“Pikachu, I choose you!”
“You little brat!” He reached for me, but I was too quick and jumped out of his reach, snickering. His deep burst of laughter was something that hadn’t been present in this house even when he’d still lived here, and it was music to my ears. “You’ll pay for that.”
“You have to catch me first!” I called over my shoulder as I raced through the house.
But Garret had been keeping in better shape than when he lived at home, and he caught me before I could reach the living room. Wrapping his arms around me, he tackled me to the couch, being careful not to hurt me, and started to tickle me. Laughing so hard tears spilled from my eyes, I begged for mercy, and he finally relented, releasing me.
When he stood and offered me his hand, I spotted Mom standing on the stairs out of the corner of my eyes and turned to face her. “Best Mother’s Day ever.”
31
Ryan
“If you’re not feeling up to this, Nova will understand.”
Ciana glared up at me, crossing her arms over her chest and causing the huge hoodie she was sporting to slip off one shoulder. Since her return from her vacation, months before, she’d been acting so unlike herself, we were all concerned. Then a few weeks ago, she’d started dressing like she couldn’t get warm enough. With her being a nurse, we figured she was smart enough to know if she was sick, but other than her being somewhat off-color, no one had actually seen her being ill. There was no sniffly nose, no cough, no vomiting. If anything, her appetite had picked up more and more.
That didn’t mean anything, though. According to Zariah, Ciana was dressing like a frumpy bag lady, a
nd that alone was cause for concern. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t think much about it, but this was Ciana, and her elder sister was one hundred percent correct. She was a fashionista—whatever the fuck that was—but it was what she’d self-proclaimed herself in her preteens. But now, she’d gone from wearing designer outfits and thousand-dollar heels to wearing sweats and athletic shoes when she wasn’t in her work clothes.
“I’ve told you a hundred times this week alone, Ryan. I’m fine. And even if something were wrong with me—which there wasn’t—nothing could keep me from watching Nova graduate.” She stabbed her finger into my chest. “Now, stop fussing over me.”
“Stubborn brat,” I muttered under my breath and picked up her case. “Pain in the ass.”
“I heard that,” she grumbled, following me out of the house.
I handed the case to Pietro for him to store in the back of the limo before facing her. “I don’t like how off you’ve been since your vacation. It was supposed to help you relax and unwind. But you came home looking more stressed than ever. And every time one of us asks you about your trip, you either change the subject or come up with a reason to leave the room.”
She lowered her lashes, hiding her brown eyes from me. “I…” She sighed heavily and shrugged. “I met someone while I was on vacation.”
I felt my entire body locking up. “This is the first I’m hearing of this. Your security didn’t mention anything.”
“It’s complicated. I didn’t evade my detail, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She folded her arms over her chest, rubbing her hands up and down her arms like she was freezing. Considering it was in the high eighties and humid as hell out, I didn’t understand how she could be shivering unless she was sick. “I’m not ready to discuss what happened, but I will say this. I met a guy…a man. We had a lot of fun, and I thought we really connected. But I was wrong.” She swallowed hard, shifting her gaze to somewhere in the distance. “Very, very wrong.”
Instinct told me to hug her, and I wrapped my arms around her slight frame, tucking her head under my chin. “I’m sorry,” I murmured. “Do you want me to find him and put a bullet in his skull?”
She stiffened at my question and shoved at my chest. “No! Don’t even joke about things like that.”
I held up my hands at the murderous look in her eyes. “I wasn’t joking, but okay.”
Samara came skipping out of the house, pulling her case behind her as she hummed happily to herself. “Hurry up!” she called over her shoulder. “Tavia and Theo are already there! I can’t believe they got to go early to see the new baby and we didn’t go with them.”
“We didn’t want to overwhelm Delaney,” Mom reminded her as she followed Pop out of the house. “You will have plenty of time to see little Ronan before we come home.”
“I want to see the baby, but I’m more excited to see Nova. I haven’t seen her since Easter.”
I understood my sister’s need to see Nova. I’d been so busy with work and making sure the construction of our house stayed on schedule, there had been zero time to fly out to see her. Between end-of-year exams and preparing to move to New York, she’d been just as busy. My arms ached to wrap around her, and now I was a few hours away from doing just that.
Only, this time, I didn’t have to let her go ever again. There would be no goodbyes at the end of the summer before I put her on the plane to return home for another year of school. Once I picked her up this one last time, I would never have to let her go again.
Getting everyone out of the house and to the airport felt as if it took hours. By the time we were in the air, I was chomping at the bit. The pilot couldn’t get me to Northern California fast enough. The whole way there, I kept opening the app on my phone, checking to see if Nova was at home or school, but I couldn’t find her on any of the cameras.
“Relax. She’s at graduation practice,” Garret said as he dropped down into the chair beside me. “I just got a text from her.”
“She texted you but not me?”
He smirked. “I guess she loves me more than she does you today.”