Page 110 of Vega

Novi wiped her face with the back of her hand, then smoothed her palm over the front of her leggings.

My hands tightened around the car keys. That protective feeling came back. I wanted to walk over there, hold her, and make the world give her a break. And that was exactly why I needed to be careful. Novi didn’t need a man with his heart split between a dead woman’s grief and an ex he couldn’t stop thinking about.

I watched her lower herself beside Kash’s grave, one hand still resting lightly against her stomach.

She deserved clean and pure intentions. Right now, mine weren’t. So, I stayed by the car and gave her space. I decided then that whatever I felt starting to form around Novi, I wasn’t going to chase it.

Not while she was grieving, and not while I was still haunted by Arielle. Not while I couldn’t tell the difference between wanting to protect her and wanting her to make me forget what I had already lost.

TWO WEEKS LATER

20

VEGARRO “VEGA” MORETTI

Two weeks later, Sonnet sat at the island with a book open in front of her while I cooked. She had one elbow on the counter, her chin resting in her palm, and those glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. Every now and then, her eyes went from the page to the skillet, making me feel like I was being graded.

“Don’t judge my food,” I warned.

Her eyes lifted, innocent as hell. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You don’t have to. Your eyes are saying it all.”

“I’m simply observing.” She smiled and looked back at her book. That smile still did too much to me.

After Roman’s men found the general area of the last house, I moved her to my personal residence. This property sat farther out, tucked behind private land, shell companies, trusts, and enough paperwork that kept my name from anywhere near it. If Roman found this one, Roman was the CIA.

My leg still hurt like a bitch. Each time I put pressure on it, pain shot through my thigh. I kept my stance wider than usual and favored the other leg. The hood doctor had cleaned the wound and wrapped it up. My leg hurt like a motherfucka every time I tried to do regular shit, though.

Since the shootout, all of us had been moving different. We had enhanced security. We changed our routes daily. All of us were being way more careful. I hated that choosing to keep Sonnet safe had brought Roman’s attention to everybody I loved. But I didn’t regret saving Sonnet.

The unlocked doors had changed everything between us. Or maybe it was the fact that she had seen Roman’s intentions with her own eyes. Getting chased by his men had made the threat real in a way my words never could. Since then, she didn’t look at me like I was the worst human being in the world anymore.

I no longer felt like I had to lock the door from the inside. She wandered through the house freely. She read and played her logic games in the backyard. She criticized my music like she paid bills there and stole my side of the bed every time we watched movies in my room.

I let her.

I had also stopped seeing other women. I didn’t even realize I had. I just stopped feeling tempted by attention that used to be convenient. Sonnet satisfied something more intimate than sex. Her presence filled the house. Her voice filled spaces I hadn’t realized were empty. Her questions made simple things feel interesting because she never accepted the surface of anything. Her smart mouth kept me entertained, even when she was using it to challenge me. Her soft humming followed her around the kitchen whenever she cooked, making the house feel less empty. She comfortably curled her feet beneath her whenever she read, claiming every chair, couch, and quiet corner like it was made for her.

It was dangerous how much I liked simply having her near me.

I turned down the heat beneath the skillet and looked over.

She was staring at me, at my face.

“What?”

She blinked like she hadn’t realized I caught her. “Nothing.”

“You been staring for a minute.”

“I was updating my mental suspect description.”

I leaned back against the counter. “Yeah? What details you planning to include?”

Her gaze moved over my face, too slowly to be innocent. “Arrogant. Controlling. Inconveniently attractive. Too many freckles to be a scary kidnapper.”

My mouth almost curved into a smile. “Inconveniently?”