, or put Giulia into a private school? What did it mean?

Ginevra didn’t have the first clue, and she didn’t care to ask. She took the envelope, nodding as she said, “Thanks.”

“No worries. Least I can do.”

“No, you didn’t need to let me think I would have to marry you right until the last second, Andino.”

He made a noise under his breath, amused. “Everyone needed to believe the ploy. Even you, and I won’t apologize for it, either.”

“People aren’t pawns on a chessboard for you to move as you deem fit.”

“They are if it gives me what I want.”

Ginevra had the strangest urge to hit the man beside her because that might make her feel better if only for a second. “And what’s that, Andino? What you wanted, I mean.”

“A woman.”

His frank answered stunned her.

“A woman,” she echoed.

“And I got her,” Andino said, offering nothing else. “So, I care very little about what you or anyone else says about how I did this when I get to spend the rest of my life apologizing to her for the things I did … and trust she is the only person in this world I will apologize to, and mean it. As for you, the girls will be brought over by Siena later, and then you are free to do whatever.”

Go back to normal.

That’s what she would do.

Make sure her sisters were able to resume their normal life before all of this happened. It would be hard without their mother, and nothing would ever be the same, but that’s what she planned on doing. And somehow, amid that, try to get back to the men she left behind in Toronto.

Speaking of which …