“A fucking girl?” the man yelled. “You promised it would be a boy, a son to continue my line! I don’t want anything to do with this. Get rid of her.” A baby cried and some rushed Italian was exchanged, too hurried and quiet for Anteros to decipher, and then a door flew open. The man in the suit stomped out and a woman in pajamas flew after him, crying. Anteros’s legs hurt from bending down for so long and he wanted to stand up, but he crouched lower so they couldn’t see him.
“I thought she would be!” the woman cried. “I…but we…you can’t mean this! She’s still your blood—our blood! It will still work. She can still lead!” His view was obscured, but he could still see the man, and bits and pieces of the woman—her feet, a bit of her nightgown, the way she clung to the man in the suit, trying to get him to turn around.
“I will not turn into the De Lucas—emasculated, having other men take my name to carry it on.” The man pushed her off and she stumbled backward, nearly falling into the tables shielding Anteros. He crouched farther, hoping to stay out of view, but the woman was not focusing on anything else. Anteros opened his eyes, able to see the woman’s back clearly now—her silk nightgown, stained with blood, the backs of her thighs, also stained.
“Lucio!” the woman yelled. The man, or Lucio, turned around and slapped her across the face. Anteros couldn’t see it, but he heard the sound it made against her cheek from behind his perch. She gasped, but he couldn’t see her face.
“Don’t ever speak of this again,” Lucio hissed. “Get this childish idea out of your head. I can’t believe I traveled all the way here for this shit.”
“Lucio—” The woman’s words were cut off as Lucio stepped toward her, out of Anteros’s line of sight.
“Kill it,” he said. “You kill that baby—or are you forgetting what will happen if people find out?” Her feet lifted off the ground and her legs shook. “Do you understand?” He dropped her and tore something Anteros couldn’t see from her neck. She ran back inside before Lucio could say another word. Lucio backed up a few steps, straightened his shoulders, wiped the wrinkles from his suit, and walked away.
That was the first time Anteros ever saw Lucia Pavoni, but he hadn’t realized it was her until the letter. He’d never even had suspicions when all the Pavoni Princess shit was coming out. Like an idiot, he’d bought the lie Lucia and Lucio spun. When he’d thought about that day, he’d brushed it off as Lucio having an affair. Even when Lucio had given him the pendant for safekeeping, he hadn’t pieced together that it was the same one torn from the woman’s neck—he’d never gotten a good look.
Now with the letter, he couldn’t believe he’d been so fucking stupid, so fucking arrogant to not see outside his own truth to that of another.
It had all been right in front of his face.
Sleeping in his bed.
On his chest.
“You destroyed me too,” Frankie murmured.
Anteros looked down, surprised that she’d spoken. For a moment he was certain she would see the thoughts inside him. A few seconds passed, her head down and still in the crook of his shoulder, then she slowly turned to him.
“Earlier at the docks, you said I destroyed you.” With her chin in her hands, hands on his pectorals, she studied him with full blue eyes. “You destroyed me too, but you did more than that.” His brows drew in, waiting for her to elaborate. “You rebuilt me.”
Frankie’s chocolate curls cascaded down his chest as she gave him everything in her look—all of her self, all of her trust—and all he could think as he stared into those perfect crystal eyes was that he wanted to protect her from every hurt.
Even if that meant destroying the letter.
“You know, I’ve been searching for family for as long as I can remember? Even before Gabby pointed out that was why I had the hole inside me, I was searching for something to fill it.” Her eyes fluttered down briefly, eyelashes like feathers, before locking on his. “I think I can stop searching.”
Luckily he didn’t have to respond because she climbed up his chest and kissed him, but he couldn’t kiss her back. It was like a stone weighted his gut. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but he didn’t like it. Slowly, she pulled back.
“Is something wrong?” She tilted her head, lines eroding her forehead in concern.
“No,” he said gruffly, pulling her to him. She wound her hands into his hair as he worked his tongue into her mouth, but in the back of his mind, the letter was a bright, blaring sign.
“So, what is this place?” Frankie asked some hours later when the moon was up. She’d fallen asleep again and slept a surprising amount, but Anteros had been content to just lie with her. She’d looked damn near perfect sleeping on his chest in the shirt he’d lent her, and he’d wanted to be awake to watch her, to protect her. It wasn’t until around ten that she really woke up.
“A safe house,” Anteros responded. “Only I know the location. It was the first place I bought when I started earning with the Famil
y. You hungry?” Standing up, Anteros pulled her off the floor, leading her to the kitchen.
Like the rest of the house, the kitchen was a mix of modern and rustic design. State-of-the-art appliances were set in wood and an elaborate antler chandelier hung over the island, flambeau light bulbs twined in the bone.
Anteros went to the freezer as Frankie took a seat at the island. To his left, a window spanned the entire kitchen, opening the room up to a horizon of shadowy trees. Just outside the lake was black as night, and snow covered the once sandy beach like diamonds under the moonlight.
“I still remember the last time you cooked for me,” Frankie said to his back. He raised a brow as he pulled out ingredients.
“What do you remember?” Turning around, he set the items on the island next to the built-in stove and leaned on his elbows, waiting for her response.
“The way it tasted.” She rubbed both her arms, an action Anteros knew meant she was nervous. She shook her head and looked away, hair shielding her face as if ashamed about something. Lifting himself off the granite counter, Anteros went to her.
Anteros gripped her chin, forcing her blue eyes to lock with his. “No secrets.”